The Beckers Group, a partner of The Natural Step since 2008, has recently released its first global sustainability report. We are pleased to share the report here and to provide comment on how the process leading to this report has used two different sustainability methods - the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD) and Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines - to help the company define, measure and report progress.

 

Please join us online Wednesday July 3, 2013 from 11:30am-13:30EST to share your views and expertise to help shape a benchmark for truly sustainable business performance.

This webinar is part of Towards a Gold Standard for Sustainable Business project, a collaborative initiative which aims to help consumers, businesses, investors, and employers support truly sustainable business practices through the decisions they make.

It features Bob Willard, Speaker and Author, The NEW Sustainability Advantage and Chad Park, Executive Director for The Natural Step Canada who co-wrote the recent GreenBiz article titled “A gold standard for a truly sustainable enterprises.”  Hear the latest thoughts and updates from the numerous consultations that have been conducted in this project and of course, contribute your ideas to where this project is headed.

Portions of this post are reprinted from presskontakt.se and from the Swedish Sustainable Economy Foundation’s blog.

Shutterstock photo of Gotland, Sweden

Last month, the Swedish Sustainable Economy Foundation and a consortium of scientists and sustainability practitioners, including The Natural Step and Natural Step partners in Finland, submitted a project proposal to study the island of Gotland as a Sweden in miniature, using it as a test case to create a circular, emission-free economy.

The proposal is designed to address the dual concerns of rising unemployment and pollution of the Baltic, resulting from the leakage of money and jobs from the import of fertilizers and the leakage of nutrients from the soil into the sea. Gotland is the largest island in the Baltic.

The Foundation is concerned that the ecology of the Baltic will collapse if phosphorous emissions are not brought under control. At the same time they feel that it is high time to address the risks associated with the potential depletion of phosphorus supplies that may give us as little as 30 years to change practices to recycling rather than mining as our main source of fertilizers.

We already have all the knowledge we need to answer this question, and efforts are under way to do just that. Have a look at this clever response to Joel Makower's GreenBiz article "What Is Sustainability Anyway?", co-authored by The Natural Step Canada board member Bob Willard (the well-known author and sustainable business guru) and The Natural Step Canada executive director Chad Park.