SEA Attends UN Conference

On November 18 and 19, a group of SEA-ers attended the first United Nations Global Conference for Social Change. Complimentary tickets were provided by Louise Guido, CEO of the Foundation of Social Change and Professor Jill Kickul.  The Foundation for Social Change is a non-profit organization that was designed to teach companies how to implement their social action strategies.

Amir Dossal, the Executive Director of the UN Office for Partnerships, kicked off the first day by emphasizing that developing countries will only thrive with the investment of corporations.  Though billions of dollars are donated each year, moving from philanthropic giving to investing in the poor is the factor that will drive sustainable change. All corporations need to move to a place where Corporate Social Responsibility will be part of the DNA of the organization.

Ms. Guido supported this sentiment as she noted that one of her main goals it to help companies make money while bettering the world at the same time.  The energy levels were rising as she suggested that we reconsider the term "Corporate Social Responsibility" and rebrand it as "Corporate Social Opportunity" as it carries a feeling of hope and change for people to make a difference.

Bennett Freeman was up next. Freeman is the Senior VP of Calvert Investments. Calvert Investments has been one of the leaders in Socially Responsible Investments. Calvert allows its investors to make money while at the same time investing in companies which better the world.

Nike focused on the environmental impacts of producing their products.  Traditionally, the manufacturing component of Nike has had deleterious effects on the surrounding environment because of amongst other things, the water deficit and the raw material consumption. Nike gave a 15-minute detailing how they are manufacturing better products with less waste.

The Coca-Cola presentation was delivered by Jeff Seabright, Coca-Cola's Vice President of Environment and Water Resources with focus on water. One of Coca-Cola's main goals is to not deplete the water resources in the areas that they operate in. Seabright elaborated on Coca-Cola's business dealings in Africa.  Seabright spoke about Coca-Cola's operations in Africa including that Coca-Cola is Africa's largest private employer and its new freshwater plant in Rwanda.

Mindy Lubber of Ceres described Ceres's Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), which measures corporate reporting performance that includes sustainable reporting guidelines and is setting corporate precedents. Ceres is a national network of investors and environmental organizations working to address sustainability challenges.  Lubber maintained that companies need to get to the point where sustainability drives how products are made, so the impact goes from the "Board room to the copy room." She assuaged concerns that Environment Regulation would hurt business noting that the Clean Water and Clean Air Acts did not kill business.

Following Lubber was Anthony Corsano of Anvil Knitwear. Anvil specializes in creating Organically produced clothing. Corsano defined "Organically produced" as products produced with components treated with pesticides and fertilizers that are not synthetically produced. Corsano also spoke of Anvil's new website TrackMyT.com, where you can see where the t-shirt you purchased came from. Disney has been partnering with Anvil and customers have been very pleased.

The most inspirational presentation was done by Ray Anderson of Interface. Interface is one of the world's largest manufacturers of modular carpet for commercial and residential applications. Anderson had an epiphany 15 years ago after reading Paul Hawken's The Ecology of Commerce. Anderson stated that the "The Earth has a cancer, and it's called business." After reading The Ecology of Commerce, Anderson realized that he was contributing to this cancer and resolved to change it. Anderson created his vision of "Mission Zero", the company's promise to eliminate any negative effect it has on the environment. It is already halfway there and he looks forward to achieving that goal. Anderson spoke of his own battle with cancer and how we must put the same energy into saving the Environment as he is in saving his own body. He received a standing ovation.

Thursday afternoon included presentations by Fabio Barbosa of Santander Bank Brazil and Bo Miller of Dow Chemical. Both speakers elaborated about how they were able to make their huge companies contribute to environmental sustainability. The first day ended with the Foundation for Social Change presenting an award to Santana Roberts, a 16 year-old who raised money for the Rhode Island Community Food Bank. Santana staged a concert with over 20 acts to raise money to end hunger in Rhode Island.

The UN Global Conference for Social Change brought leaders and innovators together to share their stories of achievement and create new ideas for "bettering the world" so that we all can progress from talking about social change, to actually making it a reality.