Susty cause and effect: ‘Asset Management’ in The Times

Posted on March 29, 2018 by Jim McClelland

New writing…. Pleased to say I have had another article published in The Times newspaper, as part of a special Raconteur report on Asset Management.

Good or bad, asset management has an effect on the environment and is also affected by it. The impacts and implications are inescapable – the risk is real. So too is the opportunity real, however. There are clear potential gains and benefits to come from business and industry adopting a more systemic approach to environmental issues. From climate change and ESG, via circular economy and whole-life logic, to locking-in carbon, my article looks at the drivers of change in the asset management field and the trends shaping its sustainability, now and in the future:

• ‘Integrating Asset Management and Sustainability’.

The full 16-page Asset Management report is available to view/download here.

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Radical change: ‘Industry 4.0’ & ‘Future of Energy’ in The Times

Posted on March 8, 2018 by Jim McClelland

New writing… Pleased to say I have had another couple of pieces published in The Times newspaper this week, as part of special Raconteur reports on Industry 4.0 (Wednesday 7th March) and the Future of Water (Thursday 8th).

In Industry 4.0, my article on sustainability questions whether incrementalism is no longer enough to deliver the ambitious global change required for alignment with the SDGs. It discusses how the technological advances of the Fourth Industrial Revolution might be successfully embraced to achieve transformational shift:

• ‘It’s time for sustainability to get radical’.

My second piece provides the overview intro to the Future of Energy report and looks at the Water-Energy-Food nexus. It explores how, in the tangled relationship with water resources and food production, energy efficiency is saving livelihoods and lives, in communities from Africa to Afghanistan:

• ‘Life-and-death struggle for energy efficiency’.

The full 16-page Industry 4.0 report is available to view/download here.

The full 16-page Future of Energy report is available to view/download here.

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No Plan B: ‘Supply Chain Strategies’ in The Times

Posted on February 23, 2018 by Jim McClelland

New writing... Pleased to say I have had another article published in The Times newspaper, as part of a special Raconteur report on Supply Chain Strategies.

High street giant Marks & Spencer is leading the charge against abuses in the global supply chain with a long-term commitment to sustainability. With 35,000 different product lines and 32M customers, it is a big task. In this piece I look at the challenges and achievements of pursuing with purpose a strategic and systemic approach over the course of a decade since the launch of its flagship programme Plan A. In particular, the article also discusses the ongoing battle against the criminal elements involved in modern slavery and the need to collaborate widely in a bid to tackle this scourge of the supply chain. You can read the full story here (with no paywall), on:

• ‘The need for a sustainable global supply chain’.

The full 16-page Supply Chain Strategies report is available to view/download here.

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Cities & Clean Growth: ‘Future of Infrastructure’ in The Times

Posted on February 15, 2018 by Jim McClelland

New writing… Pleased to say I have had another article published in The Times newspaper, as part of a special Raconteur report on the Future of Infrastructure.

The piece looks at the fight to accommodate more and more people, plus deliver on promises of prosperity, whilst still safeguarding our current and future needs on the planet. It is an urban dilemma. Caught in the crossfire between the forces of urbanisation and decarbonisation, cities are the clean-growth battlegrounds of the 21st century – where booming populations need their demands met, but impacts mitigated.

Clean growth is doable, but difficult. To meet climate goals, PwC has calculated carbon intensity of the global economy needs to fall by 6 per cent a year, twice as fast as ever before. With infrastructure always the solution, but often a problem, cities are where this war on carbon will be won or lost.

You can read the full story (with no paywall) here:

• ‘Cash-strapped cities are battlegrounds for clean energy’.

The full 16-page Future of Infrastructure report is available to view/download here.

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Need for a Green Lining: ‘Cloud for Business’ in The Times

Posted on January 25, 2018 by Jim McClelland

New writing... Pleased to say I have had another article published in The Times newspaper, as part of a special Raconteur report on Cloud for Business.

In this digital age of lives lived online and businesses built on megabytes, my latest piece looks at the urgent and rising need to clean the cloud. With impending impacts of innovation, ranging from cryptocurrencies to 5G, the tech community and its clients are increasingly conscious of responsibilities regarding environmental unsustainability of skyrocketing datacentre energy consumption and inflated carbon footprints.

Going offline is not an option, but going green is…

You can read the full story here (with no paywall), on:

• ‘The need to power datacentres sustainably’.

The full 16-page Cloud for Business report is available to view/download here.

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