Thanks to the participants at CPA Centering on Excellence in Perth on 13^th May for engaging in an interesting discussion and providing two very challenging questions.

The first question asked if I had seen any government departments provide meaningful sustainability reports.

 My response was that I was aware of a good report from the Victorian government from 2008 (released in November 2009), and that can be found at the following web site:

 http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/CA256F310024B628/0/16B5DC07267852D8CA257679000CEE68/$File/DSE+SER+Response.pdf

 The report is very comprehensive, makes a series of recommendations about dealing with environmental issues and gives a number of references for future reporting.

I have also discovered a great sustainability report published by Toyota that identifies a number of issues and incorporates environment with economic performance that I’d like to share with you.

 This report is very focused, comprehensive, commercial and can be found at:

 http://www.toyota.com.au/toyota/events/environment/2009_sustainability_report

 I encourage you to have a look at both reports.

 From a business perspective, the Toyota report provides an excellent model of incorporating environmental sustainability within the economic framework we operate in. It also provides a level of insight into how environmental issues will impact on the supply chain.

I have attached an abbreviated copy of the presentation with this blog.

 Web version Climate Change and Sustainability CPA -Week Perth WA 13 May 2010

The second challenging issue raised was about the economics of solar power specifically (and renewables in general) when compared with existing methods of generating power. While we discussed that the economics will change when we incorporate a price of carbon in the equation, there is more to the business model that warrants discussion in the next blog.