ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
Just weeks after 12 C40 mayors signed the C40 Fossil-Fuel-Free Streets Declaration in an effort to curb air pollution and improve the quality of life for urban dwellers while tackling climate change, the mayors of 25 pioneering cities have pledged to develop and begin implementing more ambitious climate action plans by 2020 to deliver emissions-neutral and climate-resilient cities by 2050.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Earthshine, a consultancy and think tank focused on business and economic transformation, and remanufacturing company Norsk Ombruk have released a new business case white paper demonstrating how remanufacturing within a circular economy can deliver a wide range of benefits for society, environment and economy.
NEW METRICS -
Interdependent business strategies are better poised to compete in future markets than those that boast one-dimensional strategies, according to new Accenture research.
PRESS RELEASE -
Yes, science matters. It sure is refreshing and motivating to see the herds of public and private leaders standing up for science. These leaders are the ones that are getting the data necessary to make good decisions for their business, brands and stakeholders as well as for the global citizen. These are the forward-thinking leaders who are building resilience. These are the leaders that are creating a sustainability revolution.
PRESS RELEASE -
For companies, direct water costs generally represent a marginal expense which can sideline any decisions to invest in better water resource management. If we compare the risks related to water and energy, an investment to improve energy efficiency would allow for a quick and significant return on investment while reducing environmental impacts; however, investing in better water management, generally leads to higher OPEX without a direct financial benefit.
PRESS RELEASE -
DETROIT — General Motors earned the 2017 EPA ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year — Sustained Excellence award for continued leadership in protecting the environment through superior energy efficiency. GM’s commitment to reducing energy intensity saved $73 million in energy costs last year and avoided 388,000 metric tons of carbon emissions, equivalent to the electricity use of 57,000 U.S. homes.
WASTE NOT -
As has been much discussed here at Sustainable Brands, roughly a third of all food produced in the world is never eaten, which has tremendous economic, social and environmental consequences.
LEADERSHIP -
Boards are the last great sustainability frontier. They set the sustainability tone at the top, which then cascades throughout the company.
It is essential for boards of directors to be engaged in the sustainability agenda. They define the long-term view, anticipating and addressing risks from social and environmental impacts. Progressive boards recruit and incentivize leaders to build sustainability into the company’s business model and value chains. And now that the sustainability ROI has been proven, sustainability has become part of the board’s fiduciary responsibility.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
According to a new Pure Strategies study, several billion was earned in 2015 from the sustainability efforts of 153 survey respondents, signaling a new way of defining sources of business value. Taking inspiration from sustainability’s positive performance, companies should position their programs to generate the greatest business benefits and to measure and celebrate the gains.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
Yesterday, the European Commission (EC) announced it will begin phasing out coal subsidies and reduce carbon emissions by 40 percent by 2030 under a new clean energy package.
PRESS RELEASE -
SAN FRANCISCO, November 14, 2016 – Members of the Sustainable Brands® community gather in Boston, MA to kick off the 6th annual New Metrics conference. Nearly 300 global senior executives across diverse sectors are convening today through Nov 16th to unveil cutting-edge corporate practices that measure and quantify environmental and social impacts and tie them to financial and business value. Conversations are focusing on Corporate Strategy & Operations, Customer Insights & Engagement, Investor Trends & Relations, as well as Supply Chain Impact & Management.
PRESS RELEASE -
DETROIT – General Motors plans to generate or source all electrical power for its 350 operations in 59 countries with 100 percent renewable energy — such as wind, sun and landfill gas — by 2050.
“Establishing a 100 percent renewable energy goal helps us better serve society by reducing environmental impact,” said GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra. “This pursuit of renewable energy benefits our customers and communities through cleaner air while strengthening our business through lower and more stable energy costs.”
WASTE NOT -
One of the most significant challenges that manufacturers and major brands face today is maintaining high sustainability standards across their entire supply and production chain. It’s no new idea that consumer brands that have not embraced sustainability and CSR initiatives are at risk on many fronts, but integrating more environmentally sound and socially responsible processes requires sweeping infrastructure changes that many businesses may have difficulty implementing and sustaining.
STAKEHOLDER TRENDS AND INSIGHTS -
Consumers’ perspectives on corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives have received more research attention than the perspectives of manufacturers and retailers, and yet shopper expectations may be a rather minor driver of such initiatives. According to a new study from communications firm Ketchum in partnership with Carol Cone On Purpose (CCOP) consumer demand is actually the sixth- or seventh-ranked driver out of eight main reasons manufacturers and retailers engage in CSR initiatives, respectively.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
The first time I watched virtual reality, I knew that it was going to become an incredibly powerful medium for doing good. At Matter Unlimited, we're in the business of doing good by amplifying the power of brands and organizations to drive positive change in the world. Immediately I recognized the opportunity for us to tell stories in VR that bring people closer to understanding a wide array of social issues.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
When it comes to developing sustainability programs, most brands begin by adding: by introducing “green” practices to their workplace or a recycling component to their manufacturing process. But to truly have impact, sustainability practitioners should create purpose that is built-in, not bolted-on, across both business and brand strategy.
How do we shift from bolting on sustainability to building it into the business? And what inspires this shift in the first place? To truly build in sustainability, we must look at the back-end of product creation: the supply chain.
PRESS RELEASE -
Earth Day marks the official signing of the Paris Climate Agreement at the United Nations (U.N.) New York headquarters. The Paris deal paves the way for a new era of clean energy growth, providing crucial momentum for the push toward net zero emissions — a goal that requires the near-ubiquitous use of renewables.
The good news: There’s been ample progress to that end. And it appears to be the tipping point for widespread adoption.
Renewable energy has spread across the globe
NEW METRICS -
While quantifying and valuing the true costs and benefits of environmental impacts has matured, doing the same for social impacts remains elusive.
NEW METRICS -
The main-stage program of New Metrics ’15 kicked off Wednesday with a simple, yet powerful reminder: This set of conversations is all about upside potential, smarter risk management and long-term resilience. Our focus this week — New Metrics — are metrics that allow business leaders to quantify previously ignored ESG impacts, or capture entirely new forms of business value based on new opportunities along those dimensions.
NEW METRICS -
In a whitepaper released this summer, JetBlue explores how building wider purpose into brands yields competitive advantage. “The Matter with Metrics: Measuring the ROI of Sustainability” presents a four-pronged framework to creating and measuring authentic sustainability programs and consumer messaging.I spoke with Nancy Elder, VP of Communications at JetBlue and co-author of the paper, about how to bake sustainability into business models and reap its multiple financial benefits.