Sustainability Practice Network Events

[MichaelGresty]

Sustainability Practice Network
Sustainability Practice Network

Panel Discussion: Blogging Sustainability
Date & Time: Thursday June 26, 2008, 6-8pm
Location:Green Spaces

33 Flatbush Ave
(corner Flatbush & Livingston)
Brooklyn, New York
Welcome to Green Spaces
Mass Transit - take B, Q, and R to Dekalb Ave, or the 4, 5 to Nevins Street, or A, C to Hoyt Shermerhorn St.

Please RSVP events@sustainabilitypractice.net

For more information, or to join SPN, visit our website: Sustainability Practice Network

Overview:
Non-traditional media forums, such as blogs, have played a major role in furthering the message of sustainability - and in doing so have helped many sustainability issues skyrocket into the mainstream press. Ranging from team efforts like WorldChanging to magazine offshoots like Gristmill to personal advice like Green L.A. Girl to the musings of well-known business writers and corporate executives, these informal and interactive forums allow "netizens" to explore current issues in a whole new way. Sometimes this is a vast improvement - writers are more easily criticized and held accountable, and low barriers to entry elicit a wide range of perspectives. On the other hand, fact-checking is not mandatory, and people tend to seek out like-minded "communities of interest" online, which can actually foster a narrower perspective. At the end of the day, how do today's citizens inform themselves, and what are the effects of the monumental shift away from one-to-many media formats? This panel will examine the roles of websites such as Wikipedia, YouTube, MySpace, Treehugger, TriplePundit, and SustainableLifeMedia in furthering sustainability messages. Panelists will suggest how new media can reach out to younger and other generations, and how to make the messaging stronger.

Moderator: Bonnie Hulkower, Treehugger
Panelists:
Jill Fehrenbacher, Editor, Inhabitat.com
Ken Rother, President/COO of Treehugger
Aaron Naparstek, Editor-in-chief Streetsblog.org

Bios:

Jill Fehrenbacher, Editor, Inhabitat.com
Jill Fehrenbacher edits Inhabitat www.inhabitat.com, and is a freelance designer and student at Columbia's Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Planning. She created Inhabitat in the Spring of 2005 as a way to catalog her endless search for new ways to improve the world through forward-thinking, high-tech, and environmentally conscious design. Educated at Brown University, where she received a B.A. in Art Semiotics, and Central St. Martins, where she received an M.A. in Design Studies, she currently resides in New York City, which so far has been good for her obsession with rooftop gardens and vegan junk food restaurants.

Ken Rother, President/COO of Treehugger
Ken, President and COO, is responsible for bringing the vision and strategy of TreeHugger to life. Ken has been involved in the Internet since the early 90's when he co-founded Mountain Lake Software in Toronto Canada. Mountain Lake helped some of Canada's largest financial institutions take their first steps onto the WWW. Ken has held various roles including VP of operations responsible for all deliverables of their internet consulting division and later as divisional CIO introduced process altering technology to their globalization business. His interest in the environment dates back to his first summer job leading low impact canoe trips in northern Quebec.

Aaron Naparstek, Editor-in-chief Streetsblog.org
Aaron Naparstek works for the Open Planning Project where he is editor-in-chief of StreetsBlog.org. Aaron is a journalist, author and community organizer working on urban environmental issues in NYC. He is the author of Honku: The Zen Antidote for Road Rage, a book of humorous haiku poetry inspired by the unique brand of motorist sociopathy observed from his apartment window. Naparstek lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two sons. He is a founder of the Park Slope Neighbors community group and an organizer of the Grand Army Plaza Coalition.

The Sustainability Practice Network (SPN) is a NYC-based forum and list server for professionals, academics and students working with corporate responsibility and sustainability issues to build a community based on learning, discussion, information and idea exchange. SPN supports the growth of sustainability practice and bridges disciplines to advance sustainable development by drawing on the knowledge and expertise of its members.

Green Spaces provides work space and networking opportunities for green entrepreneurs. They have access to desk space with wireless internet, conference room space, interns, rooftop deck overlooking Manhattan and shared kitchen along with the opportunity to connect with other green entrepreneurs.

[Valeria.Orozco]

September 16, 2008, 6-8 pm

A Crisis in Confidence
ESG Risk, the Financial Downturn, and the Recovery
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Venue: Citigroup Smith Barney Executive Conference Room, 345 Park Ave. 21st Floor, New York, NY 10154

Panelists: Allan Sloan, Sr. Editor Fortune Magazine; Greg Larkin, Sr. Analyst Innovest Strategic Value Advisors, Sean Egan, President Egan-Jones Rating Agency

Moderator: Amy Scott, NPR Marketplace

During the past 15 months financial markets have transformed in ways that few imagined possible. Oil has hit $147/barrel. A massive wave of consumer insolvency has brought Bear Stearns, Citibank, UBS, and Lehman Brothers to their knees. And an impending wave of environmental regulation has caused the coal power deal pipeline to contract from 172 projects in planning in 2006 to 15 today. Issues like responsible lending, energy efficiency and carbon management which have historically been treated as peripheral matters of ethics are now determining whether companies survive or fail.

Trust - the most crucial lubricant of the capital markets - has evaporated. Investors don't trust bank's estimates of how much debt consumers can sustain, nor do they trust that auto companies will remain viable while energy is expensive and volatile.

