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Sustainable Development Report 2003-2004 Assessing our Economic, Environmental and Social Performance

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Page 1: IISD Sustainable Development Report 2002-2003 · Report Scope and Profile This third annual IISD Sustainable Development Report continues to demonstrate IISD’s on-going commitment

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Page 2: IISD Sustainable Development Report 2002-2003 · Report Scope and Profile This third annual IISD Sustainable Development Report continues to demonstrate IISD’s on-going commitment

Welcome to IISD’s third sustainable development report Momentum increased last year in meeting our sustainability objectives and we achieved all our targets except one. This success can largely be attributed to the Internal Sustainable Development Assessment and Reporting Team, ISDAR for short, and their high level of enthusiasm and commitment. In addition, our efforts have been fully supported by IISD Board, staff, associates and consultants, making implementation relatively seamless. It’s been a pleasure working with all of you. Three years ago when we started producing a stand-alone sustainable development report, we had two near-term objectives. The first was to primarily report on operational sustainability and as capacity became available look at impacts and outcomes of projects on external stakeholders and the second was to integrate the sustainable development report into IISD’s annual report. We believe we have largely achieved the first objective; we have developed a robust set of indicators to assess our operations and it is time to look at project-level activities. We also have made considerable progress on our second objective; the 2003-2004 IISD Annual Report includes a larger set of our operational indicators than any previous annual report and we intend to continue this integration process. We have made some noteworthy changes to the sustainable development report format this year by adding several indicators and reorganizing it so that it is more closely aligned with the “Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Reporting Guidelines 2002” (GRI Guidelines). Many of the reporting elements listed in the first three sections of the GRI Guidelines are available in IISD’s annual report and are not repeated in this report. Readers are encouraged to refer to the annual report for information on IISD’s vision and strategy, profile and governance structure, and management systems (reporting elements 1-3 in the GRI system). For those reading this sustainable development report as a stand alone document, a few pertinent sections are included here to provide necessary context. The ISDAR Team remains committed to improving our assessment and reporting, and invite comments on this report from our many stakeholders. Comments can be sent to Marlene Roy ([email protected]). Marlene Roy (Team Leader) and the ISDAR Team

• Stephan Barg • Jodi Browne • Dennis Cunningham • Janice Gair • Catherine Muir • Marcela Rojo • Darren Swanson

• Henry Venema

Page 3: IISD Sustainable Development Report 2002-2003 · Report Scope and Profile This third annual IISD Sustainable Development Report continues to demonstrate IISD’s on-going commitment

Contents IISD AT A GLANCE .................................................................................................................................... 1 HIGHLIGHTS OF 2003-2004 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT REPORT ...................................... 2 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR 2004-2005................................................................................................. 2 MAJOR CHALLENGES ............................................................................................................................. 2 REPORT SCOPE AND PROFILE ............................................................................................................ 3 ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE FOR REPORTING ........................................................................ 3 OVERARCHING POLICIES AND MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS........................................................... 4 ECONOMIC DIMENSION .......................................................................................................................... 5

DIRECT ECONOMIC IMPACTS: ................................................................................................................... 5 INDIRECT ECONOMIC IMPACTS.................................................................................................................. 6 ASSESSMENT............................................................................................................................................. 7

ENVIRONMENTAL DIMENSION.............................................................................................................. 8 TOTAL MATERIALS USED OTHER THAN WATER ........................................................................................ 8 DIRECT ENERGY USE BY PRIMARY SOURCE.............................................................................................. 8 TOTAL WATER CONSUMPTION................................................................................................................... 9 CARBON EMISSIONS .................................................................................................................................. 9 IISD’S INTERNAL CARBON MANAGEMENT STRATEGY AND THE GREEN COMMUTER CHALLENGE: .... 10 WASTE BY TYPE AND DESTINATION (COMPOSTING, REUSE, RECYCLING, RECOVERY, LANDFILL) ........ 11 ASSESSMENT........................................................................................................................................... 11

SOCIAL DIMENSION ............................................................................................................................... 13 EMPLOYMENT .......................................................................................................................................... 13 LABOUR - MANAGEMENT RELATIONS: POLICY AND PROCEDURES INVOLVING INFORMATION, CONSULTATION, AND NEGOTIATION WITH EMPLOYEES OVER CHANGES IN OPERATIONS ...................... 14 HEALTH AND SAFETY: DESCRIPTION OF FORMAL JOINT HEALTH AND SAFETY COMMITTEES.............. 14 EDUCATION AND TRAINING: .................................................................................................................... 14 WORKPLACE DIVERSITY AND OPPORTUNITY: DESCRIPTION OF EQUAL OPPORTUNITY POLICIES OR PROGRAMMES.......................................................................................................................................... 15 ASSESSMENT........................................................................................................................................... 16

