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
Crowdfunding platform Kickstarter has announced it is reincorporating as a public benefit corporation, The New York Times reports, a legal designation that protects for-profit companies that want to do well and do good at the same time by affording them the freedom to pursue corporate purposes beyond maximizing profits.
Reputation Institute has released its annual Global CSR RepTrak® 100, which highlights the companies that have the best reputations for corporate social responsibility (CSR) among the general public in 15 countries. Google tops the ranking for the second year in a row, with a significant lead over all other companies in the ranking.
The need for reputable corporate leadership has never been more acute. We are grappling with large-scale global challenges - climate change, social dislocation, economic inequality, financial uncertainty - that require a new type of leadership from global entities.
CEOs see more opportunities for growth today than they did three years ago — especially when it comes to new products and services in response to climate change.
A new publication called Salt, motivated by the hope that businesses will play a key role in shaping a better world, has released its first Top 100 Compassionate Leaders List."We want to shine a spotlight on businesses with a heart; those pioneers who are using their corporate power not only to generate profits, but to create a better world," said Salt publisher Stephen Vasconcellos-Sharpe.
California, Gov. Jerry Brown and Senate Democrats abandoned a 50 percent cut in petroleum use by 2030 that was a focal point of the state’s climate change policy, following an intense campaign against the mandate by the oil industry, The New York Times reports.The petroleum cut was meant to help reduce carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050, using 1990 emission levels as a baseline.
It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for: S&P Dow Jones Indices, one of the world’s leading providers of financial market indices, and RobecoSAM, the investment specialist focused exclusively on Sustainability Investing, today announced the results of the annual Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (“DJSI”) review.The components list for the DJSI will be published on the Sustainability Indices website on Monday, September 14, 2015. All changes are effective on Monday, September 21, 2015.
Sustainability conversations are changing. Just look at the National Association for Environmental Management’s (NAEM’s) thorough “Planning for a Sustainable Future” report released this week: EHS and sustainability leaders are quickly solving operational questions of compliance, measurement & metrics, and target-setting. Now, they’re being called to convene organizational leaders in the face of changing climate, consumers, supply chains, and competitors — three forces that challenge the traditional near-term planning processes endemic to businesses. They’re even grappling with reframing corporate business models for people and environmental stewardship.
Rio de Janeiro has become the first city in the world to reach full compliance with the Compact of Mayors, a global coalition of city leaders dedicated to reducing their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, making urban communities more resilient to climate change and regularly reporting their progress publicly.Rio now has established a local GHG emission inventory using the Global Protocol for Community-scale GHG Emissions Inventory (GPC), the international “gold” standard for GHG emission reporting, according to a recent announcement. It also is the first Brazilian city to complete a study on climate vulnerabilities.
Around three-quarters of the carbon credits issued under Joint Implementation (JI) may actually have increased emissions by about 600 million metric tons, according to a new study by the Stockholm Environmental Institute (SEI).JI allows countries with emission reduction commitments under the Kyoto Protocol to generate Emission Reduction Units (ERUs) from carbon reduction projects and transfer them to other countries.
What is your why? It is a question that you have most likely been confronted with at some point in your life. But, do you truly know what it means? And more importantly, have you been able to clearly define your why? Simon Sinek’s TED talk, “How Great Leaders Inspire Action,” is a great place to start in getting to the answer of these questions. This little talk has been a great inspiration for me in finding my why.
The Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC), a nonprofit coalition of leading electronics companies dedicated to supply chain responsibility, on Wednesday announced the launch of a foreign migrant worker protection pilot program that aims to improve communications in electronics factories by providing workers with more effective ways to report issues related to social, environmental and ethical responsibility.The program, called “Suara Kita”, which is Malay for "Our Voice," will be piloted in Malaysia — given the sizable industry presence and large number of foreign workers there — from September 2015 through December 2016 with plans for it to be rolled out globally afterward.
A study published this month finds that the UK is the worst-performing European country in terms of food waste, while its leading waste-reduction charity, Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), saw its government funding cut 38 percent last year.
After the Pope recently added a religious voice to the chorus of hundreds of business leaders, youth, subnational governments (and one boyband) calling on world leaders to take bold action on climate change, Islamic l
ClimateCare, which delivers corporate and government programs to protect the environment and improve people’s lives, today announced that it has received certification as one of the UK’s first Certified B Corporations.With an 18-year track record, ClimateCare claims it is living proof that commercial businesses can deliver positive impacts at scale. In the last seven years alone, the business has deployed $100 million to deliver measurable social and environmental outcomes for corporate and government clients.B Lab, the nonprofit that administers Certified B Corporation status, awarded ClimateCare a score of 141.4 points — well above the average of 97 points.
The latest quarterly sector research report from CDP ranks companies in one of the highest-emitting sectors — diversified chemicals — based on a number of emissions-related metrics which, in aggregate, could have a material impact on company performance. It reveals which companies in the sector are best prepared for the future in developing sustainable products, enhancing efficiency or addressing regulatory change across sector-specific environmental metrics.
“I hate my job.” It’s a sign of a warped world that most of us have heard friends, family or our own lips make this gloomy statement. Chances are that four out of every five people working for you right this minute would rather be not working. This is the percentage of global workers who are not “involved in, enthusiastic about and committed to work” — in other words, not engaged — according to Gallup. Why does this matter? Disengaged workers produce less and turn over more. As a result, companies and teams with largely disengaged workers underperform financially by more than 50 percent compared to those with mostly engaged workers.
While more and more companies are becoming focused on a triple bottom line — in which they prioritize the health of people and planet in addition to profit — Clif Bar founder Gary Erickson took the sentiment further back in 2000, when he decided to not take a $120 million payout and instead focus on sustaining the health of five bottom lines: Business, Brand, Community, Planet and People. As CEO Kevin Cleary said during a recent “Feed Your Adventure” tour of Clif’s Emeryville headquarters: “In any given year, we incent ourselves and say we have to deliver on all of them — if you deliver on Business, but you don’t deliver on the rest, that isn’t delivering shareholder value.”
Nestlé has opened a $50 million global research center dedicated to transforming the way the world consumes frozen and chilled foods.Located in in Solon, Ohio, the new 144,000 square foot Nestlé Research & Development Center will balance consumer-centered innovation with technology leadership.Although the center’s mission is to sustain global needs, its location in Ohio reflects the growth in size and complexity of Nestlé’s frozen and chilled foods businesses in the United States. That growth made an expanded and collaborative research and development effort necessary, the company said.
The UK-based Co-operative Bank has published its first Values and Ethics report, highlighting its significant environmental achievements, along with progress against its customer-led Ethical Policy, established in 1992. It is the only UK bank to have an ethical policy co-created by customers, and views this policy as essential to its comeback after its financial collapse in 2014.