International Business University
Centre for Sustainable Business
Dear Current and Future Students welcome to the International Business School’s Centre for Sustainable Business! The main goal of our Centre is to support the success of your MBA programme.On this platform, you will find concrete, actionable knowledge that you can immediately apply in your business environment and your studies in sustainable business and management.
What is the IBU Centre for Sustainable Business?
The International Business University (IBU) based in Toronto is excited to commence the launch of its Center for Sustainable Business, which will foster research and knowledge-sharing on sustainable business practices. In support of the national goal to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions, the Center will empower collaboration among students, academics, experts, and business leaders. The mission of this organization is to engage students and other stakeholders through a range of research and knowledge- sharing events to build up sustainability competence.
The end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023 could not be a better example of why responsible leadership is necessary for business: the economic crisis, health issues, supply chain, and labor challenges are pervasive and have been exacerbated recently by extreme weather events. Managing a company is no longer just about competing in the market, it is a much more complex task. It’s about creating value for customers, employees, communities, and countries, but it’s also about taking a high level of responsibility. Because the companies of the future have to formulate and implement innovative sustainability strategies for the sake of today, tomorrow, and the day after. Against this background, IBU created the Center of Sustainable Business, whose main objective is to give students the interdisciplinary knowledge necessary to become successful leaders in the future.
Through collaboration and interaction with many stakeholders, the Center provides IBU students with a unique opportunity to learn from and interact with leaders in academia and business. Students will be exposed to an interdisciplinary approach to social and environmental sustainability, including topics such as environmental science, green finance, and social entrepreneurship. This will encourage them to look at business performance and change from new angles.
Why Join IBU’s MBA programme supported by the Centre for Sustainable Business?
- Study at the only non-profit, independent university in the heart of Toronto, known for its academic excellence and community involvement.
- Enjoy the learning experiences offered by Toronto, one of the most sustainable cities in the world.
- Receive up-to-date, hands-on education that will give you the skills and knowledge to succeed in today’s fast-paced business world.
- Join an international community of students with diverse backgrounds, cultures, and experiences that provide you with a unique opportunity to expand your network and global perspective.
- Learn from outstanding international faculty who bring a wealth of experience and expertise to the classroom, providing you with a world-class education.
- Benefit from IBU’s DLI-certified programme, which ensures that international students can study and work in Canada.
- Gain hands-on experience through real-world projects, working with local and global companies to develop sustainable solutions and make a positive impact on the world.
- Participate in cutting-edge research that addresses the intersection of business and sustainability, giving you a deeper understanding of the complex challenges facing the world today.
- Develop leadership skills that empower you to drive positive change in your organization and beyond.
- Receive personal attention and support from our faculty and staff who will help you achieve your academic and professional goals.
- Join a community of alumni who are making a difference in the world and who will be a valuable asset to you on your career path..
Initiatives of the Centre for Sustainable Business
IBU has joined the Inter-University Sustainable Development Research Programme (IUSDRP) – a global network of = universities focused on helping students nurture synergies of a wide range of educational organizations. Fostering international collaboration and network building, while also offering access to up-to-date materials will help students greatly expand their knowledge of sustainable development. The Centre will organize activities covering the following areas:
- Entrepreneurship and Social Enterprise
- Responsible Business and Finance
- Technological Innovation for Sustainability
- Digital Transformation for Sustainability
- Sustainability Managementn.
- ESG Investing and Reporting
- Implementation of UN Sustainable Development Goals
Why study for your MBA in Toronto?
Are you considering pursuing your MBA? Toronto is the perfect destination for anyone looking to further their education and immerse themselves in a vibrant, diverse community. Toronto is a city committed to sustainability and animal welfare, as evidenced by its top rating according to Abillion Cities of the Future 2023.
Toronto also has a thriving start-up scene focused on developing clean energy technologies and improving waste management. With the city’s commitment to sustainability and Net Zero goals, Toronto is the perfect place to start your MBA for sustainable business and make a difference in the world.