APPENDIX A: STAFF INCLUDED IN DATA COLLECTION: ........................................................... 18 APPENDIX B: THE GLOBAL REPORTING INITIATIVE INCREMENTAL APPROACH ............. 18 TABLE 1. REVENUES TO PROGRAMS & PROJECTS (CAD$) .............................................................................. 5 TABLE 2. REVENUES TO IISD STAFF & CONSULTANTS (CAD$) ..................................................................... 6 TABLE 3. INDIRECT ECONOMIC IMPACTS ......................................................................................................... 6 TABLE 4. SHEETS OF PAPER USED / EMPLOYEE ................................................................................................ 8 TABLE 5. ENERGY USED BY PRIMARY SOURCE WPG. OFFICE ........................................................................... 9 TABLE 6. STAFF RETENTION & % RESEARCHERS........................................................................................... 14 TABLE 7. FEMALE/MALE RATIO BY EMPLOYEE CATEGORY............................................................................ 16

Page 4: IISD Sustainable Development Report 2002-2003 · Report Scope and Profile This third annual IISD Sustainable Development Report continues to demonstrate IISD’s on-going commitment

IISD at a Glance Vision: Better living for all--sustainably Mission: to champion innovation enabling societies to live sustainably IISD is dedicated to understanding how people can realize a better quality of life, something that can only be achieved when ecosystems are vital and intact. Specifically, IISD works with government, business and non-governmental organizations on devising better policy. To this end, IISD develops and implements programs of on-going work on sustainable development with detailed goals, objectives and outcomes and the reader is invited to learn more about them in the 2003-2004 IISD Annual Report. Stakeholders Information on external stakeholders and how we work with them is outlined in more detail in the Annual Report and at our website at: http://www.iisd.org. Our internal stakeholders include staff at IISD offices in Winnipeg, Ottawa, Geneva and New York, as well as a worldwide network of Associates, Senior Fellows and Consultants that work on our projects. Both IISD Reporting Services and IISD’s programs do extensive international work. These activities are described in detail on the Linkages Website (Earth Negotiations Bulletin and Sustainable Developments http://www.iisd.ca) and on IISDnet (http://www.iisd.org/ ). Policy analysis was undertaken in climate change & energy, trade & investment, poverty & environment, knowledge networks, and environment & security, and contributions were made in sustainable development measurement & assessment.

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Page 5: IISD Sustainable Development Report 2002-2003 · Report Scope and Profile This third annual IISD Sustainable Development Report continues to demonstrate IISD’s on-going commitment

Highlights of 2003-2004 Sustainable Development Report Achievement of, or progress made on, all 2003-2004 targets except one Completion of first purchase of carbon offsets Substantial reduction in paper usage Successful launch of Training and Development Fund Better carbon accounting has resulted in a more accurate calculation of our

carbon footprint Significant improvement in staff retention rates

Recommendations for 2004-2005

• Overall: Assess and report on the impacts and outcomes of two IISD projects on external stakeholders

• Economic dimension: Increase the number of new ideas generated / researcher • Economic dimension: Increase the number of new ideas developed into

proposals • Environmental dimension: Continue to develop and implement a carbon

management strategy including setting appropriate targets • Social dimension: Increase the number of people using the Training and

Development Fund • Social dimension: Develop training tools, reference materials and tutorials

identified as needed by the Lessons Learned post-project interviews • Social dimension: Monitor female / male ratio at decision-making meetings

Major challenges Implementing some of these recommendations will be a challenge for IISD, given its small size and limited flexibility. Changes are not immediately noticeable as they require time spans longer than one year to evolve. One example is that of reducing energy consumption at the Winnipeg office where we rent our space—two floors of an eight story office building. To reduce energy use even more than we already have requires that we look for opportunities to engage property managers and other tenants in ways that are cost effective, as our energy use is ultimately dependent on the way the building is managed and what other tenants do. Another challenge is to channel our enthusiasm and focus our limited resources on activities that will have the greatest impact. Our carbon management strategy is evolving quickly, but we also have important training needs. While there is not strictly a trade-off between the two streams of activity, we need to prioritize how these two recommendations will be implemented over the next year. Last, the roll-out of a responsible carbon management strategy is an on-going challenge. As an international organization, travel is our business. Yet, the consensus among IISD staff is that purchasing carbon offsets is not enough. We must figure out, as an organization, how we can reduce our carbon emissions from travel in a way that does not jeopardize our ability to achieve our vision and mission.

