Reflecting on Sustainability Standards

Reflecting on Sustainability Standards
Author: United Nations Publications
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2022
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9789211130416
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This paper summarizes the Voluntary Sustainability Standards' (VSS) Academic Advisory Council Roundtables. The roundtables aimed to foster the debate on the possibilities and limitations of sustainability standards as tools to environmental, social and economic sustainability. They were jointly organized by the United Nations Forum on Sustainability Standards (UNFSS) and EVIDENSIA, in collaboration with the KU Leuven Center for Global Governance. This paper summarizes the discussions and outcomes of the three roundtable discussions. It brings different perspectives on VSS together which can inform and contribute to a comprehensive understanding of VSS effectiveness through GVCs. Through this paper, the "effectiveness" of VSS is defined along multiple dimensions, all of which are covered and assessed. A first dimension, goal-attainment effectiveness, focuses on the impact of VSS on a range of social, economic and environmental indicators. A second dimension, process effectiveness, analyses the degree to which VSS are adopted by economic operators and the drivers for adoption. A third dimension, constitutive effectiveness, focuses on the degree to which VSS change the overall approach of actors involved in the policy process towards sustainability, i.e., the degree to which their theories of change are used more widely. VSS role on international trade is also debated and discussed.

Reflecting on Sustainability Standards

Reflecting on Sustainability Standards
Author: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2022
Genre: Environmental economics
ISBN: 9789210013994
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This paper summarizes the roundtables of the Voluntary Sustainability Standards' (VSS) Academy Advisory Council Roundtables. The roundtables aimed to foster the debate on the possibilities and limitations of sustainability standards as tools to environmental, social and economic sustainability. They were jointly organized by the United Nations Forum on Sustainability Standards (UNFSS) and EVIDENSIA, in collaboration with the KU Leuven Center for Global Governance. ǂb This paper summarizes the discussions and outcomes of the three roundtable discussions. It brings different perspectives on Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS) together which can inform and contribute to a comprehensive understanding of VSS effectiveness through GVCs. Through this paper, the "effectiveness" of VSS is defined along multiple dimensions, all of which are covered and assessed. A first dimension, goal-attainment effectiveness, focuses on the impact of VSS on a range of social, economic and environmental indicators. A second dimension, process effectiveness, analyses the degree to which VSS are adopted by economic operators and the drivers for adoption. A third dimension, constitutive effectiveness, focuses on the degree to which VSS change the overall approach of actors involved in the policy process towards sustainability, i.e., the degree to which their theories of change are used more widely. The role of voluntary sustainability standards on international trade is also debated and discussed.65

Sustainability Standards and Instruments

Sustainability Standards and Instruments
Author: Alan S. Gutterman
Publisher: Business Expert Press
Total Pages: 201
Release: 2021-01-20
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1953349897
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This book serves as an introduction to sustainability standards and instruments and includes chapters on initiatives of governmental and intergovernmental bodies, sectoral CSR commitments, CSR-related reporting and management standards, and securities exchanges and regulators. It is becoming increasingly clear that firms can contribute to their own wealth and to overall societal wealth by considering the effect they have on the world at large when making decisions and take operational actions to execute their strategies. All of this has led to growing interest in “corporate social responsibility,” or “CSR,” which has been described as the way that firms integrate social, environmental, and economic concerns into their values, culture, decision making, strategy, and operations in a transparent and accountable manner and thereby establish better practices within the firm, create wealth, and improve society. The commitments and activities associated with any CSR initiative should begin with compliance with laws and regulations promulgated by the governmental entities have jurisdiction over the firm’s activities; however, CSR extends well “beyond the law” to include important subjects as to which the law has not been able to keep. As a result, voluntary corporate responsibility standards developed from a variety of sources have emerged to fill the gap. This book serves as an introduction to sustainability standards and instruments and includes chapters on initiatives of governmental and intergovernmental bodies, sectoral CSR commitments, CSR-related reporting and management standards, and securities exchanges and regulators.

Sustainability and the U.S. EPA

Sustainability and the U.S. EPA
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 162
Release: 2011-09-08
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 0309212553
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Sustainability is based on a simple and long-recognized factual premise: Everything that humans require for their survival and well-being depends, directly or indirectly, on the natural environment. The environment provides the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat. Recognizing the importance of sustainability to its work, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been working to create programs and applications in a variety of areas to better incorporate sustainability into decision-making at the agency. To further strengthen the scientific basis for sustainability as it applies to human health and environmental protection, the EPA asked the National Research Council (NRC) to provide a framework for incorporating sustainability into the EPA's principles and decision-making. This framework, Sustainability and the U.S. EPA, provides recommendations for a sustainability approach that both incorporates and goes beyond an approach based on assessing and managing the risks posed by pollutants that has largely shaped environmental policy since the 1980s. Although risk-based methods have led to many successes and remain important tools, the report concludes that they are not adequate to address many of the complex problems that put current and future generations at risk, such as depletion of natural resources, climate change, and loss of biodiversity. Moreover, sophisticated tools are increasingly available to address cross-cutting, complex, and challenging issues that go beyond risk management. The report recommends that EPA formally adopt as its sustainability paradigm the widely used "three pillars" approach, which means considering the environmental, social, and economic impacts of an action or decision. Health should be expressly included in the "social" pillar. EPA should also articulate its vision for sustainability and develop a set of sustainability principles that would underlie all agency policies and programs.

