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Exxaro Chair in Business and Climate Change launchedExxaro Chair in Business and Climate Change launched
Dr Hennie Stoffberg |
The new Exxaro Chair in Business and Climate Change at UNISA’s Centre for Corporate Citizenship (CCC) was launched yesterday at a function and media briefing at Summer Place in Johannesburg. The incumbent of the Chair is Dr Hennie Stoffberg.
The aim of the Chair, worth R3 million, is to conduct research to assist the South African business community to adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change. Exxaro is funding the Chair over a three-year period during which a core body of knowledge on climate change developments in the South African context will be developed to inform climate change responsibility programmes run by companies.
Dr Stoffberg says that one of his main research focus areas will be the carbon assessment of JSE Top 50 companies. The assessment will reflect critically on the climate change responsiveness of these companies and, in particular, their ability to adapt to and mitigate the constraints and opportunities resulting from climate change. The companies will be rated on climate change and carbon performance criteria and will subsequently be ranked according to their performance. Assessment findings will be presented in a report to be made available to the business sector. |
Companies need to ‘raise the bar’
In another research project, Dr Stoffberg together with Prof. Derick de Jongh, Director of CCC, will motivate companies to take up their moral and ethical role to reduce their carbon footprint. It is argued that companies need to ‘raise the bar’ with regard to their responses to the challenge of climate change.
A further project involves a dissertation research study by Ms Deshika Kathawaroo, a PhD student of the Chair, conducting a carbon footprint research project on the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup. The three-year assessment will reflect carbon mitigation constraints and opportunities associated with the event. The project will also investigate the event’s carbon commerce potential with the aim of benefiting future mega-events.
Exxaro Chief Executive Officer, Mr Sipho Nkosi, said that Exxaro was ‘delighted about our association with UNISA’. He pointed out that the launch was a ‘carbon neutral’ event, including means of transport and the paper used for the programme and menu.
Prof. Hellicy Ngambi (Deputy Executive Dean: College of Economic and Management Sciences), Dr Hennie Stoffberg, Dr Rita Maré (Vice Principal: Academic and Research), Prof. André Kritzinger (Deputy Executive Dean: College of Economic and Management Sciences) and Prof. Derick de Jongh, all of UNISA |
Mr Sipho Nkosi, Exxaro Chief Executive Officer |
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