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AFFILIATES,
ASSOCIATES & USEFUL ORGANISATIONS
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In 1986, when I started working in the environmental world, I joined an
organization called Earthlife, which no longer exists. In 1987 I started working with
John Elkington from his home in Barnes. We co-founded SustainAbility in Spring of that year
and have co-written eight books together, including the original Green Consumer Guide.
SustainAbility has moved offices several times since then but I sold out in 1995 moving away from
London and back to my roots in Somerset. Since then I have worked independently from my
home but often alongside other organizations.
I sat on the board of government Eco-Labelling bodies since 1989, including
the UK Eco-Labelling Board (UKEB) and the Advisory Committee on Consumer Products and the
Environment (ACCPE), where I was Vice Chair. I have been a director of Out of This
World, chain of supermarkets (1994-2000) and Jupiter Global Green Investment Trust (2001-2006) and
a Trustee of the Ecos Trust (2005-2008), as well as a member of the Food Ethics Council
(2006-present).
In 2002, I co-founded the Haller Foundation (now known as Haller) with
Louise Piper, where I am still a Trustee. Charles Middleton, Managing Director of Triodos Bank is the Chair.
Below are links to some of the organisations I have been involved with.
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In 2003, I co-founded the Haller
Foundation with Louise Piper who
handed over the reigns as Director in 2009 to Niduk
Wijayasingha-Watson.
Since then we have built an environmental
education centre, started a mobile medical centre, run courses in sustainable
agriculture for subsistence farmers, built dams and set up sustainable communities.
But the idea is much wider than this. We’re aiming to promote the innovative,
eco-system thinking to development - initially in Africa but ultimately further
afield. Charles Middleton, MD of Triodos Bank is Chair.
For background on Rene Haller, see
this article I wrote for the Telegraph in 2009.
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BLUE RUBICON
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I first met Fiona Joyce from Blue Rubicon in the early 1990s when she was working with the
plastics industry. More recently, as a director of Blue Rubicon, she has asked me to
be involved in a number of projects. This includes introducing me to Morrisons and
working with British Gas on Generation Green.
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CHILLING FACTS
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Did you know that as much as 30% of the carbon footprint of supermarkets come
from the cooling gases used in their refrigeration systems? And that's before you take
account of the energy for powering equipment. I've been working with the Environmental
Investigation Agency (EIA) on the Chilling Facts campaign set up to highlight the
problem. We want to get public attention focused on the issue so that supermarkets will
switch to climate-friendly cooling gases. This is technically possible but the Chilling Facts
survey launched at the beginning of February 2009 shows that supermarkets are being slow to
switch. See more about this on my blog . Also send a letter to supermarkets asking
them to do more which can be one on the Chilling facts website.
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EARTHCARE PRODUCTS
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Earthcare are experts in reducing the environmental impact of
refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pumps. They have both the technical
expertise and knowledge on climate-change friendly coolants and energy efficiency. And
Nick Cox, who runs the organization is involved in the Chilling Facts campaign with the
Environmental Investigation Agency.
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EARTHLIFE
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Through Earthlife's wide range of projects it aimed to promote the shift to
technologies, lifestyles and economies based on the sustainable use of the planet's
resources. It's main campaign was to raise a large sum of money to underwrite the
conservation of one of Africa's richest rainforests in the Cameroon. I started working
with John Elkington at Earthlife in 1986 on the publication Green Pages. In 1987 we then
moved to John's house in Barnes, from where we set up SustainAbility.
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ECO-LABELLING
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I have been involved in eco-labelling since its inception in the late
1980s. After John Elkington and I wrote the original Green Consumer Guide we had a
number of people approach us to suggest that we set up our own scheme giving a ‘green consumer’
endorsement to products and services. We realized that this wasn’t practical or desirable and
could take over our whole operations, so I was happy to join a government initiative exploring
how to approach eco-labeling.
