Peter Knight on 'grubby' CSR

Gillian Tett of the Financial Times wrote an amusing piece about her time moderating a panel at Davos, on February 4. She complained that business people did not want to talk about the “grubby” business of making money, only about the softer things which she placed under the Corporate Social Responsibility banner.

On February 11 the FT published our response under the headline:

‘Grubby’ CSR is about making money

Sir, Gillian Tett (February 4) says “business leaders do not want to talk about grubby financial realities these days”, preferring to speak about corporate social responsibility. She misunderstands the realities of business today. CSR is grubby – it is about making money because it helps you understand what customers want.

Peter T. Knight, President, Context America, Inc, New York, NY, US

Context clients gain global recognition for sustainability leadership

Six Context clients have been listed among Corporate Knights' 2012 Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations. Congratulations to Centrica, GlaxoSmithKline, Life Technologies, Roche, Unilever and Vodafone, all of whom were recognised for their leading approach to sustainable business.

Corporate Knights is a Canadian research, media and financial company. It publishes the Global 100 list to highlight world leaders in clean capitalism. Constituents are listed based on leadership diversity, sustainability remuneration and resource productivity, among other indicators. The list is in its eighth year and is released annually at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Context clients pledge to source more wind energy

Congratulations to four Context clients that have strengthened their commitment to sourcing renewable energy. BD, Bloomberg, Deutsche Bank and Motorola Mobility are among an elite group of pioneers supporting WindMade. Companies signed up to WindMade, the world’s first consumer label identifying organizations and products that use wind power in their operations, have sourced or are pledging to source at least 25 percent of their electricity from wind power.

WindMade is designed to drive demand for wind power and advance the renewable energy market and is backed by the UN Global Compact, Vestas Wind Systems, WWF and the Global Wind Energy Council among others. Companies using the label source wind power through their own generation facilities, long-term power purchase agreements, or purchase of renewable energy certificates (RECs) approved by WindMade.

Jaycee Pribulsky on The Rainbow Warrior III's New York pop up

Normally, when you think of Greenpeace, visions of activists scaling buildings and hurling banners come to mind. In New York on Monday, Greenpeace did something completely different. They welcomed a small group of influencers to their “home” - the new Rainbow Warrior III flagship – reimagined as a pop-up restaurant.

The notion was remarkably simple, offer a select group of people the opportunity to learn about Greenpeace and see their new, state of the art ship up close and personal. And, in an added twist, enjoy a meal from Chef Daniel Patterson from COI in San Francisco, who is committed to sourcing ingredients from sustainable sources. And, I’m happy to report, the food was indeed delicious.

If it all sounds quite glam and far from the hard line view some may have of Greenpeace, so be it.

Greenpeace raised over $32 million to build this bespoke ship, which is tricked out not only with a helipad and cranes to lift smaller zodiac boats into the water in minutes but with space for conducting climate research.

Later this week the Rainbow Warrior III will set sail down the East Coast of the United States making stops along the way to Brazil for Rio +20. It seems the old guard of the environmental movement is stepping out in a new way. We look forward to tracking their progress. Stay tuned.