IBM and the World Environment Center have announced the formation of the Innovations in Environmental Sustainability Council, whose charter members will include Boeing, Coca-Cola and General Motors.
The council of global companies will explore how innovation in business process and technology can enable strategic solutions to major sustainability challenges involving materials, energy, water, infrastructure and logistics. Charter members, which also include CH2M Hill, Dow Chemical, F. Hoffman-La Roche, Johnson & Johnson and Disney, commit to incorporate sustainability more deeply into their strategy and practice.
Members will share their experiences to encourage adoption of best practices, both in increasing efficiency and in identifying and developing opportunities for growth. The council’s first meeting will be held February 7-8 in Orlando, Florida.
Neil Hawkins, Dow Chemical’s vice president of sustainability and EH&S, wrote in an Environmental Leader column that when sustainability is at the core of business, it can be a platform for innovation and growth.
As an example, he cited Dow’s 2015 sustainability goals, which press the company to accelerate innovation while reducing its global footprint.
Recently IBM listed “people power” – energy captured from human activities such as walking and jogging – as one of its 2011 “5 in 5.” The annual list names innovations that have the potential to change the way people work, live and interact during the next five years.