New Metrics

The new and evolving metrics that are helping expand the way businesses create, quantify, manage and report their impacts – and the value they deliver

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New Metrics
SDG Progress Report Reveals Slow Start to Delivering on 2030 Agenda
SDG Progress Report Reveals Slow Start to Delivering on 2030 Agenda
Published on June 20, 2017
About a 3 minute read

Two years after the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, companies are finally beginning to align their sustainability strategies with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs are increasingly being used to inform decisi... View More

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New Metrics
Going Deeper on Understanding, Measuring Transformational Change: Part 21
Going Deeper on Understanding, Measuring Transformational Change: Part 21
Published on June 6, 2017
About a 9 minute read

In 20 earlier parts of this series,Claire Sommer,Jill Lipotiand I developed 38 pitfalls in the sustainable business metrics field, based on the experiences of many mostly non-business fields (Find them here.). ... View More

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Natural Capital Impact Group Develops Single Biodiversity Metric to Help Companies Reduce Impacts
Natural Capital Impact Group Develops Single Biodiversity Metric to Help Companies Reduce Impacts
Published on May 31, 2017
About a 3 minute read

To make it easier for companies to reduce their environmental impacts, businesses such as Kering, Interserve, Mars and Asda have banded together to develop a new healthy ecosystem metric designed to support companies as they make the transition to a ... View More

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New Metrics
The Road to Context: What You Need to Know About Contextual Strategy and Goal-Setting (Part 2)
The Road to Context: What You Need to Know About Contextual Strategy and Goal-Setting (Part 2)
Published on May 23, 2017
About a 5 minute read

In Part 1 of this series exploring contextual strategy-making and goal-setting, we shared how our work with the corporate members of the Embedding Project, and their interest in understanding how to make sense of the methodologies, frameworks, tools ... View More

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Q&A: How Quantis Is Driving the Paradigm Shift Towards Science-Based Targets
Q&A: How Quantis Is Driving the Paradigm Shift Towards Science-Based Targets
Published on May 22, 2017
About a 9 minute read

Following the ratification of the Paris Agreement last fall, companies have become increasingly aware of the need to adopt strong sustainability strategies that have the ability to create real, meaningful change. But to do so requires starting from a... View More

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Do Sustainability Metrics Foster Incremental vs Transformational Change?: Part 20
Do Sustainability Metrics Foster Incremental vs Transformational Change?: Part 20
Published on May 19, 2017
About a 8 minute read

In 19 earlier parts of this series, Claire Sommer,Jill Lipotiand I developed 38 pitfalls in the sustainable business metrics field, based on the experiences of many mostly non-business fields (Find themhere.). ... View More

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New Metrics
Reporting 3.0 ‘Data Blueprint’ Explores Future of Integral Information Systems
Reporting 3.0 ‘Data Blueprint’ Explores Future of Integral Information Systems
Published on May 18, 2017
About a 5 minute read

This is part two of a four-part series on themes explored at the upcoming 4th International Reporting 3.0 Conference. Read part one here. ... View More

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Reporting 3.0 ‘Positive Maverick’ Community Pushes Context-Based Multicapitalism
Reporting 3.0 ‘Positive Maverick’ Community Pushes Context-Based Multicapitalism
Published on May 10, 2017
About a 4 minute read

This is part one of a four-part series on themes explored at the upcoming 4th International Reporting 3.0 Conference. ... View More

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New Metrics
The Road to Context: What You Need to Know About Contextual Strategy and Goal-Setting (Part 1)
The Road to Context: What You Need to Know About Contextual Strategy and Goal-Setting (Part 1)
Published on May 7, 2017
About a 4 minute read

It seems like 2017 is becoming the year of ‘context,’ as the incorporation of sustainability context edges its way into more and more panel conversations and into leading corporate practice. ... View More

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Measuring True Impact: Why Science Is Redefining Our Definition of a Sustainable Company
Measuring True Impact: Why Science Is Redefining Our Definition of a Sustainable Company
Published on May 2, 2017
About a 4 minute read

