In a multi-part release over the next few weeks, we’ll be posting a series of updates exploring key themes and recent outcomes from the Louisiana Water Synergy Project. While these themes are Louisiana-specific, all of them can be applicable to most watersheds in the US. On July 30th, the Louisiana Water Synergy Project held its quarterly meeting in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, bringing over 35 representatives of academia, industry, service companies, and regulators together to discuss their shared interests in water quality, quantity, storm water management, and coastal resiliency.

The LSU Center for Energy Studies estimates $62 billion in industrial investments are planned for Louisiana including new facilities and expansions of existing facilities, with a large portion coming from the chemical, refining, and manufacturing sectors. The Center predicts most of the development will occur along the Mississippi River corridor between Baton Rouge and New Orleans - the heart of the Water Synergy Project area.

David Dismukes, Associate Director at the Center, is examining the potential economic impacts associated with these planned capital investments in Louisiana over the next nine years, which are driven in large part by the increased availability and low cost of natural gas.

Facilities highlighted for expansions or new construction include liquid natural gas (LNG), gas to liquid (GTL), and chemical production including methanol, ammonia, and polymer. Water is used to re-vaporize LNG, as a feedstock for chemical production, and in the transport of goods to terminals. Each use is accompanied by potential water management challenges; and as industry grows, water use will intensify.

An influx of industrial development comes with a substantial increase the number of jobs, and workers to fill those positions. Louisiana will not only experience economic development, but also infrastructure challenges as the population rises. Non-point source pollution is often solely attributed to agriculture, but according to the EPA, the second leading source of water quality impairment in the United States is municipal point sources, followed by changes in land use and urban runoff. (source) As neighborhoods expand, impacts to water quality and quantity will follow.

The scale of the development projected for Louisiana is unprecedented and exponentially raises the importance of cross-sector communication and management of water resources. The Louisiana Water Synergy Project is led by members of oil and gas, chemical, energy, alumina, steel, cement, fertilizer industries and service companies. Representation from the agriculture sector is expected to join soon. Through our meetings individual water challenges are revealed to be common issues, best management practices are shared, and unified strategies are developed; strategies that will be crucial for effective water management in the years to come.

By-Product Synergy is useful to more than just the companies and organizations exchanging goods; in some cases, entire communities benefit. US BCSD member General Motors has brought its home city of Detroit into the BPS loop by donating its used shipping crates to Cadillac Urban Gardens. The community garden grows roughly 2,400 vegetables and herbs, which in turn are provided free of charge to area residents. Source: http://detroit2020.com/2013/08/16/our-person-of-the-week-unifies-a-community-through-an-urban-garden/

Texas Gov. Rick Perry has signed legislation allowing local property taxing authorities to enact ordinances enabling Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) programs across the state. PACE financing will allow commercial and industrial building owners to obtain low-cost, long-term private sector financing for water conservation and energy-efficiency improvements. With Gov. Perry’s signature, the PACE program is effective immediately. The Texas PACE Act places emphasis on energy and water saving retrofits in industrial and commercial properties, effectively incentivizing some of the largest energy consumers in the country to reduce their consumption. Texas consumes more electricity than any other state, and industry accounts for almost half of that energy use, according to the United States Energy Information Administration.

New efficiencies in equipment and processes - including some efficiencies identified through the US BCSD's By-Product and Water Synergy methodologies - will dramatically lower water usage, energy needs and costs, as well as reduced waste and disposal costs. PACE districts have been authorized in 30 states, with impressive financial benefits already apparent. Recently in Ann Arbor, Michigan, a $65,000 project to improve lighting, insulation, heating and cooling systems and reducing water use at a commercial property was completed and projected savings for tenants in energy costs range from $500 to $5,000 a year.

For the last nine years, CEOs have ranked Texas as the best state in which to do business. “PACE will help Texans meet the conservation goals in our State Water Plan and reduce demand on our electric grid,” says Sen. John Carona, sponsor of SB 385. “These savings will benefit the building owners directly and help keep the Texas economic engine primed for growth and prepared for the continuing influx of people moving to Texas to share in our prosperity.”

