The work of organizations joining forces in win-win, pre-competitive ways to bring about massive, impactful shifts away from business as usual
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.
The launch of a new initiative designed to spur collective action around sustainability in the apparel and footwear industry is providing brands and manufacturers with the knowledge and resources necessary to select, fund and accelerate projects that can improve upon the sector's problematic environmental impacts.
Isle of Wight-based ethical apparel startup Rapanui has come a long way since its conception in 2009, when brothers Rob and Mart Drake-Knight launched with a mere £200. Now, with almost a decade of experience under its belt, Rapanui is helping other UK businesses achieve their sustainability goals.
The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) is on a mission to help consumers make healthier choices with the launch of a new pilot campaign in Hagerstown, Maryland.
In an effort to advance the goals outlined in its Sustainable Living Plan, in which it aims to positively impact the lives of 5.5 million people by 2020, consumer goods giant Unilever has announced a new partnership with the Better Than Cash Alliance.
At this year’s Sustainable Brands conference in May, we did something that we hadn’t done before — it was an ‘aha’ moment. Sustainable Brands and the Arbor Day Foundation — the world’s largest member-based tree-planting organization — partnered to host the first volunteer experience for conference attendees to get their hands dirty. This urban tree planting event, “ReGreening the Good Life,” was a fitting jump-start to the SB ’17 Detroit conference. More than 55 volunteers from the conference helped plant trees in a downtown Detroit park.
Since 2009, Oakland, California startup Back to the Roots has been on a mission to "Undo Food" by reconnecting consumers (and kids) with what’s on their plates, and driving the food industry towards greater transparency and integrity.
Today, PepsiCo reported progress towards its ambitious Performance with Purpose 2025 Agenda sustainability goals, announced last year. The company improved performance against goals in each of the Agenda’s three focus areas – Products, Planet and People – while returning over $7 billion to shareholders.
Brands are increasingly leveraging their influence for good, using their tremendous reach and means to draw attention to and inspire action to address some of the biggest environmental and social challenges of our time. ‘Goodvertising’ plays an important role in this space — as evidenced by this year’s Cannes Lions — but getting it right doesn’t always come easy. Spotlighting the world’s most burning issues is important, but simply telling stories isn’t enough — businesses need to demonstrate what they’re actually doing to create a better world.
Clean, drinkable water is crucial for human existence, but according to the Women Thrive Alliance, roughly 663 million people worldwide still lack easy access to safe water.
Hurricane Harvey, the strongest storm to hit Texas and Louisiana in decades, has left a wake of destruction in its path. More than 30,000 people have been driven into shelters and the storm’s aftermath has left behind some estimated tens of billions of dollars in damage. Though the storm has now been downgraded to tropical storm status, the danger is far from over if forecasts predicting the storm to move towards the Gulf of Mexico, where it will pick up strength before moving back over Texas, prove to be true.
Only one month after 175 CEOs came together to launch the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion™, nearly 100 additional CEOs have taken the pledge, committing themselves — and the organizations they lead — to advance diversity and inclusion in the workplace.