MQ

Shifting my blog address to http://quayle/blogs.sauder.ubc.ca/.  Hope you can still find me!

Our city was hit with an amazing influx of ideas and energy last week – the Gaining Ground/Resilient Cities conference was in town.  Over 750 registrants (the biggest GG ever) and a resounding success in terms of ideas exchanged, emotions stirred and actions at the top of mind.

Sad for me, I missed a great deal of the conference – trying to touch down on all the other events that were also happening last week that were important to me.  But here are some general tid-bits – and then I’ll do two specific blogs – one on the Bold New Economy Panel and one on the GCAT panel.

High points that I heard…

Gene Miller (conference host and sustainability impresario)

• Good citizens are the riches of the city.
• Cities are places where real change can happen.
• It’s about fostering conversation among citizens.
• Integrative thinking is key.
• Why can’t Vancouver be the sustainability learning capital of North America?

Rob Abbott (conference moderator and director of sustainability stratos inc.)

• The future is created and the act of creating requires courage.
• Sustainability is not a problem to be solved, but a future to be created.
• Our patterns of city growth must change with low carbon, community based solutions.

Paul Hawkin (environmentalist, entrepreneur and author – Blessed Unrest)

• Resiliency = eco-system thinking.
• It’s about resilient cities (cities are inherently resilient) in a brittle world.
• It’s about re-imagining our cities.
• Cities are the level of sovereignty that can be effective re: climate change
• It’s a challenge around literacy – perceptions about the environment – the trivialization of the issues – as if using towels twice is going to solve the issue.
• Herman Daly:  We are using more of what we have less of (resources); and using less of what we have more of (people).  What is wrong?
• Who we are is defined by each other.

All of the conference presentations should be up on the web-site in the next week or so at www.gaininggroundsummit.com

Chapter 3 of the BC Business Council’s Outlook 2020 series happened last week in the midst of all the other numerous events scheduled.  As a result, I only caught one of the sessions, missing the panel discussion on Resourcing the Future:  BC’s Natural Advantage with Peter Woodbridge (who I am very impressed with – he authored the paper on the forest industry);  Randy Jespersen, President and CEO of Tersen; and Pierre Gratton, President and CEO of the Mining Association of BC.

The panel session that I did attend was called:  Servicing the Future:  Creativity’s Competitive Advantage in Changing Times. Moderated by Ida Goodreau, CEO of Lifelabs Medical Laboratory Services the session provided lots of good information about the potential of BC’s service sector.

In summary…

Michael Goldberg – Dean Emeritus, Sauder School of Business, UBC

• There has been a dramatic growth in world exports of commercial services in the last couple of years;  US and EU are the dominant players – Canada is behind.  Trading in services grew 36.3% while trading in goods grew 26.8%.  And employment projections are for growth in the service sector.
• Highlighted 10 exportable services – but health and education are key where we have large public expenditures and huge financial stress.
• Keys to exporting tradeable services:  connectivity, high quality of life, education, health, public services and labour supply.
• Challenges:  other regions are doing it too, can be slow to develop, goods matter and services don’t, trade barriers
• Need to fund BC Stats to provide us with good information
• See Mike’s paper at www.bcbc.com:  Building the Economic Base:  Tradeable Services.

Pascal Spothelfer – President and CEO of the BC Technology Industry Association

• In 1984 the tech sector in BC was 1.8% of GDP and in 2007 it was 5.9% — employs 81,000 people.
• Strengths:  entrepreneurial foundation, breadth (life sciences, IT, new media, clean tech)
• Weaknesses:  small companies, poor export performance
• The tech industry needs more medium size/large companies to train and feed the management pool;  exports are essential – we need to find ways to enable smaller companies to become exporters;  we need to understand the sector and develop growth strategies.
• The keys are supporting education and building HR capacity.
• S & T is important to dealing with climate change, energy supply and human health.
• See Pascal’s paper at www.bcbc.com:  BC’s Advanced Technology Sector:  Reaching for the Next Level.

