Founder – Carbon49
www.carbon49.com
[email protected]

As a recognized expert at ShareGreen by Walmart, Siemens Sustainable Cities, Carbon Economy Summit, Earth Day Canada, Toronto Sustainability Speaker Series, and a member on the advisory board of Sustainable Business Forum, I advise businesses on sustainability strategy and execution.

My passion is in helping businesses make a positive impact on the people, planet, and profit. Through industry consortiums, enterprise social media, blogs, Twitter, and Facebook, I help businesses connect with their customers and clients, supply chains and business partners, and engage with their employees to form collaborative partnerships to build sustainable, profitable, and socially responsible enterprises.

I share what I learn on my blog, Carbon49.com, which is widely read in Canada and around the world, with syndication appearing in Environmental Leader, The Energy Collective, Sustainable Cities, TSSS and many other publications. Praised as “an insightful blog on green issues for business leaders in Canada and beyond” by Debbie Baxter, Chief Sustainability Officer of LoyaltyOne, many of my blog posts reach top rankings on Google News.

Formerly a senior consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers, I have a Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering degree and was one of the first greenhouse gas professionals certified by CSA America. Tell me where you want your business want to go – I can help you get there.

WEBSITE

Articles by Derek

Canadian CSR Leaders Outperform TSX

By Derek Wong | Published: November 6, 2014

Apple, BMW, LG, HP, Coca-Cola, and Walmart are among the 187 companies cited by non-profit Carbon Disclosure Project for doing the most to combat climate change. These green warriors also outperform the Bloomberg World Index. The five Canadian companies that made this elite group are TD Bank, Bombardier, TransCanada, Teck Resources, and CN Railway. I find out how their stock prices compare to the S&P/TSX Index.

Posted in Business and Sustainability, Capitalism 2.0, Capitalism2.0, CSR in Canada, CSR Reporting, Impact investing, Socially Responsible Investing, Sustainability Reporting, Sustainable Investing | Tagged canadian csr leaders stocks performance, CDP, CDP 2014 report, csr investing, csr leaders outperform tsx, CSR performance vs stock performance, Derek Wong, risk management, S&P/TSX Index., stock performance | Comments closed

A City Within a Forest: The Evolution of Green Building

By Derek Wong | Published: April 6, 2014

Visually stunning and environmentally progressive condo buildings and office towers are appearing in Europe and Asia in recent years, including the Bosco Verticale in Milan, Hearst Tower in New York, and Urban Cactus in Rotterdam. Corporations and condo developers take note … whoever construct the first of this type of building in Canada can really make a statement. I talk to Andrew McAllan of Oxford Properties to see when that might happen.

The next generation of consumers increasingly demand sustainable practices. Combining environmental initiatives with stunning design, builders worldwide are thinking outside the box. In Milan, the Bosco Verticale is a vertical forest, housing 400 residential units and 900 trees of three to six meters tall. Architect Stefano Boeri anticipates a 5% increase to construction costs for the additional structure required to support the plants.

Posted in Built Environment, sustainability trends | Tagged Bosco Verticale, Deep Energy Efficiency Pays (DEEP) program, green building, hearst tower, LEED-certified, Oxford Properties, urban cactus, vertical forest | Comments closed

Four Green Team Tactics That Can Be Readily Adapted To Your Organization

By Derek Wong | Published: December 18, 2013

Small green teams tasked with transforming large corporations, governments, cities, and neighborhoods face some tough challenges. TD Bank’s three-person green team employed a range of strategies to inject sustainability thinking into 27,000 employees dispersed in 1,300 locations. I find four of their tactics very smart and can be readily adapted by green teams everywhere.

Posted in Behaviour Change, Business and Sustainability, Case Study, Communication, Culture Change, Employee Engagement, Employee Engagement, Green Communications, Organizational Change, Organizational Culture, The Hub, Thought Leader | Tagged Behaviour Change, corporate sustainability, csr, Derek Wong, green behaviour, green teams, Net Impact, TD Bank | Comments closed

Canadian Survey on Sustainability: Good at Cost Reductions but Huge Opportunity for Innovative Thinking

By Derek Wong | Published: May 28, 2013

A large scale study by OfficeMax Grand & Toy comparing Canadian companies to their world peers finds Canada leads in capturing cost reduction from sustainability initiatives but lags global leaders in driving profitability through collaboration. Broader collaborations with customers, suppliers, government and policy makers may be a key to unlocking the next phase’s rewards.

As Canadians, most of the industry reports we read focus on the U.S. Other studies cover globally. We may assume the trends and findings also apply to Canada. But do they? For the first time that I am aware of, a large scale study has been conducted that focuses specifically on how Canadian businesses practise sustainability, why they do it, and what their drivers and challenges are.

Posted in Business and Sustainability, CSR in Canada, Leadership, sustainability trends, Thought Leader | Tagged Boston Consulting Group, Canada csr leadership, cost reduction, Derek Wong, Grand and Toy, Leger, life cycle analysis, McKinsey, MIT Sloan Management, OfficeMax, operational efficiency, Operations, Procter & Gamble, procurement, reputation, starbucks, supply chain, sustainability tipping point, tsss, Walmart | Comments closed

IMPACT investing means giving up profits…wrong! A panel of experts discuss

By Derek Wong | Published: April 30, 2013

CBC’s Evan Solomon

What is the state of impact investing? The panel of experts from large institutional investors to small foundations at the 2013 Green Living Business Forum share their thoughts on the growth potential, risks and opportunities, and the valuation of social and environmental factors. Six common threads emerged from the discussion chaired by CBC host Evan Solomon.

Impact investing is small but rapidly growing. Currently it accounts for $50 billion globally, according to Bart Houlahan, Co-Founder of B Lab, a non-profit that helps entrepreneurs solve social and environmental problems. While this is a very small part of the capital markets, it is the most rapidly growing segment.

Posted in Capitalism 2.0, Socially Responsible Investing, Uncategorized | Tagged B lab, Capital for Aboriginal Prosperity and Entrepreneurship Fund, externalities, Green Living Show, hsbc, impact investing, Mercer, Standard and Poor's, Strategic Sustainable Investments, Toronto Atmospheric Fund | Comments closed

TSSS EVENT: Sport and Sustainability: A Focus on the 2015 Toronto Pan Am Games (FREE Livestream)

Join TSSS on April 1st as our panel explores the power of sport to reach people and communities like nothing else can. Topics to be discussed include: Community Engagement, Sustainable Purchasing, Importance of a Clear Vision, Diversity and Inclusion, Branding and Leaving a Legacy. Learn more

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