Big changes for better outcomes Businesses today are realizing that to truly address the environmental and social challenges that affect our world, a major shift is required in the way they produce and market products and services. ... View More

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New Tool Aims to Assess Landscape-Level Forest Sustainability
New Tool Aims to Assess Landscape-Level Forest Sustainability
Published on April 4, 2017
About a 4 minute read

As with most industries these days, companies in paper and packaging know that their customers — be they publishers, fast food companies or office suppliers — want to buy products that are deemed sustainable. They know that millions of dollars ca... View More

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TD, NCC Assign Economic Value to Ecological Services of Canada’s Forests
TD, NCC Assign Economic Value to Ecological Services of Canada’s Forests
Published on March 23, 2017
About a 3 minute read

Adding to the growing body of research highlighting the value of forests for mitigating climate change, the TD Bank Group (TD) and the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) have released a new report that assigns an economic value to the ecological good... View More

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Norway Earns Top Spot in 2017 World Happiness Report
Norway Earns Top Spot in 2017 World Happiness Report
Published on March 21, 2017
About a 4 minute read

With its narrow economic focus, GDP has long been considered a poor measure of human welfare and progress. Several alternatives have been developed over the years to more accurately measure the well-being of a population, including Gross National Hap... View More

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Introducing Aggregate Capital Sufficiency (ACS) – A New Alternative to GDP
Introducing Aggregate Capital Sufficiency (ACS) – A New Alternative to GDP
Published on March 7, 2017
About a 6 minute read

The question remains of how best to assess the sustainability of whole economies. If existing measurement models such as GDP, ISEW and GPI focus on size or welfare, then we need a third class of models – one that makes it possible to measure the su... View More

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Consumption-Based Metrics: The Next Challenge for Zero-Waste Cities
Consumption-Based Metrics: The Next Challenge for Zero-Waste Cities
Published on February 27, 2017
About a 5 minute read

Cities are major contributors to – and battlegrounds of – climate change. According to a report from the UN Habitat, cities pump out roughly 70 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions whilst just occupying just 2 percent of the Earth’s land.... View More

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Richard Howitt on a Sustainability-Inclusive IIRC: I'm Up for the Challenge!
Richard Howitt on a Sustainability-Inclusive IIRC: I'm Up for the Challenge!
Published on February 15, 2017
About a 5 minute read

This post is a response to a challenge posed earlier this year to new IIRC Chief Executive Richard Howitt by Dr. Mark W. McElroy and Martin P. Thomas, co-authors of The Multicapital Scorecard (2016). The goal to make Integrated Reporting the global n... View More

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3 Key Resources for Benchmarking Your Sustainability Program
3 Key Resources for Benchmarking Your Sustainability Program
Published on February 15, 2017
About a 6 minute read

What better time to benchmark your sustainability program than the start of the year? Evaluating whether your program is following best practices can spur improvement and provide justification for prioritizing initiatives. This helps determine whethe... View More

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BBC Employs Alberta Scheme to Track Carbon Footprint, Reduce Environmental Impacts
BBC Employs Alberta Scheme to Track Carbon Footprint, Reduce Environmental Impacts
Published on February 14, 2017
About a 3 minute read

While the fashion, food, auto and energy industries are held to high sustainability standards, television tends to fly under the radar. But environmental sustainability is an important issue to networks and producers across the globe. Sky was the fir... View More

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Context and Capitals – The Next Big Things in Corporate Sustainability
Context and Capitals – The Next Big Things in Corporate Sustainability
Published on February 7, 2017
About a 4 minute read

You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.” - Joseph Goldstein Context is a game-changer for sustainability professionals and for the businesses that they work with. A dramatic statement is often a good way to start an article – and s... View More

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Is it Time to Add Morality to the Business Case for Sustainability?
Is it Time to Add Morality to the Business Case for Sustainability?
Published on February 2, 2017
About a 7 minute read

Every manager (or consultant) who has pitched an initiative under the banner of “sustainability” has faced the same question nearly every time: What’s the business case? On the surface, there’s nothing wrong with the question. Business is all... View More

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