AHC Group Newsletter Archive

Issue: August, 2006

Answering Public Expectations Since 1981

Corporate Strategy Today — Issue 12

Leading Corporate Strategies and Climate Change:
A Few Key Business Examples
 

Since 1981, the AHC Group has been active in assisting companies and individuals in the field of environmental strategy and management consulting. In this latest issue of our flagship business publication, we tackle the increasingly important topic of climate change.
 

We are all painfully aware that energy prices are soaring, as oil prices reach all-time highs almost weekly. With economies around the world expanding and consuming a greater share of resources, there is little relief in sight for traditional energy supplies. This also signals an increase in the emissions of greenhouse gases, which are known to cause climate change.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, GHG rose by 2% in 2004 in the United States, an increase of 104.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (bringing its total to 5,912.21 million metric tons). China, currently the second largest emitter of CO₂ and the fastest growing producer, saw GHG rise 20.76% in 2004, bringing its total to 4,707.28 million metric tons. For the sake of comparison, the third largest producer of GHG, Russia, emitted 1,684.84 million metric tons in 2004, the U.K. produced 579.68, and so on down the line to third-world countries like Rwanda emitting 0.79 million metric tons of CO₂ in 2004. What do these trends speak to you? In other words: How do I think about this in the context of what failure to think about this will do to my company?

This edition of CST includes fascinating case studies about how companies are analyzing and addressing the threats and opportunities of a carbon-constrained world. Some companies are being coaxed into action, some are required to take action, and some have the right environment where taking action has created additional profitable business opportunities, enhanced the long-term health of the company, and is viewed as the right thing to do. This latest issue of CST compiles the years of experience and insights, from some of the most plugged-in leaders of our day, on how actually to do it and what you need to be aware of.

• Steve Percy, former CEO of BP America and AHC Group Senior Associate and Board Member, has over the past several years worked on the United Nations Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Steve's article, "The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and Corporate Strategy," brilliantly points out that ecosystem degradation presents threats to businesses through high costs, supply disruption, government restraint, and stakeholder demands. Simultaneously, these challenges present opportunities to businesses through new technologies and business models.
   
• Truman Semans of the Pew Center on Climate Change details the inevitability of a stronger U.S. climate change policy, the increasing business leadership on climate issues, the factors that influence corporate climate strategies, and the effective business strategies that address climate change.
   
• Dr. Joan Wales, Vice President of Strategy and Planning at BP, describes the evolution and complexity of the company's climate change strategies, including BP's own environmental footprint, a reinvention of its energy products to go beyond petroleum, and a recognition that their climate change strategies are both a business opportunity and a responsibility.
   
• Skiles Boyd, Vice President of EHS at DTE Energy, describes how inquisitive shareholders can represent divine intervention by increasing corporate transparency and uncovering business opportunities.
   
• Frank Loy former Under Secretary of State and the chief U.S. climate change negotiator in the second Clinton Administration provides an international perspective on the latest current events regarding climate change, the Bush administration and what Europe really needs to do to be the global leader on climate change.
   
• Erin Crotty, former Commissioner of Environmental Conservation for Governor George Pataki of New York, also weighs in with her thoughts on this topic. It was Governor Pataki who asked the Northeast Governors to work together to develop a cap-and-trade program for carbon dioxide emissions from power plants operating in the region. An agreement on the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) was reached in December 2005 between seven of the Northeast states

This groundbreaking issue of CST illustrates how companies are being coaxed and prodded into taking action, and strategically seizing opportunities to address climate change because it is the right thing to do for our economy, our environment, and our health.

Here is what key business leaders have said about this issue:

Your issue has profound implications. Extraordinary articles in this particularly unique issue which COMPEL the reader.
— Darryl Vernon Poole, President of The Cambridge Institute for Applied Research

It's packed with information, and should be a popular issue among all corporate leaders.
— Sam Smolik, Vice President of Global Health, Safety, Security, Environment and Sustainable Development for Shell Chemical LP

Each article is better than the next! It contains a wide range of important information about corporate behavior, state, and international initiatives and strategic issues facing corporate leaders in the near term.
— Suellen Keiner, Intern Executive Director for the National Resource Council of America (former ED of NAPA)

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