Sustainable Luxury, Beauty & Sport

Concerned about the preparation for the future of motorcycle sport and in order to promote Alternative Energies, the FIM announces the launch of its new Electric Motorcycles Championship: the FIM e-Power International Championship.

The events will be held during the opening race of a few rounds of our prestigious championships as of 2010.

Vito Ippolito, FIM President stated: “The FIM, as the governing body of motorcycle sport, must take into account current environmental problems. This is why, in the framework of our agreement with the United Nations Environmental Programme, we put in place every year initiatives aimed at making the motorcycle world aware and reminding us of our duties towards our planet. With the same goal and in order to promote new energies, the FIM is pleased about and proud of the creation of the FIM e-Power International Championship that will be managed by the Road Racing Commission (CCR). We hope to gather many teams around this project in preparation for the future of our sport.”

Claude Danis, Road Racing Commission President added: “The CCR is enthusiastic to support this new championship. We have already seen the interest of the organisers, who like us, are concerned about environmental issues and who want to be involved in competitions using new energy for the benefit of the motorcycle racing of tomorrow. Details on the organisation of this championship will be announced in the coming weeks and other dates should be added to the 2010 provisional calendar:

• April 18th, Le Mans (France)
• To be confirmed, Albacete (Spain)
• September 12th, Nevers-Magny Cours, opening race of the Bol d’Or (France)
• November 14th, Doha (Qatar)

Changes in behaviors and concerns are not limited to the luxury industry. We advocate the adoption of new sustainable practices for all sports federations and in the organization of major international events such as championships. Many luxury brands are advertising with sport brands and athletes. More soon.

“Our members tell us that the single most challenging aspect of sustainability strategy is rollout in large and complex organizations. This dilemma can seem even more challenging, even impossible when an economic crisis is in full swing,” stated Professor Corey Billington, Director of the CSM – Forum for Corporate Sustainability Management at IMD at the recent CSM event held mid September in Lausanne. Professor Corey works with Deputy Director of the CSM, Dr Aileen Ionescu-Somers.

During this 2 days event, organised by IMD, about 30 CSR professionals from the private and public sectors gathered to discuss about « How to keep on track during a crisis »

Key findings were summarized as follows (source IMD-CSM)

Companies are facing the following “pain points” during the crisis when working to keep on track with their sustainability strategies:

• increased focus on short term results and survival;
• growing uncertainty about the long term;
• increased fear leading to paralysis and lack of decision;
• resource constraints;
• increasing complexity in aligning with stakeholders;
• decreasing share of attention for sustainability issues and strategies.

The following solutions were envisaged:

• Quantify your business case for sustainability as extensively as possible.
• Position sustainability as a clear positive contribution to the strategic redirection of the business.
• Mobilize resources in innovative ways.
• Define a long-term horizon integrated with radical sustainability innovation. Build the corresponding business case for new products, technologies and business models related to sustainability.
• Build a cross-sectoral, integrated vision, to support the mainstreaming of sustainability issues. Build it from topics that are high on the agenda (such as climate) in terms of their economic relevance, or that can produce “quick wins”.
• Fundamentally re-design processes, re-allocate resources and improve priority setting to compensate for the resources crunch.
• Refer to legislation and be more active in political advocacy.

For more information about IMD CSM Forum and Research or How Luxury and beauty brands can leverage the benefits of Sustainability ?

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This is a major event and everybody knows that, 2010 Winter Olympic Games are coming, and they will be hosted in Vancouver and Whistler, Canada. Always in USA’s shadow, Canada’s mining industry is the third leader in the extraction of gold. Well, what’s the link between Canadian’s mining industry and the Vancouver Olympic Games?

This link is simple: the medals. As the host country, Canada will design and produce the 615 Olympic and the 399 Paralympics gold, silver and bronze medals. It represents 2.05 kg of 99.99% pure gold, approximately 1,950kg of pure silver and 903 kg of copper. The medals will be among the heaviest ones in Olympic and Paralympics history, with an average weight of 550g each.

The task of producing them was given to the Royal Canadian Mint and to Teck Resources Limited (which is headquarted in Vancouver).  The first will be in charge of the design and conception (each medal will be a one-of-a-kind masterpiece) and the latter will have to furnish the materials. The Teck company is Canada’s largest diversified mining, mineral processing and metallurgical company.

Going along with the sustainability turns taken by the Olympics Games, this company advocates sustainable and responsible practices in its businesses. She owes or has interests 13 mines in Canada, in the USA, in Chile and in Peru, which are managed through a Code of Ethics and a Code of Sustainable Conducts. The Company has engaged in responsible practices toward main stakeholders (employees, communities and shareholders) and holds considerations for the populations of the countries she works in, investing in the local communities, hiring and training local workers.

A new process has been used to build the Olympic and Paralympics medals: the E-waste process. Teck is a primary recycler for the Encorp Return-ItTM Electronics program in British Columbia. By recycling end-of-life-electronic (EOLE) equipment, the company extracts a certain percentage of metals that were used in the production of the medals.

Medals are a kind of luxury goods. Luxury brands should learn and consider the actual expectations of consumers and the benefits their companies will gain in terms of innovation, competition and productivity. Mining is the base of the luxury industry and one of the most attacked industry regarding damages toward the environment and the local communities. Mindsets are changing within the luxury industry. It is time for corporate practices to start moving forward too.

Before you finish reading that post, at least 2 children will have died of Malaria ! Acceptable, probably not !

Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), partly funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is a not-for-profit public-private partnership, established as a foundation in Switzerland in 1999. It is dedicated to reducing the burden of malaria in disease-endemic countries by discovering, developing and facilitating delivery of new, effective and affordable antimalarial drugs. Our vision is a world in which these innovative medicines will cure and protect the vulnerable and under-served populations at risk of malaria, and help to ultimately eradicate this terrible disease.

This month, Cornell University, in the state of New York, USA, will host the 2009 Net Impact Conference, which seeks to change the world through business. Hence, attendees will debate about how business can help to move toward sustainable practices, innovations and solutions.

The event will bring together CEOs, organizations and universities committed to social and environmental responsible business, MBA students and professionals from well-known chapters, such as California Berkeley, Columbia or Georgetown, and leaders in corporate social responsibility and sustainability.

Lectures and discussions’ sessions by leaders of the sustainable business ( such as Jeffrey Immelt, CEO of GE or Seth Goldman, president of Honest Tea, USA’s best selling organic bottled tea company) will precede the opening of the Expo, which allows many universities and companies to present their work, project and programs toward sustainable business.

If you seek to discover sustainable practices, hear from other’s experiences and integrate them in your day-to-day business, connect with professional (such as representatives of CSRwire) and students that wish to change the world through business, this conference is a key event to participate to.