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Page 6: IISD Sustainable Development Report 2002-2003 · Report Scope and Profile This third annual IISD Sustainable Development Report continues to demonstrate IISD’s on-going commitment

Report Scope and Profile This third annual IISD Sustainable Development Report continues to demonstrate IISD’s on-going commitment to sustainable development at IISD’s operational level. It covers the fiscal year from April 1, 2003 – March 31, 2004 and all of IISD’s operations worldwide. As with the previous reports it does not include program / project level outcomes and impacts, though it is our intent to include at least some of these in our sustainable development report next year. While the indicators in this report build on the previous two sustainable development reports, they were reorganized to be more closely aligned with the Global Reporting Initiative 2002 Guidelines. Some indicators were added in the Economic and Social Dimensions and the indicators used to measure Human Capital (Economic Dimension) in the previous two reports are now split between the Economic and Social dimensions. In addition, one indicator has been discontinued—Employee Orientation to Organizational Vision and Mission, as this is no longer an indicator in the GRI Guidelines. Last, some of the terminology used in the GRI Guidelines has been changed to reflect the realities of a non-profit organization. An example is the ‘Net Sales’ indicator in Economic Dimension; the term revenues has been used in its place. Initially we adopted the GRI Guidelines incremental approach (see Appendix B), a decision that was based on our size, resources available for reporting and our status as a non-profit organization. Within these constraints and realities, we have continued to develop our reporting procedures and add indicators as it has become feasible. While we are still not reporting on all the indicators, we are now able to provide trend data for those indicators we have been tracking since our first report. Organizational Structure for Reporting The IISD Sustainable Development report is compiled and written by the Internal Sustainable Development Assessment and Reporting (ISDAR) Team, comprised of individuals from across the functional and programme areas of the organization. This Team works under the direction of and reports to the Corporate Management Team, the highest level of management below the Board of Directors level. The report goes through three rounds of reviews: first by the ISDAR Team; second by the Corporate Management Team, comprised of the President and other senior managers; and third by selected members of IISD’s Board of Directors. Members of the 2003-2004 ISDAR Team are:

• Stephan Barg: Senior Corporate Advisor & Acting Director, Sustainable Ecosystem Management

• Jodi Browne: Project Manager, Climate Change • Dennis Cunningham, Project Manager, Knowledge Communications & Climate Change • Janice Gair: Director, HR and Administration • Catherine Muir: Accounting Supervisor • Marlene Roy: Team Leader, Sustainable Development Reporting and Information

Resources Coordinator • Darren Swanson: Project Manager, Measurement & Indicators

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• Henry Venema: Research Associate, Climate Change and Economic Policy

Page 7: IISD Sustainable Development Report 2002-2003 · Report Scope and Profile This third annual IISD Sustainable Development Report continues to demonstrate IISD’s on-going commitment

Overarching policies and management systems IISD is committed to promoting a global transition to sustainable development. In doing so, we follow operating policies which conserve and protect resources needed for the survival of future generations. We endeavour to exceed, wherever possible, environmental, health, safety and employment regulations. We set specific goals consistent with our sustainable development objectives and annually monitor and report on our progress in attaining these goals through our Internal Sustainable Development Assessment and Reporting team.

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Page 8: IISD Sustainable Development Report 2002-2003 · Report Scope and Profile This third annual IISD Sustainable Development Report continues to demonstrate IISD’s on-going commitment

ECONOMIC DIMENSION Economic indicators differ from financial indicators in two ways. First, they look at the changing economic status of the organization’s stakeholders as a consequence of the organization’s activities, rather than on changes in the financial condition of the organization. And second, these indicators report on intangible assets that do not systematically appear in financial statements. IISD’s ultimate stakeholders are the people affected by government and business decisions, and IISD seeks to improve their lives through better decision-making that fosters sustainable development. Of special importance to IISD is finding ways to meet the needs of the impoverished. Our ability to achieve our vision and mission is represented by the amount of funding we receive. At the same time, IISD recognizes the importance of our internal stakeholders, specifically our employees, associates and consultants. Their ability and motivation are necessary to the achievement of our vision and mission and IISD is committed to maintaining a fair and competitive compensation program that attracts, motivates, and recognizes its staff. Indicators Direct Economic Impacts: Direct economic impacts measure monetary flows between the organization and its key stakeholders and indicate how the organization affects the economic circumstances of those stakeholders. Two indicators have been used: revenues flowing to programmes and projects impacting external stakeholders and revenues flowing to IISD employees, associates and consultants impacting our internal stakeholders. Table 1. Revenues to programs & projects (CAD$)

Revenues

9,500,00010,000,000

10,500,00011,000,00011,500,000

12,000,00012,500,000

2001-2002 2002-2003 2003-2004

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Page 9: IISD Sustainable Development Report 2002-2003 · Report Scope and Profile This third annual IISD Sustainable Development Report continues to demonstrate IISD’s on-going commitment

Table 2. Revenues to IISD staff & consultants (CAD$)

Payroll, Benefits & Fees

6,500,000

7,000,000

7,500,000

8,000,000

8,500,000

2001-2002 2002-2003 2003-2004

Indirect Economic Impacts Moving beyond accepted formulas for success is necessary if progress is to be made towards sustainable development, and innovation is inherent to this challenge. IISD’s mission recognizes that we must seek innovative social, economic and environmental policies and practices; and IISD continues to develop the internal capacity to innovate. This innovative capacity is tracked from idea to proposal generation using three indicators: new ideas generated (a new idea is defined as an idea identified as new and logged in the Ideas Marketplace Bulletin, a bi-monthly listing based on interviews with staff); % of new ideas being developed into proposals; and value of projects funded / RRS / year. Table 3. Indirect economic impacts 2001-2002 2002-2003 2003-2004

No. of new ideas* generated / RRS*

2 (44 ideas / 23 RRS)

< 1 (25 ideas / 34 RRS)

1 (57 ideas / 43 RRS)

% of new ideas generated developed as proposals

7% (3 / 44 ideas)

8% (2 / 25 ideas)

5% (3 / 57 ideas)

$ value of projects funded / RRS / year

$277,829.50** $248,709.00 $278,957.00

*RRS: Research & Reporting Services staff **For 2001-2002 only, this calculation was based on the dollar value of new projects started during the fiscal year.

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Page 10: IISD Sustainable Development Report 2002-2003 · Report Scope and Profile This third annual IISD Sustainable Development Report continues to demonstrate IISD’s on-going commitment

Assessment The indicators for the Economic Dimension in the GRI Guidelines were substantially changed this year with most of those previously used to monitor Human Capital being moved to the Social Dimension. The indicators that remained, though, monitor indirect economic impact by tracking idea generation and project development. While the number of research and reporting services staff has increased from 34 to 43 this year, the number of new ideas being generated / researcher has remained the same. In addition, from among those ideas slightly fewer are surviving as robust proposals. As a non-profit organization, IISD has decided to monitor direct economic impacts by looking at Revenues rather than Net Sales (EC1). The amount of revenue we can raise demonstrates our ability in identifying societal needs and issues and being able to align internal capacity and necessary external resources, creating circumstances for success that will ultimately benefit humanity. Incremental changes in revenue suggest that IISD is able to manage this process and provide programming that is necessary and on-going. Recommendations

• Increase the number of new ideas generated / researcher

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• Increase the number of new ideas developed into proposals

Page 11: IISD Sustainable Development Report 2002-2003 · Report Scope and Profile This third annual IISD Sustainable Development Report continues to demonstrate IISD’s on-going commitment

ENVIRONMENTAL DIMENSION IISD demonstrates its commitment to the environment by seeking to reduce and eliminate adverse environmental impacts from its operations. We ask suppliers to provide information on their environmental policy and give preference to those showing a commitment to being environmentally responsible, especially those providing eco-certified products. Consideration is also given to using durable and reusable products and to items high in recycled content. We reduce, reuse and recycle whenever possible and continuously seek to improve our conservation efforts by moving from recycle to reuse to reduce whenever feasible. This approach encompasses office products, and communications—including publishing and transportation practices. For example, publications are printed on recycled paper or on paper high in post-consumer fibre content, using vegetable inks. E-mail is used as a common form of correspondence and telephone conference calls are frequently used to reduce extensive travel. Recycling systems are established in our offices. Indicators Total Materials used other than water Overall, materials use at IISD is minimal, as our main activity is knowledge generation. This activity does, however, require the use of computer and photocopier paper and even though we use recycled paper, our goal is to reduce the amount of paper we use to the extent possible. Table 4. Sheets of paper used / employee

0

5000

10000

Sheets of Paper Printed / Employee

Series1 6989 9558 6710

2001-2002 2002-2003 2003-2004

Direct energy use by primary source This indicator was added this year and data was collected only for our largest office, at 161 Portage Ave. E in Winnipeg. Energy use is based on the number of square feet of office space leased by IISD allocated from building totals.

