With so much going on in the realm of sustainability, leadership, and innovation, and only a limited amount of bandwidth for professionals in this space, we have created this weekly post to highlight articles that we feel are (1) important, (2) relevant, and (3) interesting in the areas of business sustainability.
If you have an article that you feel needs to be mentioned, please do so in the comments section
Dirty Air in Shenyang, China Just Hit ‘Doomsday’ Levels
While the overall PM2.5 levels for this year have seen improvements in many cities, the news that Shenyang’s PM2.5 topped 1400 served as a reminder that this is a continuing problem, that there are no quick fixes, and that the numbers are only set to grow as the next 250 million people urbanise over the next 15 years
Social + Capital VC dishes on why tech industry is in a ‘dangerous place’
Following up from the article last week on Al Gore’s foray into sustainable investing, comes another very interesting article about ex-Facebook executive Chamath Palihapitiya’s thoughts on where opportunities lie. A piece more focused on Silicon Valley, and the issues faced there, but his insights into the vision gap that is faced in the investment community are well worth considering.
Sustainability-Oriented Innovation: A Bridge to Breakthroughs
Sustainability is now considered a major driver of innovation, but this is often regarded as being a trade-off for profit or performance. The Sustainability-Oriented Innovation (SOI) model intends to dispel this myth.
Realising the potential to create solar, cool and green roofs in cities
Many of the worlds cities have vast hectares of unused roof top space, much of which could be utilised to create more sustainable urban spaces. The city of Melbourne has undergone a project to map the potential solar, cool, and green vegetated roofs. A model that could in the future be put to worldwide use.
China’s bottled water industry to exploit Tibetan water
The Tibetan government recently released a 10-year plan to expand the bottled water industry in the region, despite shrinking glaciers and the impact it might have on downstream neighbouring countries, with many rivers in the region originating in the province.