Bay Area Carbon Anonymous?

Think of it as a support group for businesses trying to break a nasty carbon habit. The Business Council on Climate Change (BC3), which launched in March 2007, brings Bay Area businesses together to discuss challenges, share information and best practices and inform local policy surrounding climate change. Member companies must agree to five core principles governing BC3: internal implementation, community leadership, advocacy and dialogue, collective action, and transparency and disclosure.

BC3, a joint effort between the UN compact, the Bay Area Council, and SF Environment, was formed as part of the UN Global Compact’s “Cities Programme.” The council counts large companies such as Sun Microsystems (Nasdaq: Java), Google (Nasdaq: Goog) and Gap (NYSE: GPS), as well as smaller local companies such as Cole Valley Hardware and Temple Nightclub, as members, something Lori Duvall, Sun’s Eco-Responsibility program manager, says she finds extremely helpful.

“What’s encouraging is how much you have in common with all companies, irrespective of size,” she says. “Of course, some challenges are unique to a multi-national company, but day-to-day, on-the-ground issues are often the same, and it’s also helpful to talk to people who have already been through things we’re doing. They’ve worked with a certain vendor, they’ve dealt with green leases, they’ve formed regional and distributed sustainability teams. Anytime I can speak to someone one-on-one, in the same time zone, about a shared problem, it’s hugely valuable.”

Duvall says Sun has also benefited from BC3 members feedback on the company’s launch of OpenEco.org, an open-source Web portal focused on measuring and reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. “Getting on-the-ground, real information about how to make OpenEco the most useful tool it can be has been invaluable,” she says.

Now entering its second year, BC3 is focused on increasing member participation, becoming an independent, sustainable organization, and launching a new seminar series, according to co-chair Jennifer Kass, who is employed by San Francisco’s Department of the Environment. “We’re trying to both create a model that can be duplicated worldwide and provide a local solution,” Kass says. “The really cool thing is that we’ve been able to do that to a certain extent—but of course we’re always limited by resources and time.”

BC3 is currently funded by member dues and managed by city employees. The city will continue to administer the project for another year and a half, Kass says, after which time she says she hopes to see it succeed as an independent, member-driven organization.
Although she herself is a City of San Francisco employee, Kass says she’s concerned with keeping the Council relevant to all Bay Area businesses. “If I don’t have a program that can help a San Mateo business, for example, I want to make sure I can connect them with someone who does,” she says.