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Page 12: IISD Sustainable Development Report 2002-2003 · Report Scope and Profile This third annual IISD Sustainable Development Report continues to demonstrate IISD’s on-going commitment

Table 5. Energy used by primary source Wpg. office Energy – Primary Source

Consumption Amount

Unit of Measurement

Natural gas 40,100 m3

Electricity – lighting & power

180,336 kWh

Electricity - mechanical 270,691 kWh Total water consumption This indicator was added this year and data was collected only for our Winnipeg office. Water consumption is based on the number of square feet of office space leased by IISD allocated from building totals. 2003-2004: 93,863 cubic feet Carbon emissions Total carbon emissions 2003-2004: 980 carbon tonnes. This number is calculated using the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (http://www.ghgprotocol.org/) developed by the World Resources Institute and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. It is an aggregate of emissions as a result of business air travel (nautical air miles) and heating and electricity use at IISD’s largest office in Winnipeg. Details on the breakdown of emissions are provided below including an alternative calculation for carbon emissions from electricity use at the Winnipeg office.

Business travel emissions During the first year of carbon emission tracking we sharpened our data collection, making it possible to efficiently record emissions from our Reporting Services consultants in the second year. This resulted in a substantial increase in emissions from business travel, as Reporting Services consultants travel extensively to international meetings. 2002-2003: 375 carbon tonnes (for employees and associates only) 2003-2004: 527 carbon tonnes (for employees, associates & ENB consultants) Natural gas emissions (heating of Winnipeg office) Data was collected for the first time this year. 2003-2004: 78 carbon tonnes

Electricity use (Winnipeg office)

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Data were collected for the first time this year. The emissions from electricity use can be calculated using one of two methods. The first uses Canadian average emissions, from electricity generated from all fuel types, which gives a carbon emission of 93.81 tonnes. This is the method recommended by the WBCSD - WRI GHG protocol. The second method is based on a marginal calculation, and assumes that any electricity conserved by IISD will displace electricity generated by fossil fuels (coal and natural gas) in the Mid-Area Power Pool (MAPP) region of the US, which is where Manitoba Hydro sends electricity that is surplus to

Page 13: IISD Sustainable Development Report 2002-2003 · Report Scope and Profile This third annual IISD Sustainable Development Report continues to demonstrate IISD’s on-going commitment

Manitoba demand. This gives a higher level value to savings, but also a higher emission calculation for the emissions that we do cause.

2003-2004 Based on Canadian average calculation: 95 carbon tonnes Based on marginal calculation: 375 carbon tones

IISD’s Internal Carbon Management Strategy and the Green Commuter Challenge: IIISD has participated in the Winnipeg Commuter Challenge since 2000. Our participation (as illustrated in the accompanying graph) has been relatively consistent overall with our highest level being 82 percent in 2001. The participation goal for the 2004 Winnipeg Commuter Challenge is 85 percent. Additionally, Ottawa office staff members are being encouraged to register for the Challenge. The 85 percent participation goal is reasonable given that throughout 2003-2004 IISD has done much to raise green commuting awareness among staff in all our offices. This has been accomplished through initiatives including our participation in the Winnipeg Transit Eco-pass program, presentations on our internal carbon management strategy, and the completion of an employee commuting options survey. Our participation in the Winnipeg Commuter Challenge is part of a broader institute-wide carbon management strategy. It is being developed with the intent of directing the Institute towards achieving carbon neutrality. This carbon management strategy includes actions like registering our commitment with the Voluntary Challenge Registry, completing a 375 tonne carbon offset credit purchase to offset our 2002-2003 CO2 emissions from air travel, establishing baseline measurements for electricity, natural gas and water consumption in the Winnipeg office (for the first time we have attributed emission values to our energy consumption), gathering information on employee commuting habits through an online survey developed in partnership with a local environmental NGO, and expanding air travel emissions data collection to include Reporting Services consultants and IISD Associates. As a complement to our offset purchase, the carbon management team has been exploring the idea of creating a carbon purchasing pool with other small and medium sized NGOs. A carbon purchasing pool is a more efficient and cost-effective vehicle for making annual offset purchases as it would increase the overall offset purchase size and the range of purchase options available to pool members. The team is approaching several funders in the federal government for support for a trial implementation of this concept.

