Sustainability Context

June 2025 edition

Exclusive to “Master Slide Decks” subscribers

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7 Potential Uses of the Master Slide Decks

1. As a quick and easy way to build your own slide decks for presentations on sustainability-related topics. That is their main purpose, and why the ready-to-use slides are provided in .pptx format. Plagiarize like crazy. ☺
2. As micro-courses / tutorials / refreshers on key aspects of sustainability. Use the slides’ footnotes to further explore source documents of interest.
3. As learning resources. Subscribing teachers can use the slides in their presentations, upload the decks to the database of student materials, and require that students use the slides as resources in assignments. �(See the 7 Learning Prompts on the next slide for some ideas on how to do that).
4. As Coles Notes / Cliffs Notes of the key points in Bob’s six books and two whitepapers.
5. As an overview of over a dozen free, open-source tools downloadable from sustainabilityadvantage.com/
6. As a way to stay current and credible on hot topics. The “What’s New” deck in subscribers’ quarterly updates includes slide-summaries the latest articles and reports about a variety of sustainability-related topics.
7. As conversation starters with senior management. Share a subset of the slides with them with a “What do you think …?” invitation, and follow up with a meeting to discuss the relevance to the organization.

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How to find slides on a specific topic within a Master Slide Deck

• Use the Table of Contents to find the most likely subset for your topic of interest.
• In “Normal” display mode, use PowerPoint’s “Find” function to search for a key word.
• Quickly scan thumbnails of the slides in PowerPoint’s “Slide Sorter” view.

User Tips & Reminders

1. What 3 slides would you use to explain what sustainability means to someone one who is new to this topic?
2. What 3 slides would you use to explain why the environment and its eco-system services are existential prerequisites for humanity?
3. How is GDP growth often at odds with our wellbeing?
4. What are 3 reasons that the growing gap between the rich and the poor is unsustainable?
5. What 3 aspects of tax injustices concern you the most? Why?
6. What 3 slides would your use to convince a doubter that a green economy is good thing?
7. What sustainability-related business coalition would be the most helpful for your organization to join?

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7 Learning Prompts - Use the deck as a self-study micro course on this topic.

Table of Contents

Terminology

Over the last 10 years, the ‘Sustainability Imperative’ has emerged, �magnified by escalating public, governmental,� lender / banker, investor, and customer / buyer concern about �climate change, industrial pollution, food safety, natural resource depletion,�pandemics, social injustice, and biodiversity loss,� among other issues.

Based on David Lubin and Daniel Esty, “The Sustainability Imperative,” HBR, May 2010.

The New Sustainability Imperative

Terminology

ESG

Green

3Ps

Sustainability

3Es

CSR

CR

Non-financial �Capitals

17 SDGs

3 Dimensions

Report Names

““Sustainability Reporting Trends and Best Practices 2021,” Works Design, February 2021. �Based on 265 data points across 10 sectors in 5 continents.

“Meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of �future generations to meet their own needs.”

Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland

Sustainable Development

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“The possibility that human� and other forms of life on earth� will flourish forever.”

Dr. John Ehrenfeld

Sustainability

Definitions & Core Concepts

Bruntland: “Meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

Ehrenfeld: “The possibility that human and other forms of life on earth will flourish forever.”

African Elder: “Enough … for all … forever.”

Planetary carrying capacity and limits

Intergenerational responsibility

Socio-economic

justice

Sustainability Compass

Alan AtKisson, The ISIS Agreement, 2008

Figures & Metaphors

Company Sustainability

Triple Bottom Line

Economy

Environment

Equity

Profits /

Planet /

People /

Capitals

Asset Management

Financial� / Manufactured

Capital

Natural Capital

Human / Social

Capital

Nested Interdependencies

Environment

Society

Business

The Punch Line

Society and Business are wholly-owned subsidiaries�of the Environment

Nested Capitals

Natural Capital

Manufactured Capital

Financial �Capital

Social �Capital

Human�Capital

Based on www.forumforthefuture.org/project/five-capitals/overview

“Inside-out” Sustainability Impacts

Environment

Society

Business

“Outside-in” ESG Impacts

Concurrent Global Crises

Bob Willard, “7 Bold Strokes To Save Our World,” Sustainability Advantage, August 2020.

POLL

Personally, I am most concerned about this sustainability-related issue:

• Climate crisis
• Water crisis
• Food crisis
• Biodiversity loss crisis
• Pandemics
• Natural resource depletion
• Industrial pollution
• Social injustices
• Wealth inequities

System Conditions For A Sustainable Society

Don’t physically inhibit Nature’s ability to provide ecosystem services

Don’t introduce persistent manmade substances that

are foreign to Nature

Don’t create barriers to people meeting their basic needs (health, influence, competence, impartiality, meaning-making)

Don’t extract large flows of materials from the Earth’s crust that then buildup in Nature

SECTORS

Science-based System Principles, The Natural Step

System Conditions For A Sustainable Business

Don’t degrade the environment by physical means

Eliminate pollution from substances produced by society

Don’t create barriers to stakeholders meeting their basic needs �(health, influence, competence, impartiality, meaning-making)

Eliminate pollution from mined substances

BUSINESS

“Methodology Guide,” Future-Fit Business Benchmark

Societal Sustainability

Quality Of Life

Economic

Environmental

Social

The World We Want

Since 2005. Community-led Transition groups are working for a low-carbon, socially just future with resilient communities, more active participation in society, and caring culture focused on supporting each other. Their approach is based in the Transition Principles.

www.transitionnetwork.org/

Transition Network

Value of the Environmental Nest

How’s It Going So Far …?