This evolved into the UK Eco-Labeling Board, which ran the UK part of the EC
Eco-Labeling Scheme. And this was followed by the Advisory Committee on Consumer Products and
the Environment (ACCPE), where I was vice-chair.
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ECOS TRUST
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Between 2005 and 2008 I sat on the board of the Ecos Trust, formerly known as the Somerset Trust for Sustainable
Development. This is a charity promoting sustainable building projects and lobbying
for stronger regional policies on this issue. They also have a membership – it's worth
joining – and run training courses on eco-building issues. I am now a Patron of
the organisation.
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ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE
INSTITUTE
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In 2007 I worked with the Environmental Change Institute in Oxford on
Personal Carbon Allowances (PCAs). They had been commissioned by government to
explore the potential for trials testing the idea of personal carbon allowances to see if
they would be an effective tool for reducing individual carbon emissions.
Here's a link to their current work on this topic - http://www.eci.ox.ac.uk/research/energy/pct.php
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ENVIRONMENTAL INVESTIGATION AGENCY
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The Enviromental Investigation Agency (EIA) contacted me in 2008
for help in highlighting the huge climate change impact of supermarket refrigeration.
I suggested a survey ranking the supermarkets on their performance. The EIA
carried out this survey and with help from Nick Cox and me produced a league table, which
was published early in 2009. Radio 4’s Costing the Earth programme covered the
issue and the Chilling Facts campaign was launched. The idea is to carry out an
annual survey and the 2009 results will be published around the end of the year.
Fionnuala Walravens is running the campaign – she is a world authority on climate-friendly
refrigeration and represents the NGO perspective at international conferences.
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EXPLORATION ARCHITECTURE - MICHAEL PAWLYN
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“Michael is one of the most passionate advocates of sustainable
architecture I have ever met” says Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, founder of Grimshaw
architectural practice, where Michael worked for 10 years. Whilst there he was a central part
of the team behind the world famous Eden Project and when he left in 2007, he set up
Exploration Architecture.
In describing Exploration Architecture, Michael says “We draw inspiration from nature
to devise solutions that produce radical increases in resource efficiency – creating more
from less”.
As well as lecturing on this theme, Michael has come up with some truly
innovative and inspiring projects. One of these is a desalination plant, which uses one fifth
of the energy of a conventional system, whilst at the same time creating the setting for a
Water Theatre. This project was inspired by Namibian fog-basking beetle.
Another of Michael’s projects is ‘The Eco-Rainforest’ which demonstrates how to
use waste going to landfill site to create a large and productive greenhouse as a visitor
attraction – and make it hugely profitable too.
The commercial opportunities from Michael’s innovative, eco-system approach to
sustainability is a common theme, as is his focus on using energy from the sun. And this is
demonstrated in the Sahara Forest Project, which he is currently working on. The idea is to
produce large quantities of renewable energy, food and water, whilst at the same time reversing
desertification, using concentrated solar power to produce zero carbon electricity.
Michael laments the fact that in the carbon age it’s been far too easy to burn
fossil fuels and use an excessive amount of resources. He says that we’ve lost the ability to
be really ingenious. I think that Michael is the exception. His ideas are full of ingenuity and
they inspire real hope for the future.
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FOOD ETHICS COUNCIL
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I sit on the Food Ethics Council, which is a charity and independent think tank,
challenging government, business and society to 'make wise choices that lead to better food
and farming'. I've also chaired the business forum meetings on 'food miles',
'meat consumption' and, most recently, on food labeling.
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HISTORIC FUTURES
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I’ve worked with this company on traceability in supply chains demonstrating
the benefits - including improved efficiency and cost-saving - of knowing where and how
products have been grown and made. If you are interested in supply chain traceability,
have a look at their website - click here
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JOHN ELKINGTON
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Shortly after I returned from travelling in 1986, I started working with
John Elkington. In 1987 we co-founded SustainAbility and
have written eight books together, including The Green Consumer Guide. John continued
at SustainAbility after I left and is still a director, although in 2008 he set up another
organization called Volans Ventures.
