CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
From packaging to copy paper and tissue, global paper consumption is steadily increasing. Reducing paper’s impacts on the planet is critical, but only what’s measured is managed. Previous tools to help quantify paper’s environmental performance have had limited data quality, scope and accessibility.
PRESS RELEASE -
The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) today reinstated Nestlé S.A.’s membership following the submission of its time-bound action plan to achieve 100% RSPO certified sustainable palm oil by 2023.
Effective Monday, July 16, 2018, Nestlé's certificates and membership status will be reinstated.
RSPO and Nestlé share the vision of transforming the palm oil industry for a sustainable future. They also believe that achieving this requires the entire industry to work towards greater transparency, inclusiveness, direct supply chain engagement and capacity building throughout the supply chain.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
Sugar has been a hot topic the past few years due to artificial and natural sweeteners entering the market and growing concerns about obesity and children’s health. The U.S.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
After a full decade of consultation among large numbers of stakeholders from the mining industry, organized labor, nonprofits, impacted communities and businesses — a global Standard for Responsible Mining was released today.
WALKING THE TALK -
Interface has become the first global flooring manufacturer to declare that all of its products — including all carpet tile and luxury vinyl tile (LVT) – are carbon neutral across the entire product lifecycle. The company is now offering its Carbon Neutral Floors™ program as standard to every customer, at no extra cost, to help them meet their own sustainability goals while also allowing them to reduce the emissions impact of their projects or spaces.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
Today, along with the release of its 2017 Shared Goodness Corporate Social Responsibility report, The Hershey Company unveiled Shared Goodness Promise, a new CSR strategy aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and centered around investments, collaborative programs and sustainable business practices aimed at making a positive difference in peoples’ lives.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
Half of the soil on our U.S. farmland is gone. Conventional agricultural practices and conversion of land to cropland caused this devastating loss. The good news is that the rate of soil erosion has declined, with an even brighter path ahead.
CLEANTECH -
Hundreds of students from Los Angeles STEM programs will participate in one of the largest student-driven programs ever launched to protect the world’s rainforests. Rainforest Connection’s “Planet Guardians” program will guide middle schoolers in building solar-powered listening devices using old smartphones. These “Guardian” devices will be installed high in the trees of fragile rainforests to capture sounds of illegal logging and alerting forest rangers in real time.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Imagine a drone, hovering high above your home. A package is released from its clutches and gently drifts to the ground, aided by a parachute. And just like that, the package you ordered only 30 minutes ago is delivered to your yard. The scenario sounds like something from a science fiction movie, but recently, e-commerce giant Amazon was granted a U.S. patent for this innovation.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
Growing consumer demand for apparel and consumer products made in socially and environmentally responsible ways continues to drive companies away from a business-as-usual model. But corporate behavior isn’t the only thing being influenced by shifting consumer attitudes — the concept of the ideal partner is also being shaped by sustainability.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
Heineken has unveiled a new sustainability strategy that will see the brewer increase renewable energy production, set science-based targets across distribution, cooling and packaging, and pilot an internal carbon pricing scheme.
BUSINESS CASE -
Landscape-scale restoration has the power to create a 36:1 social return on investment, according to two new reports from nonprofit Restore the Earth Foundation and Social Value International (SVI).
FINANCE & INVESTMENT -
A new report has found that money actually does grow on trees. Businesses are making money from planting trees and growing sales as rapidly as 10 times per year.
COLLABORATION -
It’s never been more important to bring the poaching and wildlife conservation story to life, while also bringing together local and international stakeholders to build sustainable solutions to what has become a global issue.
Recent developments, such as the US lifting bans on certain elephant trophy imports and changes to the Mugabe government in Zimbabwe, add to the intrigue of what is already a fascinating place.
FINANCE & INVESTMENT -
Factoring the value of nature into governance and corporate decision-making is not an easy task, but governments and businesses are starting to recognize the importance of natural capital accounting. According to the Natural Capital Coalition, 68 countries are looking to produce natural capital accounts, while 10 percent of WBCSD member companies mention the Natural Capital Protocol framework in their sustainability reporting.
NEW METRICS -
The Sustainability Consortium (TSC) and the Cool Farm Alliance (CFA) — a nonprofit industry platform and creator of the Cool Farm Tool sustainable agriculture calculator — have signed a memorandum of understanding to improve alignment and reporting of farm-level metrics data. Through the partnership, TSC aims to make the process of reporting on farm-level metrics easier for farmers and food manufacturers.
WALKING THE TALK -
I recently moderated an enlightening panel discussion — between Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, Bay Area Council President and CEO Jim Wunderman, San Francisco Travel President & CEO Joe D’Alessandro, and Oakland Zoo President & CEO Dr. Joel Parrott — on why the new California Trail development, an $80 million expansion project at the Oakland Zoo, matters to the people who live, play, work and visit the Bay Area.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Further establishing itself as a strong proponent of increasing the supply of sustainable cotton, denim brand Wrangler has joined Field to Market: The Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture as an associate member. The multi-stakeholder initiative is working to unite the agricultural supply chain in defining, measuring and advancing the sustainability of food, fiber and fuel production in the United States.
PRESS RELEASE -
We are excited to announce that The “Land Use Change Guidance: Accounting for GHG Emissions in the Supply Chain” project will soon enter a pilot phase. The Guidance is the fruit of a pre-competitive consortium, convened by Quantis, of over 40 private companies, governments, NGOs and experts to provide a reference document to guide accurate and reliable accounting for climate change impacts of land across supply chains.
“{The Guidance} is a ground-breaking effort that will result in widely recognized and scientifically robust methodology,” according to Nicko Debenham, VP Global Cocoa Sustainability & MD Biolands for Barry Callebaut.
NEW METRICS -
Two years after the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, companies are finally beginning to align their sustainability strategies with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs are increasingly being used to inform decision making and guide strategy, which is helping drive innovation and create new value along the value chain.