Books

A thorough examination of the nature of sustainability issues as they affect the business enterprise, the business case for decisive action to actively manage sustainability issues, and guidance on where and how to begin this process. Oriented toward the needs and perspectives of the corporate executive and manager.

“Soyka brings a fresh and grounded view of corporate sustainability that understands the critical need to bridge the environmental and financial worlds. He makes it clear that sustainability is multidisciplinary and that leadership companies align it with core business drivers and metrics. Creating a Sustainable Organization is a valuable work that should be required reading for any professional seeking to align sustainability with business success.”

– Joel Makower, Chairman and Executive Editor, GreenBiz Group

This book provides relevant background information sustainability issues, justifies why nonprofit organizations should take them on, identifies appropriate roles for boards in developing and deploying sustainability strategy and tactics, and describes the most important environmental and social equity issues. Short and accessible, this book is suitable for the nonprofit board member or executive with no prior background in the subject matter.

In the words of BoardSource, “Govern Green is the only book we know of that offers guidance to nonprofit boards and chief executives in how to develop an environmentally responsible approach to governance and management. We recommend it to ALL nonprofits.”

Book Chapters

Bank of America, Mail, and the Environment

This chapter describes the results of an analysis of the carbon footprint of a major multinational bank, and a review of greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation options with respect to both impact and implementation cost. We arrayed the available options for GHG reductions in order of both the magnitude of reductions and unit cost, forming a cost (supply) curve in the process, and examined different strategies for reducing the Bank’s carbon footprint. Results showed ability for the client to make substantial greenhouse gas reductions at reasonable cost, but highlighted need to pursue mitigation strategies in a more careful way. The analysis showed that some of the most high-profile and popular strategies were among the least cost-effective.

ESG Investing in Europe: A Harbinger of Future U.S. Best Practices?

In this chapter, we extend the findings of a project report commissioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to characterize investment practices in Europe that involved the use of information on environmental issues. Soyka & Company designed and managed this study, performed under the auspices of IDS, Inc. We found that there was stronger investor belief in the importance of ESG factors in Europe than in the U.S., but that where used, U.S. ESG evaluation methods were of similar sophistication to those used in Europe. The study provided some early indications of the likely rising interest among U.S. investors in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues, which events since have validated.

Do U.S. Capital Markets Value EMS?: New Evidence

This chapter describes the results of original research performed by Peter Soyka and colleagues on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It reviews the goals and typical structure of formal environmental management systems (EMS), which were increasingly being adopted in the U.S. and internationally, and investigates the extent to which these systems were valued by capital market participants. Results showed a significant gap between the presumed financial value of EMS and the perceived value of these systems within the capital markets. The chapter concluded with some thoughts for closing this gap.

Environmental Impacts of U.S. Mail: Life Cycle Inventory Model and Analysis

This chapter describes development and application of the first-ever comprehensive life cycle inventory model for analysis of the U.S. mail system, designed and constructed by Peter Soyka. This peer-reviewed model addressed waste generation, pollutant emissions, and energy consumption, and allowed comparative analysis across mail products, identification of the most environmentally intensive life-cycle stages, and quantification of the energy consumed, by type, for each product and stage, including the “environmental footprint” of producing the fuels consumed.

Journal and Reference Articles

Governing Green: Enabling the Sustainable Organization

Is your nonprofit organization practicing good stewardship toward the environment?
It’s up to the board to lead the way.

This article identifies seven key steps that the leadership of nonprofit organizations can take to ensure that they are meeting the growing expectations of their members, supporters, and the public, while at the same time exercising responsible stewardship of their funds and other resources.

Greenhouse Gas Management: Are U.S. Public Utility Companies Ready?

The typical utility has more well-developed policies, programs, supporting infrastructure, and tangible results ‘ than the typical large company. But there remain numerous areas for improvement, including enhancing the coherence of environmental systems and other I infrastructure, and providing better assurance of effective sustainability/ financial issue management.

On the Horizon: Big Changes Loom in Sustainability Reporting

This column reviews recent trends in sustainability reporting, and finds convergence around several general themes. These include coverage of all (or most) recognized sustainability issues, collaboration among initiatives, and enlightened self-interest.

