@Risk

Even though business executives from around the world may be disgruntled with their jobs, most are planning to sit tight in their positions –at least for now.

Accenture recently conducted an online survey of 3,900 business executives from medium to large companies in 31 countries and found that:

• More than half of both the women (57 percent) and men (59 percent) surveyed are dissatisfied with their jobs. But even so . .  .
• More than two-thirds (69 percent) of all respondents said they do not plan to leave their current employers. Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) cited flexible work arrangements as the reason for staying put.
• Underscoring earlier research which indicated a growing concern for work-life balance, the majority (59 percent) of respondents reported having some type of flexible work schedule. More than four in ten (44 percent) of this group said they have used flexible work options for more than three years. (more…)

Over the next few decades, US water resources are likely to be severely strained by the combined impacts of population growth, increases in power generation and climate change.

In fact, more than one in three of the 3,100+ counties in the US could face a “high” or “extreme” risk of water shortages by the middle of the 21st century, according to a new study in ACS’s Journal of Environmental Science & Technology.

The research also found that seven out of ten of the US counties could face “some” risk of shortages of fresh water for drinking, farming and other uses.

The study, Projecting Water Withdrawal and Supply for Future Decades in the U.S. under Climate Change Scenarios,  features a “water supply sustainability risk index” that includes water withdrawal, projected growth, susceptibility to drought, projected climate change and other factors in individual US counties for the year 2050. It also takes into account renewable water supply through precipitation using the most recent downscaled climate change projections and estimates future withdrawals for various human uses.

By using this water index, the research team was able to conclude that climate change could foster an “extreme” risk of water shortages that may develop in 412 counties in southern and southwestern states, as well as in southern Great Plains states. (more…)

Several materials used in the manufacture of clean energy technologies such as wind turbines, electric vehicles, solar cells and energy-efficient lighting are at risk of supply disruptions in the short term, according to a new report released by the US Department of Energy (DOE).

The 2011 Critical Materials Strategy is DOE’s second report on this topic and provides an update to last year’s analysis. After its analysis, the DOE has concluded that:

• Supply challenges for five rare earth elements (REEs) (dysprosium, neodymium, terbium, europium and yttrium) may affect clean energy technology deployment in the years ahead.
• The risks of supply disruptions in the short term will generally decrease in the medium and long term.

The report also includes a discussion of DOE’s strategy to address these critical materials challenges. DOES says its strategy rests on three pillars: (more…)

Scientists at the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the European Commission’s in-house science service, have identified five metals that are both essential for manufacturing low-carbon technologies and at high risk of shortage.

These five metals are: neodymium, dysprosium, indium, tellurium and gallium.

According to the report, titled Critical Metals in Strategic Energy Technologies, the risk of shortage stems from:

• Europe’s dependency on imports (as in the US, virtually the entire European supply of these metals comes from China),
• increasing global demand,
• supply concentration and
• geopolitical issues.

Furthermore, these metals are not easily recyclable or substitutable. (more…)

In the second annual Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) Water Disclosure Global Report released last week, more than half (59 percent) of the companies surveyed said they are exposed to water-related risks such as flooding, scarcity and reputational damage.

What’s more, almost four in 10 (38 percent) already have experienced water-related business impacts, including disruption to operations from severe weather events (e.g., flooding) and water shortages.

And companies described most of their water risks as near- term. Nearly two-thirds (66 percent) of risks in the supply chain and 64 percent of risks in direct operations were identified as occurring between now and 2016.

But even so, the report also found that only 57 percent of the 190 publicly listed organizations that participated in the survey implement board-level oversight of water policies, strategies or plans. By comparison, a report released by CDP in September 2011 showed that 94 percent of Global 500 companies report board-level oversight of climate change.

Why the gap? While it’s encouraging to see that awareness about water risks is on the rise, it’s also clear that companies need to strengthen their oversight of water-related issues –particularly in the supply chain. The CDP report revealed that more than one-third of companies (38 percent) are unaware of whether they are exposed to water risk in their supply chains. In the Consumer Discretionary sector, which is dominated by industries that are particularly exposed to supply chain risk (e.g., retailers, hotels, resorts, and automobile manufacturers), that percentage rose to 41 percent.

The report also found that: (more…)