Andy Mangan, US BCSD Executive Director, is in China this week meeting with China Business Council for Sustainable Development staff, member companies, and government representatives working on the Hebei By-Product Synergy Project. Here's Andy alongside Mr. Zhai Qi, Secretary General of the CBCSD, at the shore in Qinghuangdao. Andy will be traveling from Qinghuangdao to Ulsan, South Korea next week to attend the International Society for Industrial Ecology's biennial conference at the University of Ulsan. The city is one of the best examples of the amazing development of South Korea. It's is home to Hyundai (ship building and automobiles), the SK refinery and petrochemicals complex, and has a large and developing Eco-Industrial Park, which will be a model for industrial symbiosis around the world.

The US BCSD is headquartered in beautiful Austin, TX, and we're happy to have some wonderful friends and colleagues around the city. If you're in Central Texas, join Net Impact Austin for their June Green Drinks - Summer Celebration! Several community leaders will be in attendance at the event, including the US BCSD, which will take place from 6-8pm on Tuesday June 25th at Treehouse.

Net Impact Austin will be providing complimentary beer and cocktails, thanks to sponsors Full Sail Brewing and Treaty Oak Distilling. Several local sustainability and community leaders will be in attendance, giving you an opportunity to learn about their organizations, talk to them one on one, and celebrate their contributions to our community. This happy hour will also provide an opportunity to get to know Net Impact Austin and Austin Green Drinks board members. Honored guests include:

• Lucia Athens - Chief Sustainability Officer, City of Austin Office of Sustainability
• Sarah Forbes - President, Young Nonprofit Professionals Network
• Susan Fernandes - Director of Operations, U.S. Business Council for Sustainable Development
• John King - Executive Director of the Clean TX Foundation
• Abbey Cunningham - Coordinating Chair - Emerging Professionals, U.S. Green Building Council
• Janet Hale - Texas State University Net Impact Faculty
• Margie Kidd - Executive Director, Global Austin

Click here to register for this free event.

Peter Bakker, President of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, explains the connection between business and natural capital. Is your organization interested in exploring this relationship further? Take a look at our upcoming Business Ecosystems Training opportunities, and join us for Action 2020 at Yale University this July.

Via Leaders for Nature on Vimeo.

Joining us for Action 2020 at Yale University on July 17-18, 2013?

Actions led by business to achieve one or more societal or planetary goal in the Action 2020 framework will be assisted and scaled up through collaboration with industry peers, academic experts, and government representatives. Action 2020 organizers at the Yale Center for Business and Environment have assembled an esteemed group of colleagues to join us at Yale University, each committed to helping us understand the complexities of our efforts and continue driving to action. See a few standouts below, and visit our website to learn more.

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Paul Anastas

Paul T. Anastas is the Teresa and H. John Heinz III Professor in the Practice of Chemistry for the Environment. He has appointments in the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Department of Chemistry, and Department of Chemical Engineering. In addition, Prof. Anastas serves as the Director of the Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering at Yale.

Anastas took public service leave from Yale to serve as the Assistant Administrator for the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Agency Science Advisor from 2009-2012. From 2004 -2006, Paul Anastas served as Director of the ACS Green Chemistry Institute in Washington, D.C. He was previously the Assistant Director for the Environment in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy where he worked from 1999-2004. He is credited with establishing the field of green chemistry during his time working for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as the Chief of the Industrial Chemistry Branch and as the Director of the U.S. Green Chemistry Program.

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John Bradburn

John is manager of waste-reduction efforts at General Motors. In this role, he leads the company's landfill-free initiative, which has resulted in 99 GM operations around the world that reuse, recycle, and convert to energy all wastes from daily operations. John is an established expert in waste reduction and recycling, and frequently mentors other companies pursuing zero-waste goals. John's responsibilities also include directing the company's design-for-the-environment program, implementing sustainable processes and technologies that reduce the company's environmental impact and costs.

He collaborates with suppliers, product and manufacturing engineers, and external stakeholder groups. Under John's leadership, GM recycled or reused 90 percent of waste generated globally through various resource conservation efforts in 2011. Between 2000 and 2010, the company reduced non-recycled manufacturing waste by 73 percent.

