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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSustainable Waterloo - Executive Summary - CO2 Initiativesustainable Executive Summary Sustainable Waterloo is anot-for-profit organization that guides corporations in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo towards a more environmentally sustainable future by facilitating collaborative action between business, government, educational institutions, and non-governmental organizations. To achieve this, Sustainable Waterloo will initially focus on the development and corporate commitment to a measurable, verifiable and realistic regional carbon dioxide (COz) emission reduction target to which corporations ("Pledging Partners") will voluntarily abide. Referred to as the COZ Initiative, participating organizations will stand to benefit in the following ways: • Risk mitigation, through preparedness to meet upcoming regulations on carbon emissions ~ Employee attraction and retention, as 92% of Generation Y employees are more inclined to work for a company with a sustainable development strategy (BrownFlynn 2008) • Brand alignment with environmentally sustainable decision-making Cost savings through reductions in energy consumption and energy conservation The COZ initiative will be offered to Pledging Partners through services such as reporting tools for quantifying carbon emissions, consolidated reporting whereby participating organizations will be included in public reports on progress towards carbon reduction, and educational forums to enable information sharing amongst partners. Additionally, organizations that pledge to meet the carbon reduction target will be provided with public recognition for their outstanding accomplishments. This business model has been successful in Silicon Valley and Toronto. Founded in 2001, an organization called Sustainable Silicon Valley has partnered with 67 organizations to reduce their COZ emissions by 20% below 1990 levels by 2010. In Toronto, The Toronto City Summit Alliance has partnered with over 125 organizations to meet five key environmental goals, including reducing COz emissions and clean air. Waterloo Region is deemed to be a particularly appropriate location to introduce the COZ Initiative, given its numerous high technology organizations. With plans to focus on high-tech initially, these organizations have yet to be regulated with regards to their carbon emissions, despite producing surprisingly high level of these emissions (Gartner 2007). This position arguably makes them vulnerable to future punitive changes in government regulatory requirements. The management team for Sustainable Waterloo is supported by seven Wilfrid Laurier University faculty members from across-section of fields, fourteen volunteers, as well as a number of industry professionals. Wilfrid Laurier University's CMA Centre for Responsible Organizations is Sustainable Waterloo's first Founding Partner, having contributed $10,000 of initial project funding. In addition, more than fifteen organizations, including Communitech, The Carbon Reduction Fund and The City of Waterloo's staff, have communicated support for Sustainable Waterloo's business model and concept. By employing a nominal annual membership fee from Pledging Partners and by applying for government grants designed specifically for projects such as this, an initial sum of only $80,000 is required from prospective Founding Partners by the end of September 2008.