Living Planet Index (LPI)

“The Living Planet Report 2022.” World Wildlife Federation (WWF), 2022.

The index represents the 69% decline of 32,000 species population since 1970.

www.anthropocene.info/great-acceleration.php.

Great Acceleration Dashboard

Ecosystem Services

Ecosystem Services

“WWF Living Planet Report 2016.” World Wildlife Federation, Dec. 2016.

Ecosystem Services 🡪 Well-being

“Living Beyond Our Means: Natural Assets and Human Well-being,” Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2006.

Biodiversity Ecosystem Services

“A Simple and Visual Definition of Biodiversity,” Network for Business Sustainability, January 2022.

Planetary Boundaries

“Planetary Boundaries 2023,” �Stockholm Resilience Centre, 2023..

Social Doughnut

Based on a figure in “Sustainable Excellence Associate (SEA) Study Guide,” International Society of Sustainability Professionals (ISSP), 2021. �Sourced from Kate Raworth and Christian Gunther.�www.kateraworth.com/doughnut/

The safe and just social doughnut lies between �9 planetary boundaries and deprivation of �12 critical human needs.

Social Doughnut

www.kateraworth.com/doughnut/

Value Of Ecosystem Services

Robert Costanza et al., “Changes in the global value of ecosystem services,” Global Environmental Change 26, May 2014.

��Global value of ecosystem services

• 1995 estimate: $33 trillion annually
• 2011 estimate: $145 trillion annually

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Between 1997 and 2011, there was a loss of ecosystem services worth $4.3T - $20.2T annually, due to land use change.

Cost Of Externalities

The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) Business Coalition, �“Natural Capital at Risk – The Top 100 Externalities of Business”, April 2013.

Primary production (agriculture, oil & gas, etc.) �and primary processing (cement, steel, etc.) �have $7.3 trillion / year external natural capital costs �(equivalent to 13% of global GDP in 2009).�None would be profitable �if environmental costs were fully integrated.

Highest costs

* Greenhouse gas emissions (38%) * Water use (25%)

* Land use (24%) * Air pollution (7%)

* Land and water pollution (5%) * Waste (1%)

“Summary for policymakers of the global assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services ,” Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), May 2019.

6^th Great Extinction

“One million animal and plant species are now facing extinction, many within decades, more than ever before in human history … We are eroding the very foundations of our economies, livelihoods, food security, health and quality of life worldwide.”

“BREAKING: COP 15 Seals the Deal on ‘Paris Moment’ for Nature,” The Energy Mix, December 2023.

Global Biodiversity Framework – COP15

Four goals and 23 targets including:

• Protect 30% of the world’s lands, oceans, �coasts, and inland waters by 2030 (“30x30”)
• Cut subsidies that harm nature by $500 B
• Reduce the loss of areas of high biodiversity importance to near zero
• Cut food waste in half

• $200 B to restore at least 30% of the world’s degraded ecosystems
• Significantly reduce overconsumption and waste generation
• 5% reduction of excess nutrients, pesticides and hazardous chemicals
• Require large, multinational corporations and financial institutions to disclose their biodiversity “risks, dependencies, and impacts,”

“Enough: A review of corporate sustainability, in a world running out of time,” EY, June 2022.

We’re Running Out Of Time

“The only thing more dangerous than the absence of progress is the illusion of it. Twenty years ago it might have been the right strategy to make corporate sustainability as relative and inviting as possible to encourage mass adoption. But now that the world is 20 years away from global catastrophe the worst thing corporate sustainability can do is mask the extent of the problem.”

GDP Growth ≠ Wellbeing Growth

GDP vs. Well-being

Deutsche Bank Research, Measures of Well-being, 2006.

GDP vs. GPI

Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI)

“Genuine Progress Indicator,” Gross National Happiness USA website

GDP was never intended to measure national well-being.

Joseph Stiglitz, the Nobel Prize- winning economist, urged world leaders to drop a “fetish” obsession with GDP and focus more on broader measures of prosperity (Oct 2009)

• Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI): Includes income distribution, value of household and volunteer work, and subtracts factors such as the costs of crime and pollution.
• UN Human Development Index: Combines GDP, health, life-expectancy, and education
• Gross National Happiness: Used by Bhutan, Vermont, and others
• Canadian Index of Wellbeing (CIW): Proposed; would include health, education, and environmental quality
• Vital Signs: Community vitality, by Community Foundations of Canada

Alternatives To GDP

Kurt Kleiner, “Is Life Getting Better?” UofT Magazine, Winter 2010

Economic Growth Model Is Deeply Flawed

“Better Business, Better World,” Business and Sustainable Development Commission, January 2017.

Growth So That …?

“We have created a system for growth �that depends on our building more and more stores �to sell more and more stuff �made in more and more factories in China, �powered by more and more coal �that would cause more and more climate change �but earn China more and more dollars �to buy more and more U.S. T-bills �so America would have more and more money �to build more and more stores �and sell more and more stuff �that would employ more and more Chinese ...�

We can’t do this anymore.”

