The magazine INSEAD Knowledge, published by the leading global business school, interviewed HIP’s CEO R. Paul Herman at the Net Impact conference in Philadelphia.  Rahilla Zafar explores how large corporations like Walmart and Coca-Cola Enterprises are pushing forward in sustainability.   Read the full INSEAD Knowledge feature at this link:

http://knowledge.insead.edu/GlobalCrisisSustainability081125.cfm

IN THE NEWS:  HIP CEO’S CLEANTECH MEMO
TO PRESIDENT-ELECT BARACK OBAMA
BusinessGreen.com, November 7, 2008 issue

What should U.S. President-elect Barack Obama do about clean technology, renewable energy and the environment?

Danny Bradbury, of online cleantech publisher BusinessGreen.com: “We tracked down several of the leading players in the US cleantech and environmental movement to find out what they want to see from an Obama administration and what they expect to get.  From signing Kyoto to awarding Presidential Medals of Freedom for clean tech heroes, here are their responses:”

R. Paul Herman is chief executive and founder of HIP Investor, a San Francisco-based financial firm with a number of green funds and indices:

“We need an integrated economic-environmental-social strategy across all three sectors (business, NGOs and government) that tracks results with an overall performance scorecard. By measuring the quantifiable improvements in environmental, social and human effects – and how they drive economic vitality – an Obama administration could better design the tax code, regulatory framework, and cross-sector incentives to stimulate an improved society.

If the government could shift its focus to managing outcomes (such as reduced cost per mile driven for vehicles) instead of picking and choosing products (avoiding ethanol subsidies), then we could unleash the full innovation of entrepreneurs everywhere to solve problems with a wide diversity of breakthrough solutions.

Cleantech is the perfect testing ground for this approach, since increased eco-impacts naturally correlate also with high ROIs for customers and increased profits for clean tech businesses.

Obama’s immediate challenges are to restore US credibility and leadership by signing Kyoto and securing immediate Senate approval by 31 January – to send the signal that the US is onboard globally, as Australia did with its new prime minister.

The new President must stop the backslide by intercepting – and reversing – the Bush and Cheney relaxations of industry regulation and reduced reporting.

Obama must accelerate eco-efficiency by kickstarting the auction process for a greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) trading system – even if it’s baby steps like the European version. We need the bidders’ money in the Treasury starting in 2009, and to begin rewarding the early movers (including the US CAP participants).

The new President should create eco-benefits by designing tax incentives for corporates who clean or restore the land, air and water. If clean tech products can pump cleaner water out than it was going in, why can’t we start applying these upstream in rivers and downstream in wastewater facilities?

Finally, Obama should reward the highest-performers in environment, social impact, job creation and economic vitality with Presidential Medals of Freedom. It’s appropriate for our cleantech heroes, and speeds the race to the top.”

Read the full text at BusinessGreen.com :

http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/analysis/2230045/clean-tech-titans-deliver-obama

The October issue cover story of Treasury and Risk magazine, written by Anne R. Field, profiles the opportunity to “green” your organization’s supply chain - and implement supplier scorecards. HIP’s CEO R. Paul Herman is interviewed:

“Mandating changes in supplier practices can deliver 90% or more of your greenhouse-gas reductions”

In addition, the feature analyzes Wal-Mart, Hewlett-Packard and Federal Express.

READ THE FULL COVER STORY HERE:

http://www.treasuryandrisk.com/Issues/2008/October%202008/Pages/What’sYourGreenStrategy.aspx

Fallout from the Lehman Brothers’ collapse will result in tighter credit conditions and falling share prices for cleantech firms, but experts are confident that the longer-term outlook still looks solid, Danny Bradbury of BusinessGreen reports.   Learn more and read HIP CEO R. Paul Herman’s expert analysis on what to expect in the short- and long-term.

Read the full article in BusinessGreen.com HERE

• Bob Okunski of Sunpower (Sunpowercorp.com) spoke about the solar pioneer’s technology advances and their efforts to cut the costs of solar power, while enumerating challenges of the current policy landscape.
Jay Rooke explained how TerraPass (Terrapass.com) takes a grassroots approach to cutting carbon emissions, and highlighted its innovative methane capture methods at local dairy farms.
Josh Becker, co-founder of New Cycle Capital (Newcyclecapital.com), an early-stage venture capital firm, explained some of the firm’s criteria for seeking out promising ventures within the “extended green economy”.

Entrepreneurs, industry experts, investors and students networked prior to the presentations - and engaged in an energetic discussion during the Q&A session.

The discussion highlighted innovative new initiatives (e.g. 1 Block Off the Grid -www.1bog.org), emerging technologies within the renewable energy space, and the policy debates currently consuming the renewable energy community, such as investment tax credits.

Attendee Kathy Brozek enthused,

“It was a perfect mix of presentations, data analysis, discussion and networking…(with) a stimulating mix of attendees.”

Listen to the presentation and see HIP’s PowerPoint (with audio from the roundtable):

Register for July’s Roundtable: HIP Your Trip - HIP Travel and Hospitality!

To learn more about HIP Investor Services, contact Jessica Skylar at Jessica@HIPInvestor.com.

Ask Your Questions in the ‘comments’ section below! The HIP team will respond over the next month to attendees’ and subscribers’ inquiries.