Follow the growing amount of collaborative work — cross-functional, cross-sector, pre-competitive and more — bringing about massive, disruptive, needed shifts to business as usual.
Cross-Posted from Waste Not. Around 52 million tons of food are wasted each year in the United States despite 1 in 7 US citizens lacking reliable access to sufficient, affordable and nutritious food. While raising consumer awareness is an important food waste reduction strategy, interventions at the corporate level have a crucial role to play in addressing the issue on a large scale.
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.
The world’s largest auto alliance has launched a corporate capital fund, Alliance Ventures, that will invest $1 billion to support innovative projects shaping the next generation of mobility over the next five years.
The circular economy continues to gain steam as key players in the sustainability sphere join forces to unlock new opportunities to create positive impacts. First, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute (C2CPII) have partnered to drive momentum towards a circular economy.
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.
Vestas 11th Hour Racing's team director Mark Towill and skipper Charlie Enright take on challenges the way most people layer cold cuts; one on top of the other. The duo and their team are one of seven squads trying to win the around-the-world Volvo Ocean Race (VOR) a nine-month sailing slog, over 45,000 nautical miles, in all sorts of weather; doing so while being the most sustainable team in the race, and working to increase public awareness, concern and action on behalf of ocean health. No problem, right?
A year after announcing its strategy to ensure 100 percent of its branded tuna is sustainably sourced, Thai Union, the company behind brands such as Chicken of the Sea, Bumble Bee, John West and Petit Navire, has embarked on a new partnership with Nestlé to help rebuild its damaged reputation.
Cross-Posted from Chemistry, Materials & Packaging. Circularity is slowing making its way into the fashion industry, aiming to transform one of the most polluting sectors into a shining example of sustainability, but it still has a long way to go before it can truly shed its bad reputation. Technology has been an important driver of change, allowing brands to improve efficiencies and reduce impacts, but the sharing of resources and best practices is proving to be just as critical in nudging the industry forward towards a circular future.
IBM has announced that it is teaming up with Walmart, JD.com and Tsinghua University National Engineering Laboratory for E-Commerce Technologies to launch a Blockchain Food Safety Alliance to enhance food tracking, traceability and safety in China.
Recent climate change talks in Bonn drew to a close last week without major fanfare. However, despite no landmark announcements — such as that coming out of Paris after COP21 — it was nonetheless a critical meeting, with a key aim of better defining ‘how’ to make the ambitions set out in Paris in 2015 a reality and keep global warming to 1.5 degrees. For those of us leading sustainability efforts for companies, the COP talks are a great opportunity to learn about what’s happening at a global level and reflect on how we, as just one actor, fit into the bigger picture.
The Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) has released early registration of the Higg Facility Environmental Module (Higg FEM), a self-assessment tool that globally standardizes sustainability measurement for apparel, footwear and textile manufacturing facilities. Optimized for use at an industrial scale, Higg FEM enables factories of any size to assess sustainability performance and easily share results with supply chain partners.
As part of its ongoing regionalization strategy, The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) has created a Japan Sustainability Local Group. Chaired by Koji Inoue of Ajinomoto Co., Inc., the Local Group will help local and multinational CGF members in Japan share knowledge and best practices on sustainability challenges facing the consumer goods industry and strategies for working towards the CFG’s global Environmental and Social Sustainability Resolutions.
Today, we are witnessing unusual weather patterns and natural disasters all over the world. Traditional state and corporate barriers must be transcended if we are to combat the universal issue of climate change.
In a bid to accelerate carbon neutral and resilient urban regeneration, 15 C40 cities have launched the C40 Reinventing Cities initiative. C40 and participating Reinventing Cities invite architects, urban planners, designers, developers, entrepreneurs, environmentalists, startups, neighborhood collectives, innovators and artists to collaborate and compete for the opportunity to transform these sites into new beacons of sustainability and resiliency.
When it comes to tackling climate change, Levi Strauss & Co. (LS&Co.) believes collaboration is key. This very ethos is the driving force behind the company’s sustainability approach, and the reason behind the brand’s decision to embark on a second year of its flagship Levi Strauss & Co. Collaboratory fellowship program. Launched last year, the program sees emerging socially and environmentally responsible entrepreneurs in the apparel industry come together for three days to collaborate on sustainability solutions for their organizations.
It may seem odd to hear about thousands of brook, brown and rainbow trout living in a paper mill, but it is certainly no fish tale in the traditional sense. Located near Pennsylvania’s Allegheny forest on the headwaters of the scenic Clarion River, Domtar’s Johnsonburg mill boasts a long and rich history of papermaking — and more recently — of raising fish to help support local rivers.
Textile waste is a 26-billion-pound problem the world is just beginning to recognize. With us consuming more than 80 billion pieces of new clothing each year globally, there’s no question that change is necessary – but what will it take for retailers, clothing manufacturers and consumers to embrace the environmental benefits of reuse?
In an unprecedented move, Clarins Fragrance Group is blazing new transparency trails, with brands MUGLER and AZZARO committing to produce perfume alcohol in a way that meets rigorous environmental and social requirements under a groundbreaking “made in France” program. The key aim of the “responsible alcohol” project is to promote biodiversity in agricultural practices. Other benefits of the program include local production, which will create a short circuit between harvest and transformation sites.
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.
While technology itself is essential for driving forward the circular agenda, cross-industry collaboration has a crucial role to play in scaling sustainable solutions to pressing environmental and social problems.