Thomas Friedman op ed, “The Inflection is Near?” The New York Times, March 2009.

Growth Has Failed Us

Why rich countries should turn away from economic growth as the primary policy objective and pursue more specific objectives that enhance well-being.

1. Continued economic growth worldwide is unrealistic due to environmental and resource constraints
2. Rising incomes increase happiness and well-being only up to a level that has since been surpassed in rich countries
3. Economic growth has not brought full employment, eliminated poverty, or reduced the burden of the economy on the environment

Peter Victor, Managing without Growth, 2008.

Centre for a Steady State Economy

Over-consumption By Design

 “[Post WW II] what was needed was strategies that would make Americans in large numbers into �voracious, wasteful, compulsive consumers … �additional strategies were needed that would �induce the public to consume at ever-higher levels.”

― Vance Packard, The Waste Makers, 1960.

“Our enormously productive economy demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfactions, our ego satisfactions, in consumption. We need things consumed, burned up, worn out, replaced and discarded at an ever increasing rate.”

― Victor Lebow, “The Nature of Postwar Retail Competition,” �Journal of Retailing, Vol. 9, 1944.

Over-consumption Is Unsustainable

Exposes the connections between overconsumption and huge environmental and social issues.

More (GDP) 🡪 Better (GPI)

To move our economy in a more sustainable and just direction, start with a new goal.

“Story of Solutions” video on YouTube www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpkRvc-sOKk

9R Circularity Framework

Based on a slide in “An Introduction to the Circular Economy” by Preston Blevins, San Diego chapter of the Association for Supply Chain Management (ASCM), Eco-Sustainability Special Interest Group (SIG), 2025.

Circularity Minimizes Raw Material Extraction

Based on a slide in “An Introduction to the Circular Economy” by Preston Blevins, San Diego chapter of the Association for Supply Chain Management (ASCM), Eco-Sustainability Special Interest Group (SIG), 2025.

1950’s Recession Solution

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Advertising slogans

• “Buy your way to economic prosperity.”
• “Buy, buy, buy. It is your patriotic duty.”
• “Buy and be happy.”

Vance Packard, The Waste Makers, 1960.

Reporter: What should citizens do to help � the recovery from the recession?

Eisenhower: Buy.

Reporter: Buy what?

Eisenhower: Buy anything.

Overshoot

Mathis Wackernagel and William Rees, Our Ecological Footprint,” 1996.

From Polycrisis Economy To New Economy

“A New Economy,” EY, June 2024.

We Must Make Better Choices

“WWF Living Planet Report 2016.” World Wildlife Federation, Dec. 2016.

Services Business Model

2014 IBM Annual Report

• 40% of its 2014 revenue was from its Global Technology Services (Outsourcing, optimization, cloud, and maintenance services)
• 20% was from its Global Business Services �(Consulting, systems integration, and application management services)
• 27% was from its Software �(70% from recurring license charges, software sold “as a service” and ongoing post-contract support; 30% was from one-time charges (OTC) / outright sales)
• 2% was from its Global Financing

IBM used to have a product-based business model – most of its revenue was from the sale of its computing products / IT hardware. By 2014, only 11% of its revenue came from sales of its hardware. It had transitioned to a services-based business model.

Reasons To Sell Services

Wolfgang Ulaga, “From Product to Service: Navigating the Transition,” International Institute for Management Development (IMD), 2013.

Vermont’s GNH / GPI

“Happiness in the House: Vermont Adopts Genuine Progress Indicator,” CSRwire, April 2014.

UN Human Development Index

www.hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/2015_human_development_report_1.pdf

• Based at University of Waterloo; first report June 2010
• Advisory board chaired by Roy Romanow, former Sask. premier

Canadian Index Of Wellbeing (CIW)

www.ciw.ca

CIW: 8 Categories

Canadian Index of Wellbeing elements…. www.ciw.ca

Social Progress Index

www.socialprogressimperative.org

OECD Better Life Index

www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org

Income & Wealth Injustices

Canadian CEO Pay in 2023

“Company Men: CEO pay in 2023,” Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA), January 2025.�Based on a study of compensation paid to 100 highest-paid CEOs in Canada.

• The richest Canadian CEOs made 210 times more than the average Canadian worker.
• Only 10% of CEO compensation is salary; rest is bonuses, stock options, shares, etc.

• The 100 highest-paid Canadian CEOs made on average $13.2M vs. average worker income of $62.6K.
• The highest paid CEO made $68.5M.

U.S. Income Gap

“It's the Inequality, Stupid,” Mother Jones, March- April 2011.

Increasing Income Inequality

Increasing Income Inequality – Canada 2021

“High-income Canadians and capital gains, 2021,” Statistics Canada. November 2023.

10.4% of all income earned by Canadians �went to the richest 1%

U.S. Income Gap

“Retirement Security: Income and Wealth Disparities Continue through Old Age,” United States Government Accountability Office, August 2019.

Living Wage / Hour– Ontario 2023

“Calculating Ontario’s Living Wages,” Ontario Living Wage Network, November 2023.�Based on a weighted average of a family of four with two working parents, single parent with one child, and a single adult.

