Eight Things You (Probably) Don’t Know About Me

As if blogging is not exhibitionist enough I have been tagged by Thomas Otter for even more personal disclosure. The task is to list 8 things you may not know and pass it on. Oh well, in for a penny, in for a pound.

1. I grew up a farm boy, still am sort of. First generation off the land. My brother is a farmer. I envy the freedom of his life style and this just proves far away hills really are greener, literally.

2. I share a birth date (not just day) with Kylie Minogue. I’m not sure what this means if anything. As information it is like a lighthouse in a bog: brilliant but useless. Free tickets Kylie?

3. I trace my political awakening to an encounter with former President of Ireland, Patrick Hillery whom I met as a boy at the World Ploughing Championships in 1979. I asked him for his autograph and he promised me one better - that he would write to me on official Áras an Uachtaráin letter head. I waited for the mail every day for weeks but the letter never came and my faith in politicians has never quite been restored (I’m only half joking about this). Years later I met one of Ireland’s greatest Presidents and a great champion of global Human Rights, Mary Robinson on  a flight from Dublin to New York. She came back from first class to shake hands with everyone on the plane. This time I didn’t ask for autographs or favours and was not disappointed. (but Paddy it’s not too late you know) 

4. I worked my way through university initially as a waiter but I wasn’t very good at it. Then I graduated to driving stretch stretch limousines around New York. I managed even to total/write one off. I could write a meme on this alone, so many bizarre weddings, funerals and such and the driver gets a unique perspective. The lasting legacy has been a really good geographic knowledge of New York and New Jersey.

5. My fist car was a Chrysler Newport. It looked and ran a little better than the one in the picture but not by much.

6. I studied acting at The Questors Theatre in London for two years. It was a curious itch that needed to be scratched after I finished my MBA. It was fascinating to learn the Stanislavsky system. Of course all actors are vain and self indulgent and ironically, on stage it is the last thing you can or should be if you want to act well. It’s quite an exercise in masochism. A lot of what I learned I think has tremendous application to HR management. The Stanislavsky idea of units, objectives and super objectives; having a clear sense of your role and motivation and that of your stage collaborators, trust, teamwork and constant rehearsal. In fact, Laurence Olivier’s son Richard is making a handsome living doing such. I highly recommend his work.

7. Cycling – I love to get on the bike and ride for a long time. I commuted 25 miles a day in London because it happened to be the cheapest and fastest way for my commuting route. cycling in London is dangerous but exhilarating and a great way to get to know all the nooks and crannies of the city. Then I moved to Germany and became more sedentary, too much beer & bread. A 2008 resolution maybe? My ambition is to one day do an audax event such as the famous Paris-Brest-Paris run. Its like a marathon for cycling.

8. Though I work in CSR I once participated in the tobacco industry as a lowly student tobacco picker in Germany. I was paid 5DM (about €2.5) per hour and all the beer I could drink. Actually, before I completely write off the tobacco industry from CSR perspective check out British America Tobacco. It’s a tough case to make but they are taking some strong positions on human rights and responsible operations.  

Well there you go, enough privacy surrendered for one day. I now pass the baton to  Dennis Howlett, Charlotte Otter, Marilyn Pratt and James Governor for same.

Technorati Tags: Dennis Howlett, Charlotte Otter, James Governor, Marilyn Pratt, BAT, Mary Robinson, Áras an Uachtaráin, Patrick Hillery, Kylie Minogue, Zetor, Questors, Specialized, Richard Olivier, Audax, 8 Things, Tobacco

Oil at $100 per barrel, an historic opportunity for Nigeria?

Later this week I will visit Nigeria for what will be my third visit. Personally, I’m fascinated with the place. It is the cultural and economic powerhouse of West Africa, a vibrant and optimistic people. There are some rather surprising connections between Nigeria and my home country of Ireland. Nigeria is the third largest export market for Guinness, the seminal Nigerian novel Things Fall Apart penned by Chinua Achebe is loosely based on WB Yeats’ The second Coming and the inspirational story of the Nigerian emigrant Rotimi Adebari who became Ireland and Portlaoise’s first black Mayor.

Over the past few years Nigeria has made significant progress in curbing corruption, reducing debt and generating economic growth more effectively from its petro dollars. There are still many challenges ahead and it cannot be an easy country to govern with current levels of poverty, low levels of economic & institutional development. Nigeria needs to continue it’s progress towards finally escaping the so called resource curse.

I have the opportunity to present at an Economist Intelligence Unit roundtable and these are the questions at hand:

Maintaining fiscal stability, boosting spending and pushing reform forward

• Scaling up government spending in an era of high oil prices—is there a risk of sacrificing fiscal discipline and quality?
• Boosting spending on infrastructure and poverty reduction: why this will help business
• Reducing the size of the federal government and improving its ability to deliver—is this possible in Nigeria?
• Controlling state spending and improving project implementation: what can the federal government achieve?

Over the past few months I have lurked around and/or participated in interesting blog posts on Africa & development made by people such as Thomas Otter, Dennis Howlett, Jeff Nolan, Michael Krigsman, Jason Busch, Soji Apampa, James Governor to name a few, all of whose opinions I respect very much.

So do please leave a comment or send me an email. How can the Nigerian government take best advantage of the historic $100 per barrel windfall to build and diversify their economy and secure peace? What would you do if you were the Nigerian President or Minister for Finance?

 

Technorati Tags: Dennis Howlett, Thomas Otter, Jeff Nolan, Michael Krigsman, Jason Busch, James Governor, Soji Apampa, Economist Intelligence Unit, Nigeria, oil, resource curse

The Long TailTangled in Green

 

 

Chris Anderson, Editor in Chief of Wired Magazine and proponent of the Long Tail theory – the idea of selling less of more – has raised some green ire with a recent post on his blog. He has made a somewhat controversial if not dubious argument that his company’s print publishing is more carbon efficient than web publishing. Wired is part of the Conde Nast stable of magazine publications

 

 Chris’s argument goes something like this -

• trees take carbon out of the air and do so more rapidly during growth phases – carbon negative 
• assume magazines use only paper sourced from sustainably managed forests and therefore harvested trees are replanted on a two to one ratio - carbon neutral
• assume the paper pulp processing mills utilize hydro electric power – carbon neutral
• assume the printing process is super efficient – slightly carbon positive
• assume distribution by rail and the US Postal Service and since these are scheduled routes and services only minimal, marginal carbon costs apply – slightly carbon positive
• assume the magazine reader is upper middle class suburban dwellers (not sure about this one) and therefore more likely to ensure the magazine is recycled or landfilled where the final carbon emission is sequestered – carbon neutral
• Next Chris assumes presenting the same content over the web with webservers running 24/7, with 100 million minutes a month Wired readers spend on their computers and the energy consumption of the infrastructure in between is equal to the carbon cost of production and distribution of a paper magazine.

But the big difference is …………although it generates no more or less carbon than magazine publishing, web publishing takes no carbon out of the atmosphere. ………  So by this analysis dead-tree magazines have a smaller net carbon footprint than web media. We cut down trees and put them in the ground. From a climate change perspective, this is a good thing.

But wait a second, Infoworld reached the opposite conclusion in April 2007 when it announced the magazine would cease to print and shift solely to the web.

The world of traditional print publishing takes a heavy toll on our planet, much of which derives from the energy involved in simply cranking out paper. According to a 2002 study by the Energy Information Administration, a division of the U.S. Department of Energy, the paper industry emits the fourth highest level of carbon dioxide among manufacturers, after the chemical, petroleum and coal products, and primary metals industries.

Chris makes a reasonable point that in a carefully managed process, it maybe theoretically possible to harvest trees at the right time and after a short stint in the form of a magazine the paper can be recycled or landfilled with the associated carbon captured and sequestered. However, his controlling assumptions are completely flawed as it does cost significant carbon to harvest these trees, print & distribute the magazines and haul away the waste for recycling or to the landfill. He ignores also the pollution caused by the paper milling and ink production processes. Chris’ assumptions about server energy burn are also outdated.  

Its well worth reading Chris’ post and the many informed comments to get a sense of how complicated it can be to account for carbon without established rules. But here we see two publications serving similar markets who independently evaluate the environmental economics and come to opposite conclusions. Emerging carbon markets are in dire need of a common framework to account for and financially cost carbon emissions. Without this we are likely to see those who can squeeze financial costs associated with production without investment claim the green halo and those who can only do so with capital investment play with the numbers. Not least, consumers who are currently prepared to pay a premium for carbon off set will soon tire of paying extra based on accounting alchemy such as this.

 I agree with Chris’ comment:

Companies are increasingly being asked to calculate their carbon footprint, and if they’re public, publish it. Good idea? Perhaps. But it’s harder than you might think…………

 

Technorati Tags: environment, climate change, carbon disclosure, carbon accounting, corporate social responsibility, corporate responsibility, sustainability, GRC, green IT, accountancy