Skoll Entrepreneur(s): Mindy Lubber
Change(s) Addressed: Environmental Sustainability, Institutional Responsibility

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DESCRIPTION:

As a teenager on Long Island, New York, Mindy Lubber became frustrated that the town’s civic leadership did not have a recycling plan, so she started one herself. Today, the town recycles nearly 4,000 tons of material per year. After earning both an M.B.A. and J.D., Mindy became executive director of Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group and later started the National Environmental Law Center. In 1991, she launched Green Century Capital Management, the first U.S. mutual fund company to be wholly owned by nonprofit public interest groups. A founding board member of Ceres, Inc., Mindy became the organization’s president in 2003.

KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS OF 2010

• Ceres’ leveraging of financial power on climate helped lead to Texas Utilities’ decision not to build 8 of 11 traditional coal-fired power plants; Centex’s commitment to increase energy efficiency in new homes by 30–40%; and FirstEnergy Corp’s agreement to transition to dry storage of coal ash. Our Investor Network on Climate Risk now has 85 members, with $8 trillion in assets.
• Ceres’ efforts to ensure business accounting of environmental/social factors have yielded big breakthroughs. In 2009, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners adopted a climate-risk disclosure framework — a first worldwide. This year, the SEC issued guidance on climate-risk disclosure requirements, a key step toward economic system change.
• Ceres mobilizes partners as credible economic messengers on policy. BICEP (Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy) now includes 17 companies. These messengers have met with 60+ Senate offices. Ceres has generated more than 1,000 articles in national/state media, countering opposition arguments and putting pressure on U.S. policymakers to act.

SEE THEIR WORK IN ACTION: