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Sustainability belongs in the boardroom
On October 1, I had the honor to moderate an excellent panel on Sustainability and Governance. The internative evening was organized by the Alumni Circle for Sustainability at Nyenrode University in the Netherlands. International perspectives Carlos Eduardo Lessa Brandao leveraged his unique background in governance roles the Global Reporting Initiative and the Brazilian Institute of Corporate…
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The shots are overshouting the overshoot
August 19, 2014 was Earth Overshoot Day, the date when all people living on planet Earth exhausted nature’s budget for the year. In less than eight months, we have depleted the natural resources that our planet is able to renew in twelve months. For the rest of the year, we are running on red, stealing from the…
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Patents to protect or drive innovation?
What are patents all about? According to Wikipedia, a patent is a set of exclusive rights granted to an inventor or assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for detailed public disclosure of an invention. The exclusive right granted to a patentee in most countries is the right to prevent others from commercially…
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Able to reduce plastic in my life – but not completely…
ZeroPlasticWeek 2014 is over, so it’s time to look back at my results and learnings. Overall, it was an effective way to make me aware how much plastic is used in our daily lives – and how much of that only is used for a few days or even hours. Plastic Recycling A few years ago, my…
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My drinking challenge during ZeroPlasticWeek
The first couple of days of Zero Plastic Week went well – but I was unprepared for a quick day trip to London. Lots of drinks available in glass and cartons, but water was hard to come by without plastic. Fortunately, the place where I bought water as part of my on-the-go lunch had a recycling…
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We are all astronauts of Space Ship Earth
On May 18, 2014, the Netherlands lost its first astronaut, Wubbo Ockels. All Dutch news networks reported extensively on his life –  as an astronaut and as a sustainability pioneer. He does not seem to be well-known outside of the Netherlands, as most posts in English are about his 7 days in space. Looking upon Planet…
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To buy or not to buy? The fashionable question …
The other day, a gorgeous Hugo Boss dress caught my attention. I wasn’t really intending to buy anything, but it was so beautiful, I just had to try it on. The shop assistant and I agreed that the dress looked great on me. But that’s where my doubts started – even if it looked just…
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You’re not what you wear, but invest in your hair!
The theme for TEDxAmsterdam Women 2013Â was “Discover the Truths. It takes more than one tale to tell a story”. With such an impressive set of talks, it is hard to single out a favorite, or even a few, but some have stuck with me more than others. The most colorful one, and the one that…
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If we all share a little, we can change a lot!
The power of positive change is so inspiring. Last week I had the pleasure to join 100+ young consultants from Accenture Netherlands during their team building day. They were not spending the day away from the office building boats or playing a survival game in rainy weather. Instead, they came to a central location to…
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The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Sustainable Investment in the Netherlands
“The fish rots from the head down” was the closing remark by a panelist at one of the events I joined on sustainable investment this week. He was referring to the crucial role of corporate leaders in creating culture that is both good for the company and the world. Perhaps it is time to change…