Takes into consideration food, shelter, clothing & footwear, transportation, adult ed, medical expenses, child care, communications, modest other expenses, and government transfers and taxes.

vs. Minimum Wage in Ontario:�$16.55 / hour

Perceived U.S. Wealth Gap

“It's the Inequality, Stupid,” Mother Jones, March- April 2011.

Obscene Wealth Chasm

The 62 billionaires own $1.76 trillion, �which is the cumulative wealth of the �bottom 3.5 billion of the world’s population.

Oxfam pre-Davos Briefing Paper, “An Economy for the 1%,” January 2016.

The richest 62 people in the world �own the same as the bottom 50% of the world.

The wealth of the richest 62 people has risen by 44% since 2010, �while the wealth of the poorest 3.5 billion fell 41%.

Increasing Wealth Chasm

Wealth Tax

“Wealth tax would raise much more than previously calculated,” Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, �March 2021

• Average wealth of 87 wealthiest Canadian families �= 4,500 times the average wealth of other Canadian family
• Combined wealth of 87 wealthiest Canadian families �> combined wealth of bottom 12 million Canadians
• The richest 0.2% of Canadians (the 25,000 wealthiest families) have > $20 million wealth each 🡪 $1.8 trillion�

• 1% tax on wealth over $20 million 🡪 $10 billion /year
• 1% tax on wealth over $20 million �+ 2% tax on wealth over $50 million�+ 3% tax on wealth over $100 million 🡪 $20 billion / year

U.S. Wealth Gap

“Retirement Security: Income and Wealth Disparities Continue through Old Age,” �United States Government Accountability Office, August 2019.

Rule-riggers

“Rule-Riggers” in the top 0.1% have direct access to legislators and thousands of lobbyists. They are considered “opinion leaders” because of their personal and corporate philanthropy.

Between 1979 and 2007, incomes of the 1% rose 224%; �incomes of the 0.1% rose 360%.

Rule-Riggers, chiefly the leaders of Wall Street-based financial institutions and of the transnational corporations they finance, have changed the rules of the economy to benefit asset owners at the expense of wage earners, �and global corporations at the expense of local businesses.

“How The 1% Got To Be That Way, And How The 99% Can Fight Back,” book review in CSRwire Talkback, April 2012.

Tax Injustices

U.S. Top Marginal Tax Rates

Personal Wealth In Tax Havens

$7.8 trillion

The Hidden Wealth of Nations: The Scourge of Tax Havens by Gabriel Zucman, UC Berkeley, September 2015.�Based on presentation slides available at gabriel-zucman.eu/hidden-wealth/

Personal Taxes Lost

The Hidden Wealth of Nations: The Scourge of Tax Havens by Gabriel Zucman, UC Berkeley, September 2015.�Based on presentation slides available at gabriel-zucman.eu/hidden-wealth/

Canadian Tax Burden Has Shifted

“Canadas Corporations Pay Less Tax Than You Think,” Toronto Star and Corporate Knights, December 2017.

In 2016, individuals paid 3.5X more income tax than corporations.

Effective Corp Tax Rate – Worldwide

“Global distribution of revenue loss from tax avoidance,” WIDER Working Paper 2017/55, United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER)., March 2017.

Effective Corp Tax Rate – U.S.

The Hidden Wealth of Nations: The Scourge of Tax Havens by Gabriel Zucman, UC Berkeley, September 2015.�Based on presentation slides available at gabriel-zucman.eu/hidden-wealth/

The effective rate paid by US corporations has been reduced by 1/3 since late 1990s

Official Tax Rate Is Irrelevant

“Canadas Corporations Pay Less Tax Than You Think,” Toronto Star and Corporate Knights, December 2017.

Canada’s 102 biggest companies paid $10B less in 2016 than they would if they paid tax at the official corporate tax rate. Between 2011-2016, there was a $41B tax gap.

U.S. Corporate Taxes Lost

The Hidden Wealth of Nations: The Scourge of Tax Havens by Gabriel Zucman, UC Berkeley, September 2015.�Based on presentation slides available at gabriel-zucman.eu/hidden-wealth/

~$130 billion / year in lost tax revenues

Corporates’ Use Of Tax Havens

“Offshore Shell Games 2015: The Use of Offshore Tax Havens by Fortune 500 Companies,” Citizens for Tax Justice and U.S. PIRG Education Fund, October 2015.

Just 30 companies in the Fortune 500 had $1.4 trillion �stashed in tax havens in 2014.

OECD BEPS Tax Action�Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS)

http://www.oecd.org/ctp/BEPSActionPlan.pdf

The OECD’s BEPS project addresses 7 areas:

• Harmful tax practices
• Aggressive tax planning
• Transfer pricing
• Tax treaties
• Tax policy and statistics
• Tax and development
• Tax compliance

Tax evasion / avoidance costs governments around the world �more than $3.1 trillion in lost tax revenue annually

http://www.taxjustice.net/

UK Diverted Profits Tax

Chris Bates, Dominic Stuttaford, and Angela Savin, “UK Government unveils Diverted Profits Tax,” Norton Rose Fulbright website, December 2014.

• The 25% rate is 5% higher than the basic statutory rate that will be lowered to 20% in April 2015.
• Also gives the UK taxing powers where connected parties have entered into transactions which result in a reduction in tax in one country without a corresponding tax liability in the other country and the transactions lacks economic substance.  
• Proposed as a new tax so to avoid existing tax treaties between countries.
• Prompted by investigations into Google and Starbucks profit diversions.
• The UK already has transfer pricing rules that prevent multi-nationals from reducing their tax liabilities by manipulating the price on transactions in low-tax jurisdictions.

