Last night, Tuesday, was the opening plenary session and welcome for the Clinton Global Initiative fifth annual meeting. There were a thousand members of the press wedged into the basement of the New York Sheraton hotel, and a thousand special guests upstairs in the Metropolitan Ballroom… and at least a thousand more security and secret service. After metal detectors and wands and pat downs, I was finally admitted to the bowels of the building. The technology is impressive with several WiFi channels and the conference even has it’s own closed messaging system, so Barbra Streisand can tell Brad Pitt his haircut looks great and it’ll stay between them.
The Clinton Global Initiative is an annual gathering of Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) and charitable orgs, business leaders, and world leaders who gather to make specific commitments to projects to better the world. This was the birthplace, in past years, of projects like Matt Damon’s water program (water.org, expanding this year to Haiti), the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Initiative, and so many more. In the five years since beginning, there have been 1,400 commitments made (participants are required to make commitments to existing projects or commit to creating new projects), valued at $46 billion dollars, and impacting the lives of 200 million people in 150 countries. This year’s meeting will give birth to 30 more of these programs.
Much more after the jump: Continue reading "Clinton Global Initiative-Day One" »
In a further effort to keep New York businesses thinking about how to reduce their impact on the environment and become more sustainable, The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has launched a new program that will certify and classify lodgings by how green they are. Hotels must demonstrate that they reduce waste, conserve water and resources, and prevent pollution. The Audubon GreenLeaf program will certify a hotel and then award them with 1-5 green leaves. So far three hotels have been certified green in New York City - the Grand Hyatt, the Beekman Tower Hotel, and the Westin in Times Square. [