Major initiatives reviewed in the article include the GRI, CDP, SASB, IIRC, and the GISR.

In this entry, entitled “Business Standards and Sustainability Reporting,” Peter Soyka describes major trends in sustainability performance measurement and reporting, including the major reporting frameworks taking shape internationally, public sector approaches, and industry codes of conduct. He also outlines the categories and points of emphasis addressed by various reporting frameworks, as well as opportunities for public involvement in their further development and use.

Company Reports

ESG Investing Practices in Europe

This report presents the findings of an intensive research study commissioned by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to characterize investment practices in Europe that involved the use of information on environmental issues. Soyka & Company designed and managed this study, performed under the auspices of IDS, Inc. We found that there was stronger investor belief in the importance of ESG factors in Europe than in the U.S., but that where used, U.S. ESG evaluation methods were of similar sophistication to those used in Europe. The study provided some early indications of the likely rising interest among U.S. investors in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues, which events since have validated.

GEMS Benchmarking Study

This study presents a new methodology devised by Peter Soyka to rigorously evaluate the ability of companies to anticipate and actively manage the environmental issues that pose risks to and present opportunities for their operations. The methodology assesses the presence or absence of 49 distinct indicators. The study also provided an initial application of the methodology, co-authored by Peter Soyka and colleague Mark Bateman of IW Financial. The study revealed the strongest U.S. firms and distinguished them from most U.S. companies, which had little or no discernible capability with which to manage complex environmental and sustainability issues, such as climate change.

The Road Not Yet Taken

This ground-breaking study analyzed the environmental policies and practices of the 1,000 largest publicly traded U.S. companies, and found many significant deficiencies, despite the fact that many corporations had instituted policies and were making progress on sustainability. The study attempted to address the concerns of investors and other company stakeholders that the depth, consistency, and overall quality of corporate environmental disclosure did not provide a sufficient factual basis for an understanding of a firm’s environmental posture or performance. It also spoke to the frustration of some corporate representatives with the apparent lack of uptake and use of published environmental data and sustainability reports within the investor community.

Finding Common Ground on the Metrics That Matter

This project report explores the commonalities and differences in what environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues are important to corporate managers and to investor-oriented ESG researchers. It finds: general agreement about what the important corporate sustainability issues are, but not on why or how company ESG data should be used; that both corporate executives and ESG researchers/ investors approach ESG issues from a risk mitigation perspective, not a value creation perspective; and more and better communication between companies, researchers, and the consumers of ratings will be needed in the future.

Thought Leadership

Books

– Joel Makower, Chairman and Executive Editor, GreenBiz Group

In the words of BoardSource, “Govern Green is the only book we know of that offers guidance to nonprofit boards and chief executives in how to develop an environmentally responsible approach to governance and management. We recommend it to ALL nonprofits.”

Book Chapters

Bank of America, Mail, and the Environment

ESG Investing in Europe: A Harbinger of Future U.S. Best Practices?

Do U.S. Capital Markets Value EMS?: New Evidence

Environmental Impacts of U.S. Mail: Life Cycle Inventory Model and Analysis

Journal and Reference Articles

Governing Green: Enabling the Sustainable Organization

Is your nonprofit organization practicing good stewardship toward the environment? It’s up to the board to lead the way.

This article identifies seven key steps that the leadership of nonprofit organizations can take to ensure that they are meeting the growing expectations of their members, supporters, and the public, while at the same time exercising responsible stewardship of their funds and other resources.

Greenhouse Gas Management: Are U.S. Public Utility Companies Ready?

On the Horizon: Big Changes Loom in Sustainability Reporting

This column reviews recent trends in sustainability reporting, and finds convergence around several general themes. These include coverage of all (or most) recognized sustainability issues, collaboration among initiatives, and enlightened self-interest.

Major initiatives reviewed in the article include the GRI, CDP, SASB, IIRC, and the GISR.

Company Reports

ESG Investing Practices in Europe

GEMS Benchmarking Study

The Road Not Yet Taken

Finding Common Ground on the Metrics That Matter

Is your nonprofit organization practicing good stewardship toward the environment?
It’s up to the board to lead the way.