Voluntary Sustainability Standards

Voluntary Sustainability Standards
Author: Ulrich Hoffmann
Publisher: Peter Lang Us
Total Pages: 146
Release: 2021
Genre: Agricultural industries
ISBN: 9781433187711
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Sustainability standards, their systems, role and impact -- VSS at a crossroads -- Is there any future perspective for VSS and what might it look like?

Gold Standard Sustainability Reporting

Gold Standard Sustainability Reporting
Author: Kye Gbangbola
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 99
Release: 2020-03-24
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1000029964
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This highly practical and concise book shows you how to undertake a reporting process and produce a sustainability report in line with the new standards and frameworks presented by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). Fully updated to ensure compliance with the new standards, this second edition shows how to actually produce a sustainability report as well as the key processes in the planning: how to produce a business case; the development of actions plans; process and team leadership; and generating cross-functional buy in. Templates are provided for certain steps in order to simplify the tasks involved at each point in the process. Anyone involved in delivering or developing a process to embed sustainability reporting for an organization will find this book invaluable, for example Chief Sustainability Officers, Chief Financial Officers and Company Secretaries. It will also be of interest to students in the field of sustainability.

Reflections on India's Public Policies: by India's Experienced Policy makers

Reflections on India's Public Policies: by India's Experienced Policy makers
Author: Ashok Dalwai
Publisher: Blue Rose Publishers
Total Pages: 340
Release: 2023-05-18
Genre: Political Science
ISBN:
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Packing order in civil services is determined by the year of entry. Older the number of entry, senior an officer becomes. Each individual officer from the entry into service onwards gains diverse experiences at various levels till his/ her exit from the service. Most of the civil servants share their experiences at the personal level in the form of their memoirs. There are very few and far references in the public policy domain of sharing practical experiences in an objective manner. In the annals of the Indian civil services, it is for the first time that Ten officers of a batch had come together to share their experiences with constructive suggestions on a number of important issues. This kind of canvas covering wide-ranging subjects will be helpful to present and future policymakers and implementers. The topics covered and the authors involved make the book a shear magic.

The Global Reporting Initiative's (GRI) Past, Present and Future

The Global Reporting Initiative's (GRI) Past, Present and Future
Author: Charl de Villiers
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2022
Genre:
ISBN:
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- The paper reflects on the future of sustainability reporting standards by examining the current practical initiatives and the Global Reporting Initiative's (GRI) position in the arena of non-financial and sustainability reporting, and identifies avenues for future research.Design/methodology/approach - A critical reflection and analysis of research on the GRI's achievements and the influence of the IFRS Foundation's initiative to develop global sustainability reporting standards.Findings - The GRI has a dominant position in sustainability reporting standard-setting related to the provision of information about the influence of reporting organisations on society and the natural environment. The IFRS Foundation's initiative to enter the sustainability reporting standard-setting arena, although from the perspective of providing information to investors regarding the influence of society and the environment on the reporting organisation, is an attempt to solidify its own position as the reporting standard setter of choice, not only for financial reporting, but for all reporting standards. However, despite its aim to differentiate its role from the GRI by leveraging the financial-oriented ideological side of double materiality, we argue that the IFRS is unlikely to harm the GRI's global position in producing multi-stakeholder standards for sustainability reporting and accountability. This differentiated position is facilitated by the different sources of legitimacy the GRI and IFRS rely on.Originality - Due to the recent initiatives for creating new sustainability reporting standard-setters, this paper offers one of the first critical reflections on the past and the likely future of the GRI and its sustainability reporting standards. The paper also identifies several new avenues for future research.Full article available at DOI: 10.1108/PAR-02-2022-0034.

Sustainability and Design Ethics, Second Edition

Sustainability and Design Ethics, Second Edition
Author: Jean Russ
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 197
Release: 2018-11-12
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0429014759
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Sustainability as a concept remains just as challenging and important today as it was when the first edition of this book was published. The Second Edition of Sustainability and Design Ethics explores the ethical obligations of knowledgeable people such as design professionals, taking into consideration the numerous changes that have taken place in recent years. This book expands the growing discussion on the principles of sustainability to further include the role of businesses and governments and considers the general recognition that modern society has occurred at the expense of nature with significant social and environmental impacts. Are there limits to the individual’s ethical obligation? How do such obligations change or adapt to a world of sustainable design? As the shift toward sustainability proceeds, designers’ ethical underpinnings will be confronted with a wider range of people and concerns whose interests must be weighed. The design professionals are likely to be among the lead in the shift toward sustainability because of the special knowledge and expertise provided to them by their education, experience, and distinctive position in society. The entire world of design is being reassessed and the guiding principles and ethics of design reflect this change. New to the Second Edition: Expanded international scope that includes a comparison of professional organizations in the EU, Australia, Canada, Japan and China Discusses how cultural differences between the West and China result in different underlying foundations for professional ethics Revised analyses to reflect changes in regulatory and technical areas such as the inevitable rise of artificial intelligence in design Updated arguments reflecting the need for sustainability and the designer's role and obligations Updated references pertaining to the progress of sustainable design and development Sustainability and Design Ethics, Second Edition is an attempt to explore the ideas and principles that might contribute to the thinking of thoughtful design professionals. The emergence of "green" design discussed in this book is used to evidence progress, but also to demonstrate the degree to which more is needed.