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Page 14: IISD Sustainable Development Report 2002-2003 · Report Scope and Profile This third annual IISD Sustainable Development Report continues to demonstrate IISD’s on-going commitment

As our carbon management data collection becomes increasingly comprehensive we are able to identify and recommend new emission reduction opportunities for the institute. Waste by type and destination (composting, reuse, recycling, recovery, landfill)

Paper: office reused by making into scratch pads. Other paper products such as newspapers and magazines are recycled. Printer Paper: Use is reduced by using electronic storage and file management systems and print-on-demand for publications. Computers: reused by donating all used computer hardware Photocopiers: returned to manufacturer at end of lease Toner: recycled Office supplies such as file folders, pens, etc: reused, some to landfill Kitchen supplies: recycled. Organic waste to landfill

Progress Targets for 2003-2004 Status

Develop and implement a carbon management strategy including appropriate targets and register with the VCR.

Progress made

Measure employee commuting and office energy emissions and set targets for participation in the Green Commuter Challenge

Achieved

If feasible, track carbon emissions from Reporting Services consultant’s travel.

Achieved

Develop goal and targets for amount of recycled content of paper used in publications, stationary and business cards.

Achieved

Determine how to further reduce the use of computer paper and set appropriate targets.

Progress made

Devise a strategy that would encourage staff to pick up print jobs. Achieved Assessment Of the six targets for 2003-2004 four were achieved and progress was made on the remaining two: the development and implementation of a carbon management strategy and ways to reduce the use of computer printer paper. Our carbon management strategy is described in detail on the previous page and we expect that some of the initiatives started in FY 2003-2004 will come to fruition in 2004-2005. For example, the carbon pooling initiative will soon be launched and we already have several activities planned with a focus on employee commuting. Printer paper use was substantially reduced from a high last year of 9558 sheets/ employee to 6710 sheets/ employee this year. Our success can be attributed to the development of an electronic filing system for documents received in electronic form, established by the Information Centre, and an electronic document management system for projects with high volumes of correspondence.

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Page 15: IISD Sustainable Development Report 2002-2003 · Report Scope and Profile This third annual IISD Sustainable Development Report continues to demonstrate IISD’s on-going commitment

We increased the number of indicators this year to include ‘direct energy use by primary source’ and ‘total water consumption’. In addition, we extended data collection on carbon emissions to include our Reporting Services consultants. This group travels extensively to report on various international negotiations, a vital service for stakeholders everywhere. By adding this group to our carbon emission calculation we have been able to more accurately determine IISD’s carbon footprint. For the first time, we also collected data on energy use at our largest office in Winnipeg. As a result of adding these two data streams our total carbon emissions for FY 2003-2004 increased to 980 carbon tones from 375 carbon tones last year. It is our intent to again purchase carbon offsets in addition to finding ways to reduce our carbon emissions. Recommendations

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• Continue to develop and implement a carbon management strategy including setting appropriate targets

Page 16: IISD Sustainable Development Report 2002-2003 · Report Scope and Profile This third annual IISD Sustainable Development Report continues to demonstrate IISD’s on-going commitment

SOCIAL DIMENSION IISD is a "knowledge organization" and as such, considers investment in its staff to be critical to success. IISD is committed to providing a secure and supportive workplace for staff that enhances well-being and to promoting workplace diversity, recognizing that this enriches our work and the organization. The reader is asked to note that as IISD is a small organization variances in the statistics from year-to-year probably will not reliably indicate whether targets are being met or trends developing. Acronyms used are: Administration, Accounting and Technical staff: AAT Research & Reporting Services staff: RRS Corporate Management and Directors: CMD Indicators Employment IISD’s workforce includes employees, associates, consultants and senior fellows, with each group having specific and on-going contractual arrangements. The only group that works for IISD full-time is employees, with the other three contributing various amounts of time ranging from a few weeks to several months per year. Only those people working for IISD longer than 3 months in FY 2003-2004 were included in the employment calculations (LA1, LA2 indicators). Workforce by Employee Category: Administration, Accounting and Technical (AAT): 24 Research and Reporting Services (RRS): 36 Corporate Management and Directors (CMD): 9 CMD also doing research: 7 CMD also doing administration or accounting: 2 Workforce by Employment Contract Employees: 49 Associates: 17 Consultants: 3 (not including Reporting Services consultants) Workforce by Region: North America: 59 Europe: 9 Other: 1

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Page 17: IISD Sustainable Development Report 2002-2003 · Report Scope and Profile This third annual IISD Sustainable Development Report continues to demonstrate IISD’s on-going commitment

