PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
What is 'material'? And how can a slight play on words help brands make more sustainable, healthier material choices in the built environment to reduce risk and benefit all stakeholders — from investors to employees and communities, to the planet?
SUPPLY CHAIN -
The pandemic-induced supply chain hurdles represent a reboot opportunity for companies. Here, we examine how companies can leverage modern integration technology to both improve supply chain performance and address sustainable supply-chain management practices.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
Nasdaq OneReport helps companies position themselves for current and future ESG-related work — whether regulatory or voluntary — to help align overall goals and outcomes across organizational departments and roles.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Shaw’s Tim Conway recently spoke with the Lab's director, Alison Mears, about how it is raising awareness about building material ingredients and educating the next generation of designers and architects.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
What happens when a company empowers its associates to think creatively and innovate with a social purpose? You find yourself with a potent strategic framework for solving for some of the world’s most pressing social and environmental challenges.
WALKING THE TALK -
Perhaps the takeaway of the week is that the ‘next 10 years’ of business and human rights coincide with the 2030 deadline for us to halve carbon
emissions — and that environmental rights are now very clearly seen as human rights. Companies pursuing a net-zero strategy must make human rights central, too.
WALKING THE TALK -
On day two of the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights, delegates discussed how environmental damage is being viewed as a human rights violation in a growing number of court cases around the world — and that the UN Guiding Principles may increasingly be criteria in court judgements.
WALKING THE TALK -
Many companies say they’ve reached their net-zero goals, but is it really that easy? We can make the numbers look good, at least in the short-term; or we can strive for greater impacts — towards real zero and beyond. If we don’t take this challenge seriously today, we won’t be in business in ten years’ time.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
As delegates from the UN launched the roadmap at day one of this year's Business and Human Rights Forum, full respect for human rights by business was described as a strategic — not just an operational — issue, requiring a change of corporate culture and of business models.
CLEANTECH -
During COVID, JetBlue announced several sustainability targets — including a net-zero target by 2040, as well as a set of short-and medium-term targets to help them get there. We asked Carl Otto, JetBlue’s Senior Analyst for Sustainability and ESG, how they'll do it.
FINANCE & INVESTMENT -
Disclosure and data certainly are important, but they are not sufficient to create a more equitable and sustainable world. Companies that take a narrow or
compliance-focused approach to ESG are missing the forest for the trees.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
The roadmap and momentum are there; so, the big issue now is acceleration. We have the capacity to build a better future — and right now, some leaders are driving a fundamental redefinition of value by adopting new metrics and standards.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
Two recent releases by a noted activist group put tough questions in front of one of the world’s largest financial institutions — which would be wise to pay
attention.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
Cuningham was commissioned to estimate GHG emissions for a company with $6.6B in annual sales and operations in 14 states, with 305 locations comprising more than 4M square feet. Companies’ real work begins when their GHGs are known and
they can decide how to respond to newfound knowledge about their impacts.
CLEANTECH -
Reining in energy emissions is top of mind for companies; so having more control of how, where and when energy is produced makes good business sense. Here, Shell Energy’s Matt Baker explains why microgrids are an increasingly popular solution.
WALKING THE TALK -
Wednesday was Transport Day at COP26; and promising corporate and government pledges came together from airlines, automakers and the shipping industry. But the question remains: Are we doing enough, fast enough?
FINANCE & INVESTMENT -
With so little time left, we must prepare for the colossal
climate challenges yet to come. We hope our approach to public-private blended finance will inspire other multinationals, investors and climate funds to support protective measures that ensure the climate resilience of their supply chains and the global economy.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
While it can feel overwhelming to see how much our actions impact the Earth, we still have a small window of opportunity. And by changing how we consume, store and distribute water, the water sector alone could eliminate 10% of global GHG emissions.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
Now finally legal in New York, kelp farming is an environmental engineering solution ready-made for sequestering carbon and nitrogen, improving soil health,
cleaning up waterways and creating jobs — a ‘suite of benefits’ that could make it a climate game changer.
WALKING THE TALK -
One of the most noteworthy pledges to come out of COP26 so far sees over 100 governments, responsible for 86 percent of the world’s forests, committing to end deforestation by 2030. Now, we must immediately take this lofty vision and make it a reality.