The new and evolving metrics that are helping expand the way businesses create, quantify, manage and report their impacts – and the value they deliver
I’ve always been fascinated with social behavior. Why do people react differently when confronted with a certain situation, a new idea, or information that challenges existing beliefs? Why are some resistant to change, while others are inspired by future possibility? And why do some people just not care about tomorrow because they are focused on what needs to get done today? With all this difference between us, how do we come together and collectively act to solve the world’s biggest problems while still living a happy, fulfilling life?
Is the investor community of the world’s most advanced economies informed, engaged and excited enough to make significant progress on building sustainable investment portfolios? How likely is that and how could it be done?The answers remain largely unclear, if not leaning more toward a “no” than anything else. At the same time, some forward-looking leaders in financial services are taking specific practical steps in their pursuit of tangible solutions that could be implemented immediately. Consider the case of Itaú Asset Management[i] (IAM).
A group of companies united in the Roundtable for Product Social Metrics today announces the publication of the Handbook for Product Social Impact Assessment, a practical tool for assessing a product’s social impacts throughout its life cycle. The handbook is the result of a unique collaborative effort of a group of market leaders across a variety of industries.
Why, after over a decade of progress, are customers, shareholders and employees still skeptical about corporate sustainability programs? Here are seven reasons why brands need to begin building natural asset portfolios in order to change this:#1 Everyone already knows about your corporate footprint
This is the third in a four-part series by Ralph Thurm and Nick De Ruiter examining Sustainability Context.
Average carbon-dioxide emissions for a majority of global ocean container transports have declined year on year, and by nearly 8 percent between 2012 and 2013, according to a new report by BSR.The BSR Clean Cargo Working Group’s 2014 Global Maritime Trade Lane Emissions Factors report provides data from more than 2,900 ships, representing around 85 percent of global ocean container capacity, and is designed to help global ocean transport providers and their shipping customers to measure, evaluate, and report on environmental performance data.
Towards ‘climate-stabilizing’ corporate carbon-reduction targetsAlthough setting corporate carbon-reduction targets is nowadays commonplace, many targets are grounded in ‘guestimates’ of what seems reasonably achievable or at least looks reasonable for external purposes and are often short-term in nature. Some mask an actual increase of absolute emissions as a result of growth and/or are set as intensity targets linked to sales, revenue, production or number of employees, but bearing no direct linkage to the actual reductions that would be required according to scientific bodies such as the IPCC.
In part one, Mark McElroy examined three types of integrated report structures, as identified by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), along with their limitations. Here, he explores a new methodology that puts stakeholder primacy front and center in integrated reporting.Shareholder Primacy
Last year, prior to the release of the IIRC’s Integrated Reporting (<IR>) framework, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) published an interesting report on integrated reporting trends between 2010 and 2012. Over 750 self-declared integrated reports were studied.One of the key research questions in GRI’s analysis involved the structure of the reports examined and whether or not they could be broadly categorized by type. This would have obvious implications in terms of how the authors of integrated reports interpret the concept of integration itself, while also revealing the approaches they took to measure, analyze and report performance.
UPS has met its 2016 goal of reducing its air and ground fleet's carbon intensity by 10 percent three years early, and has set a new goal to achieve a 20 percent reduction in carbon intensity from transportation by 2020, according to the company’s new sustainability report.The report outlines the company's "Committed to More" approach to sustainability, highlighting the company's greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goals as well as the measurable impact from its humanitarian initiatives.UPS recently pioneered its new Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G4 guidelines, becoming one of the first companies in the United States to report in accordance at the "Comprehensive" level.
United Airlines has announced the launch of a new business tool for corporate cargo customers to track and offset the emissions associated with their air freight accounts.Carbon Choice allows cargo customers with large-scale, regular shipments to receive customized emissions reports with simple options to offset their company's carbon footprint through United’s partner, Sustainable Travel International (STI). The airline is introducing the tool to allow cargo customers to more easily incorporate carbon-neutral business practices into their overall corporate strategy.
In the business world we are inundated with data on a daily basis: from bill of materials, formulations, and purchasing records to customer transactions, production volumes and utility bills. The amount of data available for use within organizations continuously increases — so much so that we aren’t just talking about “data” anymore, but “big data,” which puts us into a part of the metric system that I’m not sure we even learned back when I was in elementary school (petabytes of data anyone?). We all recognize there is a lot of data embedded within our business systems, but the real question is, how do we access, filter, organize and ultimately analyze all this data so that it turns into information — and more importantly, information that feeds into intelligent decision-making?
This is the first in a four-part series by Ralph Thurm and Nick De Ruiter examining Sustainability Context.Spring 2014 seems to be the moment in time where Materiality suddenly appeared on the screen of corporate sustainability reporters. At least one could wonder why, within a couple of weeks, countless workshops popped up around the world, webcasts were announced and books were published just on this one single issue of the sustainability reporting agenda. One author even declared a calm "war on Materiality." But wait a minute — the issue of defining what is material in sustainability reports isn't new, so what's the reason for this sudden shake-up?
The Natural Capital Coalition (NCC) announced this week its selection of two consortia to develop what will be known as the Natural Capital Protocol.
SABMiller has set new 2020 targets for its sustainable development programs. The new program, called Prosper, focuses on supporting the role small businesses play in generating economic growth and reducing poverty around the world. The world’s second-largest brewer says it is using its supply chains from farmers to retailers to drive inclusive growth, sustainable resource use and alcohol responsibility.With its new set of goals, SABMiller has pledged to:
GE invested more than $2 billion in research and development for ecomagination and healthymagination innovations in 2013, with ecomagination offerings generating $28 billion in revenue, according to the company’s new sustainability report.
In response to increasing recognition of climate risk, CDP has released a new white paper containing fresh insights into how a price on carbon pollution might benefit companies and the US economy as a whole. Contributors include American Electric Power (AEP) chairman Nick Akins, former Governor and EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman, along with investors, policy experts from Stanford and Columbia Universities, and other select thought leaders.
There are now a rash of sustainable business models — sharing economy, eco-design, circular economy and many others — all with their good points and their fifteen minutes of fame. Even if companies have good products and a thorough understanding of their customers’ needs, using the wrong business model means not all of them succeed in achieving their sustainability business goals.Know What Your Hotspots Are
AT&T has realized annualized energy savings of more than $191 million from 18,800 energy efficiency projects implemented since 2010, according to the company’s recent Annual Update, released Tuesday.Besides energy efficiency, other highlights from 2013 include progress on supplier engagement, water efficiency and AT&T’s education initiative, Aspire:Supply chain