Marc Babin believes society will start demanding businesses to become more energy- efficient – and his company is at the forefront.

Babin, director of corporate portfolio management for the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank Group, delivered two lectures Wednesday at the Whitman School of Management, one of which he dedicated to this very issue.

‘Every activity of human endeavor makes some carbon footprint,’ he said, describing the priority IFC puts on environmental responsibility. ‘So we are promoting good environmental behavior, and it’s time to look at ourselves.’

The Kiebach Center for International Business Studies hosted the lecture, which Pierre Yourougou, associate director of the Kiebach Center, organized.

‘What IFC is doing is to come up with a policy of investment strategy that will take into account the environment,’ Yourougou said. ‘The World Bank is leading this field of innovation.’

‘IFC Portfolio and Carbon Footprint’ was the name of Babin’s first lecture, during which he explained the process IFC has developed to investigate the organization’s entire carbon footprint and determine how best to decrease it.

They are focusing on three scopes, Babin said. The first is fuel burned in IFC offices. The second is electricity or heating used by its offices. Scope three concerns the carbon emissions associated with the companies in which it invests.

When examining the IFC’s investments into a larger company, it is difficult to determine what portion of the larger carbon footprint should fall on its shoulders, he said.

He explained that environmental responsibility will be a vital part of running a business in the future.

Babin’s lecture often had a light tone, as he joked occasionally about some unwieldy acronyms.

‘If you had asked me six months ago what WBCSD (World Business Council for Sustainable Development) meant,’ he said, shaking his head.

Later in the day, Babin spoke to the new and emerging markets class about investing in developing markets. More successful businesses in these countries help provide jobs, he said.

‘Promoting the development of the private sector in developing countries helps reduce poverty,’ he said.

This is one of the main goals of IFC and one of the areas Yourougou anticipated Babin discussing.

‘He has expertise on how to manage a portfolio considered very risky,’ Yourougou said.

One of the reasons Babin gave for the World Bank’s success was the variety in its portfolio. They have such a large amount of investments that the risk is minimized, he said. There are currently 179 member countries.

‘I’m trying to make people see how emerging markets perform and invest,’ Babin said. ‘These are the markets of the future.’

Yourougou said he was looking forward to students getting a chance to learn from a representative of the World Bank.

‘I was surprised that several students hadn’t heard of the World Bank because it is one of the main institutions financing the world,’ he said. ‘The World Bank is the lending organization present in every country in the world.’

esmeyers@syr.edu

Published on March 19, 2008 at 12:00 pm