TheSustainabilityMarketPlace.org – Executive Summary

By Ratan Agarwal 

July 12th, 2018

Vision: Make the sustainability a reality for all – in our lifetime

Mission: Leverage the power of masses & technology to accelerate sustainability inflection point – from trickle-down to tsunami of impacts

Business challenge & opportunity

Given the rapidly manifesting impacts (global warming, extreme droughts and fires, depleting resources, rising inequality, violence against disadvantaged groups,..), sustainability awareness and number of organizations and activities are at an all-time high. However, it is also clear that we continue to lose the battle – in fact the gulf between adverse impacts and mitigating solutions continue to widen at an alarming pace. Rapid growth in multitude of initiatives has also brought widespread sub-optimization (duplication, re-inventing, silos,..), along with minimal leverage of solutions and resource pools – we are suffering from “trickle-down sustainomics”. There is a need for a radical new approach to change the tide. Fast progress in multiple game-changing technologies (IoT, Cloud, Mobility, Solar economics, CrowdSourcing / Shared Economy, BigData & AI) offers that unique opportunity TODAY.

Solution Description – Sustainability MarketPlace (“SM”)

MarketPlaces as a mega-scale enabling platforms have proven very successful across multitude of industries – with well-known examples of Amazon, EBay, AirBnb, and Etsy. The same model offers several fundamental benefits in Sustainability domain to change the game: a unifying platform for all the siloed current entities and initiatives, with benefits of cross-sharing and de-duplication, rapid global spread of best-practice solutions and innovations, effective utilization of currently untappable variable capacity of massive resource pools-with-intent (millennials, retirees, in-day-jobs), which would then drive massive leverage at Internet speeds through iterative and concurrent adaptations & innovations, match-making for the highest leverage and many more. Further, MarketPlaces have the unique characteristic of rapid scale through intrinsic network effect. Net result: exponential impact leverage from every single scarce resource at our disposal, and thus reversing the losing battle!

Technology Architecture & Key Capabilities

SM would have numerous elements found in popular marketplaces (logical directory structure and catalogs, participant demographics, interaction enabling common-services, rating engines, audit trails & reporting). Similar to traditional ‘products & services’, SM would be about sustainability projects, initiatives & solutions which would engage a variety of stakeholders & users as described below. Some of the key technical capabilities would be dynamic match-making between ‘givers’ and projects, Sustainability Impact Multiplier Score (SIMS) engine, dynamic project spin-up (matching enough appropriate distributed ‘doers’ to open replicable projects for solution adaption or development), connectivity with existing entities for bi-directional exchange, rewards, gamification, communities, and real-time transparency, and impact tracking.

Target Users & Stakeholders

Two main SM communities would be ‘givers’ (entities with resources ($, technology, talent) to lend) and ‘doers’ (entities with development & implementation capabilities). Each would represent diverse set of global groups such as Corporations, NGOs, foundations & charities, millennials and retirees, technologists, and students.

Competition, Marketing & Sales

SM is intended to fill key capabilities gaps and connect-the-dots to amplify the impact of existing activities, and hence it does not compete with or usurp any existing commerce or platform. Rather, it adds value to all the existing entities by expanding the reach & scope, accelerating impact, and optimizing their operations through common services – thus positioned as a natural win-win. Hence, existing entities would become marketing partners. Two main strategies to build the initial critical mass of participants would be: influencer/sponsor ‘pull’ and social-media based ‘push’, and import of existing memberships of partner entities. Other marketing tools: success celebrations, events, seminars & campaigns.

Financials (Cost, Revenues, Funding)

Overall, SM would be a non-profit business model. On the cost side, it is expected to be a very lean model tapping into variety of charitable sources (hours from technical and business experts, equipment and tool from corporations, off-the-shelf modules). Multiple revenue streams (nominal transactional fees for match-making, fees for subscription to common SM services, advertising, commission from 3^rdparty sales) would support build and operate and expansion costs. Initial MVP scope development, projected to be under $100k would be supported mostly through grants.

