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November 2005, Volume 1, Number 3

Business schools, faculty ranked

On October 19, WRI and the Aspen Institute launched the 2005 edition of the Beyond Grey Pinstripes report. The report includes a survey that ranks, for the first time, Master's in Business Administration (MBA) programs worldwide on how well they incorporate social and environmental issues into MBA training. The survey ranked Stanford Graduate School of Business (USA) in first place, with ESADE (Spain), York (Canada), ITESM (Mexico) and Notre Dame (USA) rounding out the top five. Suggesting increased interest in the business school community, responses to the survey rose to 91 from 36 two years ago; 54 percent of responding schools had at least one required course in a surveyed discipline, up from 45 percent in 2003. The report also highlights the disparity between the best and the rest: while students at the top 30 schools were exposed to ethical, social and environmental issues in about a quarter of their required coursework, other students saw these issues only 8 percent of the time. Only 4 percent of faculty at surveyed schools published research on related issues in top, peer-reviewed journals during the survey period. The report also honors six leading faculty, nominated by their peers and selected by a panel of corporate judges. (more here)

The recently published wetlands analysis of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment reveals that people converted more than 50 percent of specific types of wetlands in parts of North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand during the twentieth century. While 1,280 million hectares remain, and demand for ecosystem services such as protection against floods and storms will increase, new analysis suggests that the ability of wetlands to provide these valuable services will decrease. Image credit: NCRS. (more here)

Global Wetlands Decline
WRI President, Board Member Honored as Climate Heroes

WRI President Jonathan Lash and Board Member Al Gore were honored by Rolling Stone Magazine on their recent list of "Warriors & Heroes Against Global Warming." The magazine deemed Lash "The Go-Between" and described him as having "arguably done more than any other environmentalist to bridge the bitter divide between industry interests and green groups determined to halt global warming." The list named Gore "The Avenger." Other honorees included Jeffrey Immelt, CEO of General Electric. (more here) 

Five years ago, the United States Bureau of Land Management (BLM) began to manage 26 million acres of the National Landscape Conservation System. To encourage BLM to measure and track progress towards its conservation mandate for these areas, WRI and the Wilderness Society developed 35 performance indicators . The first assessment based on those indicators has just been released, with the hope that BLM will formally adopt indicators of their own. Image credit: BLM/NLCS. (more here) 

A Measure of Progress

The New Ventures Program of WRI has selected companies mostly in the energy efficiency, agriculture and construction sectors as finalists for venture capital investment and business mentoring. The companies include businesses in the emerging economies of Mexico, China, and Brazil. Future selections will include businesses in India and Indonesia. The selections add to the roster of sustainable businesses that have attracted more than US$12 million since 1999. (more here)

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently reported that 'carbon capture and storage' - capturing carbon dioxide emissions and injecting them into underground geological formations - could contribute significantly to global greenhouse gas mitigation efforts over the next century. This month WRI started a new project  to examine how this technology can be a safe and acceptable option for society, including industry and the public.(more here) 

Early November saw the first major event to discuss implementation of the recent Gleneagles Plan of Action on Climate Change, Clean Energy and Sustainable Development. That action plan incorporated recommendations of the WRI policy brief, Mainstreaming Climate Change Considerations at the Multilateral Development Banks. Representatives of the world's eight largest national economies, financial institutions and developing nations met to discuss mobilization of an investment framework for clean energy. (more here)

It's Crude, but It Works (for now)

Crude oil accounts for more than one-third of global energy consumption, and demand for oil and other petroleum products will likely increase by 40 percent over the next two decades. Concerns about about the contribution of fossil fuels to climate change, the finite quantity of oil reserves, and national security implications of dependence on imported petroleum are also growing. This month, WRI's award-winning website - EarthTrends - frames these issues with important indicators and analyses related to global energy. (more here)


WRI Digest is published monthly by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and sent to subscribers who have opted in. WRI is an independent non-profit organization with a staff of more than 100 scientists, economists, policy experts, business analysts, statistical analysts, mapmakers, and communicators working to protect the Earth and improve people's lives.

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