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This research paper analyzes the transition of the US-led African Crisis Response Force (ACRF) into the African Crisis Response Initiative (ACRI) in 1997. It examines the ACRI's focus on long-term capacity-building through military training for African battalions to enhance peacekeeping interoperability, while critiquing the initiative's lack of coordination with the OAU and UN, its reliance on US military doctrine, and the absence of a clear mechanism for deploying the trained forces.

This document records the decisions made during the Fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP) of the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI), held on June 11-12, 1997. The meeting focused on administrative approvals, budget requests, the adoption of a science agenda, and the election of Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) members.

This report summarizes a May 1997 search conference convened by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), and the North-South Institute (NSI). The conference aimed to implement recommendations from the November 1996 'Connecting with the World' report, advocating for the integration of knowledge and information and communication technologies (ICTs) into Canadian foreign policy to enhance international development and Canada's transition to a knowledge-based economy.

This 1997 draft report by the International Institute for Sustainable Development and the University of Toronto examines the vulnerability of agriculture in the Canadian Prairies to climate change. It analyzes historical droughts, projects future agroclimatic shifts, and discusses the economic and policy adaptations required to maintain sustainability and global competitiveness.

This research paper by the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) proposes the 'hypercar'—an ultralight, low-drag, hybrid-electric vehicle platform—as a means to accelerate the adoption of proton-exchange-membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). By drastically reducing the energy required for propulsion, the hypercar platform mitigates the traditional challenges of hydrogen storage and fuel-cell cost, potentially allowing for the commercialization of hydrogen-powered transport years earlier than conventional vehicle designs would permit.

This research paper describes the 'hypercar' concept—an ultralight, hybrid-electric vehicle designed using a system-level optimization approach to minimize lifecycle environmental impacts without sacrificing consumer-valued features like performance and price.

This 1997 case study by the World Resources Institute examines the history and strategic evolution of the Weyerhaeuser Company, focusing on its transition from a traditional timber harvester to a leader in High Yield Forestry (HYF) and sustainable forest stewardship.

This case study describes the business model of Distributor Inc., a major independent chemical distributor in the United States, and provides context on the environmental impact of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), specifically freon, which the company distributed.

This case study examines the impact of the federal Fluorocarbon Tax on Distributor Inc., a large independent chemical distributor in the United States. The document details how the tax on chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), intended to protect the stratospheric ozone layer, created accounting challenges and strained customer relationships as costs were passed through the supply chain.

This document is an annotated bibliography prepared for a 1996 conference in Beijing and the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development. It summarizes various reports, articles, and books concerning the ISO 14000 series of environmental management standards and their implications for business strategy, international trade, and regulatory shifts.

This 1996 report by the International Institute for Sustainable Development analyzes the development and implications of China's national ecolabelling program. It details the program's structure, its role in reducing domestic environmental stress, and the potential for environmental labels to act as trade barriers for developing countries. The document evaluates the impact of foreign ecolabelling on Chinese exports—specifically in the textile and refrigerator sectors—and provides recommendations for strengthening China's program through increased transparency, the adoption of life-cycle analysis, and international cooperation to achieve mutual recognition of standards.

This 1996 research paper examines the impact of 'hypercars'—ultralight vehicles using advanced composites and hybrid-electric drivesystems—on the recycling industry. While these vehicles offer significant fuel efficiency, emissions reductions, and manufacturing cost advantages, they threaten the economic viability of current recycling systems that rely on steel recovery. The authors propose a shift toward advanced recycling technologies like solvolysis and low-temperature catalytic pyrolysis to recover high-value carbon fibers and resins, suggesting that clean-sheet design for disassembly could ultimately increase overall automotive recyclability.

This 1996 report by the Rocky Mountain Institute uses scenario planning to explore four possible futures for U.S. municipal water systems in 2010. By crossing two critical uncertainties—the federal government's regulatory role and the availability of financial capital—the report outlines scenarios ranging from a highly regulated but underfunded 'Mandate' to a privatized, market-driven 'Off to Market' model. It emphasizes the severe risk of deferred infrastructure maintenance and the tension between increasing environmental standards and the public's reluctance to fund them through taxes or rate increases.

This case study describes the founding and early operational challenges of Deja, Inc., an environmental footwear company established by Julie Lewis. The company aimed to create a sustainable business model by producing shoes from recycled materials, such as pre-consumer disposable diaper waste and plastic bottles, while targeting environmentally conscious consumers in the casual footwear market.

This case study describes a fictitious company, MultiPaint, Inc. (MPI), which faces a crisis when toxic contamination is discovered at its idle downtown manufacturing site. Despite a recent marketing campaign emphasizing environmental safety, the company must navigate legal, financial, and public relations challenges while evaluating five distinct options for the contaminated property.

This teaching note describes a case study on how Fred Schoeneborn, a coordinator at Mobil Corporation, successfully implemented the Green Lights lighting retrofit initiative across a large organization despite lacking direct authority over facilities managers.

RMI provides comments to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) regarding its March 1995 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) on open-access transmission. The document argues for symmetrical economic rewards for demand-side resources and warns that rapid technological advances in distributed generation could render central thermal power plants and the traditional utility model obsolete.

The report 'REINVENTING THE WHEELS' proposes the 'Hypercar'—an ultralight hybrid-electric vehicle—as a way to increase fuel efficiency tenfold compared to 1990s standards. The authors argue that combining advanced composite materials to reduce weight and aerodynamic drag with a hybrid-electric drive to recover braking energy can create vehicles that are safer, cleaner, and cheaper to manufacture than traditional steel cars. The document advocates for a shift in industrial strategy and the use of 'feebates' to accelerate the transition away from the 'Iron Age' of automotive manufacturing.

This 1994 case study by the World Resources Institute examines AT&T's transition toward proactive environmental and safety management, focusing on the application of Total Quality Management (TQM) to pollution prevention. It details the company's corporate goals to phase out ozone-depleting substances and reduce toxic emissions, specifically highlighting a project at the Columbus Works facility in Ohio to eliminate 1,1,1 trichloroethane (TCA) through process redesign and chemical substitution.

This educational case study describes a simulated dialogue session regarding the environmental impact of chlorine bleaching in the pulp and paper industry during the 1990s, focusing on the conflict between industry costs and environmental health concerns over dioxin.