5-year Projections (Key Metrics) (below numbers are placeholders for update shortly)

Fiscal Year            2018       2019                       2020         2021          2022           

# of Entities             10         200        5,000         20,000       30,000

# of Members (in K) 10       100        1,000         10,000      100,000

# of Projects            300       2000     100,000     400,000     800,000

Costs (in M$)           0.1          0.5            1              2                 4     

Revenues (in M$)     0            0.6            2             10                50

Phase-1 (MVP)

To ensure rapid learning and cost minimization, MVP will be focused on a handful of sustainability domains (plastics pollution, human trafficking, clean energy); and technical capabilities (catalog, database, dynamic teaming & projects).

Management

Lead group (Ratan Agarwal, Govi Rao, Shayne Veramallay,..) brings 100+ years of technology, business, innovation, and incubation to large-scale operations management experience across variety of industries and non-profits.                                                    

 

Reflections on Resiliency

Written by Chris Rohner

April 8th, 2018

In April 2018 I got a chance to speak at the “The End of the World as We Know It: The Consequences of Extreme Climate Disruption for Business and Democracy”, Conference with IGEL at the Wharton School at PENN.  It was a great opportunity to hear an interesting mix of academic and private sector speakers.  From many of the speakers the message was – “change is coming, embrace it, and maybe even benefit from what is happening.” This is a positive message that I try to encourage with my own clients.  I tell them, look at current conditions, this is not the world we lived in 10 years ago!  We need to think and plan differently.

As someone who has worked as a public sector emergency manager and a private sector emergency management/business continuity consultant the goal of my presentation was to introduce my profession to the attendees and participants and make the case that business continuity is an important element of resilience planning.  I also wanted to put some context to the world many communities and businesses are working within – I did this by highlight five “resiliency realities”:

Planning is Critical

The public and private sectors each bring important talents, experience and resources to the table. Coordination and collaboration are key to creating a resilient community and nation. Open dialog needs to start years before the next big event – last minute decision-making does not produce good outcomes.  Many cities have public-private planning coordinators within their Office of Emergency Management – this is a great place to start the conversation.

Personal Preparedness is the Foundation of Resilience

I tell this to anyone that will listen…. Personal preparedness for you and your family is critical – a shelter-in-place plan, a communication plan, a Go-Bag for evacuation (and a pet plan if needed) are the basis for community or business preparedness.  Look for county resources at your local Office of Emergency Management and visit www.ready.gov for straightforward advice and recommendations.

Our Physical Infrastructure is Fragile

Let’s remember that we live in a country with old, fragile and out-of-date infrastructure.  The bridges we need for evacuation are decaying; the schools we need for shelters are old and leak during an average rainstorm. To increasing our resilience, we need to plan smart, think about future climate conditions and rebuild our infrastructure to support our emergency response needs.

Social Justice Raises our Human Resilience

Along with our physical infrastructure the nation must work to increase the resilience of our citizens. We must raise the standard of living for Americans, pay a living wage and seek social equity.  We must have a health systems the promote wellness, fiscal education and financial institutions that help low income people promote savings, public and private organizations that teach and uphold civil discourse – these and many more idea create communities that can better withstand events and recovery more quickly.

Act When the Topic is Hot

And lastly, as we all look to promote the increase in resiliency we need to take every opportunity to push this agenda in public policy and budgeting, and when private companies are impacted.  Unfortunately, these pushes tend to come right after an event has affected the nation – after a hurricane, a wildfire, or earthquake.  While it may see opportunistic – we must seize these times and push the resilience agenda forward.  We know from experience that the public’s attention span is short, and unless action is taken quickly the public’s engagement and interest will fall off, as the news cycle moves forward.

About the Author:

Chris Rohner is a business continuity program manager for General Dynamics Information Technology (formerly CSRA).  His 25-year background spans emergency management, planning, and response operations, public health, business continuity, community resiliency as well as transportation planning and policy development.  He has extensive experience working with local, city, state and regional government agencies and the private sector to find straightforward solutions to complex problems by focusing on clients’ specific circumstances. In the public sector he has held key management positions with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), Bureau of Emergency Management; and the New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).  In the private sector he has worked as a program manager within the community resilience space at Ecology and Environment, Inc. and at CSRA, now General Dynamics Information Technology.