Chris Thomas, QC – Consultant to Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

• Themes:  the Internet and Information Technology – the decoupling of services vis-à-vis geographic location; and, Infrastructure.
• Singapore is “best in class” when it comes to tradeable services – they now operate over 28 ports around the world (YVR active in this area too).  The Singapore story is that they are short of water – so they have applied S & T to (1) improve catchment technology; (2) developed techniques for treating sewage; and (3) developing low energy desalination processes.  Singapore is now the world authority on “water” and provides consulting services globally.
• We need to study our strengths and determine what we do well – and then unlock the economic opportunities – needs imagination and careful thought.
• We can leverage our strong education and hard work.

Ron Burnett, President of Vice-Chancellor, Emily Carr University of Art and Design

• It’s about creativity in the digital age – the creative economy and the cultural industries provide new opportunities.
• The business value-add of design  — anecdotal examples – and we do use designed items and a designed world everyday.  MQ note:  where are the metrics on the value-add of design?  Research needed.
• Opportunities in Health Design Engineering
• Creative Sector – in 2007  $84.6B, 7.4% of GDP and 1.1 million jobs.
• Opportunities in the new green economy.
• See Ed Mansfield’s paper on:  the Creative Sector at www.bcbc.com.

MQ Reflections:

• Am appreciative of the BCBC series – especially the papers that provide us with the key background information and context to understand where we are now and where we are headed from a future economic point of view.  Thank you BC Business Council.
• Because I was going back and forth between the Outlook Series and the Resilient Cities conference, it was hard to miss the disconnect.   I was surprised at how the BCBC panels didn’t discuss the zero carbon or carbon-constrained economy and its opportunities.  Pascal mentioned some of the opportunities.   But there was no real discussion on how we are going to take advantage, in a creative and innovative way, of the change that is upon us .  Whereas at the Resilient Cities conference there were some really hard-nosed sessions on the economy, where it is going, what we could be and should be doing with some specific actions (next blog).
• Need to get these two groups together – will be interesting to see the City of Vancouver’s Economic Development Plan which is coming soon.  Might be a good topic for a BCBC session.

…is a book by Avivah Wittenberg-Cox and Alison Maitland (2008).  The UBC Sauder School of Business; Borden, Ladner, Gervais; RBC; and, WomenOnBoard pulled together to present the 2009 Women on Board Forum:  Transforming Corporate Culture.

Everybody seemed to pick this week to host a Forum or Conference.  So I only managed to attend the first part of the Forum — but I did catch the intriguing presentation by the first author of this book, Avivah Wittenberg-Cox.  I had planned to leave earlier (feeling conference overload) but her presentation held me.

Avivah is a Canadian living and working in Paris (envy).  She is the CEO of 20-First, a company that works with progressive companies interested in diversifying their leadership teams and optimizing both halves of the talent pool and both halves of the market — the female and male halves (this from the bio).

I have never been much for focusing only on women — women-only events, women’s business networks and so on.  It was so great to listen to somebody  intimately engaged in this area who offered gems like (and I am paraphrasing from my notes):

• The world is moving from the image of pyramids (hierarchical) to the image of the pomegranite (when you view it cut in half) — decentralized and networked.
• It isn’t really about getting more women on boards, it is about getting more women in executive positions — then the board balance will happen.
• It’s not a women’s issue — it is an economic issue.  Re-frame it around the 3 W’s:  the web (technology); women (arrival of women and their economic roles especially as consumers (lots of evidence is Sept’s Harvard Business Review’s feature on The Female Economy)); and, Weather (climate change/sustainability).
• What is importance is the correlation between gender balance and a better bottom line.
• Stop talking about “fixing women” — somehow there is an assumption that we need tips and lots of help.  Avivah is saying that we need to turn the question around:  What is wrong with companies that can’t retain or attract women?
• Women and men are different — don’t try to treat them the same.  We need to recognize the differences.

