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Master Reference Master Efficient solution label: an analysis of the Solar Impulse Foundation's labelling scheme FERREIRA FLORES FILHO, Ricardo Abstract Efficient Solution Label: an Analysis of the Solar Impulse Foundation's Labelling Scheme Reference FERREIRA FLORES FILHO, Ricardo. Efficient solution label: an analysis of the Solar Impulse Foundation's labelling scheme. Master : Univ. Genève, 2021 Available at: http://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:149851 Disclaimer: layout of this document may differ from the published version. 1 / 1 EFFICIENT SOLUTION LABEL: AN ANALY- SIS OF THE SOLAR IMPULSE FOUNDATION’S LABELLING SCHEME Ricardo Ferreira Flores Filho Internship report Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Standardization, Social Regulation and Sustainable Development Under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Mathilde Bourrier December 2020 University of Geneva – Department of Sociology www.unige.ch/sciences-societe/socio TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES 5 LIST OF TABLES 6 ACRONYMS 7 ABSTRACT 9 INTRODUCTION 10 SOLAR IMPULSE FOUNDATION: HISTORY, VISION AND GOVERNANCE 12 SOLAR IMPULSE FOUNDATION: ORGANIZATION AND ACTIVITIES 15 THE WORLD ALLIANCE FOR EFFICIENT SOLUTIONS 19 THE EFFICIENT SOLUTION LABEL SCHEME 23 INTERNSHIP’S CORE TASKS: MAXIMIZING EXPERTS ENGAGEMENT 31 FINAL CONSIDERATIONS 41 REFERENCES 43 3 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 : World Alliance for Efficient Solutions – Overview 13 Figure 2 : Solar Impulse Foundation Organigram - Accountability and Major Decisions 16 Figure 3 : World Alliance for Efficient Solutions – Solutions & SDGs 20 Figure 4 : Efficient Solution Label – A Simplified Overview of the Process 28 Figure 5 : Professional & Organizational Background 32 5 LIST OF TABLES Table 1 : Solar Impulse Foundation – Departments 15 Table 2 : Main Characteristics of the Efficient Solution Label 24 Table 3 : Eligibility Scope for the Efficient Solution Label – Maturity 26 Table 4 : Expert Coordinator Assistant – Given Tasks 33 Table 5 : Expert Clean-up Campaign 37 ACRONYMS B2B: Business-to-Business B2C: Business-to-Consumer CAN: Climate Action Network CFO: Chief Financial Officer COP: Conference of the Parties EIC: European Innovation Council ELIS: Environmental Labelling and Information Schemes EPFL: École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne EVGPs: Employee Volunteering and Giving Programs ICCT: International Committee of Clean Technologies IGO: Intergovernmental Organization ISO: International Organization for Standardization IUCN: International Union for Conservation of Nature KPIs: Key Performance Indicators LCA: Life-Cycle Assessment NGO: Non-Governmental Organization OECD: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development SAF: Solution Assessment Form SDGs: Sustainable Development Goals SIF: Solar Impulse Foundation SME: Small and Medium Enterprise SOGC: Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce SSF: Solution Submission Form UN: United Nations WAES: World Alliance for Efficient Solutions 7 ABSTRACT In the many processes surrounding environmental governance, many non-governmental organizations have emerged as advocates, creating spaces for action, negotiation of specific objectives and definition of standards. In this context, the Solar Impulse Foundation (SIF) plays an important role. In 2017, this organization created an association called the World Alliance for Efficient Solutions (WAES) and established a standard-setting body that re- sulted in the development of the Efficient Solution Label: an environmental label with eco- nomic performance. Based on his professional experience as an intern (and employee), the author analyses how the SIF moved from a solar panel airplane project to the “1000 Solutions Portfolio” mis- sion. A deeper understanding of the Foundation, the stakeholders involved, and the Effi- cient Solution labelling scheme allows the reader to know more about the experts evaluating the solutions in the selection process as well as about their decision to contribute as volun- teers. Motivated by corporate employee volunteering programs, Bertrand’s adventure and inspirational speeches or the WAES networking opportunities, highly skilled professionals have become the brains behind the Foundation’s labelling scheme, helping to select the thousand clean and profitable solutions that the Foundation is looking into presenting to decision-makers next year. The methodology used in this paper is based on a series of in- terviews with SIF employees. For the conceptual and theoretical analysis, this paper relies on a targeted literature review of relevant books and peer-reviewed articles published on standards, labelling schemes and organization theories. 