 

Energy Policy Now: An EPA After Scott Pruitt

April 23, 2018

Cary Coglianese is the Edward B. Shils Professor of Law and a professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania and the founding director of the Penn Program on Regulation.

Daniel Walters is a Regulation Fellow with the Penn Program on Regulation at Penn Law.

 

What might the EPA look like without current Administrator Scott Pruitt? Two regulatory experts discuss the future direction of the agency.

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has come under bipartisan fire for an array of ethical missteps that range from lavish spending on travel to the granting of illegal pay raises for select EPA staffers. Over the past week, staunch Pruitt supporters such as Senate Environment and Public Works Chairman John Barrasso have questioned the transparency with which Pruitt has run his office, and legislators from both sides of the aisle have suggested that Pruitt may not be fit to lead the agency.

Could Pruitt’s tenure at the EPA be coming to an end? And if so, what direction might the embattled agency take under new leadership, such as that of recently confirmed Deputy EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler?

In this special episode of Energy Policy Now, Penn Law energy and environment legal experts Cary Coglianese and Daniel Walters discuss the swirl of possible ethical violations that have led to the Pruitt controversy. They explore what Pruitt’s departure could mean for his efforts—and those of the Trump administration—to deprioritize environmental protection at the EPA and roll back environmental regulations.

The Energy Policy Now podcast, now in its second season, offers insights from Penn experts, industry and policy leaders on the energy industry and its relationship to environment and society.

Celebrating Earth Day 2018

April 22nd, 2018

Elena Rohner, Wharton IGEL Communications Coordinator

On Wednesday, April 18th, a fabulous group of interdisciplinary stakeholders came together on the 8th floor of Jon M. Huntsman hall for a day of knowledge sharing and thought leadership about how business and democracy will be impacted by climate change.  Our panelists ranged from a global manufacturer of consumer products, to a leading global advisory, broking and solutions company, to one of the world’s largest utility providers, to experts in atmospheric and oceanic sciences, to Navy veterans and business continuity consultants.  Margaret Leinen, Director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography, concluded the day on an upbeat note – weaving together all of the key lessons from panelists and leaving the audience with the knowledge that, despite the enormous task in front of us, we have experts at all points of a complex system working to adapt, mitigate and build resilience for a future that often seems daunting.

Nothing changes overnight, nor does it happen in a vacuum.  Continued interdisciplinary collaboration and a systems-oriented approach are critical to making an impact.

Thus, today – the 48th celebration of Earth Day – we would like to thank all of our sponsors and stakeholders at IGEL for their commitment to making this world a better place for everyone and everything.

For more information on our 2018 Conference, visit this page of conference proceedings: https://igel.wharton.upenn.edu/2018-conference/

HAPPY EARTH DAY! 

Driving the New Climate Economy: How Companies and Communities Can Thrive in a Changing World

By Lisa Manley, Director, Sustainability Engagement, Mars

April 7th, 2018

There are clear signals that the climate has changed over the past century. Around the world, people are beginning to feel the effects, from increased average and extreme temperatures, to changes in rainfall patterns, to more severe and less predictable storms. At Mars, we source key agricultural materials from countries and communities that are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. We believe it’s time to take a new approach to addressing this challenge, using our influence and reach to take action that proactively addresses the impacts of climate change within our supply chain and operations. Here are three things our business and others are doing to take action.

Setting Science-Based Targets

 More than 97 percent of actively publishing climate scientists agreehuman activity is extremely likely to be causing the climate-warming trends over the last century. To avoid the worst consequences of climate change, science tells us we should limit global warming to less than the two degree Celsius threshold outlined in the Paris Agreement on climate change. As the saying goes, you can’t manage what you don’t measure. With that in mind, the first thing business should do is trust the science; then align measurable goals and actions around that science.