There was a ton of info in her talk.  It hopefully was video-taped — but I can point you to her book (thanks to RBC all attendees got a copy) which I haven’t read yet but look forward to doing so.

It makes me wonder about our business education globally.  Given our gender balance in business schools — what is the language we use?  How do we discuss this issue?  Is it even on the table?

I guess I had better find out!

Yesterday at the Gaining Ground/Resilient Cities conference Mayor Gregor Robertson welcomed over 750 participants and took the opportunity to give them a sneak peek at Vancouver 2020:  A Bright Green Future, the 10-year plan which is the result of almost a year’s work by the Mayor’s Greenest City Action Team (GCAT).  The report includes 10 goals with specific targets for 2020.  The high level list is:

1.  Green Economy Capital

2.  Climate Leadership

3.  Green Buildings

4.  Green Mobility

5.  Zero WAste

6.  Easy Access to Nature

7.  Lighter Footprint

8.  Clean Water

9.  Clean Air

10.  Local Food.

I am particularly interested in the GCAT process — and that is what we’ll be discussing this afternoon at the Gaining Ground/Resilient Cities conference.  We are doing a workshop on GCAT — the “we” is Gord Price (SFU City Program and former City Councillor); Rob Safrata (CEO of Novex Couriers); Melina Scholefield (Director of Sustainability at City of Vancouver).  We’ll be reflecting on the process and what opportunities and challenges A Bright Green Future presents for us.

This is a very busy week — yesterday alone I attended parts of Gaining Ground (including a workshop on The Bold New Economy (future blog), the BC Business Council’s Chapter 3 of the Outlook 2020 series (future blog), the celebratory Board of Trade lunch for the CEO of the Canada Line, Jane Bird, and a reception hosted jointly by the UBC Centre for Sustainability and Social Innovation and the University of Oregon’s Centre for Sustainable Business Practice — both of these centres are located in their respective business schools.  This week we are also hosting a delegation from Portland led by Mayor Sam Adams.  Yesterday we set up a session to share some of UBC’s sustainability initiatives (future blog).

And today promises to be equally busy.  To find the full GCAT report — here is the link:

http://vancouver.ca/greenestcity/PDF/Vancouver%202020%20A%20Bright%20Green%20Future.pdf

Sub-national governments can influence 50-80% of all climate mitigation strategies (according to UNDP).  The power of the subnational governments globally was one of the themes of the Summit.

It was very useful to immerse myself in a global discussion on climate change – and to hear what various regions are and are not doing.  The amount of information flow at the Summit was overwhelming.  I realized that I had to pace myself in terms of how much I could actually take in.  While there were participants from the federal scene and the UN, it was still predominantly the messages from the sub-national units that came through most potently.

Our Ambassador Designate to the US, Gary Doer, gave an impassioned speech citing the costs of doing nothing – and highlighting work from the Western Climate Initiative and importance of both continuing the dialogue and getting going on actions.

The Summit itself wrapped up the a Climate Change Agreement being signed by 30 Global Provincial/Regional Leaders.  The agreement “commits to work together to pursue clean transportation and mobility, support national climate change legislation, include forests in climate policy development, acknowledge the need for adaptation efforts and recognize the role of sub-national governments in the discussions on the next global climate agreement being negotiated in Copenhagen this December”.

“This summit confirmed that there are solutions to the climate challenge and regions are definitely a part of those solutions,” said Olav Kjorven, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and director of policy at United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). “I’m delighted to see how regions are exploring the ways they can address climate change. This is the can-do spirit we need to seal the deal in Copenhagen. At UNDP, we will step up our work with regions and national governments on planning, financing and implementing the foundations of a low carbon and poverty-free future.”

