A Study of Corporate Real Estate Resource Management

Corporate real estate resources have been estimated at over one quarter of the current market value of the total assets of major American corporations. This study, based upon interviews with corporate real estate executives, examines the current state of corporate real estate resource management practices. It found that while the dominant view of real estate continues to be a production factor within this sample of corporations, there has been significant growth of corporate real estate units. This has been accompanied by increased influence and more active real estate resource management.

Sensing reality? New monitoring technologies for global sustainability standards

In the 1990s, civil society organizations partnered with business to “green” global supply chains by setting up formal sustainability standard-setting organizations (SSOs) in sectors including organic food, fair trade, forestry, and fisheries. Although SSOs have withstood the long-standing allegations that they are unnecessary, costly, nondemocratic, and trade-distorting, they must now respond to a new challenge, arising from recent developments in technology. Conceived in the pre-Internet era, SSOs are discovering that verification systems that utilize annual, expert-led, low-tech field audits are under pressure from new information and communication technologies that collect, aggregate, interpret, and display open-source “Big Data” in almost real time. Drawing on the concept of governmentality and on interviews with experts in sustainability certification and natural capital accounting, we argue that while these technological developments offer many positive opportunities, they also enable competing alternatives to the prevailing “truth” or governing rationality about what is happening “on the ground,” which is of critical existential importance to SSOs as guarantors of trust in claims about sustainable production. While SSOs are not helpless in the face of this challenge, we conclude that they will need to do more than take incremental action: rather, they should respond actively to the disintermediation challenge from new virtual monitoring technologies if they are to remain relevant in the coming decade

Sensing reality? New monitoring technologies for global sustainability standards

In the 1990s, civil society organizations partnered with business to “green” global supply chains by setting up formal sustainability standard-setting organizations (SSOs) in secwtors including organic food, fair trade, forestry, and fisheries. Although SSOs have withstood the long-standing allegations that they are unnecessary, costly, nondemocratic, and trade-distorting, they must now respond to a new challenge, arising from recent developments in technology. Conceived in the pre-Internet era, SSOs are discovering that verification systems that utilize annual, expert-led, low-tech field audits are under pressure from new information and communication technologies that collect, aggregate, interpret, and display open-source “Big Data” in almost real time. Drawing on the concept of governmentality and on interviews with experts in sustainability certification and natural capital accounting, we argue that while these technological developments offer many positive opportunities, they also enable competing alternatives to the prevailing “truth” or governing rationality about what is happening “on the ground,” which is of critical existential importance to SSOs as guarantors of trust in claims about sustainable production. While SSOs are not helpless in the face of this challenge, we conclude that they will need to do more than take incremental action: rather, they should respond actively to the disintermediation challenge from new virtual monitoring technologies if they are to remain relevant in the coming decade. © 2017 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Comparing sustainability claims with assurance in organic agriculture standards

© 2019, © 2019 Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand Inc. Voluntary organic standard-setting organisations (SSOs) depend upon public trust in the truth claims implied by their labels: that the product in question has been produced using organic methods. They create and maintain this trust through assurance frameworks based on third-party verification of compliance with organic standards. It is therefore potentially problematic if an SSO makes additional claims that are not capable of being supported by their assurance frameworks. We investigate the claims made about the sustainability of organic agriculture by three voluntary organic SSOs, compared with assurance provisions within their standards. The analysis covers Australia, which has 53 per cent of the world\u27s certified organic farmland; and is extended internationally by including the IFOAM standard, with which a further 49 organic standards are affiliated worldwide. We find that while these standards generally contain principles and requirements that support sustainability claims, they lack well-specified means of verification in most cases other than the ‘core’ claims to exclude synthetic chemical inputs and genetically modified organisms. This assurance gap creates the risk of a consumer backlash. We discuss two ways to mitigate this risk: by strengthening verification within standards; and/or by employing new agricultural information and communication technologies to support claims outside the certification process

Sorption incineration of chlorinated hydrocarbons, acid, heavy metals, and excess nutrients in water using cool-derived solids

Students supported: 1 Undergrad, 2 Masters, 2 Ph.D.The basic objective of the research was the development of systems for the sorption and incineration of water pollutants based upon solid phases derived from coal. The research was designed within the context of an overall system that should provide a net gain of energy and that should be cost-effective because of the sale of energy and byproducts. The byproducts are obtained from the pyrolysis or gasification of coal. Some of the major objectives of the research were the following: (1) Production of char from coal in a manner maximizing valuable byproduct recovery, (2) development of the most effective and energy-conserving modes of char activation, (3) evaluation of coal chars for the absorption of contaminants from water, (4) determination of the effectiveness of ash from char incineration as a water purification additive, (5) evaluation of the incineration of the spent char for energy production and destruction or immobilization of sorbed water contaminants.Project # B-150-M