Ever since I met John he has been an inspiration to me. Without him, I
would never have embarked on an environmental career and I am tremendously grateful. And
I continue to be inspired by his huge intellect, his energy and his dedication to environmental
causes.
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JUPITER ASSET MANAGEMENT
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Run by Jupiter Asset Management I was a Non-Executive Director of Jupiter
Global Green Investment Trust between 2001 and 2006, when it was rolled into a new fund -
Jupiter Green. The aim of JGGIT was to provide capital growth by investing worldwide
in companies that responded positively to the challenge of environmental sustainability or
were making a commitment to social well-being. JGGIT was advised by the Jupiter
Environmental Research Unit, a team of full time researchers dedicated to the assessment of
companies' environmental and ethical performance. This team is led by Emma Howard
Boyd. In 2006 this fund was rolled into Jupiter Green, which invests in environmental
solutions - it has a new board of directors.
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OUT OF THIS WORLD
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OUT OF THIS WORLD - I was a Non-Executive Director of Out of This World
between 1994 and 2000, when I stood down. The idea was to create a chain of ethical
supermarkets around the country, as a co-operative. Although only a few stores opened, OOTW
had a large membership and in 2002 won an award for the UK's Best established Retail
Store. But in 2007 it had to close down, largely because of competition from larger
supermarkets stocking more ethical produce. There is one shop remaining in Beeston
near Nottingham.
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PEARLFISHER
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Jonathan Ford and Mike Branson are directors of Pearlfisher - A leading edge design consultancy that includes Green
& Black chocolate and Innocent Drinks as clients. I've been working with them
on packaging issues. Jonathan is also a Trustee of Haller.
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RESOURCE RECOVERY NETWORK
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RRF is an international non-profit network of organizations interested in waste
management. The organisation was set up to research and promote the effective recovery of natural resources from waste, taking into account
environmental, social and economic considerations.
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SECOND NATURE
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Set up by Charles Perry and Mark Griffiths in 2009, Second Nature is advising companies on sustainability issues.
Clients include Tesco, the Conservative Party and Shell. We plan to work
together on future projects and have already started with Shell.
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STEVEN LOVERIDGE
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Steven Loveridge has been brilliant in helping me transform my website.
He has cleaned up the design, re-organised all the data, introduced live updates and rolling
photos, as well as made sure all the links and margins are working properly. He has
also improved my google search profile (search engine optimisation) and sorted out the
analytics so I know how many site visitors I have. The other web services he offers
include copywriting and optimising websites for business sales. Find out more by
visiting his website - www.stevenloveridge.net,
emailing him on steven@stevenloveridge.com or
telephoning on 01308 867200.
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SUSTAINABILITY
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SustainAbility was set up in the Spring of 1987 by John Elkington and
me. We were in the midst of writing the Green Consumer Guide. It became an
umbrella organisation for both writing books and carrying out environmental consultancy -
advising companies on sustainability issues. We started working for blue chip
companies such as Procter & Gamble, ICI, Novo Nordisk and British Airways quite early
on. And built up a reputation as a campaigning consultancy and think tank. Our
objectives were to 'make a difference, make money and have fun'. See more
about my years at SustainAbility by clicking here. For their current website, click here.
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UNEP GLOBAL 500
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In 1989 both John Elkington and I were elected to the United Nations Global 500
Roll of Honour for outstanding environmental achievement. In 1992 at the Rio Earth Summit, I
joined the Global 500 Committee, which was set up to promote the work of the award winning
laureates from around the world. See Global 500 website for more information.
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WASTEWATCH
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I joined the board of Waste Watch in February 2010. The organisation
has traditionally focused on waste and recycling and was a pre-cursor to WRAP (Waste
Resources Action Plan). However, it is revising its strategy to put less emphasis on
recycling and more on reducing waste of resources. The organisation also does a
lot of work with local authorities but I hope I can help them increase their work with
business - both advising and campaiging on waste issues.
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