LEADERSHIP -
Business and political leaders convened in London on June 28 and 29 for the second annual Business & Climate Summit, where they called for the ratification of the Paris Climate Agreement without further delay, as well as more collaboration between businesses and governments in order to achieve global policy frameworks conducive to long-term, climate-resilient, low carbon investments.
PRESS RELEASE -
General Motors has announced plans to invest $10m (£6.96m) in a Canadian plant as part of an effort to boost driverless technology and cold weather testing. GM will also hire 1,000 new workers in Ontario to focus on research for connected and driverless cars.
Canada, and particularly Ontario, has been promoting its car-making sector as it attempts to compete with Mexico. Canada has been fighting to keep carmakers in the country. Many have been lured to Mexico, where production is cheaper and the cars have the same tariff free access to the US market.Ontario's Premier called the investment a "vote of confidence".
PRESS RELEASE -
Integrating purpose through a common brand promise and aligning sustainability strategy with internal culture and values are key drivers of corporate leadership according to the findings of the just-released 2016 Sustainability Leaders Survey by GlobeScan and SustainAbility in partnership with Sustainable Brands.
The Sustainability Leaders Survey tracks expert opinions on the evolution of the sustainability agenda for two decades, along with views on the leaders and institutions most responsible for driving it forward. This is the first edition of the survey since the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on climate change in late 2015.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
NGO Rainforest Action Network (RAN) claims it has found many Japanese companies are either “systematically misreporting compliance” under Japan’s Corporate Governance Code, or have a “fundamental lack of understanding as to what constitutes meaningful sustainability reporting and stakeholder engagement.”
LEADERSHIP -
In the wake of the signing of the historic global climate agreement on Earth Day, more than a half-dozen leading food and beverage companies converged on Capitol Hill last week to press U.S. House lawmakers for federal action on climate change.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
Leading seafood brands, major UK retail chains and some of the world’s largest fishing companies have struck a groundbreaking deal to protect a key Arctic region from industrial fishing for cod.
WASTE NOT -
Award-winning chefs from across the country, including ‘Top Chef’ head judge Tom Colicchio, gathered in Washington, D.C. on May 25 to advocate for food waste reduction in the American food system. In hopes of educating lawmakers on the severity of the issue, the group met with 22 Senate and House offices in tandem with a first-of-its-kind House Agriculture Full Committee hearing assessing food waste from farm to table.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
According to the USDA, consumer demand for organic foods has grown by double-digits every year since the 1990s — but organic acreage has not kept up. Today, only about one percent of US farmland is organic and farmers looking to transition to organic face real barriers, including shouldering financial uncertainty during the three year transition period required to be eligible for USDA Organic certification.
STAKEHOLDER TRENDS AND INSIGHTS -
The trade association for the United Kingdom’s resource and waste management sector, the Environmental Services Association (ESA), recently released a report which celebrates the industry’s achievements – and urges the government to ensure “recycling and diversion rates do not go backwards.” The group provided four recommendations which it believes will create a more resilient waste collection system and aid the push towards a circular economy.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
2016 is the centennial of the National Park Service (NPS), and in February the agency got a present from the biggest tech company in the world – or, more accurately, the world got a present from Google and the NPS: On February 11th, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell hosted an event at the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site to announce a Public-Private Partnership between Google and the NPS.
CLEANTECH -
This Friday, world leaders will convene to sign the Paris Climate Agreement. The international regulatory environment and national policies to curb emissions are reshaping global markets. Decarbonization could define the 21st century economy. But what do these changes mean for businesses?
SUPPLY CHAIN -
I was fortunate enough to visit Manila in the Philippines recently for an interesting summit that was held by the Asian Development Bank and supported by CSR Asia. The event brought together a diverse group of participants from government, investment organizations, and people who work on the ground helping facilitate Inclusive Business (IB). IB can be seen as a variant of social entrepreneurship where large firms work to reduce the risk around partnerships with bottom of the pyramid entrepreneurs by treating them as part of the company that they serve.
STAKEHOLDER TRENDS AND INSIGHTS -
The U.S. Senate might be waiting to make a decision regarding the labeling of genetically modified organism (GMO) ingredients, but Big Food companies are not. This week, Mars, Incorporated, ConAgra Foods, and The Kellogg Co. jumped on the bandwagon with pledges to label their products for GMOs nationwide.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
In a surprise announcement on March 16, the UK government unveiled a tax on sugary drinks amidst its budgetary plans. Companies have 2 years to reformulate their products, but the director general of the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) said they were “extremely disappointed” by the decision and called it “a piece of political theatre.” Soft drink makers, including Coca-Cola, are reportedly considering suing the government to force the tax to be scrapped.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
On Friday, General Mills announced that it will “soon” start labeling its products that contain genetically modified organism (GMO) ingredients nationwide. With the rationale that it is impractical to label its products for just one state, the company plans to disclose GMO ingredients according to the law set to go into effect in Vermont on July 1.
PRESS RELEASE -
Ford Motor Company will provide a briefing at a forum of the G7 Alliance on Resource Efficiency in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, highlighting its Partnership for A Cleaner Environment. PACE is a program that aims to help the company’s suppliers minimize their impact on the environment by sharing details of Ford’s best practices for water, energy and carbon dioxide reduction.
STAKEHOLDER TRENDS AND INSIGHTS -
On March 7 and 8, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation Corporate Citizenship Center and the United Nations Office for Partnerships hosted the 6th Annual International Women’s Day Forum.
The event convened public and private sector leaders to discuss gender parity as a significant economic opportunity with global economic effect. Suzanne Clark, EVP at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, opened the conference and set the tone by stating that $28 trillion would be added to the GDP by 2025 if gender equality existed.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
‘Forced labour affects roughly 21 million people around the globe, of whom 68% are exploited for private economic gain.’
These chastening figures, produced by the International Labour Organisation, are spurring governments around the world to bring in tough new measures to deal with this $150 billion industry.
PRESS RELEASE -
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Center for Corporate Climate Leadership recognized Kimberly-Clark with one of only 17 Climate Leadership Awards given nationwide for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The awards acknowledge the voluntary work organizations do to manage and reduce greenhouse gas emissions throughout the supply chain.
Kimberly-Clark received the Excellence in Greenhouse Gas Management "Goal Achievement Award" for reporting and verifying organization-wide greenhouse gas inventories and achieving publicly-set aggressive greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction goals.
WASTE NOT -
The statistics on food waste — a top-of-mind issue governments, businesses and NGOs across the globe — are staggering: Every year, U.S. consumers, businesses, and farms spend $218 billion growing, processing, transporting, and disposing food that is never eaten. As a result, up to 52 million tons of food is sent to landfills annually, plus an additional estimated 10 million tons get discarded or go unharvested on farms. Meanwhile, 1 in 7 Americans is food insecure without reliable access to sufficient affordable, nutritious food.