We looked to the best-available science to guide us in setting our climate goals at Mars. That science says we must reduce the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across our value chain by 27 percent by 2025 and by 67 percent by 2050(from 2015 levels). That means not only changing how we operate, but also working with partners and suppliers to transform entire value chains so that the ingredients we need to make our best-loved products, like M&Ms and Uncle Bens, are produced with lower environmental impacts. This isn’t an easy goal to meet. But we know it’s what’s necessary to unlock the systemic changes that are needed to benefit people and the planet.

Committing to Renewable Energy

The second thing business should do is look for the places where we can get the most immediate momentum and leverage that momentum for scale. At Mars, energy use is the major driver of our GHG emissions from direct operations. That’s whywe’re big fans of renewable electricity with a goal to eliminate 100 percent of the GHG emissions from our direct operations by 2040. This goal covers the energy use from about 420 sites in more than 80 countries around the world.

We’re already using or purchasing renewable electricity to cover 100 percent of our operations in Belgium, Lithuania, the United Kingdom and the United States. And in 2018, we plan to add Austria, the Czech Republic, France, Mexico, Poland and Spain to this list.In addition to renewable electricity, renewable thermal energy is an important part of our energy use in our factories. For that reason, we helped launch the Renewable Thermal Collaborative – a coalition for organizations that are committed to scaling up renewable heating and cooling at their facilities and dramatically cutting carbon emissions.

Fostering Executive Engagement and Advocacy

The third imperative for business action is to ensure we are aligning what we say with what we do. We need more vocal business advocates for climate action. We are walking this talk through coalitions such as We Are Still In, a declaration made by 2,700 cross-sector leaders in the U.S. to commit to tackling climate change, ensuring a clean energy future and upholding the Paris Agreement. It also can happen through executive advocacy. For example, our Mars chairman, Stephen Badger, recently authored an op/ed piecein The Washington Post,which makes a strong call to action to global businesses on climate change.

We also need to extend our advocacy to include the seats of power and influence within government. That’s why we engage with groups like the Ceres BICEP(Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy) Network, to bring business leaders’ voices to Capitol Hill and local legislatures on climate action and clean energy.

For global businesses, it is our time to step up and lead on climate action. This is not just the “right thing to do,” but also makes good business sense; investing in sustainable practices today will help us become stronger, more resilient businesses in the future.

 

Lisa Manley, Senior Director of Partnerships & Engagement, Mars, Incorporated

Lisa is Senior Director of Partnerships and Engagement within the sustainability team at Mars, Incorporated. In this role, she works to build momentum for the company’s Sustainable in a Generation Plan through compelling communications and engagements as well as uncommon collaboration.  She works with the global sustainability team to create and oversee integrated sustainability strategy; set high-level goals and commitments; assess and drive scaled investments; and manage global sustainability partnerships and programs. Priority platforms for engagement include climate action, water stewardship and land use within Mars’ approach to healthy planet; increasing income, respecting human rights and unlocking opportunities for women within Mars’ approach to thriving people; and food safety & security, product & ingredient renovation and responsible marketing within Mars’ approach to nourishing wellbeing.

Lisa has nearly twenty years of experience working to advance sustainable business growth with consumer goods companies such as Mars and The Coca-Cola Company.

Lisa holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations and a master’s degree in higher education administration from the University of Virginia.  Outside of work, she collects photography and enjoys golf, tennis and biking.

Energy Policy Now: Rising Seas and the Future of Coastal Cities

April 4, 2018

Jeff Goodell is a contributing editor with Rolling Stone magazine, where his writing focuses on environmental and climate issues. Last year he published his sixth book, The Water Will Come: Rising Seas, Sinking Cities, and the Remaking of the Civilized World, which earned a Critics’ Top Book award from the New York Times.  

Billy Fleming is research director for the Ian L. McHarg Center at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Design. His research focuses on climate adaptation planning along the U.S. coast.

As sea levels rise, nuisance flooding is the first wave of assault on coastal cities. Can we protect our coasts from inundation, or is retreat inevitable?

