Interview with Mindy Lubber, president of Ceres
With decades of experience in the corporate, legal and policy arenas, Mindy Lubber is no stranger to environmental issues and advocacy. Prior to her appointment as executive director of Ceres in January of 2003, Lubber was a founding board member of the organization, regional administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency’s New England Office, a leading environmental attorney and a strategic advisor on Ceres’ Sustainable Governance Project. She was also president of Green Century Capital Management and received the prestigious Skoll Foundation Social Entrepreneur Award in 2006.
We recently had the opportunity to chat with Mindy about the ever-changing face of the environmental movement, the role businesses and consumers can play and Ceres’ unique position to partner with them to improve the planet.
SD: What is Ceres?
ML: Ceres is a national network of investors, environmental organizations and other public interest groups working with companies and investors to address sustainability challenges such as global climate change. At its founding in 1989, Ceres introduced a bold new vision to the business community in which companies and capital markets promote the well being of human society and the protection of the earth’s resources. Ceres advances its vision by bringing investors, environmental groups and other stakeholders together to encourage companies and the financial community to incorporate environmental and social issues into their day-to-day decision-making. By leveraging the collective power of investors and other key stakeholders, Ceres has achieved dramatic results. Ceres has spearheaded dozens of breakthrough achievements with companies, such as Dell agreeing to support national legislation to require electronic product recycling and “takeback” programs, and Bank of America announcing a $20 billion initiative to support environmentally sustainable business activity to address climate change. In February 2008, Ceres brought together more than 450 institutional investors, Wall Street leaders and CEOs from around the world at the United Nations to tackle the enormous risks posed by climate change, as well as the economic opportunities of a global transition to a clean energy future.
SD: How do you define green? Has your perspective changed/evolved?
ML: I define green from a business perspective. In order for the business community to ‘be green’, companies need to integrate environmental concerns throughout their business. Drilling sustainable practices more deeply across all operations, global supply chains, product lines and employees, including the board of directors and CEO, is needed immediately and universally. The supply chain problems we’re seeing in China are clear evidence of the challenge before us.
While my perspective hasn’t changed, the landscape for ‘greening’ corporate America has shifted dramatically. Large and small corporations alike are embracing their responsibility to demonstrate environmental and social leadership . “Sustainability,” a term rarely heard in corporate boardrooms and executive suites a decade ago, is now common talk amongst CEOs. And companies are stepping forward in a variety of ways. Pacific Gas & Electric is leveraging energy efficiency to save Californians billions of dollars on their energy bills. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters is sourcing organically grown, fair-trade coffee. McDonald’s and Ikea are requiring suppliers to meet social and environmental standards and Toyota and Honda are manufacturing low-emission hybrid vehicles.
These efforts should be celebrated, but they are only a start. Undertaking one or two special environmental projects - such as installing solar panels or buying carbon offsets - is not enough to address the challenges before us. Companies must do more. Dell understands this challenge and has shown leadership in the IT industry by focusing its environmental efforts on product recycling, energy efficiency, supply chain accountability and design for environment.
SD: When it comes to the environment, what advice do you give companies?
ML: Companies’ performance on social and environmental issues does affect competitiveness, profitability and business performance. Climate change exemplifies the challenge better than most. A company’s response to the threats and opportunities from climate change, whether from physical impacts or foreseeable carbon emission limits, will have a material bearing on shareholder value. Every company in America must adopt an environmental ethic that will be built into the corporation’s core strategy and ensure that the CEO, Board of Directors, and other governance bodies are held accountable for specific results. Companies must articulate this commitment through measurement, disclosure and clear and quantifiable performance trends.
There are many different ways that sustainability can be integrated into corporate strategies. We encourage companies to work with stakeholders to identify emerging issues in order to position the company to be proactive rather reactive. Diverse stakeholders can ask questions and provide perspectives that can help companies recognize risks, as well as identify opportunities for positive change. Often, these conversations result in innovative solutions to address climate, water scarcity, toxic waste and sustainable development. For example, health and beauty product maker Aveda is reducing the footprint of its product lines by sourcing organic ingredients from indigenous farmers, and packing products in 100 percent post-consumer recycled materials. And Sun Microsystems is saving millions of dollars on office-space costs - while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions - by encouraging employees to work from home.
These solutions are good steps, but companies must incorporate sustainability into the DNA of their business from the boardroom to the copy room, in order to remain competitive and profitable.
SD: What about consumers, how can they separate the leaders from the laggards?
ML: We need changes in consumption patterns and lifestyle choices from billions of people, which can only be possible if consumers have accurate information about the impacts of the products they purchase.
Timberland’s new “nutritional labels” are one example of the type of marketing and consumer-oriented disclosure that is needed. Launched in 2006, these labels were the first of its kind in the retail industry, providing information on where a product is made, how much energy was used to make it, the portion that is renewable and the factor’s labor record. Timberland is now providing even more detailed information in its “Green Index,” which conveys shoe-specific environmental impacts to customers. The challenge here is for other apparel and footwear companies to give consumers similar information so you can compare while you shop.
We’ve also been pleased to see Dell taking a leadership role in responding to consumer concerns about the IT industry’s environmental impacts. In 2006 Dell launched the first-ever global product recovery program, which enables consumers to recycle any computer product for free. Dell has also increased its products’ energy efficiency, minimized its own facilities climate impacts by purchasing electricity from renewable energy sources and launched the “Plant A Tree for Me” program that allows customers to offset the emissions associated with electricity that their computers use. We’re excited to see that Dell is extending its efforts to the supply chain by requesting that primary suppliers assess and report their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions data so Dell too can prioritize environmental responsibility through its purchasing practices.
The more that companies involve consumers in viable solutions to environmental and sustainability challenges, the more likely it is that consumers will see them as leaders.
SD: What is the most significant contribution Ceres has made to advance environmental responsibility?
ML: In 1997, Ceres launched the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), now the de-facto international standard used by over 1,300 companies worldwide for corporate reporting on environmental, social and economic performance. Additionally, in 2003 Ceres launched the Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR), a group of more than 60 leading institutional investors with collective assets of over $5 trillion that promotes better understanding of the financial risks and opportunities posed by climate change.
These two accomplishments represent significant movement and opportunities for leadership on the part of two of the most powerful actors in our society - the corporate and financial sectors. Disclosure is a fundamental mechanism of accountability, as it helps companies align internal and external strategy on environmental, social and governance issues. Investors need information to understand how companies are positioned in regard to climate and other sustainability issues. By matching disclosure with the collective power of investors to promote improved accountability and corporate governance practices on sustainability issues, we are now working with those that can instill the largest positive change because of their reach and ability to leverage the necessary resources.
SD: Ten years from now, what will you look back at and say you achieved?
ML: Climate change is arguably the biggest sustainability challenge of our time. In addition to corporate-led solutions, we urgently need mandatory climate policy from the U.S. government that is designed to achieve absolute GHG emissions reductions to mitigate the worst effects of climate change.
New national policy should include mandatory market-based solutions, such as a cap-and-trade system, that include specific GHG emission limits, an economy-wide carbon price, and encourage flexibility and innovation. A realignment of national energy and transportation policies is also needed to stimulate research, development and deployment of new and existing clean technologies at the scale necessary to achieve GHG reduction goals. Corporations can have great opportunity to help advocate and bring about these changes.
I hope that then years from now, we’ll can all look back and say that we brought about the changes necessary to curb global climate change and ensure a profitable and sustainable future.
