Corporate Responsibility

Myth: You can’t afford to be sustainable unless you’re a big company. Fact: It’s good business to be sustainable – for companies big and small.

Earlier this year, palm oil producer IOI Group had its RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) certification suspended after failing to meet RSPO certification standards. The RSPO announced in a statement last Friday that IOI Group will regain its certification starting today (August 8, 2016). The RSPO has found that the IOI Group is now fully compliant with RSPO standards and has plans in place to compensate stakeholders.

GreenBiz Group announced today the 14 finalists for the VERGE Accelerate fast-pitch competition, the most innovative early-stage companies offering solutions at the intersection of technology and sustainability. The finalists will present to a globally livestreamed audience at the VERGE 16 conference in Santa Clara, Calif., Sept. 19-22.

The Olympic Games Organizing Committee in Rio wants to create a record for holding the most sustainable Olympic Games ever. According to CEBDS, the Brazilian partner organization of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, the Games are helping to accelerate the spread of sustainable business processes in Brazil.

A new offshore wind turbine from Siemens is set to lower the cost of wind power generated on the high seas. Siemens believes it is well on the way to reaching its goal of producing offshore wind energy at a total cost of less than ten euro cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) by 2020.

A curious dilemma has emerged for the environmental community seeking to encourage companies to adopt sustainable production practices through the vehicle of market-based, voluntary certifications. Until this dilemma is resolved, it could drive the very companies who are engaged in the best practices away from participation in these certification programs.

Siemens has developed a digital measurement technology that records stress in gear units during their operation. The data can then be used to optimize the design of a new gear unit for the same application. This enables overspecification to be avoided without running any risk of undersized units failing due to overloading. Procurement costs are thus reduced, and the data also provide information on how to optimally operate the unit. Flender Gearlog – the name of the measurement technology – incorporates various sensors and a specially developed computer including software for evaluating the data.

Siemens and various partner companies in the energy, chemical and steel industries are addressing this question in a joint project known as Carbon2Chem. This project, which is supported by a EUR 50 million grant from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, was officially launched in late June.

Jane Madden, Managing Director and Head of U.S. Corporate Responsibility, contributed to an article in the October issue of Chief Executive magazine about the business benefits of prioritizing social change.