Net Employment Creation and Staff Retention Net employment creation for 2003-2004: 10 persons Table 6. Staff retention & % researchers 2001-

2002 2002-2003

2003-2004

RRS retained % retained from previous year

96% 85% 98%

AAT retained % retained from previous year

96% 74% 92%

Critical mass of researchers

% of total staff that are researchers

48% 56% 62%

Labour - Management Relations: Policy and procedures involving information, consultation, and negotiation with employees over changes in operations Staff is regularly consulted through meetings that often require representation from various functional and program areas of the organization; communication systems have been structured to include staff living and working in various regions of the world; and an employee satisfaction survey is conducted periodically to monitor perceptions. Health and Safety: Description of formal joint health and safety committees IISD’s Sustainable Development committee, a volunteer committee comprised of representation from management and staff to improve eco-efficiency and employee welfare has adopted workplace, health and safety as part of its mandate. The committee meets regularly, as needed, but at a minimum twice a year. If employees need to discuss a workplace, health and safety related issue they will contact the Committee Chair, Marlene Roy or Director, HR and Administration to have the issue reviewed by the Committee. Education and Training: Staff training modules are developed and delivered as required using a variety of communication methods. A training and development fund, managed by a staff committee, of $50,000 CAD open to all staff (except Directors) has been established to ensure equitable access for training and development opportunities. These funds are retained in a common pool and requests are dealt with as they are made. Criteria for evaluation of requests include the usefulness of the training or development opportunity to the organization and the individual. The committee received 14 requests for assistance this year, 12 of these requests received full or partial support, 2 requests were approved in FY 03-04 to capture early bird registration specials but will not be expensed until the next fiscal year. To support these 14 requests, $9,387.70 was disbursed, and an additional $6,675 is expected to be disbursed in FY 04-05 to cover the deferred requests.

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Out of the 14 requests, 6 (43%) were from our program/research staff and 8 (57%) were from administration (2), publishing (1 – deferred to FY 04-05), accounting (1), information technology (4 – 1 deferred to FY 04-05). Of the $9,387.70 disbursed, 47%

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of the dollars supported requests from the research/program staff; the remaining 53% supported other requests. In addition to these funded opportunities a variety of online tutorials were created and the project management page of the Intranet enhanced. These included, but were not limited to:

• Lessons Learned Initiative - 5 project managers (and some project team members) were interviewed, an analysis of the data to establish patterns of lessons learned was performed to provide informal measurement tool of furthering our vision and mission.

• Project cost template and project communications tutorials in addition to the procurement and contracting tutorial prepared earlier.

Forward into FY 2004-05, the Training and Development committee will continue to receive requests for consideration. Workplace Diversity and Opportunity: Description of equal opportunity policies or programmes IISD is committed to establishing goals for hiring women for decision making positions in research and management and develop goals for hiring staff from a greater range of other countries. IISD uses a ‘knowledge network’ model working in partnership with other organizations, especially those in developing countries. Our partners offer a diverse range of perspectives and experiences that enrich our work. Our relationship with our partners is not remote, though, as staff exchanges are encouraged. This means that IISD staff and partners work at each others’ offices, providing further opportunities for learning and advancement of mutually beneficial work. Consequently, our workplace diversity measure considers both the diversity among IISD staff and associates and the diversity of our partnerships. Workplace Diversity and Opportunity: Indicators of cultural diversity and female / male ratios by employee category & at senior levels Nationalities represented by Staff & Associates 2002-2003: nine different nationalities: 73% are Canadian. 2003-2004: fourteen different nationalities and 68% are Canadian (Nationality = country of birth) Academic disciplines of Staff & Associates (based on highest degree obtained): 2002-2003: 15 different academic degrees 2003-2004: 20 different academic degrees from Physical & Social Sciences, Engineering and Law

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Page 19: IISD Sustainable Development Report 2002-2003 · Report Scope and Profile This third annual IISD Sustainable Development Report continues to demonstrate IISD’s on-going commitment

Table 7. Female/male ratio by employee category

Workplace Diversity: Gender

0102030405060708090

Overal

l 02-0

3

Overal

l 03-0

4

AAT 02-03

AAT 03-04

R&R 02-03

R&R 03-04

CMD 02-03

CMD 03-04

Board

03-04

0102030405060708090

% Female% Male

Progress Targets for 2003-2004 Status

Find ways to link staff training to project success Achieved

Workplace diversity: Develop goals and targets for hiring women for decision-making positions in research and management.

Achieved

Workplace diversity: Develop goals and targets for hiring staff from a greater range of other countries, taking into consideration our partnership arrangements.

