SUPPLY CHAIN -
For the first time ever in Ghana, cocoa farmers have obtained official ownership of non-cocoa trees on their farms. Some 150 farmers in the country’s western region will now be able to include shade trees as part of their business plans, providing additional sources of income in the form of timber while reducing deforestation and the effects of climate change.
PRESS RELEASE -
Around the world, clean water sources are disappearing at an alarming rate, and it’s up to all of us to help design solutions for the future. Target’s doing its part by putting a connected framework in place—including our climate policy and chemical strategy and sustainable cotton sourcing goal—to make sure we’re using resources thoughtfully and measuring progress across our business.
COLLABORATION -
Over 25 major UK retailers — including Asda, The Co-operative, John Lewis, Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury’s — have signed up to a series of commitments to tackle some of the world’s most pressing social and environmental challenges
SUPPLY CHAIN -
New research from Stanford University reveals that the truth behind ethical and sustainable sourcing claims are far more complicated than previously imagined.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
Business is increasingly aligning its activities with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A recent report shows that 43 percent of the world’s largest 250 companies are now linking their sustainability reporting to the SDGs.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
Climate and development standard and certification body Gold Standard and WWF Switzerland have published a new report that seeks to help the private sector define and deliver ambitious strategies to achieve the goals outlined in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
MARKETING AND COMMS -
Confronted with an ever-growing demand for transparency and materiality, companies need to find an adequate format to publish both financial and pre-financial information to their stakeholders in an effective way. While traditional reporting reaches its limits, online integrated reporting features a number of key advantages that enable them to get the job done.
It is fair to say that 2017 was an important year for corporate reporting. A number of events established the disclosure of relevant ecological, social and governance (ESG) specific data as the “new normal”:
PRESS RELEASE -
Sustainable Brands ensures that global flagship events are climate neutral and contribute to Sustainable Development Goals
Zurich, Switzerland and San Francisco, United States, 14 February 2018 - Sustainable Brands®, the premier global community of brand innovators, kicks off the second year of its action-oriented Good Life initiative by renewing its partnership with So
PRESS RELEASE -
Gildan has been included in the 2018 RobecoSAM Sustainability Yearbook for the sixth consecutive year. This year, the company received the Bronze Class distinction. RobecSAM’s Sustainability Yearbook is one of the world’s most comprehensive publications on corporate sustainability. The index has been built using a selection of criteria that best captures a company’s quality of management and its potential to create long-term value.
“We are proud, once again, to be a part of the RobecoSAM Yearbook in the category: Textiles, Apparel and Luxury Goods industry, knowing that over the years inclusion in the index became more difficult and only the top 15% of the companies within each industry are selected,” said Claudia Sandoval, VP, Corporate Citizenship, Gildan.
BUSINESS CASE -
A new study on Ontario’s craft beer industry takes a systems-wide approach to dealing with the sustainable growth challenge, and how we can deliver shared prosperity — with important insights for brewers and industry stakeholders everywhere.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
The business world is undergoing rapid transformation, as consumers’ — and employees’ — expectations of companies increase, largely in regards to social purpose and environmental performance. It’s no longer enough to deliver high-quality products at low prices with good availability. They need to be delivered in a way that does no harm — either to people or the environment.
COLLABORATION -
Sustainability is at risk. And whilst the risks that go beyond climate change may be less well-understood, they are just as pressing.
That was the message at the first meeting of the European Union’s Multi-Stakeholder Platform on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on 10 January in Brussels.
COLLABORATION -
It’s never been more important to bring the poaching and wildlife conservation story to life, while also bringing together local and international stakeholders to build sustainable solutions to what has become a global issue.
Recent developments, such as the US lifting bans on certain elephant trophy imports and changes to the Mugabe government in Zimbabwe, add to the intrigue of what is already a fascinating place.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
Two years after adopting the Circular Economy Package, the European Commission, Parliament and Council have reached an agreement on waste-processing legislation to pave the way for a circular future for Europe. Agreements were reached on four legislative proposals addressing waste, packaging waste, landfill and electronic waste.
WASTE NOT -
In today’s digitally dependent world, e-waste management is a critical issue that requires urgent attention from both the public and private sector.
WALKING THE TALK -
Sustainability matters, but why does it matter to your business?
The vinyl industry began our sustainability journey with the recognition that meeting the needs of a fast-growing population will demand much more of the earth’s natural resources, and we wanted to be prepared to address this challenge. As a result, doing more with less is essential to the way we manufacture and market our products.
LEADERSHIP -
France has once again topped the Food Sustainability Index (FSI), an annual ranking of major countries on their commitment to food sustainability created by The Economist Intelligence Unit in partnership with the Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
If I was given a dollar for every time I saw the Sustainable Development Goals’ multi-colored icon grid in a sustainability presentation, I would be a rich man. But the SDGs are a great example of how ubiquity doesn’t necessarily equal a successful communications/engagement strategy.
FINANCE & INVESTMENT -
A report launched at the World Forum on Natural Capital (WFNC) in Edinburgh, Scotland last week examines the vanishing wealth of the world’s nature, and the growing systemic risk that represents to global economies and societies.