THE INNOVATION OF THE FAIR TRADE MOVEMENT TO FOSTER SUSTAINABILITY AIMS

Grande parte da conscientização da sociedade em relação aos objetivos de desenvolvimento sustentável foi fomentada pelos programas das Nações Unidas (ONU), organizações não-governamentais e movimentos sociais que eles inspiraram. Dentro do fluxo de mudanças sociais ocorridas após a Segunda Guerra Mundial, a iniciativa de comércio justo inovou como movimento social, oferecendo um modelo de comércio internacional para fazer a diferença na vida dos produtores. As principais organizações de comércio justo trouxeram valores de responsabilidade social ao abordar metas como o alívio da pobreza; redução das desigualdades de mercado Norte-Sul; proteção do meio ambiente; condições justas de trabalho; promoção do consumo e produção responsáveis; e segurança alimentar. Atendendo a esses objetivos, o movimento de comércio justo pode ser alinhado aos Objetivos de Desenvolvimento Sustentável (ODS) estabelecidos pela ONU em 2015; e com as três dimensões da sustentabilidade. Essas sinergias podem ser demonstradas nos relatórios de responsabilidade social e sustentabilidade das organizações de comércio justo. Os materiais e métodos deste artigo incluíram uma revisão dos relatórios de responsabilidade social corporativa e sustentabilidade das principais organizações de comércio justo desde 2000 até a presente data. Os resultados mostram uma consistência entre os termos comuns aos objetivos relatados sobre o comércio justo e os ODS. Uma análise comparativa indica o espectro de tópicos de sustentabilidade abordados progressivamente pelo movimento de comércio justo desde pelo menos o ano 2000. Esta revisão pode contribuir para orientar políticas governamentais e empresas com foco social para promover metas de sustentabilidade por meio de inovações nos sistemas alimentares, contribuindo para uma agricultura sustentável e o desenvolvimento rural.

Cotton Policy in China

This report examines China’s 2011-13 attempt to maintain a high level of price support for its cotton producers, analyzing the policy’s motivation, its consequences to date, and the impacts of various adjustment alternatives China might pursue. With China’s wages rising rapidly in recent years, cotton production costs there have been rising faster than in the rest of the world. Rising costs both helped motivate China’s policymakers to strengthen their price support for cotton production in 2011 and ensured that the policy ultimately proved unsustainable. After several years of sharply lower cotton consumption and sharply rising state-owned stockpiles of cotton, China in 2014 began switching producer support to direct subsidies, and focusing support on producers in the largest producing region, Xinjiang. Additional reforms include plans to restore market forces to a leading role in determining China’s cotton prices. But China’s large role in world cotton markets and the unprecedented size of the government’s stocks mean that difficult choices lie ahead for China’s policymakers. Policy decisions in China will continue to have a significant impact on the rest of the world, and lower Chinese import quotas for cotton could reduce world cotton prices significantly

Cotton Policy in China

This report examines China’s 2011-13 attempt to maintain a high level of price support for its cotton producers, analyzing the policy’s motivation, its consequences to date, and the impacts of various adjustment alternatives China might pursue. With China’s wages rising rapidly in recent years, cotton production costs there have been rising faster than in the rest of the world. Rising costs both helped motivate China’s policymakers to strengthen their price support for cotton production in 2011 and ensured that the policy ultimately proved unsustainable. After several years of sharply lower cotton consumption and sharply rising state-owned stockpiles of cotton, China in 2014 began switching producer support to direct subsidies, and focusing support on producers in the largest producing region, Xinjiang. Additional reforms include plans to restore market forces to a leading role in determining China’s cotton prices. But China’s large role in world cotton markets and the unprecedented size of the government’s stocks mean that difficult choices lie ahead for China’s policymakers. Policy decisions in China will continue to have a significant impact on the rest of the world, and lower Chinese import quotas for cotton could reduce world cotton prices significantly

Consumer‑driven strategies towards a resilient and sustainable food system following the COVID‑19 pandemic in Australia

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic and associated public health restrictions temporarily disrupted food supply chains around the world and changed the way people shopped for food, highlighting issues with food systems resilience and sustainability. The aim of this study was to explore consumer-driven strategies towards a more resilient and sustainable food system in Australia, learning from experiences during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: During May–June 2020, a cross-sectional, online survey was conducted in Tasmania, Australia in a non-random sample of adults aged 18 years and over. The survey collected demographic data and posted the open-ended question: “How could Tasmania’s food system be better prepared for a disaster in the future?” Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the demographic data and thematic analysis was employed to analyse the qualitative data. Results: Survey respondents (n = 698) were predominantly female (79%), over 55 years of age (48%), university educated (70%) and living with dependents (45%). Seven key themes were identified: (i) balance food exports with local needs; (ii) strengthen local food systems; (iii) increase consumer awareness of food supply chains; (iv) build collaboration and connection in the food system; (v) embed clear contingency arrangements; (vi) support community capacity building and individual self-sufficiency; and (vii) the food system coped well. Conclusions: The consumer-driven strategies identified indicate multiple opportunities to increase resilience and sustainability in the food system to avoid future supply disruptions. Our findings indicate that considerable popular support for more resilient, local and sustainable food systems may be emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic