PRESS RELEASE -
Shaw Industries Group, Inc. (Shaw), a leading floorcovering provider, has signed the United Nations Global Compact, a widely recognized set of principles focused on upholding and protecting human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption standards. Further, Shaw will implement the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact throughout its supply chain with updates to its sustainable sourcing policy and related terms and conditions for all suppliers.
NEW METRICS -
At the closing of the New Metrics '17 conference in Philadelphia last month, attendees were asked: “What ‘New Metric’ will you go back and implement in 2017/2018?” The overriding response tabulated in real time and displayed on the big screen in a word cloud (above) was “context based,” meaning Context-Based Sustainability (CBS) and its corresponding context-based metrics.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
Uncertain times are finally starting to take their toll — according to a new report from Ford, more than 60 percent of adults globally say they feel overwhelmed by the unrest, upheaval and other changes taking place around them. The mobility company’s 2018 Looking Further with Ford Trends Report examines the issues responsible for this unsettling climate — and the coping mechanisms that are emerging as a result.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
The face of the U.S.’s workforce is undergoing a vast and rapid change as an estimated 10,000 baby boomers retire each day. With nearly 4 million people calling it quits each year, this silver tsunami is creating a personnel gap that is being felt by a broad range of industries.
PRESS RELEASE -
VF Corporation, a global leader in branded lifestyle apparel, footwear and accessories, has joined the Fur Free Retailer program by partnering with the Fur Free Alliance, an international coalition of 43 animal protection organizations.
As a Fur Free Retailer, VF is reinforcing its commitment to fur free products and communicating its no fur policy, which covers its more than 20 brands, including Vans®, The North Face®, Timberland®, Wrangler®, Lee® and Napapijri®. VF released its first-ever Animal Derived Materials Policy earlier this year and announced that its brands would no longer use fur, angora or exotic leather.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
News Deeply, in partnership with Sustainable Brands, has produced a series of profiles looking at how brands are tackling some of the world’s biggest challenges. The goal is to examine trends and gather insights from a new wave of corporate citizenship — in an era when the private sector is increasingly expected to play a positive role in improving our lives and societies. This is the 15th article in the series.
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT -
We recently sat down with Helen Sahi (@HelenSahi), senior director, Global Sustainability, at Avery Dennison and long-time SB Corporate Member whose made many contributions to the SB Advisory Board, to discuss her career and what keeps her excited about sustainability.
Many of you already know Helen and that she is a woman of many talents. Read more to get her take on where sustainability has been, where it currently is, where it should be and how we can get there quickly.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
This has been a bad year for natural disasters. In fact, 2017 is tied with 2011 for the most billion-dollar disasters.[1] Without even counting Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria or the California fires, the US has sustained 218-plus weather and climate disasters since 1980, totaling more than $1.2 trillion in recovery costs.
WALKING THE TALK -
With the launch of its #OptOutside campaign in 2015, REI set a new precedent in retail, shuttering its stores on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, giving its employees a paid day off and – on a day that has come to represent consumerism at its most extreme – encouraging staff and consumers alike to forgo the shopping frenzy in favor of the great outdoors. The move epitomized the company’s ethos and kickstarted a movement to drive positive behavior change and impacts.
PRESS RELEASE -
In the largest, most robust, industry-leading and internationally-recognized research of corporate social engagement, CECP: The CEO Force for Good, in association with The Conference Board, found in their annual Giving in Numbers report that IBM is a leader in corporate social responsibility programs. CECP’s annual report gathers data from 258 of the world’s largest companies, in aggregate representing $7.6 trillion in revenue and 16.8 million employees, and found that among corporate peers, IBM was among the top 25% of companies—or top quartile--when measuring total giving.
WALKING THE TALK -
This post has been translated from Japanese — read the original interview here.
LEADERSHIP -
Volvo Ocean Race (VOR) is considered one of the longest and toughest professional sporting events in the world; sailing’s toughest team challenge and one of the sport’s Big Three events, alongside the Olympics and the America’s Cup.
PRESS RELEASE -
EcoVadis is the leading system for evaluating suppliers' environmental aspects, working conditions, corporate social responsibility and subcontractors. Multinational brands with high ethical ambitions use the system to evaluate their supply chains in turn.
This year’s evaluation shows that BillerudKorsnäs is among the very best of all companies in the same industry and is also in the top percentage rank among all companies assessed, regardless of industry. It also shows that BillerudKorsnäs improved even more this year.
NEW METRICS -
As Sustainable Brands' New Metrics '17 conference kicked off in Philadelphia on Monday, speakers from SASB, CSRLab, WRI, the World Happiness Summit and more presented a range of topics revolving around a few common themes: Correctly measuring what matters, disclosing material data and knowing your audience when you do.
From disclosure to performance: Building a virtuous loop
By Jessica Bast
PRESS RELEASE -
Leading research, breakthrough tools, and new reports unveiled by BASF, Dell, Thomson Reuters and others in Philadelphia
SAN FRANCISCO, November 13, 2017 – Members of the Sustainable Brands® community gather in Philadelphia to kick off the 7th annual New Metrics conference. More than 300 global senior executives are convening today through Nov 15th to unveil cutting-edge corporate practices that will enable brands to identify and measure entirely new forms of business risk and value.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
CDP, RobecoSAM, EcoVadis — they are all organizations that assess the sustainability performance of companies worldwide. They all have their own agenda and targets, and of course, their own methodology to assess a portfolio of companies.
NEW METRICS -
Our corporate partners were increasingly being asked to contextualize their sustainability goals and performance. They wanted to understand what tools were available and how to approach the issue of context. The Embedding Project’s Road to Context guide was written to help support this process.
COLLABORATION -
Veolia North America and the Wharton School’s Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership (IGEL) have released a report detailing the demonstrated success and future potential for public-private partnerships (P3s) to provide sustainable solutions for the nation’s infrastructure needs.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
As part of its CanopyStyle initiative, environmental NGO Canopy has released an updated and expanded edition of its Hot Button Report, a ranking of eleven viscose and rayon producers that represent 70 percent of global viscose production.
WALKING THE TALK -
Launched during SB’17 Detroit, the Practice of Purpose Project seeks to drive the widespread adoption of social purpose by identifying the differences between traditional marketing and marketing based on purpose-drive brand strategies.