GE Colloquium in Sustainability Leadership

Please join Mark Crumpacker, CMO of Chipotle, as he explains how Chipotle's commitment to its "Food with Integrity" mission is driving forward a new way of thinking about sustainability initiatives within the fast food industry. Mr. Crumpacker will also discuss how consumer preferences and Chipotle's status play a role in shaping the company's sustainability initiatives and its approach to marketing and advertising.

On Friday, February 22nd, The Yale Center for Business and the Environment will host a panel discussion between Yale researchers and Google Developers on "Geotechnology and the Future of Sustainability." The discussion will address the emergence of geotechnology as tool to address global problems and feature Rebecca Moore (Google), Professor Walter Jetz, Professor Karen Seto, and Professor Dana Tomlin.

Do environmental mega-trends, such as climate change, rapid urbanization and resource scarcity really drive strategic decision-making at a Fortune 500 company? What role can the private sector play in creating more resilient, adaptable communities in the face of mounting environmental pressures? Can we realize financial advantages while addressing the most pressing environmental and social concerns of our age? On January 28th at 12pm (EST), Gary Lawrence, Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer of AECOM, will discuss how AECOM delivers solutions that create enhance and sustain the world's built, natural and social environments. AECOM, is an $8-billion global provider of professional technical and management support services. AECOM's 45,000 employees - including architects, engineers, designers, planners scientists and management professionals - serve clients in more that 130 countries around the world.

Whole Foods' Global Leader of Sustainable Engineering and Energy Management, Kathy Loftus, will discuss how the company weaves its Green Mission into everything it undertakes, and how this has enabled it to emerge as the nation's leading green food retailer.

The discussion explores whether hydraulic fracturing, better known as hydrofracking or fracking, will enhance America's energy security, or deter the development of renewable energy sources and foster a continuing dependence on fossil fuels.

Two thought-provoking conversations on how corporate water management strategies are developed and implemented, featuring Tom Cooper, Corporate Water Programs Manager at Intel, and Greg Koch, Directer of Global Water Stewardship at The Coca-Cola Company. Moderated by Brad Gentry

A presentation on how corporate water management strategies are developed and implemented, featuring Will Sarni, Director and Practice Leader of Enterprise Water Strategy and Sustainability at Deloitte.

Yale Divinity School, Yale School of Management and the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies will sponsor a discussion on the question of the private sector's responsibility toward the environment. On September 27th, the authors of The Responsible Company: What We've Learned from Patagonia's First 40 Years, take center stage to discuss environmentally responsible business practices. Authors Yvon Chouinard and Vincent Stanley will be the featured presenters in the public conversation. The discussion will be facilitated by Robert Massie, an alumnus of the Divinity School, noted author environmental leader

Many have questioned whether corporations can fulfill a social purpose while still earning a profit --- from the early American corporations chartered to serve a public purpose, to Henry Ford's desire to spread the benefits of the industrial system to the greatest possible number, to modern Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts. However, the operating environment for business has increasingly moved away from encouraging companies to pursue social purposes in their business activities. General incorporation statutes, limited liability laws, and changes in the post-war period have led to a situation in which corporations now mostly act with impunity --- largely free of requirements to serve a public purpose or even report the damages they cause to society and the environment. Last fall, Pavan Sukhdev a leading expert on the green economy, released the book Corporation 2020: Transforming Business for Tomorrow's World. In the book, Sukhdev argues that in order for corporations and