Business & Finance

Sustainability-focused startups are entering established companies’ market space, bringing both new threats and new opportunities. Employees want to work for them, customers are willing to pay more for their products and investors are eager to become shareholders. “Hybrid social ventures” like Whole Foods, Patagonia, and Honest Tea that combine commerce with sustainability missions are leading the movement for sustainability-oriented innovation in business.

It’s raining money! Or so Gov. Jerry Brown would have us believe. The new state budget assumes $2.2 billion in new revenue from California’s pioneering cap-and-trade program designed to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

On a bright afternoon two days after the beginning of classes, first-year student Nathan Hall took some time to sit down with me outside Kroon Hall to talk about the path that has led him to FES. He was born and raised in the coalfields of eastern Kentucky. His family has lived there since the revolutionary war. But the region has faced considerable challenges in modern times. “I’m from the most unhealthy and poorest congressional district in the US,” said Nathan.

CERES' modus operandi is to get the world's largest investors and corporations to integrate sustainability into their core business strategies. Through appeals to enlightened corporate self-interest and to "the better angels of their nature," CERES in effect reprograms the corporation's DNA. Burrowed deep into the business community, CERES focuses on changing corporate culture with respect not only to environmental sustainability, but also with respect to climate risk, transparency and disclosure, and supply chain supervision.

Proactively assessing and minimizing the environmental impact of producing foods and beverages can help manufacturers minimize the impact of climate change on Earth and on their bottom line by improving the reliability of their supply chain, quality of their products and reputation, argues sustainability activists. Heather Coleman quoted on ADAPT tool, a five-step process that serves as a best practice that can be modified based on a company's resources.