Prior to now Standard and Poor's, and Moody's ratings were widely accepted. That is no longer the case. Investors have also lost faith in the government's ability to act as an effective regulator. Emitting 72 million tons of CO2 annually may damage the environment, but it is currently legal. Lending $400,000 to someone with no assets, no income and $60k in credit card debt may have been imprudent, but it has been and still is within the law.

The question is what needs to happen to restore confidence? Finding the answer to that question entails a realistic assessment of where we currently are and what is needed to navigate this new financial landscape. This panel will examine the origins of the current state of market conditions and will propose ways that enacting sustainability principles can help to restore confidence and stability.

For additional program information, go to About SPN
If you are not a member, please join the SPN list server to receive updates on future events: SPN-Discussion Info Page or email events@sustainabilitypractice.net.

[Valeria.Orozco]

Sustainability Practice Network
Panel Discussion
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Energy, Environment and the Election
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Co-sponsors - NYU Wagner Environmental Policy in Action and NYU Environmental Law Society

Please join us for this timely event:
RSVP events@sustainabilitypractice.net

For more information, or to join SPN, visit our website:
Sustainability Practice Network


Date / Time: October 22, 2008, 6-8 pm

Venue: NYU Law School - Vanderbilt Hall, Room 206 (40 Washington Square
South)

Panelists: John Neffinger, Harvard's Kennedy School of Government; Obama campaign representative (TBA), McCain Campaign representative (TBA)

Moderator: Dr. Michael Levi, Senior Fellow for Energy and the Environment, Council on Foreign Relations

Panel Description:

Regardless of who prevails in the November 4th election, the next President is expected to have the opportunity to refocus and redirect policies related to energy, climate change, the environment, education, and the economy.
Election season sound bites focus on their opinions on offshore drilling and gas tax holidays, but the greater impact will come through policy and legislation.

As we near the election, this panel will examine important proposed and impending legislation, and each candidate's stance on key environmental and energy policies.

[Valeria.Orozco]

Sustainability Practice Network

Panel Discussion: Market Transformation and Sustainability

Please join us / RSVP events@sustainabilitypractice.net
For more information, or to join SPN, visit our website: Sustainability Practice Network

Date: Tuesday, November 18th, 2008

Time: 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Venue: Smith Barney 345 Park Avenue New York NY

Panelists: Jonathan Diorio, Vice President, DWS Investments; William McInerney, Partner, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft

Moderator: Michael Gresty, President, Kinetix

Panel Description:

The leading barrier to sustainability is market failure. When proper prices are not attached to shared natural resources, these can be treated as free inputs for production or unrestrained consumption-a classic case of tragedy of the commons. When the resources are clean air and access to water, the effects can be felt on a global scale, requiring innovative approaches that go beyond national regulations. The Kyoto Protocol, ratified by more than 170 countries (one notable exception being the United States), highlights the necessity of market transformation by promoting market mechanisms, such as carbon trading, to reduce green house gasses worldwide. For non-compliant factories, is zero-tolerance the best answer, or is cooperative remediation better? What role can long-term partnerships play in solving supply-chain issues, or preventing them before they happen? The panel will consider whether, overall, corporations have truly created sustainable improvements in their supply chains.

Bios:

Michael Gresty, President, Kinetix [business ecology]

A respected sustainability strategist and innovation process expert, Michael is President and principal of Kinetix. He oversees all client engagements and leads the development of project deliverables. Michael has extensive experience working with clients such as Chubb, Praxair, Schering-Plough, Gillette, PPG, Herman Miller, The World Bank, Douglaston Development and the California Academy of Sciences. As a facilitator, he works directly with both client teams and outside stakeholders. Michael is also a high performance design specialist, and has worked on a number of LEED projects. He is a frequent speaker on sustainability and related topics at conferences. He has previously worked on large infrastructure and design projects in the USA and France, and on development of civil engineering software in South Africa. Michael received his Architecte DPLG from the Ecole d'Architecture de Paris-Belleville. He also holds a Bachelor of Architectural Studies from the University of Cape Town.

William McInerney, Partner, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft

William McInerney is partner Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft. His practice involves advising lenders in all aspects of construction and permanent financings, and he has a particular expertise in the sale of performing and nonperforming commercial mortgage and mezzanine loans in the secondary market. Mr. McInerney often counsels clients in restructuring problem loans and on servicing issues that arise in securitized debt. His clients include banks and other investors in real estate debt and related transactions, and he has been involved in a number of cross-border financings in Mexico and Central America. Mr. McInerney joined Cadwalader in 1992 and became a Partner in 1996. He received his J.D. from Fordham University School of Law and earned his B.A. from The Catholic University of America (summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa). In both 2007 and 2008 he was named a “Leading Lawyer” in the area of Real Estate Finance by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business. The Legal 500 also recognized Mr. McInerney in 2008 as a leading real estate/capital markets practitioner. He is a member of the American Bar Association.

Jonathan Diorio, Vice President, DWS Investments

Jonathan Diorio is a vice president and product specialist for the DWS Climate Change Fund at Deutsche Bank. Mr Diorio joined the firm in 2002 and is based in New York. Jon was previously head of DWS’s closed-end business before moving into his product specialist role. Mr Diorio received his BA from Loyola College and holds his NASD Series 24, 6, 63 and 7 licenses.