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Marian Chertow

Marian Chertow is Associate Professor of Industrial Environmental Management and has been Director of the Industrial Environmental Management Program at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies since 1991. Her research and teaching focus on industrial ecology, business/environment issues, waste management, and environmental technology innovation. Primary research interests are 1) The study of industrial symbiosis including geographically-based exchanges of wastes, materials, energy, and water within networks of businesses. 2) The potential of industrial ecology to underpin ideas of the proposed Circular Economy law in China. 3) The application of innovation theory to the development of environmental and energy technology.

Prior to Yale, Marian spent ten years in environmental business and state and local government including service as President of the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority charged with developing a billion dollar waste infrastructure system for the state. She is a frequent international lecturer and has testified on waste, recycling and other environmental issues before committees of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.

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Richard Kidd

Richard Kidd became the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army (Energy & Sustainability) on October 25, 2010. This is his third assignment as a Senior Executive within the Federal Government. In this position he is responsible for overall program direction, establishment of policies, development and refinement of strategies, and oversight for implementation of all programs and initiatives related to Energy Security and Sustainability within the Army. As the Army's Senior Energy Executive, Mr. Kidd coordinates and integrates both installation and operational energy programs and strategies.

Mr. Kidd graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1986 and served as an Infantry Officer until 1991. After receiving a Masters Degree in Public and Private Management from Yale University, he joined the United Nations in 1993 and served in a variety of international assignments, principally in war affected regions of the world.

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Anthony Leiserowitz

Anthony Leiserowitz, Ph.D. is Director of the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication and a Research Scientist at the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale University. He is a widely recognized expert on American and international public opinion on global warming, including public perception of climate change risks, support and opposition for climate policies, and willingness to make individual behavioral change.

His research investigates the psychological, cultural, political, and geographic factors that drive public environmental perception and behavior. He has conducted survey, experimental, and field research at scales ranging from the global to the local, including international studies, the United States, individual states, municipalities, and with the Inupiaq Eskimo of Northwest Alaska. He also conducted the first empirical assessment of worldwide public values, attitudes, and behaviors regarding global sustainability, including environmental protection, economic growth, and human development.

Move from Vision 2050 to Action 2020  |  July 17-18, 2013  |  New Haven, CT

Join business, government and academic leaders in developing action plans that address and advance key Action 2020 sustainability efforts in materials, water, energy, and ecosystems. Learn what strategies are working and how we can bring them to scale by taking part in this working meeting, hosted by the United States and the World Business Councils for Sustainable Development in partnership with the Yale Center for Business and Environment. Visit our meeting website, action2020.usbcsd.org to learn more.

What's on the agenda?

The Action 2020 conference is scheduled for July 17-18 in New Haven, Conn., in Yale's Kroon Hall, a striking showcase for sustainable design. The meeting is designed to enable attendees to build case studies and examples of what is working to address key goals in materials, water, energy and ecosystems. This will lay the groundwork for attendees to create collaborative, actionable work plans.

Learn

Plenary sessions will present pressing challenges in each of four focus areas - "must haves" that were identified in the WBCSD's Vision 2050 report and refined this year to specific actions required to get significant results by 2020.

We'll open an extensive toolbox full of enablers, and thought provoking examples of what's working and how we can bring those to scale.

Take Action

Yale faculty and other sustainability experts will facilitate assessment sessions to help companies gauge where they are in the sustainability spectrum and which key strategies make the most sense to be working on.

Those participants who are ready for action will work with like-minded colleagues to piece together project plans. But don't worry if you're not quite there yet - we've designed a series of exciting action labs to keep you moving down the right path.

Interested? Visit action2020.usbcsd.org to learn more and to register today.

Check out Ygrene's new energy center in Sacramento - a meeting place, demonstration center and educational venue for community contractors, building owners and government officials working on Energy Efficiency.

Ygrene Energy Centers from Ygrene Energy Fund on Vimeo.

