Sustainability Resource library
In service of the democratization of sustainability knowledge, I've compiled a library of resources including guides, case studies, articles and reports. I hope the resources help you advance sustainability in your organizations and initiatives.
The resources are collected from my own reading and also crowd-sourced from the brain trust in my Harvard Sustainable Business Strategy course cohort. Please feel free to send any articles my way that you think are a good resource to be shared.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Tt8ZcyL1YrTJn0sf1HG-by9GA9TINDA-e9_kqEsJaYQ/edit?usp=sharing
The resources are collected from my own reading and also crowd-sourced from the brain trust in my Harvard Sustainable Business Strategy course cohort. Please feel free to send any articles my way that you think are a good resource to be shared.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Tt8ZcyL1YrTJn0sf1HG-by9GA9TINDA-e9_kqEsJaYQ/edit?usp=sharing
Seafood Fraud - What it means for you
Earlier this year I participated in a citizen science initiative spearheaded by Oceana. People across Canada collected fish samples from grocery stores and restaurants for DNA analysis as part of a study on seafood labelling fraud.
The results are in and they are shocking.
Seafood fraud was found in 40% of the samples collected across Canada (and in 59% of samples in Toronto).
Of the mislabeled samples:
Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) puts the health of consumers at risk and makes consumers unwitting accessories to the consumption of unsustainable or even illegal fishing that put the Oceans in peril.
IUU fishing practices also mask human rights abuses. Working environments on these vessels or facilities can be extremely unsafe, and child labour is common.34 There is extensive evidence of the organized and systemic use of modern slavery by vessels engaged in illegal fishing.35,36,37 Undocumented migrants are being kidnapped, sold and tricked onto fishing vessels to work as forced labourers or indentured slaves. Escaped slaves have told of egregious human rights violations, including physical abuse, torture and even murder.
You can add your voice by signing the petition to tell CFIA to #stopseafoodfraud and increase Seafood traceability, or tracking fish from boat to plate.
It is important to know :
1. Where your seafood comes from
2. That the label is accurate
3. That it is not harmful to your health or the health of the ocean
@OceanaCAN #StopSeafoodFraud
The results are in and they are shocking.
Seafood fraud was found in 40% of the samples collected across Canada (and in 59% of samples in Toronto).
Of the mislabeled samples:
- Nearly 60 per cent of them have potential health consequences for consumers, (eg. samples contained allergens, toxins and environmental contaminants).
- Some of the swapped species were actually threatened or endangered and 74 per cent were cheaper fish masquerading as a higher priced species.
- There was also a sample labelled as 'red snapper' that was actually twinspot snapper - a species banned in parts of the world for causing ciguatera poisoning
Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) puts the health of consumers at risk and makes consumers unwitting accessories to the consumption of unsustainable or even illegal fishing that put the Oceans in peril.
IUU fishing practices also mask human rights abuses. Working environments on these vessels or facilities can be extremely unsafe, and child labour is common.34 There is extensive evidence of the organized and systemic use of modern slavery by vessels engaged in illegal fishing.35,36,37 Undocumented migrants are being kidnapped, sold and tricked onto fishing vessels to work as forced labourers or indentured slaves. Escaped slaves have told of egregious human rights violations, including physical abuse, torture and even murder.
You can add your voice by signing the petition to tell CFIA to #stopseafoodfraud and increase Seafood traceability, or tracking fish from boat to plate.
