Effective Sustainability Planning: Defining the scope, engaging the support

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Effective Sustainability PlanningDefining the
scope, engaging the support

• Jennifer Shepherd
• Principal, Canyon Snow Consulting LLC
• Sustainable Silicon Valley Educational Forum
• June 7, 2007

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Canyon Snow Consulting LLC

• Environmental Compliance
• Global legislative analysis
• Compliance strategy and implementation
• Business impact of regulatory pressures
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Code of conduct implementation, communication
• Supply chain management and brand protection
• Government Affairs
• Policy strategies and advocacy management

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Presentation outline

• Defining the scope
• Flexibility a double-edged sword
• Challenges and opportunities
• Engaging support
• Senior management
• Champions
• Subject-matter experts

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Importance of good planning

• Make sustainability sustainable
• Alignment is key
• The theyd have to be crazy test
• Bandwagons have their uses
• Leave no stone unturned
• Brainstorm
• Network
• Read, listen, participate

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Important to remember

• No battle plan survives
• contact with the enemy.
• - Helmuth von Moltke

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Scope

• Sustainability can mean many things
• Environmental stewardship
• Environmental compliance
• Design for environment
• Cradle-to-grave, cradle-to cradle
• Pollution prevention, recycling, reuse
• Reduction of resource consumption
• Environmental justice
• Green
• over

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Scope, continued

• Also includes social equity considerations
• Labor standards, humane treatment, safety
• Non-discrimination and diversity
• Working hours, wages, benefits
• Freedom of association
• Community engagement, philanthropy
• Protection of privacy
• Ethical conduct
• Corporate governance

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Prioritize and customize

• Cant be all things to all people
• Consider core competency
• Company culture
• Customer concerns
• Color, clarity, cut, carat
• But be all you can be
• Sales, PR, legal, HR, Corp Comm, EHS, IR, etc.

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Good news, bad news

• More flexibility to scope a sustainability
  program to fit your company
• More responsibility to define the program well
  and more work to get it right

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Engaging support in general

• Consider the audience
• Amenability and previous exposure
• Objectives and goals
• Customize messaging
• Look for synergies
• Capitalize on events

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Executive support is critical

• Talk to your CEO
• Brand reputation and customer requirements
• Stock valuation
• Business risk and opportunity
• Talk to your CFO
• Revenue, margins, and earnings
• Wall Street 10K reporting, material impact
• Investor interest, shareholder resolutions

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Champions

• Found in the strangest places
• Can be valuable to the effort
• Caution
• May have strongly held beliefs
• May not be comfortable with small steps
• May have a reputation inside the company
• Executive champions different story

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Subject experts

• A wide range of critical participants
• EHS, HR, Legal, Marketing, IR, Engineering,
  Facilities, Community Relations
• Others are good partners
• Finance, Internal Audit, Sales, Procurement
• Job expansion opportunities
• Demonstrating value and goals alignment

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The Constant Salesperson

• Inform supporters and participants of progress,
  successes
• Highlight individual and group contributions
• Track metrics, consider external reports
• Demonstrate value at every opportunity
• Fight what have you done for me lately

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Summary

• Sustainability plans rely on proper scope
• Planning may require iterations, fortitude
• Scope variability is daunting, empowering
• Support is critical
• Must be sought, cultivated at all levels
• Customized to the audience
• Program alignment will win the day

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Thank you

• Jennifer Shepherd
• Principal, Canyon Snow Consulting LLC
• Los Gatos, California
• 408-421-3435
• jennifershepherd_at_canyonsnow.com
• www.canyonsnow.com