Participants of the Louisiana Water Synergy Project met Monday, May 6th at Loyola University, New Orleans. As many participants come from different sectors of industry but face similar challenges regarding water quality and quantity issues, collaborative thinking led to creative actions to address those challenges. For example, a user of traditional water treatment shared that monitoring dissolved oxygen levels in their mixing tanks helped reduce Nitrogen output, while those experienced with using wetlands as a natural nutrient and sediment removal process extolled the nutrient-cleaning benefits of their approach. Despite different approaches to treatment, both expressed interest in nutrient credit trading.

Dr. Gerard Learmonth of the University of Virginia showcased the UVA Chesapeake Bay Game. The game allows players to take on the role of a farmer, waterman, land developer, or a regulator and make land management decisions. These decisions produce true-to-life results enumerated in a Bay health grade, Nitrogen levels, and wildlife subsistence, as well as giving a profit and loss report. After playing a round of the game under different roles, Dr. Learmonth explained the process of designing a watershed collaboration tool for Louisiana. Discussion ensued regarding who the stakeholders would be, what environmental factors would be included, and where the requisite data would come from.

Dr. Mark Davis of the Tulane Institute on Water Resources Law and Policy highlighted the urgency of making proactive water management decisions in his presentation on the Mississippi River and the state of water law across the United States. Dr. Davis challenged meeting attendees to recognize how much water they use, how much they have, and how much they have to share as freshwater becomes an increasingly sought-after resource.

This meeting is an example of how the Louisiana Water Synergy Project brings together representatives from multiple industries to create a forum for regional collaboration to address water quality, quantity, and storm water challenges in southern Louisiana. Collaboration opportunities have already been identified regarding water reuse, use of wetlands for water quality improvement, and water transfer strategies. This project will be used as a format to be replicated in other regions, as water is a rising topic of concern in the US and around the globe.

Want to get involved? Plan to join us next at Action 2020 at Yale University, July 17-18, 2013 in New Haven, CT. Or, visit water-synergy.org for more information on the project.

In partnership with the WBCSD-US, we're pleased to announce the launch of bet-us.org - where you can find more information and register for one of our 2013 Business Ecosystems Training workshops. The BET program provides EHS and sustainability professionals with the tools and skills needed to manage ecosystem services. BET introduces cutting-edge applications and techniques to identify business opportunities related to ecosystem services and develop meaningful projects to achieve corporate sustainability objectives.

Visit http://bet-us.org for more information, and to register for the regional workshop in your area.

The US BCSD, WBCSD, and deans and professors from Yale School of Management and the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies met last week to accelerate sustainable solutions through business education. This partnership opportunity aligns the WBCSD global business community, its Regional Network, and the Global Network for Advanced Management to pursue co-development of transformative business education, extensive research opportunities, and regional project collaboration.

In the complex world of scaling up business solutions to sustainability, top universities, particularly business and management schools, have a key role to play in educating the leaders of today and tomorrow. Partnership with the WBCSD provides access to senior executives of companies who are at the forefront of corporate sustainable innovation and practices, and equally important, access to its Regional Network which provides regionally specific insights on corporate sustainability project opportunities and barriers.

The Global Network for Advanced Management brings together 23 universities from 23 countries of varying regions, cultures, and economies in different phases of development. The coalition of universities work together on four key goal challenges, one of which is sustainability. Students from participating schools travel for a week of intensive study organized around a theme, company visits, and networking. Geographically, 20 of the 23 universities are located in countries with strong WBCSD Regional Network affiliates.

By partnering with a university consortium like the Global Network for Advanced Management that shares our sense of urgency on sustainability, we're providing our members with a groundbreaking new opportunity create innovative sustainability solutions and foster the appropriate framework conditions to bring them to scale.

The US BCSD's Greater Houston By-Product Synergy (BPS) Project was honored as one of 19 finalists for a Texas Environmental Excellence Award (TEEA) at the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality (TCEQ) Awards Banquet on May 1, 2013. Susan Fernandes, the US BCSD's Project Manager, and Houston BPS Project member Joe Rizzo, Cherry Companies, attended the Awards Banquet. The finalists and 10 winners were selected from a field of more than 150 applications state-wide. The Houston BPS project was selected in the Innovative Operations/Management Award Category. The concept of BPS is that one company’s waste can become another company’s resource. Matching by-product streams from one facility with users at another creates new revenues or savings, and potential social and environmental benefits. Since its inception three years ago, the Houston BPS project has identified more than 18,000 metric tons that can be diverted from landfill disposal, achieved an estimated annual savings of $4.5 million in waste disposal costs and virgin materials purchases, and a wide range of other life-cycle environmental benefits. Consider joining our diverse industrial network to bring these benefits to your company too. For more information, visit: http://houstonbps.org