9 INTRODUCTION Since the 1970s, social actors (NGOs, industry and government) have started to adopt var- ious labelling schemes for products and services that are claimed to be preferable from a sustainability point of view (Bratt et al., 2011). Several decades later, these schemes have evolved and spread worldwide, using more complex sets of environmental, social and eco- nomic criteria and being applicable to a larger scope of products and services. An example of a recently created labelling scheme is the one behind the Solar Impulse Efficient Solution Label. This paper considers labelling schemes as forms of governance. At the global level, envi- ronmental governance has become a process that involves public, private and civil society organizations that together create spaces for action, cooperation and exchange in various areas of the globe. More specifically, it is a dynamic of formal and informal processes that allow the determination and negotiation of specific objectives, the definition of standards and the resolution of disputes between different voices to face challenges at the local, sub- national and national levels (COOLEY et al. 2014). In this context, many non-governmen- tal organizations have emerged as advocates for environmental causes, such as the Solar Impulse Foundation (SIF)1. Given that the SIF is an example of a civil society organization that plays a role in this dynamic of processes that allow the definition of standards, an analysis of this organization seems to be relevant and therefore is the purpose of this paper. Based on his professional experience2 at the Foundation, the author conducts an exploratory research, seeking to un- derstand certain phenomena observed within the organization. In this sense, this paper is an attempt to address a few questions: a) What is this organization and how it works? b) What is the Efficient Solution Label? c) Who are the experts whose evaluation is determi- nant for the labelling scheme? d) Why do they volunteer to this organization’s project? These last two questions are deeply related to the role the author played as an employee of the SIF and therefore will have a longer (and more detailed) section dedicated in this paper. In order to answer the questions above, it is necessary to understand the context in which such organization emerged, its mission, its principles, its people, and, more importantly, its modus operandi. Firstly, this paper introduces the Solar Impulse Foundation – trying to un- derstand how it moved from a solar panel airplane project to the “1000 Solutions Portfolio” mission. Secondly, a deeper analysis is made on the association called the World Alliance for Efficient Solutions (WAES)3 and the stakeholders involved in it. Thirdly, the paper dis- cusses the organization’s labelling scheme. Finally, a separated section is dedicated to ● 1 For the sake of avoiding repetition, the acronym ‘SIF’ or the term ‘Foundation’ will be both used in refer- ence to the Solar Impulse Foundation in this paper. 2 This refers to a total period of 14 months, comprising a 6-month internship (September 2019 to February 2020) and 8 months under an Indefinite Duration Contract, signed in mid-January. By the end of his intern- ship, the author was promoted to Project Coordinator, Expert Community and Programme (Operations Team) and he remains working at the Foundation, in the same department, to this date. 3 The WAES is a non-profit association pursuant to articles 60 et seq. of the Swiss Civil Code governed by thesis articles of association (the "Articles of Association"). These articles are dedicated to associations with a political, scientific, social or other non-commercial purpose. For further information, please consult The Federal Assembly of the Swiss Confederation (1907). present the Solar Impulse Expert Community and to analyze the motivation of such pro- fessionals to contribute to the Foundation’s work as volunteers. In terms of the methodology used in this paper, most of the information provided here come from the organization’s private datasets, official media statements, formal interviews4 and personal communication with eight key SIF employees – including senior managers, project coordinators and the chief financial officer (CFO). For the conceptual and theoret- ical analysis, this paper relies on a targeted literature review of relevant books and peer- reviewed articles published on standards, labelling schemes and organization theories. Fur- thermore, this paper uses the definitions from the OECD reports on Environmental La- belling and Information Schemes (ELIS) and the ISO Standard N° 14024:2018 as an at- tempt to find a suitable categorization to the Efficient Solution Label. ● 4 Unfortunately, only the Heads of Operations (E. van der Lande); Finance & Administration (P. Rathle); and Partners & Corporate Affairs (J. Derain) were interviewed for this paper. The
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