NEW METRICS -
Revenues from company-defined portfolios of sustainable products and services grew by 91 percent between 2010 and 2013, according to a new report by The Conference Board, a public interest research association.For S&P Global 100 companies that break out revenue for sustainable products or services separately, that revenue stream grew at six times the rate of overall company results.
STAKEHOLDER TRENDS AND INSIGHTS -
Today, think tank SustainAbility released its view of the key sustainability developments during 2015 in a webinar, “Mid-Year ‘State of Play’ Sustainability Trends.” Its latest research identifies 10 global trends and five region-specific trends in Latin America.“These are not this week’s headlines,” clarified Mark Lee, Executive Director of SustainAbility. Instead, the trends highlighted in the webinar reflect long-term movements within the international sustainability community that his team expects will continue throughout the year and beyond.
NEW METRICS -
Private impact investment funds — specifically private equity and venture capital funds — that pursue social impact objectives have recorded financial returns in line with a comparative universe of funds that only pursue financial returns, according to a first-of-its-kind analysis from global investment advisor Cambridge Associates (CA) and the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN).
LEADERSHIP -
The mayors of Baltimore, MD, Little Rock, AR and West Sacramento, CA have been recognized with top honors in an awards program administered by The U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) and funded by the Wells Fargo Foundation.Presented Monday at USCM’s 83rd Annual Meeting in San Francisco, the 2015 CommunityWINS (Working/Investing in Neighborhood Stabilization) Grant Program includes monetary grants to city-based non-profit organizations and recognizes mayors for exemplary leadership in developing local programs that promote long-term economic prosperity and improve the quality of life for residents in three categories: neighborhood stabilization, economic development and job creation.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
“We have statesmen and politicians who profess to guide our destinies. Whither are they guiding our destinies?”— H.G WellsValuing continuing existenceIn recent decades considerable effort has been invested into describing and identifying the planet’s natural environment in terms that can be appreciated and integrated into the language of economics and finance.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Social enterprise Verb has closed $2.3 million in series seed funding — one of the largest rounds ever for an Austin-based social enterprise, according to a recent announcement.The investment capital will be used to fund global expansion, platform development and strategic hires, the company says. Recent additions to the company include a chief operating officer and chief creative officer, and Verb says it expects to continue to grow the team throughout the year.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
This week, LEGO Group announced an investment of 1 billion Danish Kroner (~US$152 million) in the research, development and implementation of sustainable raw materials to manufacture LEGO® toys and packaging materials.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Pittsburgh-based startup Thread announced today it has closed a Series A Round of $2.8M, led by Draper Triangle Ventures, to create upcycled fabric from plastic waste collected in developing countries. The financing, which completes a $3.5M funding cycle, will help expand production capabilities, while growing data and content collection throughout Thread’s unprecedentedly clean, transparent supply chain.
CLEANTECH -
Ceres has released a new search tool that enables users to access water risk disclosures in company filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).The SEC Sustainability Disclosure Search tool allows users to find disclosures in 4,500 U.S. companies’ annual filings relating to water availability, scarcity, quality, pollution, regulation and innovation. The tool covers 10-K filings from 2009 to the present and helps stakeholders, including investors, companies, academics and analysts, better understand how businesses are measuring, managing and disclosing material water risks and opportunities.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
Morgan Stanley has announced that it closed on the issuance of a $500 million green bond, its first green bond, as part of the company’s strategy to advance market-based solutions to social and environmental challenges.Funds equal to the net proceeds of Morgan Stanley’s green bond will be allocated to various renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. Much of these funds will correspond with investments in existing and future third-party renewable energy projects, primarily wind farms, including Route 66 Wind, a 150 MW wind farm under construction in Texas, and Rattlesnake Wind Energy Center, a 207 MW wind power project also under construction in Texas.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Oakland-based food startup Back to the Roots (BTTR) today announced the close of its first round of funding, raising $2 million to accelerate its mission to undo food and build the “new Kraft Foods.”
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
The Norwegian parliament has unanimously voted for the Norwegian Government Pension Fund (GPFG) to adopt strong divestment criteria for companies involved in coal mining and coal fired utilities, including 49 companies and subsidiaries based in the United States.The GPFG is the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund and the new criteria will most likely force it to divest from 122 companies totaling $8.7 billion, according to calculations made by Urgewald, Greenpeace and Future in Our Hands.The exclusion criteria states that any company deriving more than 30 percent of its activity from coal will be excluded from GPFG’s portfolio, including both coal mining and coal fired utilities.
PRESS RELEASE -
TIRANA, Albania – A new Arizona State University study outlining a national plan for energy-efficient schools throughout Albania determined that the nation's education system could be transformed through a series of innovative sustainable repairs and improvements to its 3,300 schools. The study was presented on June 4 by ASU sustainability scientists at a special event in Tirana with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, Minister of Education and Sports Lindita Nikolla.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
On Wednesday at SB ’15 San Diego, BASF and thinkstep announced their collaboration in marketing the Sustainable Solution Steering method developed by BASF for sustainable portfolio management. The two organizations have signed a licensing agreement that extends their existing partnership to support BASF customers and other organizations in assessing and steering their product portfolio in line with sustainability criteria.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
Tuesday, day two of SB ‘15 San Diego, marked a transition from workshops to breakout sessions and this morning’s session on practical tips and case studies for employee engagement featured a star-studded lineup of experts from Kiva, Google, HP and HIP Investor.We kicked things off with a welcome from WeSpire, host sponsor of the “Workplace of the Future” track, who asked the question: How do we give employees the opportunity to bring their best selves to work?
SUPPLY CHAIN -
Today, institutional investors representing more than $4 trillion in assets are joining Mars, PepsiCo, Kellogg Company and a dozen other giants from the food/beverage and personal care industries to call on the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) to strengthen its standards for certifying the sustainable production of palm oil. Palm oil is found in an estimated 50 percent of all packaged goods, from cosmetics to candy.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently voted 3-2 on a proposed rule to link CEO compensation to company financial performance. The rule came from the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, and while the information required in the rule is already publicly available, the rule would make it more transparent and simpler for stakeholders to find and understand.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
The world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, has joined forces with nonprofit sustainability leader Ceres to provide a guidebook for U.S. institutional investors on engaging with companies and policymakers on sustainability issues. 21st-Century Engagement: Investor Strategies for Incorporating ESG Considerations into Corporate Interactions includes tactics and case studies from 37 engagement experts spanning six countries.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Just 13 of the 200 highest paid CEOs in the U.S. are female, according to data published recently by the New York Times. While gender parity in the workplace is advancing worldwide and many women are heeding the call to ‘Lean in’, progress in changing outcomes is generally slow.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Shareholders of ExxonMobil and Chevron and members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) say they will focus on climate change at the companies’ annual general meetings (AGMs) this coming Wednesday.