A proposed new 25% tax on a non-resident company’s profits that it diverts to a related disguised “permanent establishment” in a lower-tax foreign country.

Top 20 Tax Havens

Richard Phillips, Steve Wamhoff, and Dan Smith, “Offshore Shell Games 2014, U.S. Public Interest Research Group (USPIRG) and Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ), June 2014.

Percent of Fortune 500 companies with subsidiaries in them in 2013

$Billions In Lost Taxes

Richard Phillips, Steve Wamhoff, and Dan Smith, “Offshore Shell Games 2014, U.S. Public Interest Research Group (USPIRG) and Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ), June 2014.

• 356 of Fortune 500 companies operate 7,736 subsidiaries �in tax havens.
• 30% of the companies with tax haven subsidiaries had�subsidiaries in just Bermuda and/or the Cayman Islands.
• Fortune 500 companies together report holding $2T offshore. �30 companies (6%) collectively hold nearly $1.2 trillion overseas for tax purposes.
• 55 companies disclose the amount they would expect to pay in U.S. taxes if they did not report profits offshore for tax purposes. They would collectively owe $147.5 billion in additional federal taxes.

Pandora Papers

The Pandora Papers include 12 million leaked documents analyzed by 600 reporters in the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), in 117 countries, in 2021.

• Globally at least $11.3 trillion is in offshore tax havens used by billionaires, CEOs, criminals, and other tax dodgers (OECD)�
• Canadians hid $400 billion in the top 12 tax havens in 2020 (Statistics Canada)

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• Because of offshore accounts in tax havens, Canada loses: � $3 billion in tax revenue from wealthy individuals� + $11.4 billion in tax revenue from corporations� = $15 billion in lost tax revenue, annually

Tax Gap – Canada

Overall Federal Tax Gap Report,” CRA Canada, June 2022.”

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The report found that between 2014 and 2018:

• Individual Canadians did not pay between �$41.9 and $52.8 billion in personal income tax,
• Corporations did not pay between �$23.1 and $36.6 billion.

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Ugland House

Richard Phillips, Steve Wamhoff, and Dan Smith, “Offshore Shell Games 2014, U.S. Public Interest Research Group (USPIRG) and Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ), June 2014.

Ugland House, Cayman Islands, is the registered address for 18,857 companies. Companies incorporated on the Cayman Islands pay no income taxes there.

How To Stop Tax Abuse In U.S.

Richard Phillips, Steve Wamhoff, and Dan Smith, “Offshore Shell Games 2014, U.S. Public Interest Research Group (USPIRG) and Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ), June 2014.

Tax Avoidance Examples

Richard Phillips, Steve Wamhoff, and Dan Smith, “Offshore Shell Games 2014, U.S. Public Interest Research Group (USPIRG) and Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ), June 2014.

Apple Tax Avoidance

“The Inside Story of Apple's $14 Billion Tax Bill,”Bloomberg, Dec. 2016.

August 2016: Direct subsidies or tax breaks to court a specific company are illegal in the EU to prevent governments aiding national champions. The EU said Ireland had broken European law by giving Apple a sweetheart deal and ordered the Ireland to bill Apple a record $13.9 billion in back taxes, plus interest, from 2003 to 2014.

November 2016: Though that would be equivalent to 26% of the 2015 national budget, Ireland didn't want the windfall, saying the ruling was flawed because the country hadn’t given Apple any special treatment. �Ireland appealed the Commission’s ruling at the EU General Court in Luxembourg.

Canadian Banks Avoid Most Taxes

“Canadas Corporations Pay Less Tax Than You Think,” Toronto Star and Corporate Knights, December 2017.

Taxes avoided (2011-2016)�through “subsidiaries" in tax havens

• $6.3B: TD Canada Trust
• $5.8B: RBC
• $4.7B: Scotiabank
• $4.0B: Bank of Montreal
• $2.1B: CIBC

… and it doesn’t go to charities

Canadian Tax Gaps - 2014

“Corporate tax gap could be costing more than $11B,” Investment Executive, June 2019. �Based on Canadian Revenue Agency’s five reports on the difference between taxes owed and taxes actually paid and collected in 2014.

Corporate income tax gap: $9.4 to $11.4 billion

• SMES tax gap: $2.7 to $3.5 billion
• Large corporations: $6.7 to $7.9 billion

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Individual income tax gap: $9 billion

Corporate Tax Gap - 2018

“Canadian corporations may have avoided $25-billion or more in taxes in 2018: PBO,” The Globe & Mail, June 2019. �Based on “Preliminary Findings on International Taxation” report, Parliamentary Budget Office, June 2019.

Canadian companies transferred $1.6-trillion to tax havens, and conduits to them, in 2018.

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If taxes had been paid on just 10% of that amount, Ottawa would have had $25-billion more tax revenue and the provinces would also have had billions more tax revenue.

Yves Giroux, Parliamentary Budget Officer

Redirect Tax Breaks And Subsidies

Tax breaks and “dinosaur” subsidies and are going to the wrong organizations. What we could do, instead.

“Story of Broke” video on YouTube www.youtube.com/watch?v=G49q6uPcwY8

Connecting The Inequality Dots

“Outrageous Fortunes,” Monitor, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA), January 2018.

