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?
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.”
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.
WALKING THE TALK -
To capture the top trends of 2021, Porter Novelli reviewed and analyzed a year’s worth of Purpose-driven and stakeholder news, activities, campaigns and announcements to deliver the latest in stakeholder intelligence. Here are our 10 need-to-know trends for today and tomorrow.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
‘The New Purpose Governance Framework’ is the first comprehensive set of purpose-governance guidelines in the world, which charts the path for boards to up their game in approving and governing their organization’s purpose.
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.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
Building a circular economy to deal with our e-waste challenges means embracing a new level of industry-wide transparency.
LEADERSHIP -
In his new book, “Lead With We,” Simon Mainwaring urges business leaders to adopt a ‘first-responder’ mindset — and provides a blueprint for a proactive, ‘prepare for anything’ approach that enables them to lead with purpose in an increasingly challenged world.
LEADERSHIP -
As a fellow leader in this sustainability movement, how might you shift to a more regenerative approach? Here, Forum for the Future’s Samantha Veide explores what the concept means for business and shares five principles for regenerative leadership.
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.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Consumers are more and more inclined to buy from brands that align with their beliefs and values; and anti-Black Friday is an important indicator of the
growing chasm between purpose-driven brands and those still banking on business-as-usual approaches.
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.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Brands have a powerful voice and field of influence; by leading by example on digital packaging innovation, they can not only reduce their impact on the environment, but be heroes of change and inspire others to take positive action, as well.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Brightworks’ materials scoring methodology distills existing product sustainability standards and attributes into holistic, comparable, numerical scores — making it easier for manufacturers, the design industry and design
clients to create and select more sustainable materials.
WALKING THE TALK -
By disclosing our Low-Carbon Transition Plan, we encourage investors and other stakeholders to evaluate whether our company is on the right path, give us feedback, and have an open dialogue with us. I am confident our actions will speak louder than our words.