If you are interested in sustainable business management or information on IBU MBA program, please sign-up to be in touch.
RESOURCES
Below we have collected some of the resources where you can find up-to-date, reliable information on these topics.
Global Sustainability Knowledge Nexus:
Green and Sustainable Practices in Canada:
Sustainable Business Ventures in Canada:
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS BY IBU FACULTY
Although our MBA programme with a focus on Sustainable Business is primarily practice-oriented, there are some important pieces of knowledge that will help you as you participate in the programme even more successful. We encourage you to read them!
● Leal Filho, W., Ng, A.W., Sharifi, A. et al. (2022) Global tourism, climate change, and energy sustainability: assessing carbon reduction mitigating measures from the aviation industry. Sustainability Science (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-022-01207-x
● Nobanee, H., Dilshad, M.N., Abu Lamdi, O., Ballool, B., Al Dhaheri, S., AlMheiri, N., Alyammahi, A. and Alhemeiri, S.S. (2022), “Insurance for climate change and environmental risk: a bibliometric review”, International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, Vol. 14 No. 5, pp. 440-461. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCCSM-08-2021-0097
● Ng, AW. (2022) Emerging green finance hubs in Asia: regulatory initiatives for ESG investing and green bond development by the Four Tigers, Handbook of Banking and Finance in Emerging Markets, 539-552. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800880900.00039
● Ng AW, Yorke SM, Nathwani J. (2022) Enforcing Double Materiality in Global Sustainability Reporting for Developing Economies: Reflection on Ghana’s Oil Exploration and Mining Sectors. Sustainability. 14(16):9988. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14169988
● Leal Filho, W. and Wall, T. and Rui Mucova, S.A. and Nagy, G.J. and Balogun, A.-L. and Luetz, J.M., and Ng, A.W. and Kovaleva, M. and Safiul Azam, F.M. and Alves, F. and Guevara, Z. and Matandirotya, N.R. and Skouloudis, A. and Tzachor, A. and Malakar, K. and Gandhi, O. (2022) Deploying artificial intelligence for climate change adaptation. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2022.121662
● Ng, A. (2021). Green Investing and Financial Services: ESG Investing for a Sustainable World. In: The Palgrave Handbook of Global Sustainability. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38948-2_104-1
● Ng, A., Fong, B. and Man Fung Lo (2021) Dynamic knowledge management in response to the pandemic outbreak: an interinstitutional risk-based approach to sustainability, Knowledge Management Research & Practice, 19:4, 536-544, https://doi.org/10.1080/14778238.2021.1919574
● Wu, Yang Andrew, Ng, Artie W., Yu, Zichao, Huang, Jie, Meng, Ke and Dong, Z.Y., (2021), A review of evolutionary policy incentives for sustainable development of electric vehicles in China: Strategic implications, Energy Policy, 148, issue PB, number S0301421520306947. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2020.111983
● Ng, A.W. (2019). Socially Responsible Investing in Sustainable Development. In: Leal Filho, W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sustainability in Higher Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11352-0_301
● Leal Filho, W, Salvia, AL, Paço, AD, Anholon, R, Gonçalves Quelhas, OL, Rampasso, IS, Ng, A, Balogun, AL, Kondev, B and Brandli, LL (2019) A comparative study of approaches towards energy efficiency and renewable energy use at higher education institutions. Journal of Cleaner Production, 237. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.117728
● Fu, J., & Ng, A. W. (Eds.). (2020). Sustainable Energy and Green Finance for a Low-carbon Economy, Springer Nature. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-35411-4
● Ng, A.W. (2018). From sustainability accounting to a green financing system: Institutional legitimacy and market heterogeneity in a global financial centre. Journal of Cleaner Production, 195, 585-592. doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.05.250
Financial and Technological Innovation for Sustainability: Environmental, Social and Governance Performance
Artie Ng is the inaugural Dean and a Professor of the International Business University based in Toronto and was a Senior Research Fellow with the Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Energy (WISE).
