I’m Interested in the Environment
More About the Enviroment
The following materials both from Bridgespan and other sources offer essential reading for those interested in environmental issues, and the challenges faced by nonprofits focused on the environment.
Getting Started:
(Bridgespan Group; Bob Searle, Serita Cox)
The idea of engaging in conservation efforts that address the sustainability of natural assets in the context of how people use those assets is gaining momentum, and there are many diverse efforts underway. To help provide a map of the field and to facilitate learning, researchers at Bridgespan, funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, undertook a project to provide this report on the state of ecosystem services. This paper also discusses the challenges, risks, and potential of ecosystem services conservation.
Deeper Dives:
Cofounded in 1997 by the World Wildlife Fund and Anglo-Dutch Unilever, the Marine Stewardship Council has become a model for how eco-certification programs can promote sustainability of natural resources. But while the MSC continues to grow, CEO Rupert Howes says there's far more that everyone can do to help create sustainable fisheries. (Rather listen than read? Click here to download the podcast.)
(Bridgespan Group; Bob Searle, Susan J. Colby, Katie Smith Milway)
Making certification work demands persistent energy over time from stakeholders as differently motivated as environmentalists, producers, corporate buyers, government officials, scientists and standard-setting bodies. Bridgespan Group research uncovered a series of critical steps that effective certifiers are using to propel niche markets toward mainstream production and to turn sustainable practices into industry norms.
Problem-centered Strategy
(Bridgespan Group; Bob Searle, Katie Barnett, Paul Carttar)
This case study illustrates how the Natural Resources Defense Council developed a comprehensive strategy to maximize its potential impact on global warming. The project spanned nine months and culminated in the NRDC board’s approval of the Climate Center and its formal launch in the Fall of 2001.
The Pew Center's Global Climate Change Web site is dedicated to disseminating information around key climate-related topics. It includes coverage of international, federal, state and regional climate news, events, research and legislation.
News and commentary on a wide variety of environmental topics.
This site reports on the findings of the Millennium Assessment, which investigated "the consequences of ecosystem change for human well-being" from 2001 to 2005. Many detailed reports are available on the site, but the Synthesis Report (PDF) integrates the findings of the four Assessment working groups.
(The Economist, Subscription required)
Were all the world's commercial fisheries doomed to collapse by 2048? It looked that way, according to one three-year study. But new evidence shows that privatisation might prevent the doomsday scenario.
(Knowledge@Wharton)
"Businesses ignore the environment at their peril," or so notes this article based on the thoughts of a corporate leader (Jim Hagan, GlaxoSmithKline's vice president of corporate environment health and safety) and a management professor (Michael Lenox, a professor at Duke University).
(Stanford Social Innovation Review; Matthew J. Kotchen)
Can voluntary carbon offsets slow global warming? Or do they simply provide a way for consumers to relieve themselves of some "green guilt"?
(Stanford Social Innovation Review,; Matthew J. Kotchen)
Author Hoffman uses social networking tools to uncover the connections between business and environmentalists and suggests how to make the relationships more effective.
(Stanford Social Innovation Review; Suzie Boss)
Boss examines the factors behind the success of Rare, a 35-year-old nonprofit based in Arlington, Va., that helps local communities help themselves become more conservation aware and capable.
(Grist; Michael Shellenberger, Ted Nordhaus)
Authors Shellenberger and Nordhaus argue that the environmental movement is not prepared to address critical global challenges. The essay inspired controversy and conversation when they released it at The Environmental Grantmakers Association in 2004.
(Stanford Social Innovation Review; Erica L. Plambeck, Lyn Denend)
Plambeck and Denend examine how the world's largest retailer created a network of employees, nonprofits, government agencies and suppliers to help "green" its supply chains, with the dual goals of increased social responsibility—and increased profitibility.
(Knowledge@Wharton)
World Wildlife Fund President and CEO Carter Roberts discusses how nonprofits, government and business must all learn to "connect the dots" between local conditions and global forces in order to prepare for the future.