Achieved

Orientation to vision and mission: Develop training and development tools with staff on building awareness about the vision and mission and integration of sustainable development values into their work. (Note: integrated into Training and Development indicator)

Progress made

Orientation to vision and mission: Re-work ‘Orientation to Vision and Mission’ survey and integrate into ‘Employee Satisfaction Survey’, which will be administered by-annually by Human Resources.

Achieved

Assessment

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The first three targets above involved developing internal guidelines that will then be implemented by Human Resources over time. Post training interviews will be held with those receiving money from the Training and Development Fund to determine how the training helped them achieve their goals. As for the two targets set for workplace

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diversity, minimum thresholds were established to guide hiring decisions and determine attendance at decision-making meetings. We achieved our targets of establishing goals for workplace diversity and the data show that IISD is moving ahead in achieving those goals for diversity of nationalities and academic degrees for staff with each showing a modest increase. The female / male ratio in the Research & Reporting group has seen a decrease in the number of women, though, but steps were taken to redress the gender imbalance a the Board of Directors level with several women being invited to join the Board this year. There were fewer applications than expected to the Training and Development Fund, but this was perceived as a good start, as this was the first year of operation for the Fund. Several additional indicators were added in the Social Dimension including breakdown of the workforce by type and region; policy & procedures for involving employees in changes and description of formal joint health and safety committees. Some of the workforce indicators were transferred from the Human Capital measure formerly in the Economic Dimension. Indicators for employee retention are very good, showing considerable improvement over the previous year. In addition, there has been an increase in the ‘critical mass for researchers’. Recommendations

• Increase the number of people using the Training and Development Fund • Develop training tools, reference materials and tutorials identified as needed by

the Lessons Learned post-project interviews

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• Monitor female / male ratio at decision-making meetings

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Appendix A: Staff included in data collection: Aaron Cosbey ~ Adil Najam ~ Anantha K. Duraiappah ~ Anne Hammill ~ Art Hanson ~ Bill Glanville ~ Carolee Buckler ~ Catherine Muir ~ Christopher Zegras ~ Clarita Martinet-Fay / Fabienne Turner ~ Darlene Gregoire ~ Darlene Sanchez ~ Darren Swanson ~ David Boyer ~ David Runnalls ~ Dawn Windsor ~ Debbie Xiaolin Guo ~ Dennis Cunningham ~ Diego Noguera ~ Graham Ashford ~ Hank Venema ~ Heather Creech ~ Howard Mann ~ Ian Seymour ~ Jacqueline Pilon ~ Janice Gair ~ Jason Macki ~ Jason Manaigre ~ Jason Switzer ~ Jennifer Hirschfeld ~ Jennifer Senenko ~ Jodi Browne ~ Jo-Ellen Parry ~ John Drexhage ~ John van Ham ~ Karen Goulding ~ Kimo Goree ~ Kristen Manaigre ~ Lael Dyck ~ Laszlo Pinter ~ Luke Peterson ~ Marcela Rojo ~ Marie-Claire Segger ~ Mark Halle ~ Marlene Roy ~ Michelle Wowchuk ~ Mylene Arabit ~ Norman Myers ~ Pam Chasek ~ Peter Dickey ~ Peter Hardi ~ Prisna Nuengsigkapian ~ Pumulo Roddy ~ Rachel Perry ~ Rob Jones ~ Rod Araneda ~ Sean Maher ~ Shannon Wentz ~ Stacy Matwick ~ Steve Barg ~ Stu Slayen ~ Terri Willard ~ Tom Rotherham ~ Tony Hodge ~ Trineesh Biswas ~ Victoria Kellett ~ Virginia Gonzales ~ Wanhua Yang ~ Warren Bell Appendix B: The Global Reporting Initiative Incremental Approach Organizations can use an informal approach to reporting consistent with their capacity. Instead, they may base their reports on the GRI framework and incrementally improve report content coverage, transparency and structure over time. The GRI Guidelines provide four simple models on how to structure reports over time using the incremental approach. In the first model all indicators are for the environmental dimension and are for those organizations already producing an environmental report; the second model is for reporting organizations with some systems in place for gathering data on all three dimensions, but lacks integration across the three themes and full performance data; the third model is for reporting organizations that have just begun to report and with a limited but approximately equal amounts of economic, environmental and social information; while the fourth model illustrates full adoption of the GRI Guidelines. The reader is invited to review the GRI Guidelines on-line at: http://www.globalreporting.org/guidelines/2002.asp

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