NEW METRICS -
The ESG ratings industry is in full transition. Driven by demand from institutional investors and the awakening of the retail investment market, asset managers increasingly consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues an integral part of their investment approach.
COLLABORATION -
This week, Duke Energy Carolinas announced that it will invest nearly $1.4 million to help protect wildlife habitat and land conservation efforts in South Carolina into the foreseeable future.
The Oconee County Conservation Bank will benefit from $618,000 to support regional land conservation and habitat preservation efforts, while the Foothills Conservancy Program will receive $762,000 for the Keowee-Toxaway Habitat Enhancement Program (KTHEP), which supports projects that create, enhance and protect fish and wildlife habitats along the shores of Lake Keowee and Lake Jocassee, as well as in their watersheds.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
In a bid to reposition itself as a producer of convenient natural products, Campbell Soup Company is set to launch Well Yes!, a pivotal “clean” canned soup line, with a corresponding campaign that encourages consumers to make small, healthy daily choices rather than big, unrealistic resolutions. With the New Year only a week away, the launch of the new campaign is timely.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Earlier this year, the World Bank announced a fundamental shift in its role of alleviating global poverty, by refocusing its financing efforts towards tackling climate change through the lens of SMEs. Last month, the group launched a new Climate Business Innovation Network (CBIN) during COP22 in Marrakech to help commercialize and diffuse clean technologies through developing countries.
PRESS RELEASE -
UK banking giant HSBC has announced plans to form a new dedicated sustainable finance unit in response to rising client interest in the sector.
The new unit, which will sit within the bank’s global banking and markets division, aims to act as a central point of coordination and support for sustainability as it rises in importance for more clients in the future, according to HSBC.
The new London-based department will be run by Christian Déséglise, HSBC’s global head of central banks and global co-head of sovereign and public funds, and Michael Ellam, managing director of HSBC’s public sector banking team in its financial institutions group. The pair will run the unit in addition to their current roles.
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.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
As companies and governments around the world are working to meet climate goals set out by the Paris Agreement, the IKEA Group’s 2016 Sustainability Report shows considerable progress towards its People & Planet Positive strategy and continued long-term investments in sustainability.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
On Monday, Bill Gates announced the establishment of a $1 billion investment fund, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, geared towards fighting climate change through clean energy innovation.
STAKEHOLDER TRENDS AND INSIGHTS -
A new study released by the Global Impact Invest Network (GIIN) at the opening of its two-day Investor Forum 2016 in Amsterdam this week found that impact investors reported substantial growth over the last three years
LEADERSHIP -
A cross-party group of British MPs has launched the ‘Divest Parliament’ campaign, with the help of environmental group 350.org.
‘Divest Parliament’ aims for greater transparency on the Parliamentary Pension Fund’s £589 million investments and demanding a commitment to divest from fossil fuels to tackle climate change.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Coming off a string of apparent strides toward recognizing the benefits of sustainability – including ratifying a shareholder resolution that commits the company to investing in a low-carbon future, earning a place on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) earlier this year, launching an online tool for low-carbon startups to access financing, and last month
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.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Earlier this month at Sustainable Brands’ New Metrics ’16 conference, IdeaScale, Topcoder and SensisChallenges presented on the use of crowdsourcing to drive innovation and de-risk the execution of corporate sustainability initiatives.
CLEANTECH -
Transparency is the new normal, driving an unprecedented need for the integration of sustainability into all aspects of business.
It took activists only a few days to plaster the Internet with pictures of the collapsed Rana Plaza factory in Bangladesh in 2013 that buried hundreds of workers under rubbles of concrete. Through social media and the Internet, it was possible to inform the world before companies such as Walmart and Mango, which sourced from the factory, learned of the disaster.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
The London Waste and Recycling Board (LWARB) - a partnership between the Mayor of London and London’s Boroughs dedicated to improving waste and resource management within the capital, with the aim of turning London into a circular city - has launched a new program called Advanced London to support SMEs in adopting and scaling up circular business models.
LEADERSHIP -
Despite uncertainty as to whether the U.S. will continue to play a part in global renewable energy adoption and fossil fuel reduction, business and other countries’ governments continue to ride the wave of commitments that have arisen from COP22 last month.
NEW METRICS -
On the third and final day of New Metrics ’16, Paul Herman of HIP Investor gave us a to-do list:
NEW METRICS -
Day 2 of New Metrics ‘16 kicked off with a main stage presentation from Reputation Dividend director Sandra Macleod, who provided us with a broad overview of how social impact and other factors can influence brand reputation; reputation, she contends, is a core factor that drives investor behavior.
STAKEHOLDER TRENDS AND INSIGHTS -
This week at COP22, the Global Adaptation & Resilience Investment Working Group (GARI) released its discussion paper, “Bridging the Adaptation Gap,” reporting that 70 percent of private investors surveyed see both risk and investment opportunity from the impact of climate change. According to GARI, 78 percent of 101 surveyed investors and other stakeholders thought evaluating the physical risk from climate change was “very important,” while 70 percent would consider making investments that supported adaptation to climate change or climate change resilience now.