Business and Society 2.0

Era uma vez dez amigos que se reuniam todos os dias numa cervejaria para beber e a factura era sempre de 100 euros. Solidários, e aplicando a teoria da equidade fiscal, resolveram o seguinte: o os quatro amigos mais pobres não pagariam nada, o quinto pagaria 1 euro, o sexto pagaria 3, o sétimo pagaria 7; o oitavo pagaria 12; o nono pagaria 18 e o décimo, o mais rico, pagaria 59 euros. Satisfeitos, continuaram a juntar-se e a beber, até ao dia em que o dono da cervejaria, atendendo à fidelidade dos clientes, resolveu fazer-lhes um desconto de 20 euros, reduzindo assim a factura para 80 euros. Como dividir os 20 euros por todos? Decidiram então continuar com a teoria da equidade fiscal, dividindo os 20 euros igualmente pelos 6 que pagavam, cabendo 3,33 euros a cada um. Depressa verificaram que o quinto e sexto amigos ainda receberiam para beber. Gerada alguma discussão, o dono da cervejaria propôs a seguinte modalidade que começou por ser aceite: - os cinco amigos mais pobr

The Swedish EU Presidency, together with the Swedish Forest Industries Association , is challenging EU members to be more effective in the sustainability of their forestry resources. The Swedish Forest Industries released a Manifesto, with actions and recommendations for good economic, social and environmental development. Stop Global deforestation and growth plantation rates in EU will have a significant positive impact on climate change. Increased Growth in Forestry Protecting Biological Diversity Free Trade The Role of Managed Forests. An increase in forest growth will retain carbon dioxide from the atmosphere The Role of Wood Products, as a renewable building material Global Deforestation, a cause of a fifth of human emissions Global Emissions Trading, harmonizing principles in other regions outside Europe The Forest Industry is Vital for the Production of Bioenergy First Goods, Then Bioenergy Promote Better Competition in the Electricity Market Retain site-Specific Environmental D

Enterprise 2.0 is defined by Andrew McAfee as the use of social networkings platforms like Facebook, Flickr, Linkedin and Wikipedia, in the context of companies or between companies and their partners or customers. He has just published his new book, Enterprise 2.0, New Collaborative Tools For Your Organization´s Toughest Challenges.

Sustainability and management best practices indexes and reporting We can identify some enterprises, namely in the paper and forest industry, to use some special kind of Key Indexes or Best Practices Reporting Systems integrated in their annual reporting to stakeholders. One case is Stora Enso, a Finnish company, which is listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) since 2001. This DJSI assesses the economic, environmental and social aspects of some of the world´s largest companies. Stora Enso has been included also in the FTSE4 Good Index series, since 2001. FTSE4 Good Index series, focus on environmental management, human and labor rights, supply chain labour standards and efforts to counter bribery. Another wood, pulp and paper supplier, the Swedish Holmen Paper as well as Stora Enso, are also examples of using the Global Research Initiative (GRI), to transparently announce to this stakeholders the commitment to a sustainable and responsible management. GRI Indicators includ

An interesting model to increase employee´s awareness and to push for their ideas and creativity, is the scheme implemented by Holmen and reported in the last Holmen Report. Any employee can submit an idea and Holmen Paper receive more then 170 suggestions per year. The suggestions are scrutinized by management with the Unions involvement. For the suggestions that are considered useful, there is a reward in the compensation, which is calculated by the difference between investment and first year profit. This means for Holmen a one year payback of the investment and for the employee a bonus in his compensation. This is a “win-win” relation, keeps motivation high and creates a climate of transparency.

Carbon Footprint is a measure of the impact that human activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of CO2 and other greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere, that have arisen through the manufacture and distribution of a product or service. Producing 200kg of paper, the average we each use every year, creates between 130–250kg of CO2 depending on the source of energy. This is comparable to many other small scale domestic activities, and is roughly equivalent to the CO2 produced by an average family car over a distance of 600 miles.While the main raw material of paper, trees, is a vast carbon store and the prime absorber of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, the precise carbon footprint of the paper cycle is difficult to pinpoint as it depends on how the paper is made and the source of energy used in production. Nuclear, hydro, biofuel and geothermal energy, heavily used by some paper making countries, are all low carbon, while fossil-fuels are carbon intensive. &quo

The paper industry is Europe’s largest recycler and is one of the greatest environmental success stories of recent years. Today, the average recycling rate across European countries is over 62%, representing more than 50 million tonnes of used paper collected each year.Paper fibres can be recycled up to six times, and recycling is certainly the best way to keep waste paper out of landfill. So paper has excellent credentials as a renewable, sustainable and recyclable product, and managed paper production has a positive environmental impact. At the same time, a responsible use of paper and attitude to recycling will have an even greater environmental benefit. "When people use more paper, suppliers plant more trees. If we want bigger commercial forests, then we should use more paper not less. Our policies should directly protect important wildlife habitats, not try to reduce our demand for paper."(1) (1) Edward L. Glaeser, Professor of Economics at Harvard University © Copyright