THE NEXT ECONOMY -
Consumer insights demonstrate need for brands to make good on their sustainability and human rights claims, and make it even easier for shoppers to shop their values.
WALKING THE TALK -
All net-zero commitments are not made equal. 2022 must be the year of authentic climate action — and for that to happen, net-zero strategies must rise to their full potential as a tool to combat climate change.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
The ethical chocolate maker has released three ‘Conversation Bars’ — available exclusively online and at Waitrose through January 25 — designed to provoke
discussion around systemic issues in the chocolate supply chain.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
New solution from WeSpire, Cox and South Pole dramatically improves how companies measure and reduce employee emissions in hybrid and increasingly remote work environments.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Why are so few brands and retailers partnering to communicate their sustainability attributes at the moment of truth — when shoppers are in the right mindset to buy? A new guidebook offers 10 guiding principles and many inspirational examples to help guide brands and retailers through the process.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Big Plastic (and Big Oil) have a five-decade lead and massive economies of scale that will take a little longer to match in terms of costs and simplicity. But working with the right partners and openness to shaking up the status quo is paying off for brands willing to put their
principles and profits on equal footing.
FINANCE & INVESTMENT -
In the textile industry, one area ripe for investment is making wet processing more sustainable. As with most pots of gold, it’s not without its challenges — but data indicate that the returns are well worth the effort. Investors keen to seize this nascent opportunity should consider three primary steps.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
“Sustainability is best played together. It's validating to see what we started and see it grow first across the other teams in our plant, and eventually across Lubrizol.” — Kalli Stull
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Geoship’s bioceramic, climate-resilient dome villages offer a glimpse into a new model of zero-carbon community living and a future-proof world built through regenerative architecture.
FINANCE & INVESTMENT -
Estimating an investment opportunity of $1 trillion, a new Fashion for Good-Apparel Impact Institute report breaks down the funding needed by solution category and identifies the types of funders best placed to take advantage of the opportunity and benefit from the positive returns.
COLLABORATION -
The Music Climate Pact marks a significant step in aligning the global music business around a coherent and industry-coordinated strategy — and unify existing climate initiatives.
FINANCE & INVESTMENT -
HSBC announces its thermal coal phase-out plan on the same day as a Sierra Club-Center for American Progress report calls out Wall Street’s outsized contribution to the climate crisis. Can the necessary sea change be made in time to avoid disaster?
MARKETING AND COMMS -
Public Inc’s latest social-justice outcry, in collaboration with First Peoples Group, shines light on lack of government action to address insufficient access to clean water in nearly 70 Indigenous communities across Canada.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
The UK has lost almost half its wildlife and plant species since the Industrial Revolution. The new campaign, from the Council for Sustainable Business,
specifically addresses nature-focused challenges and solutions for businesses.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
“Tony’s has done a great job of raising awareness of an important issue; and there is a real risk that the overriding message that will be left, once the dust settles, is one of a brand getting it wrong — and that could undermine all of the important messaging that Tony’s tries to share through its purpose.”
SUPPLY CHAIN -
The move comes following an investigation by Repórter Brasil and Mighty Earth that tracked deforestation-linked beef to European retail store shelves. JBS, the world’s largest beef producer, has long been on the radar of environmental NGOs and forward-looking investors due to its destructive practices.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
What has been sorely needed is an agreed-upon international framework that broadly establishes who can sell carbon credits; who can buy them and for what purpose; and what constitutes a quality carbon credit. COP26 took a major step towards such a framework.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
Many organisations have not yet connected the dots between climate-change mitigation and a circular economy — the successful shift to which could be our greatest tool. Here, we examine the climate math for circular strategies, and the role of the humble car door in radical climate action.
FROM PURPOSE TO ACTION: BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE TOGETHER -
Today, Dow considers its sustainability strategy and business strategy to be one and the same; employees understand that the two can no longer be separate. But, as Global Sustainability Director Haley Lowry explains, this didn’t happen overnight.