Environmental Strategy I - Global Environmental Problems and Business
Taught by Douglas Crawford-Brown
Introduction: This course is provided to students enrolled in the graduate and executive training programmes of Dosihsa University, through the Institute for Technology, Enterprise and Competitiveness and its Technology and Innovative Management programme.The course is concerned with the ways in which environmental and sustainability policies and practices are developed, and the roles of the business community in delivering on the aims of such policies and practices. Focus is on global management of the environment, including the central role of both global organisations and global supply chains. Special emphasis is placed on the interactions between environmental, energy and economic activities, with climate change as an example throughout the course (supplemented by other global environmental challenges).
The course examines how businesses can respond to global and national policies; how businesses can work with governments and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to share responsibility and resources; how governments, business and the public can coordinate their decisions and investments to mutual benefit; methods to assess the environmental footprint of businesses and their supply chain; strategies to improve global environmental quality through improving the material and energy efficiency of the supply and value chains of major corporations. Case studies from around the world are used to examine why coordinated business，government and public actions have been successful or failed in the past, and how to move forward to more effective actions.
Aims: Students will develop a comprehensive understanding of the major global environmental challenges; learn how to assess the drivers, pressures, states, impacts and responses (DPSIR) of global change; learn how businesses are vulnerable to a changing environment and to changing global policies (and how to reduce this vulnerability); learn how to use these assessments in identifying specific strategies by which corporations can work with the public and NGO sectors to deliver on global environmental protection while maintaining economic prosperity; and how to monitor these strategies to ensure they are moving the global environment towards stated policy goals.
Topics
The course is divided into 15 topics.
1. Introduction: Overview and key concepts and definitions of global environmental policy and the business community. Practical assignment during the day: each Attendee will provide a verbal description of how a specific corporation faces global environmental challenges and responds.
2. Material and Energy in the Environment (Qualitative): Overview of how material and energy are extracted from the earth，used in business activities，and produce environmental change. Practical assignment during the day: each Attendee will develop a qualitative description of how the specific corporation they used in Day 1 affects important earth systems processes.
3. Material and Energy in the Environment (Quantitative): Overview of methods to characterise the global environmental impacts of material and energy use. Practical assignment during the day: each Attendee will develop a quantitative description of how the specific corporation they used in Day 1 affects important earth systems processes， using a simple EXCEL-based model provided in class.
4. Climate Change and Business: Overview of the science and policy of global climate change，and the roles of corporate supply chains in greenhouse gas emissions. Practical assignment during the day: each Attendee will develop a quantitative estimate of the global greenhouse gas emissions of the specific corporation they used in Day 1.
5. Environmental Change and Business I: Overview of the science of global material and energy processes and how changes in these make businesses more or less vulnerable to disruptions. Practical assignment during the day: each Attendee will develop a qualitative description of the environmental vulnerabilities of the specific corporation they used in Day 1 using a DPSIR model developed in class.
6. Environmental Change and Business II: Continuation of Lecture 5. Practical assignment during the day: each Attendee will further develop a qualitative description of the environmental vulnerabilities of the specific corporation they used in Day 1.
7. Macroeconomic Considerations I: Overview of how macroeconomic models allow insight into the linkages between different economic sectors，and the implications for global environmental change. Practical assignment during the day: each Attendee will develop a qualitative description of the economic linkages between the specific corporation they used in Day 1 and the other economic sectors examined in the global macroeconomic model presented in the lecture.
8. Macroeconomic Considerations II: Continuation of Lecture 7. Practical assignment during the day: each Attendee will further develop their qualitative description of the economic linkages between the specific corporation they used in Day 1 and the other economic sectors examined in the global macroeconomic model presented in the lecture，specifying the particular environmental issues affected by these linkages.
9. Technology Innovation and Global Environmental Change I: The role of technologies in solving global environmental problems，and the roles of corporations in developing and providing these. Practical assignment during the day: each Attendee will provide a description of one technology already developed by businesses globally and capable of solving an environmental problem and one technology still requiring innovation to make a significant contribution as a solution.
10. Technology Innovation and Global Environmental Change II: Continuation of Lecture 9. Practical assignment during the day: each Attendee will provide a description of how global envirionmental policy can stimulate investment in a technology still requiring innovation to make a significant contribution as a solution.
11. Responsibilities and Institutional Resources: The different Actors (public sector， private sector，NGOs and citizens) in global environmental change and environmental policy，including the roles they play， their responsibilities (legal，ethical，etc) and the resources they can bring to collective solutions to environmental problems. Practical assignment during the day: each Attendee will provide a description of how the specific corporation they used in Day 1 interacts with these other Actors, and the role of Corporate Social Responsibility and internal business practices in providing motivation for global solutions.
12. Policy Evaluation I: Methods for assessing the effectiveness of policies，strategies，action plans and specific corporate practices in protecting or improving the global environment. Practical assignment during the day: each Attendee will develop a multi-criteria Decision Matrix for assessing effectiveness of policies.
13. Policy Evaluation II: Continuation of Lecture 12. Practical assignment during the day: each Attendee will apply their multi-criteria Decision Matrix to a specific environmental problem of interest to the specific corporation used in Day 1.