In May 2012, the US BCSD and the China Business Council for Sustainable Development (CBCSD) initiated a Hebei By-Product Synergy Project under the US-China Strategic Economic Dialogue’s EcoPartnership program. One year later, the project continues to gain momentum. The mayor's offices of Huainan and Qinhuangdao, as well as the Hebei provincial government, have all recently voiced their strong interest and support for the project in talks with CBCSD representatives. The project team is in the process of selecting two or three pilot industrial parks in Qinhuangdao City, Hebei Province and Huainan City, Anhui Province, to develop and test the implementation procedures, select the list of participating enterprises, draw lessons from domestic and international successful practices, and screen BPS technologies.

To support the Hebei BPS project, the US BCSD is developing an online materials marketplace designed to facilitate and manage materials data and transactions for BPS projects. This marketplace will allow easy access to materials data, synergy knowledge, and potential resources available based on facility type and industry.

The BPS effort in Qinhuangdao City aligns with a National Science Foundation research project led by the Yale Center for Industrial Ecology entitled: Developing Low-Carbon Cities in the USA, China & India through Inter-Disciplinary Integration Across Engineering, Environmental Sciences, Social Sciences & Public Health. The project includes a focus on BPS as a short term intervention that would likely be beneficial both environmentally and economically, and is considered an important component of the NSF grant.

This project will produce cross-industry material reuse opportunities that ultimately bring a circular economy network to the Hebei region in China through the matching of wastes and under-valued resources at one facility with potential users at other facilities. For more information, visit: http://usbcsd.org/us-china-ecopartnership/

A changing climate with more frequent extreme weather events requires today’s businesses to plan for an unpredictable and inconsistent water supply via more sophisticated water management practices, according to a new report released on April 15th by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. The report, Sharing Water: Engaging Business, emphasizes the crucial role of business in ensuring responsible management of water resources and encourages greater collaboration across sectors. The report finds that leading companies have begun shifting their perspective beyond merely managing operational water use to becoming more conscious of how corporate actions impact local and regional water resources and, conversely, how water resources and watersheds impact business.

The US BCSD's Louisiana Water Synergy Project is featured as an example of community and stakeholder engagement in the New Orleans to Baton Rouge Mississippi River Corridor.

“Increasing global demand and the impacts of climate change are placing unprecedented strain on freshwater resources,” said WBCSD President Peter Bakker. “In order to ensure a viable business future, companies are calling for collective management and collaboration at the watershed level to ensure continued access to water supplies among competing demands.”

Visit the WBCSD's website for more information.

US BCSD members and other sustainability experts came from around the country to the University of Texas at Austin to grapple with the complexities of scaling up solutions to Vision 2050 through collaborative learning and real, actionable regional projects.

The US BCSD Winter Meeting was unique this year in its diverse assembly of participants, creating a rare opportunity for sustainability professionals from multiple industries to collaborate and learn alongside cutting edge researchers and federal, state and local policymakers. A number of highly actionable outcomes were created as a result.

Read the rest of this entry →

The US Business Council for Sustainable Development (US BCSD) is soliciting Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprise participation for the following City of Austin project. Solicitation documents are available at our office or at One Texas Center, 505 Barton Springs Road, 10th Floor, Suite 1045. Name of Project: Materials Exchange Project Solicitation Number: RFP 1500 SDC0008 Proposal Response Due Date and Time: Prior to 04/05/2013, 02:00 PM

The project includes the following scopes of work:

• Database technical support: troubleshooting, training for local users.
• Facilitation support: data collection and data entry support.
• Facilitation support: identifying generators (manufacturers, contractors, school, businesses, etc) and outreach for project participation.
• Facilitation support: matching materials available with potential users. Technical experience is required to understand engineering and chemistry of potential material matches.
• Facilitation support: identifying and maintaining list of haulers and transportation options/logistics.
• Facilitation support: preparation of case studies and fact sheets for successful synergies.
• Contact our office for detailed information on the scopes of services to be subcontracted and the relevant terms and conditions of the contract.