These quotes come from:

http://www.egovmonitor.com/node/29215

So that’s it for the MQ coverage of the Governors’ Global Climate Summit 2.  Thanks to the Sauder Business School at UBC for support to attend.  Am intending on using this experience, these contacts and the associated information to shape my interactions with students and faculty alike over the coming months.

Stunning fact:  Oceans are not yet on the agenda for Copenhagen (at least they weren’t on Oct 1.09).  I notice quite a bit of web traffic on the need for ocean acidification to be front and centre during the Copenhagen discussions.

This was a break-out session that ended the day on Thursday.  Was slightly disrupted by the power going off in the Hyatt for a couple of hours.  A message?

The session was chaired by Pete Grannis, Commissioner of the NY State Dept of Environmental Conservation and moderated by Jim Ayers, VP of the Pacific Region of Oceana.  The line-up was:  Governor Gwendolyn Garcia of Cebu, Philippines; John Ginivan ED for Planning and Community Development, Victoria, Australia; Dr. Tony Haymet, Director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography, California; Bart van Bolhuis, Consult General of Netherlands in LA; and Dr. Dessima Williams, Ambassador of Grenada to the UN.

Highlights:

Because there was no power, there was also thankfully no powerpoints.  But Tony Haymet from Scripps was inventive – he drew 3 graphs on 81/2×11 paper to explain 3 sets of data:  CO2 (up 39%);  Ocean Acidity (up 30%); and Sea Level Rise (1.2m rise by 2100).   Powerful message.

Cebu in the Philippines has a great program – the government provides paper, pencils and books for students – in return the students are each requested to plant 10 trees.  3million trees have been planted so far!

Advice from the Netherlands:  build with nature, live with water;  national policy and inter-regional cooperation essential; and sea level rise needs to be high on the global agenda – a cross-cutting issue.

Next and last blog coming up about the Governors’ Global Climate Summit 2.

The cab driver test – you know how it goes.  You get in the cab and you ask them a burning question – like “what do you think about this whole climate change deal?”  And you get a response that is totally anecdotal but always interesting.  Terry Tamminen started this session with his own story which gave an example of both ends of the response spectrum.

The line-up for this plenary included:  Governor Ted Kulongoski from Oregon,  Governor Jim Doyle from Wisconsin, Theodor Craver, CEO of Edison International, David Cush, CEO of Virgin America, Premier Danny Williams from Nfld & Laborador, Michael Rea from the Carbon Trust in the UK, and, Pablo Mandeville, Uruguay Resident Coordinator for UN.

Noted without attribution (notice how as the conference proceeded my note-taking lagged!)

• Oregon is pushing ahead on clean-tech jobs – 1 out of 100 workers now in clean tech jobs.
• Wisconsin is investing in research  — especially alternative energy – they have already invested in Life Sciences and Medicine.  Now it is the energy sector’s turn.
• Newfoundland/Labrador – energy warehouse of Canada.  Detailed ocean mapping technologies key.  Made the comment that our Canadian stimulus packages should have been about the green economy.  Hear. Hear.
• Airlines like Virgin America are looking for efficient flight paths to minimize fuel.  Mentioned the need for a public policy context to make change in the airline industry.

And the next blog will be on Oceans.

Speakers from all over the world – chaired by Gavin Jennings, Minister for Environment and Climate Change for Victoria, Australia and moderated by Don Paul, the ED of the University of Southern California Energy Institute.

I’d like to highlight three speakers:

Roberto Formigoni, President, Lombardy Regional Administration, Italy:

Talked about the importance of sub-national/regional leadership in terms of environmental policies and support for industry.  This was a main theme of the whole Summit – can’t wait for the feds, let’s get on with it.    He spoke of two instruments that were being used in Lombardy (Milan being the main city):

1. Laws/Regulations – ie emission restrictions; and
2. Economic Stimulus – ie support for “virtuous” companies (virtuous was his word – or at least the translator’s)

For example, Lombardy has instituted an Air Pollution Law (2006) that sets out specific limits.  They are also supporting European Union Research Centre in Lombardy around sustainable transportation.  And they are provided private citizens with new energy technology.  They are noticing the birth of new companies whose mission is to reduce pollution.  There is a tight correlation between the laws/regulations and the companies.  I have sent an email to President Formigoni’s staff to get more info.

