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New Metrics

The new and evolving metrics that are helping expand the way businesses create, quantify, manage and report their impacts – and the value they deliver

Article
Criteria That Positively Affect the ROI of Sustainable Tourism

Ireland has made positive strides in sustainable tourism in the last decade, including the development of a globally recognized tourism eco-certification program and the Wild Atlantic Way touring route filled with agritourism food trails, naturalist-... View More

Article
#SB15sd: How to Stay Afloat in Water Management

Led by Val Fishman, VP of Corporate Partnerships for the Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF), this panel congregated some of the most influential organizations that are driving change and collaboration within water stewardship. It also congrega... View More

Article
How Can We Assess the Future-Fitness, or True Sustainability, of Our Businesses?

Geoff Kendall, co-founder and CEO of the Future-Fit Foundation, set the stage by calling into question most of the existing sustainability performance metrics, which he believes are sending business leaders and investors the wrong signals; “if some... View More

Article
Tennaxia-SASB Partnership Simplifies Sustainability Data for Companies, Investors

A new partnership between data management company Tennaxia and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) may make it easier for companies to measure, manage and report on the sustainability data most essential for financial performance and... View More

Article
Science- vs. Context-Based Metrics – What’s the Difference?

As the importance of measurement and reporting in sustainability continues to grow, it should be helpful, I think, to clarify the distinction between so-called science- and context-based metrics. These terms are not synonymous, although they do overl... View More

Article
Announcing The Product Social Footprinting Programme

During my past five years at PRé, I’ve observed how companies approach different issues. I’m very interested in social impact assessment, and I experienced that companies have wildly different approaches for assessing the social impacts of their... View More

Article
Utility – the Fundamental Metric of Social Impact

“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.”— John DonneIs the world a better place because we exist?Socially useful business is neither a new idea nor one that is particularly at odds with... View More

Article
Lost in Translation: How to Find a Common Language Between Departments

Despite the progress being made in organizations around the world in the pursuit of sustainability, many still suffer from internal breakdowns in communication on the subject, even when all teams are, ultimately, working toward the same goal. We aske... View More

Article
Kering Releases EP&L Methodology to Encourage Wider Adoption of Natural Capital Accounting

Today, Kering released the results of its Environmental Profit and Loss Account (EP&L) — measuring the environmental footprint of its operations and across supply chains — and released the methodology as an open-source tool to encourage other... View More

Article
Creating More Value, Profit with 21st-Century Financial Statements — and CPAs

Shareholders would revolt — and fire the CEO, CFO and Boards of Directors — of companies who ignore more than 80 percent of the factors that drive more value and profit.Prepare for a revolution, as 84 percent is the proportion of corporate value ... View More

Article
How a Life Cycle-Driven Business Model Can Accelerate Sustainable Value Creation

When Peter Bakker from the WBCSD declared that corporate social responsibility is dead, he urged us to create new definitions of success. The change to a more holistic approach is already happening. However, shouldn’t we place the shared value that... View More

Article
#BusinessCase: Dow/TNC Study Highlights Benefits of Valuing Ecosystem Services

According to a recent study in Ecosystem Services, businesses may pay more for less reliable sources of water in the future. ... View More

Article
Is It Objective to ‘Be Objective’ About Sustainable Business Metrics?: Part 14

In 13 earlier parts of this series, Claire Sommer and I developed 25 pitfalls in the sustainable business metrics field, based on the experiences of many mostly non-business fields. (Find them here.)It is tempting to believe objectivity is possible, ... View More

Article
‘Return on Meaning’: Top Meaningful Brands Enjoy 46% Higher Share of Wallet Than Low Performers

Meaningful Brands® – Havas Media Group’s metric of brand strength – is the first global study to show how our quality of life and wellbeing connects with brands at both a human and business level. The study includes 1,000 brands, 300,000 peopl... View More

Article
EPA: US Greenhouse Gas Emissions Fall 9% Since 2005

Total greenhouse gas emissions generated in the United States increased by 2 percent from 2012 to 2013, but emission levels in 2013 were 9 percent below 2005 levels, according to a new annual report by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).The... View More

Slides
Five Case Studies Proving the ROI of Sustainability

Sustainable Brands has pulled together this compilation of five research studies that collectively demonstrate the positive ROI of sustainability from a variety of angles, including company revenue, stock performance, cost reduction, brand reputation... View More

Article
How Superficial Interpretations of Sustainable Business Metrics Can Be Totally Off-Base: Part 13

In 12 earlier parts of this series, Claire Sommer and I developed 22 pitfalls in the sustainable business metrics field, based on the experiences of many mostly non-business fields. (Find them here.) ... View More

Article
H&M's 2014 Sustainability Report Shows Progress With Garment Collection Program

H&M more than doubled the amount of collected garments with its garment collective initiative in 2014, according to its new sustainability report. In total, more than 13,000 tons of textiles have been collected — as much fabric as in 65 million... View More

Article
General Mills Makes ‘Significant Progress’ Toward Sustainable Palm Oil Goals

General Mills made “significant progress” in 2014 toward its commitment to sustainably source 100 percent of its 10 priority ingredients by 2020, according to the company’s annual Global Responsibility Report.It is furthest along towards the go... View More

Article
GISR Launches Platform to Help Cure Sustainability ‘Survey Fatigue’

The Global Initiative for Sustainability Ratings (GISR) has announced the launch of its Center for Ratings Excellence (CORE) Program — designed to accelerate the integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into the global fina... View More

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