Jeff Goodell, author of the New York Times award-winning book, The Water Will Come: Rising Seas, Sinking Cities, and the Remaking of the Civilized World, talks about the impact of rising seas on America’s coastal centers in the decades to come. Will innovative engineering allow cities and towns to be protected, and at what cost? Or, will the seas prevail, leaving some areas abandoned? Billy Fleming, research director for the Ian L. McHarg Center at the Penn School of Design and an expert on climate adaptation planning, weighs in as well.

The U.S. government estimates that sea levels will rise by two feet by the middle of this century due to a warming climate. Already the impact of higher water is being felt in points around the country. In many coastal communities, nuisance flooding has become the predictable norm.  Miami Beach is spending half a billion dollars to elevate roads and install pumps in an effort to stay dry. And Houston, New York, and New Orleans, all cities that are just feet above sea level, have recently seen unprecedented and devastating flooding. Goodell and Fleming look at the political and human costs of taking action.

The Energy Policy Now podcast, now in its second season, offers insights from Penn experts, industry and policy leaders on the energy industry and its relationship to environment and society.

 

The Wharton Green Tracker: A Sustainability Impact Pilot for Wharton Students

The Wharton Green Tracker, our impact tracking app, launched on March 19th! This is a free app available for iOS and Android devices that will connect us all digitally and reward you for doing good by the Wharton community and the world, and for making more sustainable lifestyle choices. Prizes will be offered to the highest point-earner from the prior week every Monday through April 16, as well as for highest scores at the pilot’s conclusion! Follow this link to download on iOS, and this link to download on Android – or simply search “Wharton Green Tracker,” to get started. Use community code “whartonupenn” to gain access and start earning your points now!

The Wharton Green Tracker is a collaboration between the Wharton School and MilkCrate, a mission–driven tech company that empowers our clients to track and grow their impact using a platform that can be customized to engage individual behavior to reveal collective impact.  To learn more about MilkCrate, check out their website: http://mymilkcrate.com

Energy Policy Now: Lessons from a Decade of Cap & Trade

March 20th, 2018

Arthur van Benthem is a Faculty Fellow with the Kleinman Center and Assistant Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy at the Wharton School of Business. His research and teaching focus on the economic efficiency of energy policies, and the unintended consequences of environmental legislation. Earlier, he worked as an economist and strategist at Royal Dutch Shell.

Carbon cap and trade is gaining momentum, most recently with China’s plan to build the largest carbon market. What can new markets learn from cap and trade’s past mistakes?

Carbon cap and trade has made headlines in recent months as governments turn to carbon markets to limit greenhouse emissions. The biggest announcement came in December, when China formally announced the establishment of a national carbon trading system that will initially cover its electric power industry. Once China’s market is up and running, it’ll dwarf the largest existing cap and trade market, the European Emissions Trading System that started in 2005.

Developments are underway in the U.S. as well. In January, New Jersey announced that it will rejoin the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, commonly called RGGI, which it had previously abandoned. And Virginia has announced its intention to also join the carbon market, which spans nine northeastern states.

Kleinman Center Faculty Fellow Arthur van Benthem discusses the of cap and trade cost-effectively limiting carbon dioxide emissions, and takes a look at the impact have cap and trade programs economic competitiveness.

The Energy Policy Now podcast, now in its second season, offers insights from Penn experts, industry and policy leaders on the energy industry and its relationship to environment and society.

Business schools start preparing graduates for a world of climate risks

February 28, 2018

Originally posted on February 26, 2018

DURHAM, North Carolina

Risks related to climate change are some of the most significant threats facing the global economy, according to the World Economic Forum, which recently released its Global Risks Report 2018.  In a report that scans a spectrum of economic, environmental, geopolitical, societal, and technological risks, extreme weather events, natural disasters, and failure to mitigate climate change took three of the Top 5 risks likely to have an impact on the global economy in the short term.