Tony Prophet, Senior VP, Hewlett Packard US

Tony talked about the HP Framework in the context of global citizenship and corporate social responsibility (hoping this phraseology is replaced soon!).  The HP Framework is as follows (or at least this is what my notes said):

1. Understanding their carbon footprint – 3.5 metric tonnes/year
2. Transparency key – everything is open
3. Target – 20% reduction by 2013 – energy efficiency, employee travel reduction, reducing weight of their packaging
4. Substitution – using energy that is less carbon intensive and depending more on renewables
5. Recycling – right now they recycle 1.7B lbs of e-waste – they are targeting 2B lbs
6. Indirect Impact – they are measuring their impact globally (I think he said IT is 2% of global GHGs), looking towards smart grid and also interested in transforming more of their business practices.

Andrew Winston

Talked more than anyone about the need for “heretical innovation” and about the role that business schools need to be playing in sustainability.  He asked and answered the question – what should sub-national governments do?

1. Develop a toolkit for green building incentives.
2. Establish maximum speeds for trucks.
3. Establish anti-idling laws.
4. Get more creative – e.g. easier permitting for solar energy.
5. Eliminate subsidies for traditional industries.

This last one is of great interest to me and it was the same message that Robert F. Kennedy J. gave at the Calgary Gaining Ground conference – yes – it is going to cost to move to renewables – but remember we (the US in this case) are subsiding coal fired plants big-time.

Next up:  Driving Technological Innovation and Sustainable Economic Growth.

If global temperatures increase “only” 2 degrees, the World Bank estimates that the cost of adaptation with be $75B -$100B per year until 2050.  Whew.  Another speaker at the Global Climate Summit 2 “Adaptation Panel” was Michele de Nevers, the Senior Manager of the Environment Department at The World Bank.  She stated that for developing countries, it is about adaptation.  Unfortunately, they are the recipients of climate change.  Financing adaptation is challenging – it is about compensation and a case of “polluter pays”.   So how much will adaptation cost?  What is the base case?  And what actions do countries need to take?  The cost estimates range  and much work is now occurring on this topic.  And obviously, “who pays” and “how much” will be on the agenda for Copenhagen.

The academic perspective was provided by Dr. Stephen Schneider, Professor at Stanford in Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies.    From his perspective, we need to change the way we debate the issues.  The problems we face are not solvable by typical business models.  How many dollars are we going to spend to solve the problems?  There are policies and measures required – especially we need to get the price of carbon right.  He discussed the ‘sequence of the do-able’:

1. Help developing nations.
2. Develop performance standards.
3. Be inventive about solving the problems – use P3s, provide incentives for business and have the courage to act.
4. Put a shadow price on carbon.

For more info on Dr. Schneider’s work:  visit http://stephenschneider.stanford.edu/.

Perhaps the most powerful speaker of the Summit was Dr. Dessima Williams – the Ambassador of Grenada to the UN and the Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States.  Similarly to Jane Goodall, Dr. Williams began with a “call”.  In her case, it was the Caribbean way of expressing joy and sorrow – the same words but with very different inflection – up at the end for job and down at the end for sorrow.  So we practiced with her.  It was her entrée to talk about speaking up and speaking out.  As small island nations, there is obviously a profound need to address climate adaptation.  So her point is that they need to be far more vocal about their issues and far more active in global negotiations.  She is taking her own advice – she was on her way to the pre-meeting for Copenhagen after the summit to make the point that the target needs to be below 2 degrees – more like 1.5 degrees.   She passionately discussed small island power and the importance of education, training and developing renewable energy.

Next up, opportunities for industry in a carbon-constrained world.