As a resident of The Netherlands for a couple of years, I caught a slight football (for Americans, soccer) fever and follow th
e sport somewhat. So of course I’m excited about the World Cup and the good (and lucky) start by the USA as well as the just-ended match in which the Dutch team has opened Group E with a win over Denmark. Hup, Hup, Holland! Go USA!
Building on this theme, we thought we’d also share with you two other resources in the larger planetary competition – that is, which countries are most aware of, most capable of, and most active in reducing their contribution to global climate change?
The other World Cup – who’s doing the most in the area of environmental sustainability?
We found two interesting measurements of this.
National Geographic’s Greendex(TM) – a survey of sustainable consumption
First, we found Greendex(TM) – a program run by National Geographic
Greendex is made up of four components:
So Greendex gives significant detail, but on a limited number of countries:
- Argentina
- Australia
- Brazil
- Canada
- China
- France
- Germany
- Hungary
- India
- Japan
- Mexico
- Russia
- South Korea
- Spain
- Sweden
- United Kingdom
- United States
We encourage you to check this out. As a project manager, it’s important for you to understand the context and full spectrum of stakeholders in the countries in which your project is taking place. In fact, you can make this personal by taking the quick but challenging 5-question Knowledge Quiz on the National Geographic site and compare your score with colleagues worldwide. The link to Greendex is here and also in the title of this section. Find a PDF summary of the Greendex survey here. OK., you want the bottom line? India is in first place, and the United States is in last place in 2010. Stunning.
Yale University’s EPI
Secondly, we found the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) which is run by Yale University. Taken directly from the EPI site, here is the description of this index:
Lighting up solar projects in the USA
Our US Department of the Interior announced yesterday (16-December-2010) that it has drafted a new environmental policy to expedite large-scale solar power projects in six western states.
The policy, known as the Draft Solar Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS), designates 24 sites on public lands in Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada and Utah for renewable energy projects.
We’re not talking about small potatoes here. This is about over 100 active solar applications covering 1 million acres that developers estimate could generate 60,000 megawatts of electricity.
Why should you care?
Well, if for no other reason: job security. Does this effort trigger projects (and therefore the need for project managers)? Well, perhaps this will help answer that question. The 32 page Introduction section of the PEIS document contains the word project of program over 150 times.
Presentation on the document structure:
Click here for a short video on how to use the document.
Link to full PEIS document:
Click here for the full document.
Click here for a set of Questions and Answers on the program.
As we have continued to assert – climate change cynic, or earthy enthusiastic environmentalist, as a project manager, you are best off – and importantly, best suited - to ride the green wave. Start riding.