14. Case Study: Application of all of the methods discussed previously to the problem of global climate change and environmental sustainability. Practical assignment during the day: each Attendee will use a climate change model presented in class to assess how specific business practices might slow the rate of climate change.
15. Case Study and Summary: Continuation of the case study in lecture 14，and summary of the lessons learned. Practical assignment during the day: each Attendee will discuss how the materials of the course have helped them formulate and assess solutions to global environmental challenges through business practices，and explain how they will bring these ideas back to their careers.
1. Introduction: Overview and key concepts and definitions of global environmental policy and the business community. Practical assignment during the day: each Attendee will provide a verbal description of how a specific corporation faces global environmental challenges and responds.
2. Material and Energy in the Environment (Qualitative): Overview of how material and energy are extracted from the earth，used in business activities，and produce environmental change. Practical assignment during the day: each Attendee will develop a qualitative description of how the specific corporation they used in Day 1 affects important earth systems processes.
3. Material and Energy in the Environment (Quantitative): Overview of methods to characterise the global environmental impacts of material and energy use. Practical assignment during the day: each Attendee will develop a quantitative description of how the specific corporation they used in Day 1 affects important earth systems processes， using a simple EXCEL-based model provided in class.
4. Climate Change and Business: Overview of the science and policy of global climate change，and the roles of corporate supply chains in greenhouse gas emissions. Practical assignment during the day: each Attendee will develop a quantitative estimate of the global greenhouse gas emissions of the specific corporation they used in Day 1.
5. Environmental Change and Business I: Overview of the science of global material and energy processes and how changes in these make businesses more or less vulnerable to disruptions. Practical assignment during the day: each Attendee will develop a qualitative description of the environmental vulnerabilities of the specific corporation they used in Day 1 using a DPSIR model developed in class.
6. Environmental Change and Business II: Continuation of Lecture 5. Practical assignment during the day: each Attendee will further develop a qualitative description of the environmental vulnerabilities of the specific corporation they used in Day 1.
7. Macroeconomic Considerations I: Overview of how macroeconomic models allow insight into the linkages between different economic sectors，and the implications for global environmental change. Practical assignment during the day: each Attendee will develop a qualitative description of the economic linkages between the specific corporation they used in Day 1 and the other economic sectors examined in the global macroeconomic model presented in the lecture.
8. Macroeconomic Considerations II: Continuation of Lecture 7. Practical assignment during the day: each Attendee will further develop their qualitative description of the economic linkages between the specific corporation they used in Day 1 and the other economic sectors examined in the global macroeconomic model presented in the lecture，specifying the particular environmental issues affected by these linkages.
9. Technology Innovation and Global Environmental Change I: The role of technologies in solving global environmental problems，and the roles of corporations in developing and providing these. Practical assignment during the day: each Attendee will provide a description of one technology already developed by businesses globally and capable of solving an environmental problem and one technology still requiring innovation to make a significant contribution as a solution.
10. Technology Innovation and Global Environmental Change II: Continuation of Lecture 9. Practical assignment during the day: each Attendee will provide a description of how global envirionmental policy can stimulate investment in a technology still requiring innovation to make a significant contribution as a solution.
11. Responsibilities and Institutional Resources: The different Actors (public sector， private sector，NGOs and citizens) in global environmental change and environmental policy，including the roles they play， their responsibilities (legal，ethical，etc) and the resources they can bring to collective solutions to environmental problems. Practical assignment during the day: each Attendee will provide a description of how the specific corporation they used in Day 1 interacts with these other Actors, and the role of Corporate Social Responsibility and internal business practices in providing motivation for global solutions.
12. Policy Evaluation I: Methods for assessing the effectiveness of policies，strategies，action plans and specific corporate practices in protecting or improving the global environment. Practical assignment during the day: each Attendee will develop a multi-criteria Decision Matrix for assessing effectiveness of policies.
13. Policy Evaluation II: Continuation of Lecture 12. Practical assignment during the day: each Attendee will apply their multi-criteria Decision Matrix to a specific environmental problem of interest to the specific corporation used in Day 1.
14. Case Study: Application of all of the methods discussed previously to the problem of global climate change and environmental sustainability. Practical assignment during the day: each Attendee will use a climate change model presented in class to assess how specific business practices might slow the rate of climate change.
15. Case Study and Summary: Continuation of the case study in lecture 14，and summary of the lessons learned. Practical assignment during the day: each Attendee will discuss how the materials of the course have helped them formulate and assess solutions to global environmental challenges through business practices，and explain how they will bring these ideas back to their careers.
Readings list
Christian Madu, Handbook of Environmentally Conscious Manufacturing (Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2001)
Julian M. Allwood and Jonathan M. Cullen, Sustainable Materials with Both Eyes Open (UIT Publishers, Cambridge, UK, 2012)
Nicholas Stern, The Economics of Climate Change: The Stern Review (Cambridge University Press, 2007)
Julian M. Allwood and Jonathan M. Cullen, Sustainable Materials with Both Eyes Open (UIT Publishers, Cambridge, UK, 2012)
Nicholas Stern, The Economics of Climate Change: The Stern Review (Cambridge University Press, 2007)