Please contact Susan Fernandes at 512.981.5417 or fernandes@usbcsd.org.

Your response MUST be submitted to us no later than 03/28/2013 at 5:00pm.

The US BCSD's By-Product Synergy process was recently featured in Sustainable Brands. Click here to access the full article.

This project methodology is being introduced around the world. In May 2012, the US BCSD and the China Business Council for Sustainable Development initiated a BPS project in Hebei Province in northeast China. The Hebei BPS project is modeled after the US BCSD’s network of successful projects in regions across the United States and will address several objectives of China’s 12th Five-Year Plan. Those include a 16 percent reduction in energy use per unit of GDP, a 17 percent reduction of CO2 emissions per unit of GDP, and an 8 percent absolute reduction in sulfur dioxide and organic water pollutants. Three to four dozen Chinese companies will be invited to join this network and are expected to produce synergies valued at US$5 million to $10 million in new revenues, savings and investments in 2013.

Special thanks to all our members and colleagues who made the trip down to Austin, TX for our Winter Meeting 2013.  Look for meeting notes and presentations to be posted later next week, and keep an eye out for specific follow-ups from our staff shortly.

Please mark your calendars for our Summer Meeting at Yale University in New Haven, CT - scheduled for July 17-18, 2013.  We'll send more information as it becomes available.

A message from Peter Bakker, President, World Business Council for Sustainable Development:

Let me start by wishing you a successful, inspiring and healthy 2013! It has been a year since I assumed the role of President at the WBCSD - a year that seems to have passed too quickly. I had the chance to meet many of you during my visits last year. I would like to thank those who participated in our Council Meeting in Seoul, South Korea, where we were honoured by the attendance of the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, the Prime Minister of South Korea, Kim Hwang Sik and other senior officials from the host nation.

I concluded the meeting more convinced than ever that business has a leading role to play in tackling the issues that will define the future of humanity and this planet. I felt very encouraged that many of you share that sense of responsibility and that your companies are actively engaged in shaping our work programs. 

However, there are major challenges that need to be tackled if we want to stay on course for a ‘world with 9 billion people living well, within the boundaries of the planet’. The world continues to face tough economic conditions which threaten to take over the global agenda. We cannot let that keep us from addressing the longer-term health of our companies, our societies and our planet. As I have said before, the days of raising awareness on sustainability are behind us. We need to take action and scale up quickly.

To define a focused path forward for all of us, Vision 2050 serves as a good starting point. In 2013 we will revise Vision 2050, update it, and prioritize the Must Haves based on scientific findings and social research. We will translate Vision 2050 into actionable and investable items for the medium term. Consequently, we are relaunching this project and you will receive a separate note inviting you to be part of the process. In order for Vision 2050 to be the guiding document for our collective work within the WBCSD - and ideally for all business - we must all participate in this project. Your input is essential as I envisage that the new Vision 2050 will also serve as a key membership criterion. Over the course of this year, you will see more communications from the team and from me personally as we shape this project together - all the way to its launch at the Council Meeting in Istanbul in November.

In the past year, I have also begun reshaping the WBCSD internally. The essence of our organisation remains as a global organisation of forward-thinking responsible businesses working together on creating sustainable solutions. New team members have joined and we are focusing on outcomes and actions. I am also striking an increasingly progressive tone in my messages to internal and external audiences. I urge all of you to engage actively in this dialogue, especially on the challenging issues. For example, we have launched the project on Reporting and Investing, despite the opinion of some that the subject would be too sensitive. The strong support we have received since the project was launched has proven otherwise.

Your continued support of our organisation is critical. We are aware that your agendas are very full, but the WBCSD is only relevant if you continue to devote your personal time and allow experts from your organisations to participate in our projects. Our commitment remains to provide the most professional support to the project work, making the most of your time and efforts.

With my best regards and the best wishes for 2013 from everyone in the WBCSD team,

Peter Bakker President, WBCSD