Luxembourg Tax Scam

“Luxembourg Leaks: Global Companies' Secrets Exposed,”� International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, November 2014.

• Pepsi, IKEA, AIG, Coach, Deutsche Bank, Abbott Laboratories and nearly 340 other companies have secured secret tax-slashing deals from Luxembourg.
• PwC has helped multinational companies obtain at least 548 tax rulings in Luxembourg from 2002 to 2010. These legal secret deals feature complex financial structures designed to create drastic tax reductions.
• Many of the tax deals exploited international tax mismatches that allowed companies to avoid taxes both in Luxembourg and elsewhere through the use of so-called hybrid loans.  
• In many cases Luxembourg subsidiaries handling hundreds of millions of dollars in business maintain little presence and conduct little economic activity in Luxembourg. One popular address – 5, rue Guillaume Kroll – is home to more than 1,600 companies.

Companies have channeled $100s of billions through Luxembourg and �saved billions of dollars in taxes. �Some firms have enjoyed effective tax rates of less than 1% on the profits they’ve shuffled into Luxembourg.

Corporate Profits Trump Sovereign Rights

• “Free trade” deals are about investment, not trade.
• Foreign investors and companies can challenge any government action by the host nation that they deem unfair or which interfere with their profits �(e.g. Lone Pine Resources’ $250-million NAFTA lawsuit against Canada over Quebec’s “arbitrary and capricious” moratorium on fracking for oil and gas underneath the St. Lawrence River.
• These challenges are arbitrated by independent investor-state arbitration panels, not by the courts of the countries being challenged.

Thomas Walkom, “Why Stephen Harper’s ‘trade’ deals are losing their cachet,” Toronto Star, June 2015. �Based on Gus Van Harten’s book, Sold Down the Yangtze.

NAFTA

Case for a Green Economy

Green Is Good For GDP

If the world doubled its current market share of renewable energy to 36% by 2030, global GDP could increase by 1.1% – equivalent to $1.3T in growth

“Renewable Energy Benefits: Measuring the Economics,” International Renewable Energy Project (IRENA), January 2016.

Building Canada Back Better

“Building Back Better: A roadmap to the Canada we want,” Corporate Knights, June 2020.

Average investment of just $10.6 billion / year, paid for with:

• Reallocation of just five corporate tax giveaways that cost $40 billion / year.
• Capture of average of $10.5 billion / year of tax avoidance by Canada’s 100 largest companies.

5 Bold Moves

“5 Bold Moves for a Resilient Recovery,” Smart Prosperity Institute,, July 2020.

Benefits of Transition to Alberta

Other benefits: Puts Albertans to work right away; diversifies the economy; reduces pollution and health care costs; builds more resilient communities

“100,000+ Jobs: Getting Albertans back to work by building a low-carbon future,” �Greenpeace, the Alberta Green Economy Network and Gridworks Energy Group, April 2016.

Alberta could create over 145,000 new jobs in the transition to a low-carbon economy

Positive Green Jobs Balance

If Canada chose to make an orderly transition to 100% renewable energy in the next 25 years:

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• During the 25 year transition: � 18M new green job-years created � vs. 11M total fossil fuel job-years lost�
• After the transition: � 876,000 new permanent jobs � vs. 850,000 jobs that would have ended,

“Almost Twice as Many Green Jobs in Canada in the Transition to 100% Renewable Energy,” Guy Dauncey, Sept. 2015.

Good For Jobs

• US solar installation sector employs 77% more people than domestic coal mining.
• Since 2014, solar installation created more jobs than oil and gas pipeline construction and crude oil and natural gas extraction, combined.

“US solar industry now employs more workers than oil and gas, says report,” The Guardian, January 2016. �Based on a Solar Foundation report, National Solar Job Census 2015.

The U.S. solar industry now employs more workers than oil and gas.

Net Zero Emissions 🡪 Jobs

• Homes and buildings account for one quarter of all of Canada’s emissions.
• The World Green Building Council has called for all buildings to be net zero by 2050 through new construction and deep renovation.

“Jobs for Tomorrow: Canada’s Building Trades and Net Zero Emissions,” Columbia Institute, July 2016.

Canada would create 4M non-residential construction jobs if it moves to a net zero emissions economy by 2050.

• Investments of 2% of GDP in the green economy over a five-year period in 12 countries could create up to 48M new jobs, or up to 9.6M new jobs / year, including more than 17M jobs in the construction sector.

“Clean Energy” Jobs Outpace Fossil Energy Jobs

“"Clean" jobs outpace fossil fuels ... ,” Axios Generate newsletter, November 2023.�Based on global analysis by the International Energy Agency on 2022 data.

Canadian Clean Energy Jobs

“The Fast Lane: Tracking the Energy Revolution 2019,” Clean Energy Canada program at Simon Fraser University, October 2019.

559,400

Solar Jobs > Fossil Fuel Jobs

“Clean-Energy Jobs Surpass Oil Drilling for First Time in U.S.,” Bloomberg, May 2016.

Jobs From Green Stimulus

“Low-carbon stimulus spending can spur economic recovery and job creation,” McKinsey & Company, May 2020

Jobs From $1 Billion Investment

Clean50 analysis and letter to Canadian politicians, September 2020.

