Last February, New York University’s Stern School of Business launched the Center for Sustainable Business, aided by a $1 million investment from the Citi Foundation. And in just a few short months, the center has steadily made notable progress.
Since launching, the center also assembled its corporate advisory board, recruited a host of industry research scholars, hosted Unilever CEO Paul Polman on its campus and published the “How Corporate America Can Support the Paris Climate Deal” op-ed in Fortune on Earth Day, April 22, 2016. Each important move reflects the center’s overall theme of “A Better World through Better Business.”
As well, the center has already launched a public white paper series in an effort to further provide research. The first primary issues the white papers focus on are financing mechanisms, green bonds and managing water resources and risk.
In “Financing Mechanisms to Support Sustainable Practices,” scholar Tom Manning examines sustainability financing “by examining current and emerging practices in debt and equity, as well as policy-based practices,” according to a statement from the center. In his second study, “Green Bonds: What’s New, What’s Next and Why Does it Matter?,” Manning examines the new bonds and their overall impact.
In “Spotlight: Water Business Tools for Managing Water Resources and Risk,” Senior Research Scholar Randi Kronthal-Sacco “examines prominent water frameworks and the tools for evaluating water risk from the true water cost, water footprint, life cycle assessment and more.”
Led by leading environmentalist and former Rainforest Alliance President Tensie Whelan, the center is striving to create positive methods in which the public and private sectors can work together for not only growth, but sustainable, environmentally-friendly growth.
Head over to the NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business website for more information on the projects and what will be coming in the near future.
