The Log | School News

Duke Hosts First Environmental Leadership Forum

Representatives of some of America's largest corporations gathered on the Duke campus Sept. 4 and 5 for the first Environmental Leadership Forum. Sponsored by AIG and organized by Duke's Nicholas School, Fuqua School of Business, School of Law, Center for Environmental Solutions and Global Capital Markets Center, the Forum explored the topic "Managing Risk in the Changing Global Environment" from a variety of perspectives.

A highlight of the Forum was "Leadership on the Front Lines" with insider views of environmental management presented by Frank Sprow of ExxonMobil, Robert Wood of The Dow Chemical Co., and Patrick Atkins of Alcoa.

"We wanted a topic that would be relevant to a wide range of industries," said Harvey Goldman, a member of the Nicholas School Board of Visitors and chair of the Corporate Partnerships Committee that conceived the Forum along with founding Nicholas School Dean Norm Christensen. "Almost every business deals with environmental risk, and we wanted to examine emerging environmental issues and the latest scientific, legal and business strategies for managing those risks."

William H. Schlesinger, dean of the Nicholas School, kicked off the day with a scientific explanation of global warming and predictions about industries most likely to be affected. Paul Portney, president of Resources for the Future, followed with a spirited discussion of environmental leadership successes and failures. He cited Duke University as "pre-eminent in the United States in environmental policy."

Other speakers included Jonathan Wiener, Duke University professor of law and environmental policy, discussing "Risk Trade-offs in a Changing World" and Baruch Fischoff, professor of social and decision sciences and engineering and policy at Carnegie Mellon University discussing "Information and Risk."

Professor Ronie Garcia-Johnson of the Nicholas School led a panel discussion of "New Standards for Corporate Action," with Robert Grady, managing director of The Carlyle Group, posing the question, "What do investors expect?" Panelists Dan Bakal of the Coalition for Environmental Responsible Economies (CERES), Jennifer Nash of the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Douglas Wheeler, partner of Hogan & Hartson and former secretary of resources for the State of California, and Grady each described initiatives to strengthen, but streamline, environmental compliance and reporting. Participants concurred that environmental reporting will one day be as routine and standardized as financial reporting is today, but that the current maze of regulations and differing standards make compliance and reporting unnecessarily difficult and costly.

Joe Boren, president and CEO of AIG Environmental, capped the day with a look at the future directions in environmental risk management.

Although the day was marked with a wide range of opinions about the Kyoto Protocol, the decarbonization of fuel, the role of nuclear energy, whether or not technological innovations will resolve the current energy crisis, and even if there is a current energy crisis, there was consensus that the Forum had more than achieved Fuqua School Dean Douglas Breeden's, opening admonition. He said to enter the day's proceedings with "a presumption of positive intent."

Funding for this program and other educational programs at Duke is provided by the Starr Foundation. A second Environmental Leadership Forum is planned in 2002.

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