It is important to know :
1. Where your seafood comes from
2. That the label is accurate
3. That it is not harmful to your health or the health of the ocean
@OceanaCAN #StopSeafoodFraud
The Case for Making Low-Tech ‘Dumb’ Cities Instead of ‘Smart’ Ones
There are so many ways to rewild our urban landscapes, and apply low-tech ecological solutions to drainage, wastewater processing, flood survival, local agriculture and pollution that have worked for indigenous peoples for thousands of years
https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-case-for-making-low-tech-dumb-cities-instead-of-smart-ones?utm_source=twtrsynd&utm_medium=social
Indicators for Nature-based Solutions
A 300-page review on Environmental Indicators for nature-based solutions by the Connecting Nature project:
https://connectingnature.eu/sites/default/files/images/inline/CN_Env_Indicators_Review.pdf
https://connectingnature.eu/sites/default/files/images/inline/CN_Env_Indicators_Review.pdf
Charting Canada's troubled waters: Where the danger lies for watersheds across the country
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/canada-fresh-water-review-1/article35262579/
A comprehensive review of Canada's freshwater ecosystems reveals rising threats from pollution, overuse, invasive species and climate change among other problems. Yet, the biggest threat of all may be a lack of information that hinders effective regulation, Ivan Semeniuk reports
A comprehensive review of Canada's freshwater ecosystems reveals rising threats from pollution, overuse, invasive species and climate change among other problems. Yet, the biggest threat of all may be a lack of information that hinders effective regulation, Ivan Semeniuk reports
The great nutrient collapse
http://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2017/09/13/food-nutrients-carbon-dioxide-000511
The atmosphere is literally changing the food we eat, for the worse. And almost nobody is paying attention.
The rise in global atmospheric CO2, surface temperature, and sea level from emissions traced to major carbon producers
Full text: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-017-1978-0
Researchers have quantified the contributions of industrialized and developing nations’ historical emissions to global surface temperature rise. Recent findings that nearly two-thirds of total industrial CO2 and CH4 emissions can be traced to 90 major industrial carbon producers have drawn attention to their potential climate responsibilities. Here, we use a simple climate model to quantify the contribution of historical (1880–2010) and recent (1980–2010) emissions traced to these producers to the historical rise in global atmospheric CO2, surface temperature, and sea level. Emissions traced to these 90 carbon producers contributed ∼57% of the observed rise in atmospheric CO2, ∼42–50% of the rise in global mean surface temperature (GMST), and ∼26–32% of global sea level (GSL) rise over the historical period and ∼43% (atmospheric CO2), ∼29–35% (GMST), and ∼11–14% (GSL) since 1980 (based on best-estimate parameters and accounting for uncertainty arising from the lack of data on aerosol forcings traced to producers). Emissions traced to seven investor-owned and seven majority state-owned carbon producers were consistently among the top 20 largest individual company contributors to each global impact across both time periods. This study lays the groundwork for tracing emissions sourced from industrial carbon producers to specific climate impacts and furthers scientific and policy consideration of their historical responsibilities for climate change.
Full text: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-017-1978-0
Researchers have quantified the contributions of industrialized and developing nations’ historical emissions to global surface temperature rise. Recent findings that nearly two-thirds of total industrial CO2 and CH4 emissions can be traced to 90 major industrial carbon producers have drawn attention to their potential climate responsibilities. Here, we use a simple climate model to quantify the contribution of historical (1880–2010) and recent (1980–2010) emissions traced to these producers to the historical rise in global atmospheric CO2, surface temperature, and sea level. Emissions traced to these 90 carbon producers contributed ∼57% of the observed rise in atmospheric CO2, ∼42–50% of the rise in global mean surface temperature (GMST), and ∼26–32% of global sea level (GSL) rise over the historical period and ∼43% (atmospheric CO2), ∼29–35% (GMST), and ∼11–14% (GSL) since 1980 (based on best-estimate parameters and accounting for uncertainty arising from the lack of data on aerosol forcings traced to producers). Emissions traced to seven investor-owned and seven majority state-owned carbon producers were consistently among the top 20 largest individual company contributors to each global impact across both time periods. This study lays the groundwork for tracing emissions sourced from industrial carbon producers to specific climate impacts and furthers scientific and policy consideration of their historical responsibilities for climate change.
Comic: Why You Should Turn Your Yard Into a Mini-
Farm
http://www.yesmagazine.org/comic-why-you-should-turn-your-yard-into-a-mini-farm-20170726