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
On Thursday, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) announced it has taken action against members that are not fulfilling basic membership obligations intended to create a more transparent, environmentally sustainable and socially responsible palm oil industry. A number of prominent NGOs working in the field — including World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) and Rainforest Action Network (RAN) — commend the action as an important first step, but emphasize the Roundtable's need for more teeth in ensuring progress toward a truly sustainable palm oil industry.
The Association of Climate Change Officers (ACCO) has announced its first professional certificate under the CCO Certification program.The Climate Governance Certificate provides a recognized credential to professionals who have developed the competencies and knowledge to integrate an understanding of climate change and related implications into their decision-making.
Cross-Posted from Supply Chain. Last fall, HP became the first company in the IT industry to require direct employment of foreign migrant workers in its supply chain with the release of the HP Foreign Migrant Worker Standard.Three months after HP the release of this new standard for preventing exploitative labor practices and forced labor, Sustainable Brands spoke with Bob Mitchell, Global Manager of Supply Chain Social & Environmental Responsibility, to learn how the program is enabling HP to ethically recruit and manage foreign migrant workers.
Apple, Google and Berkshire Hathaway are the world’s most highly regarded companies, according to a new ranking by Fortune magazine.Amazon, Starbucks, Disney, Southwest Airlines, American Express, General Electric (GE) and Coca-Cola rounded out the top ten.
As the European Commission (EC) prepares its new five-year strategy for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), delegates at their Multi-Stakeholder Forum on CSR on 3rd and 4th February urged the EC to pick up the pace. Given that this 2015–2020 strategy is still in the making, they have a point.The forum attracted over 450 delegates interested in shaping the EC’s future CSR strategy, many of whom see the formulation of the strategy as a key mechanism to drive innovation, competitiveness and growth for Europe, whilst furthering sustainability goals.
Citi announced a commitment to lend, invest and facilitate a total of $100 billion within the next 10 years to finance activities that reduce the impacts of climate change and create environmental solutions that benefit people and communities. Citi's previous $50 billion goal was met three years early in 2013.
A new cooperative venture at Arizona State University aims to make ASU a key academic hub for the emerging discipline of biomimicry. Since Janine Benyus first observed and named the field in her 1997 book, Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature, designers, engineers, businesses and other innovators have increasingly turned to nature in search of inspired ideas.
Whether as competitive differentiation, long-term risk management, or hedging against future regulation, internal carbon fees are becoming increasingly popular with companies as varied as Shell, Microsoft and Disney.
If there is one aspect of coaching executive leaders that few truly understand well, it is the nature of humility. If you have been born and bred as an alpha-adult - commanding, controlling, dominating - and this is your leadership style, the very word itself can be perceived as a form of weakness, an undesirable quality in a world where lunch is for wimps.Fine, but for those who have this attitude, there are massive returns on investment for both the individual and their businesses that stand there screaming, while the executive hears and sees nothing.
CVS Health achieved record sales in 2014 — increasing net revenues by 9.9 percent to $139.4 billion — even after a major rebrand and the removal of lucrative tobacco products from its stores’ shelves.
For 25 years, I’ve developed CSR strategies. And now I see that CSR is becoming business as usual.You’d think I’d be celebrating. But I’m not — because CSR has stalled.This struck me in 2012 when I developed the Qualities of a Transformational Company for Canadian Business for Social Responsibility and started tracking corporate innovation in CSR (see 38 case studies of transformation in action at CBSR’s website). That’s when I saw where we needed to be.
Today marks two years since we launched our Forest Conservation Policy (FCP) and the anniversary is particularly significant as the Rainforest Alliance is publishing its independent evaluation of our progress. I believe this may be the first time that any company attempting to implement ‘zero deforestation’ in its supply chain on such a scale has submitted its programme to independent third-party evaluation.
Last week, Royal Dutch Shell’s board of directors ratified a shareholder resolution that commits the oil giant to investing in a low-carbon future. The resolution called for the company to commit to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions, invest in renewable energy, scrap bonus systems that are associated with climate-harming activities, and base its business model risk assessment against the widely considered “safe” warming limit of 2ᵒC (as signed by 141 governments at the UN’s Copenhagen Accord).
At the University of North Carolina, sustainability consulting projects have an unique way of taking shape.A marketplace type of approach to teaming up with industry partners has helped UNC’s Center for Sustainable Enterprise take aim at large-scale projects with multiple clients.
Last week saw the launch of a new initiative that will offer 15 post-graduate scientists from nations across Africa the opportunity to work with UK academic institutions in subject areas such as water management, sustainable farming, energy and waste.The ‘SABMiller Royal Society Exchange Programme’ is a seemingly unlikely collaboration between one of the UK’s leading science establishments and a multinational brewer. I went along to Wednesday night’s launch event at the Royal Society in London to find out how beer is helping to fund new sustainable technologies.
Business schools play a critical role in society.They support the continual evolution of our economies, the industries that shape them, the people that lead them, and the thinking behind it all.But it’s not just a role. It’s also a responsibility.In today’s hotter, scarcer, and more open world (to borrow from Andrew Winston’s The Big Pivot), that responsibility is greater than ever. More than at any other time in history, humanity is collectively aware of its impact on the planet. We know that our current actions, if left unchecked, will lead to unknown disruptions of life on earth.
Back in 2012, a Deloitte study remarked how chief finance officers (CFOs) were ‘coming to the table’ in matters relating to board-level sustainability. The CFO role has evolved to the point where it is now widely perceived as an enabler for sustainable business – customers, shareholders and other key stakeholders are increasingly looking to connect corporate financial performance to social and environmental impacts, and accountability for this tends to rest at the door of the CFO.
IKEA sold more than €1 billion ($1.13 billion) of sustainable products in 2014, a 58 percent increase over the previous year, according to the company’s new sustainability report.These products enable people to save or generate energy, reduce water use, cut waste and live healthier lives, the company says.
Lack of preparation has left supply chains in Brazil, China, India and the United States more vulnerable to climate risks than those in Europe and Japan. However, suppliers in China and India deliver the greatest financial return on investment to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and demonstrate the strongest appetite for collaboration across the value chain. This according to research released Tuesday by CDP and Accenture.
When it comes to corporate transparency, times are changing. Gone are the days when a company could be considered a leader simply by publishing an annual report. Today’s stakeholders want to truly engage with your company’s story, especially when it comes to sustainability — and they want to do it on their own terms, with clickable, personalized information.