Investing $1 billion in the fossil fuel sector: �2,700 transient jobs �- the industry is ultimately dying.

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Investing $1 billion in the renewable �energy projects: 20,000 permanent jobs �– this is a growth industry.

Business Sustainability Coalitions

World Business Council for Sustainable Development www.wbcsd.org/

WBCSD

The WBCSD is a global CEO-led coalition of over 200 international companies to accelerate the transition to a sustainable world. It focuses on maximum positive impact for shareholders, the environment, and societies.

Business for Social Responsibility www.bsr.org/en/

Works with its global network of more than 250 member companies to build a just and sustainable world.

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From its offices in Asia, Europe, and North and South America, �BSR develops sustainable business strategies and solutions through consulting, research, and cross-sector collaboration.

BSR

Canadian Business for Social Responsibility https://cbsr.ca/about/

Canadian Business for Social Responsibility (CBSR) is Canada’s only membership association for companies co-creating a sustainable, equitable future.

“CBSR is part of Profoundry, a collective of like-minded sustainability and climate experts who help organizations create value and have a positive impact on society. Our group includes Delphi, GLOBE Series, and Leading Change, and together we are focused on achieving our vision: a more sustainable, prosperous, socially just future in a generation.”

CBSR

www.ceres.org/

Mission: Transform the economy to build a �sustainable future for people and the planet.

Ceres

Ceres works with the most influential investors and companies to build leadership and drive solutions throughout the economy. Through powerful networks and advocacy, Ceres tackles the world’s biggest sustainability challenges, including climate change, water scarcity and pollution, and human rights abuses..

Ceres projects

INCR

Network of 100 institutional investors representing more than $11 trillion in assets committed to addressing the risks and seizing the opportunities resulting from climate change and other sustainability, challenges

Mission: Mobilize investor leaders to address climate and other key sustainability risks, while building low-carbon investment opportunities.

Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR) www.ceres.org/investor-network/incr

www.sustainablebrands.com/

A global community of forward-thinking business, brand strategy, marketing, innovation and sustainability professionals who are leading the way to a better future. � 

Enable the shift to a sustainable economy by helping brands to embed purpose-driven environmental and social innovation into the DNA of their business, �so that sustainability becomes a core driver of business and brand value.

Sustainable Brands

www.greenbiz.com/

GreenBiz is a catalyst for thought leadership in aligning environmental responsibility with profitable business practices.

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The Executive Network is a membership-based, peer-to-peer learning forum for sustainability executives from the world’s largest companies. Its unique combination of expertly facilitated meetings and resource sharing enables members to benefit from the insights of their peers across a range of topics and sectors.

GreenBiz

Corporate Eco Forum

An invitation-only organization for C-level executives of Global 500 companies that demonstrate a serious commitment to environment as a business strategy issue.

Mission: To accelerate sustainable business innovation by creating the best neutral space for business leaders to strategize and exchange best-practice insights.

Members represent 18 industries with combined revenues over $3T.

www.corporateecoforum.com/

UN Global Compact

A strategic policy initiative for businesses that are committed to aligning their operations and strategies with ten universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption.

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World's largest corporate citizenship and sustainability initiative:

12,000+ participants, including over 8,400+ businesses in 145 countries around the world.

www.unglobalcompact.org

Global Compact Principles

1. Support and respect the protection of human rights
2. Do not be complicit in human rights abuses
3. Uphold the freedom of association and the effective �recognition of the right to collective bargaining
4. Eliminate all forms of forced and compulsory labor
5. Abolish child labor
6. Eliminate discrimination re employment and occupation
7. Support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges
8. Promote greater environmental responsibility
9. Encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies
10. Work against corruption, including extortion and bribery

www.unglobalcompact.org

Capitals Coalition

The Capitals Coalition is a global collaboration redefining value to transform decision making.

• The capitals – natural capital, social capital, human capital and produced capital – form the foundation of human wellbeing and economic success.
• Brings together Natural Capitals Coalition and the Social and Human Capitals Coalition protocols
• Encourages collaboration of over 380 organizations in seven stakeholder groups: Business, Finance, Government, Science, Accounting and Standards, Civil Society and Multi-stakeholder Groups.

capitalscoalition.org/

wellbeingeconomy.org/

WEAll

• Shift popular narratives around the purpose of the economy.
• Synthesize and disseminate knowledge and evidence about what a wellbeing economy looks like and how we get there.
• Galvanize a non-elite power base through place-based hubs and a global network of individuals and organizations.

WEAll is the leading global collaboration of organisations, alliances, movements and individuals working together to transform the economic system into one that delivers human and ecological wellbeing.

The Sustainability Consortium (TSC)

Mission: Design and implement credible, transparent and scalable science-based measurement and reporting systems accessible for all producers, retailers, and users of consumer products.

www.sustainabilityconsortium.org/

• TSC was launched by Walmart in 2009
• A consortium of 90 leading academics, NGOs, government agencies, and businesses
• Jointly administered by Arizona State U and U of Arkansas

ZDHC

Commitment to help lead the apparel and footwear industry towards zero discharge of hazardous chemicals for all products and all pathways in their supply chains by 2020.

Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals www.roadmaptozero.com/

Formed in 2011 by Adidas Group, C&A, G-Star, �H&M, LiNing, NIKE, and PUMA

Sustainable Apparel Coalition

Higg Index measures the �environmental and social performance of apparel �and footwear products.

www.apparelcoalition.org/

Formed by 30 companies and organizations, including �Nike, Target, JC Penney, Gap, Levi’s, Patagonia and Walmart.

“Toward Sustainable Mining – 2019 Highlights,” The Mining Association of Canada (MAC), 2020.

Toward Sustainable Mining (TSM)

Three core areas

1. Engaging with communities.
2. Driving world-leading environmental practices.
3. Committing to the safety and health of employees and surrounding communities.

A Little Good News,�For A Change

“Energy Transition Investment Trends 2025,” BloombergNEF, January 2025.

Record Investment In The Energy Transition

• Global investment in the energy transition hit a record $2.1 trillion in 2024,up 11% from 2023
• Mainland China accounted for 67% of the global increase

“Solar, battery storage to lead new U.S. generating capacity additions in 2025,” U.S. Energy Information Administration, February 2025.

Clean Energy Dominates New Utility-scale Electric-Generating Capacity in the USA

• Clean energy is expected to account for 93% of U.S. power plant construction in 2025.
• This is will be a 30% increase from 2024.
• Together, solar and battery storage account for 81% of the expected total capacity additions, with solar making up over 50% of the increase.

“World Energy Outlook 2024,” International Energy Agency (IEA)), October 2024.

Drop In Oil Demand in Europe and NA

IEA outlook for change in global oil demand in selected regions, 2023-2035.

“World Energy Outlook 2024,” International Energy Agency (IEA)), October 2024.�Based on the Stated Policies Scenario, 2010-2035

World Electricity Generation Outlook

Solar PV

Wind

Renewables Are Price-Competitive With Fossil Fuels

“Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2021,” International Renewable Emery Agency (IRENA), July 2022.

Drop in the global weighted average Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) of newly commissioned utility-scale renewable energy projects between 2010 and 2021:

• 88% for utility-scale solar PV projects
• 68% for onshore wind
• 60% for offshore wind

“Tracking the Heat Pump & Water Heater Market in the United States,” RMI, March 2025.

Heat Pumps Have Overtaken Gas Furnaces

• In 2024, manufacturers shipped 32% more heat pumps than gas furnaces”
• Over the past 20 years, annual heat pump sales have increased by 115%,�whereas gas furnace sales have decreased by 11%.”

Despite Everything, Climate / GHG Reporting Lives

• 75% of executives who do not need to comply with CSRD still intend to at least partially align their reporting with CSRD.
• 81% of executives expect to at least partially disclose scope 1 and 2 emissions with some level of assurance, despite uncertainty around the SEC climate rule.
• 77% of executives say that their approach to sustainability reporting remains unchanged.

“Executive Benchmark on Integrated Reporting,” Workiva, February 2025.�Based on polling of 1,601 executives as well as 222 institutional investors. Respondents included executives, the C-Suite,

and VP/SVPs from organizations across North America, South America, Europe, and Asia.

“DEI” 🡪 “Representative,” “Fair,” “Inclusion”

Companies are lowering their public profiles and dropping DEI metrics / goals, especially in companies with 10,000+ employees and with large federal contracts, but the work continues.

“2025 DEI Benchmarking Study: How Organizations are Evolving in the Face of a Changing Landscape,” Paradigm, April 2025.�Based on a survey of senior leaders from 443 American organizations across industries and company sizes in March 2025.

• 81% are maintaining or increasing funding for DEI efforts; only 19% are decreasing funding.
• 91% are prioritizing casting a wide net for diverse talent (e.g., sourcing from schools or locations with greater diversity)
• 84% are continuing to invest in inclusion-focused training.
• 86% say they won’t stop collecting employee or applicant demographic data.

CFOs Are Staying on the Sustainability Course

“Staying the Course: Chief Financial Officers and the Green Transition,” Kearney, February 2025.�Based on a survey of 500 CFOs across the U.S., UK, UAE, and India conducted by Kearney and We Don’t Have Time.

CFOs are prioritizing tangible, near-term impacts in these areas: Use of sustainable materials, driving sustainable innovation and partnerships, managing energy, reducing waste, and focusing on ESG regulations and ratings. 

• 92% of CFOs say they will invest more in sustainability
• 71% consider sustainability when choosing employee retirement funds.

Despite Greenhushing, Making Quiet Progress

“ PwC’s Second Annual State of Decarbonization Report,” PwC, March 2025

9-fold increase in companies reporting climate commitments to the Carbon Disclosure Project in 2024, compared to 2019.

33% of CEOs say climate investments over the last 5 years have already resulted in increased revenue.

BYD Achieves 5-Minute Charging

“BYD Shares Jump to Record on Five-Minute EV Battery Charging,” Bloomberg, March 2025.

Chinese car company BYD unveiled new EVs based on a 1,000-Volt fast-charging EV platform. The battery and charging system can provide about 400 kilometers (250 miles) of driving range in 5 minutes.

• BYD has committed to building more than 4,000 charging stations across China to serve the newly upgraded EVs.
• Tesla’s Superchargers can add up to 275 kilometers of range in 15 minutes.
• Mercedes-Benz entry-level new EV sedan can add 325 kilometers in 10 minutes.
• The EV battery technology race is on …