How organizations are addressing the 'G' in ESG – striking the balance of maximizing long-term growth and value while safeguarding the interests of all stakeholders
This is the ninth in a series of articles examining how business leaders and companies can transform their corporate culture in order to succeed in the midst of the impending Purpose Revolution. Find links to the full series below.
Conagra Brands, Inc. is once again celebrating its employees’ commitment to sustainability throughout the organization at its annual Sustainable Development Awards.
In April of 2000, Clif Bar owner and founder Gary Erickson turned down a $120 million offer to buy Clif Bar & Company. Instead of taking it easy the rest of his life, Erickson decided to keep Clif Bar private and pursue a unique business model known as the Five Aspirations: Sustaining Its Business, Brands, People, Community and the Planet.
Unilever has today revealed its fourth consecutive year of growth for its ‘sustainable living’ brands, which delivered 70 percent of its turnover growth and grew 46 percent faster (a slightly slower rate than last year, when it was over 50 percent). than the rest of the business. The company says all of its brands are working to reduce their environmental footprint and increase their positive social impact; the ‘sustainable living’ brands are those that are furthest ahead on the journey.
Clif Bar wants to help college seniors pursue meaningful post-graduate experiences, instead of deciding based on the pressure of paying down their debt.
Gen Z is bypassing the traditional political system and focusing on consumerism as a channel for change, according to new research from non-profit consultancy DoSomething Strategic. This generation is expecting brands to use their platform for good, especially as they feel that politicians and the political system have let them down.
Since 1990, Indonesia has lost half of its rainforests. What’s worse, the rate of deforestation, currently at roughly two million hectares per year, is still accelerating. Heart of the issue being that ecological values remain difficult to measure in monetary terms. Such is the tragedy of the commons for a country with the world’s fourth-largest population: Its eagerness for economic development driven by the global market has made one of the planet’s most diverse natural habitats subject to exploitation for fast cash, rather than being protected as a crucial part of the global ecosystem.
It’s official. Sustainability is mainstream. You probably already knew that. What you may not know is that Americans aren’t really changing their personal behaviors. They’re changing their buying behaviors. And that gives brands a new way to win in the marketplace. Here’s what we’re seeing in our ongoing polling of Americans to understand their attitudes and behaviors related to the environment: One of our most recent surveys finds that 88 percent of Americans believe the average person should be taking concrete steps to reduce environmental impact, and nearly 80 percent feel a sense of personal responsibility to change daily purchase habits and practices to positively impact the environment.
By 2050 there will be over 9 billion people on the planet, and food production will have to increase by as much as 70 percent to feed everyone. We are already struggling to feed everyone today, even in America.
This post has been translated from Japanese — read the original interview here.
Last year saw unprecedented natural disasters across the globe – from wildfires in California to record-breaking hurricanes in the U.S. Gulf Coast, eastern seaboard, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. At the same time, scientists warn that the risks posed by climate change are even more dire than predicted and will lead to even bigger impacts on heat and extreme weather. Combined, this has led to a spike in environmental consciousness, not only for the American people, but for businesses across the globe.
Nine in ten Canadians (92 percent) would switch brands if a different brand of a similar quality had a compelling social purpose, according to new research from Kin&Co. The firm’s new report — which looks exclusively at the Canadian market — outlines an opportunity for Canada to lead the purpose and values revolution that has insofar been primarily led by companies in the US and UK.
This is the eighth in a series of articles examining how business leaders and companies can transform their corporate culture in order to succeed in the midst of the impending Purpose Revolution. Find links to the full series below.
While weekly headlines tout the efforts of major food companies and NGOs working to increase the sustainability of the food industry through reducing waste, improving packaging and responding to consumer demand for healthier choices, organizations such as NSF: The Public Health and Safety Organization are working behind the scenes on an
A new report has found that more than 1 in 4 British managers would take a pay cut for a purpose-led job, a third would leave their job if the company’s overall purpose was unclear, and more than half would leave if their company’s values and purpose did not align with their own. Purposeful leadership is no longer a ‘luxury’ CSR exercise — its becoming critical to staff engagement and commercial resilience.
A global food company present in more than 130 markets, Danone has always had a purpose agenda, even when it was an unusual idea. Danone committed to combine economic success and social progress in 1972, when the company’s founder, Antoine Riboud, began Danone’s “dual project.” As Danone has grown, that commitment has been apparent in initiatives such as the Danone Way sustainable-development guidelines that have helped Danone subsidiaries improve their impact since 2001; and the establishment of Danone Communities, which began with a partnership with Mohammed Yunus in Bangladesh in 2006.
With 4.85 million active listings, Airbnb commands the largest portfolio in the industry, larger than the top five biggest hotel companies combined. The company that put home sharing on the map recently shared some of its 2017 data and celebrated its diverse community of travellers from over 190 regions of origin. 38 million US travelers used Airbnb internationally and 31 million travelers stayed at an Airbnb listing in the US.
In school, we both read Paul Hawken’s The Ecology of Commerce, and it profoundly influenced the impact we want to have in life. His book demonstrates how industry and the environment do not have to be at odds, and if we work to find the right solutions, the two can (and must) work together. We’re grateful and lucky to have Paul as Lyft’s environmental advisor.
As food supply chains grow more complex, consumers are setting higher expectations for food quality, safety and sustainability as they seek more aspirational choices around what they eat. But food scares continue to happen, one of the most famous being the horse meat scandal in 2013.
New evidence suggests that sustainability standards are drivers of the adoption and improvement of corporate practices. Its welcome news following CDP’s recent examination of the gap between corporate intentions and action on tackling climate-related risks.