Jatin Nathwani is currently a Fellow and leads the Research Cluster ‘STEM for Global Resilience’ at the Balsillie Scholl for International Affairs (BSIA), and was the founding Executive Director of Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Energy (WISE) and the inaugural Ontario Research Chair in Public Policy for Sustainable Energy (2007-2020).
An essential resource for academics, professionals, and students around the world to examine interdisciplinary issues regarding ESG
(Environmental, social and -corporate- governance).
The book assembles a wealth of case studies from various contemporary organizations that actively pursue sustainable development while seeking their next economic growth. These global cases demonstrate the salience of governance that institutes continuous advancements to enable the timely revitalization of corporate strategies, technological innovation and deployment of financial resources for sustainability transformation regardless of their stages of lifecycle. They reveal distinct financial and technological innovation approaches in Africa, Asia, Europe and North America in pursuing the shared UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Interview with Andrew Heintzman, President of InvestEco Capital Corp.
Meet Andrew Heintzman, one of the co-founders and Managing Partners of InvestEco Capital. With a wealth of experience in sustainable investing, Andrew is a sought-after board member for several corporations, including Maple Hill Creamery, Le Grand, and Mara Renewables. He is also a director of the WayWay Foundation and The Natural Step Canada, where he continues to drive innovation and positive change.
In addition to his corporate roles, Andrew is an accomplished author, having written The New Entrepreneurs: Building a Green Economy for the Future. His thought-provoking book offers insights into how to build a more sustainable future through entrepreneurship – a topic, which is very much in ourcommunity’s focus.
As a director of The Sustainability Network, he plays a key role in the organization’s capacity-building initiatives, helping to ensure that Canadian environmental not-for-profit organizations have the resources and support they need to make a positive impact.
1. Sustainability has been a hot topic in the world for decades. Many people are perhaps a little weary of it. What do you think makes it relevant today?
Many of the most serious challenges the world faces today – from climate change to biodiversity loss to food production and human health – shine a light on the importance of sustainability. I believe that businesses will evermore be required to grapple with the challenges of working within the limits of the natural environment, and how we can have a growing human population sustainably live on a very finite and limited planet.
2. Does the drive for sustainability make it more expensive to operate? Doesn’t it make the entrepreneur disinterested? What do you think are the must-haves of the sustainable business building today?
In my experience, sustainability is a very attractive vision for entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs are driven by making money, but most of them are also driven by a vision for the future world that they are trying to create. It’s where these two drives come together that I think some very exciting businesses will be built in the coming years. You can see the power of these two drives coming together in entrepreneurs like Elon Musk for example.
I think the must-haves include an understanding of climate change and the growing pressure to create a rapid transition to a lower-carbon world.
3. At IBU, we see the current economic crisis as a particularly good entry point for introducing sustainability considerations – almost regardless of location or area of operation. How do you see it?
There is a saying: don’t let a good crisis go to waste. And indeed, change happens often in times of crisis, where adaptation is urgently and rapidly required. So yes, I think the current times are good for introducing sustainability into business. And on some level, the desire to lower the costs of business is also a sustainability goal, as they are both in some ways a desire to make things more efficient and to reduce expensive inputs and outputs.
4. What do you think are the skills and knowledge that an IBU MBA student needs to have today to manage a future-proof business?
I think that it is important to have core business skills like financial literacy, marketing, strategy, etc; but I’ve always been of the view that communication is perhaps most critical and in particular the ability to write clearly. I think this is sometimes overlooked by business schools, but writing is probably the most essential skill in most business contexts in my view (I’m now looking back over my answers here to make sure I’ve not made any major grammatical errors! 😉). Beyond that, business is ultimately about people, how to work with others, and how to motivate others, and these are always useful skills for anyone entering into business.