Business schools are taking notice.  “Virtually every industry will be affected by climate change in the future in some way,” says Daniel Vermeer, PhD, associate professor of the practice at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.  “Climate change will shift what agricultural products can be grown where.  Extreme weather events will disrupt distribution supply chains more frequently.  Energy and transportation infrastructure will need to be more resilient.  Real estate portfolios need to be reconfigured.  If you’re a business school student today, you need to be thinking ahead about where the future risks are.”

Fuqua is one of 16 business schools collaborating to host an event on March 23-24 called ClimateCAP: The Global MBA Summit on Climate, Capital, & Business.  Its speakers will include executives from JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Nike, Bain & Co., Morgan Stanley, Levi Strauss, KPMG, and other big-name private sector leaders.  The summit will be held on Fuqua’s campus in Durham, NC, but will rotate to another business school in future years.

“This summit is not about politics.  It’s not about policy.  It’s about which businesses and investors will successfully navigate a more turbulent future because they’ve identified these risks and adapted accordingly—and which will be left flat-footed,” adds Vermeer.

Statoil, the Norwegian oil and gas company, is one example of a company that’s not shying away from recognizing the risks on the horizon.  “In Statoil we believe the winners in the energy transition will be the producers that can deliver energy at low cost and low carbon. That is why we work to reduce own emissions, grow in renewables and embed climate in all our decision-making,” says Bjørn Otto Sverdrup, Senior Vice President of Sustainability at Statoil.  Sverdrup will be speaking at the summit and hopes to help MBA students better understand the profound strategic challenges and opportunities climate issues represent for companies.

ClimateCAP is not the only climate-related conference to be hosted at a business school this year.  In February, the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business hosted an innovation summit to bring corporate leaders and entrepreneurs together with faculty, students, and think tank experts to recommend strategies that inspire innovation to tackle climate change.  And in April, the University of Pennsylvania’s prestigious Wharton School will host an event called “The End of the World as We Know It? The Consequences of Extreme Climatic Disruption for Business and Democracy.”

“It is critical that we empower the next generation with strategic knowledge tools in business and sustainability so that they can lead us into a future with fewer climate change challenges,” says Joanne Spigonardo, senior associate director of Wharton’s Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership. “Business schools can be catalysts to innovate those changes so that we can ensure a world of economic and environmental sustainability.”

In 2017, Columbia Business School organized an event on “The Near-Term Impacts of Climate Change on Investors” and Yale School of Management also co-hosted a conference on climate change.

“I have no doubt that we’ll see more of these conversations happening at business schools in the future.” says Vermeer. “The reality is, MBA students can’t afford to ignore the impacts and implications of a changing climate.  There will be winners and losers, and many opportunities to seize competitive advantage.  As current MBAs prepare for their careers, they need to be thinking about how to creatively respond to the strategic, operational, and innovation challenges of climate change that will inevitably grow in coming decades.”

 

Energy Policy Now: The Promise and Peril of Self-Driving Trucks

Featuring Steve Viscelli is a Senior Fellow with the Kleinman Center and a lecturer in the University of Pennsylvania’s Department of Sociology, where he researches policy in the areas of energy efficiency and employment relations. Steve also worked as a truck driver while researching his 2016 book, The Big Rig: Trucking and the Decline of the American Dream.

February 27th, 2018

Self-driving technology promises to revitalize the trucking industry. But increased energy demand and air pollution are possible downsides.

Self-driving technology is making its way onto America’s roads. Companies including Lyft, Ford and Google’s Waymo are investing heavily to develop driverless vehicles and transportation services. Driverless technology is also being developed for the trucking industry, a cornerstone of the economy that moves 70% of manufactured goods yet finds itself challenged by high fuel costs, safety concerns, and a shortage of drivers.

Guest Steve Viscelli, Senior Fellow with the Kleinman Center, looks at the potential for driverless trucks to stake their claim on the nation’s highways and create a more efficient transportation system.  He also talks about potential impacts that vast fleets of driverless trucks may have on energy demand and air quality, as well as labor, and the choices policy makers face in balancing these outcomes.

The Energy Policy Now podcast, now in its second season, offers insights from Penn experts, industry and policy leaders on the energy industry and its relationship to environment and society.