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
Hospitals deliver life-saving care to individuals, but their substantial environmental footprint can be detrimental to environmental and community health, according to a newly released book by Kathy Gerwig, Kaiser Permanente's environmental stewardship officer.The book, Greening Health Care: How Hospitals Can Heal the Planet, says hospitals contribute 8 percent of the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions produced in the United States. Gerwig argues the healthcare sector has an obligation to reduce its environmental impact and usher in a new industry standard for healthcare delivery — one that embraces environmental stewardship.
Intel is the largest user of clean energy within the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Green Power Partnership for the fourth consecutive year, according to the agency’s recently updated National Top 100 Partners list.The technology company annually generates 3,102,050,000 kWh of clean energy from biogas, biomass, small-hydro, solar, and wind, EPA says. Last year, Intel produced around the same amount.
Since the release of the Responsible Down Standard (RDS) in January, we have been working diligently to get it rolled out to the industry and implemented across our own supply chain. Doing this has been a complex and challenging project for The North Face and our partners, but we believe the RDS will make some critical changes to the down supply chain to improve traceability and ethical treatment of animals.
Only 41 percent of Americans trust the federal government to solve the country’s most pressing problems, and three-quarters say it’s important for major companies to help on this front, according to the 2014 Public Affairs Pulse survey.In particular, Americans want corporations to help improve the quality of health care (66%) and education (63%), and provide community services such as food banks, free clinics and job training for the poor (65%).The majority of Americans also want corporations to weigh in on social issues such as wilderness protection (73%), and racial and gender discrimination (62%).
We all know sustainability is an important issue when it comes to the growth of a business, but what steps can we take to ensure it is fully ingrained in each and every business decision?For me, the significance of education in driving sustainability cannot be overestimated. Education is key to driving innovative, sustainable solutions to business-critical issues, and it is the responsibility of business and education providers to work together to ensure future leaders are fully equipped for the challenges they will face.
Timberland is calling for entries for its inaugural Timberland Serv-a-palooza Challenge – a sponsored volunteerism competition hosted in partnership with charitable fundraising platform, CrowdRise, founded by actor Edward Norton. The six-week challenge aims to encourage consumers to volunteer for a cause of their choice in return for chances to win prizes for themselves, along with donations for the nonprofits they choose to support.
Only 30% of employees are engaged, costing $450 to $550 billion every year in lost productivity. Yet research shows that companies with strong sustainability and social responsibility programs have much higher engagement rates.
By creating an enabling environment to establish novel internal-management systems, Solidaridad's Better Mill Initiative has equipped textile-factory managers and workers to improve working conditions and livelihoods, and reduce the environmental impact of the factories.
Ecolab has the best environmental management of all the companies in the Russell 3000 index, according to a new study that evaluates environmental policies and infrastructure.With a score of 91 out of 100 points, Ecolab witnessed an increase in score of 38 points (72 percent) during the past two years. Intel came in second with 89 points after two consecutive years in the top spot. Lexmark was third, increasing by 10 points from 2011, to 84 points.
CVS Caremark, in partnership with IBM, has announced a $1.5 million commitment to support the use of innovative technology in community health centers to increase patient engagement and to improve patient care and outcomes.The "Technology Solutions for Smarter Health" grants will be awarded to community health centers nationwide that are in need of advanced technology that will help people on their path to better health. The grants will enhance technology infrastructure currently in place to help centers easily communicate and share health information with patients through secure electronic messaging. The advanced technology will also provide patients with the ability to view,download and transmit their health information online.
The WWF and IKEA have released a new report highlighting the impacts of their work with the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), as the organization restates its aim to make up 30 percent of global cotton production by 2020.
Previous articles in this series talked about leading businesses taking bold steps on their own for the common good — because it's the right thing to do — even if it costs the company financially in the short term.This time I want to point to the latest wave of businesses working collaboratively on the urgent, common ground issues of renewable energy and climate policy. In America's history of westward expansion and exploration, pioneer families came together in wagon trains for mutual support. In the same way, the examples below show that businesses are taking action, together, to ensure a more certain future that's good for all of us and for business.
The sustainability movement, in the last few years, has figured out that “doing less harm” is insufficient. It is based on fixed ideas to which we implicitly agree to adhere. We become attached to their ‘rightness’ and do as much as possible to adhere to them and correct anything off course – e.g. fair trade may not make a village work better, it is just less bad. I call this approach “arresting disorder,” which translates to paying a lot of attention to slowing down destructive actions.
Last month we held our fifth annual Sedex conference in Shanghai. With tickets sold-out weeks before the event it was our biggest China conference yet, filling the room with over 200 delegates from businesses across China and further afield. But what struck me about the conference wasn’t the size of it, but the way conversations about workers are changing.
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about what we need from business leaders. And by business leaders, I mean everyone who is actively making (or influencing) business decisions. We know there are myriad problems that we need to deal with and that we have a limited amount of time with which to right the ship. As such, we have to rethink the way we do business, but I think there’s a growing cabal of folks who can help get us where we need to go. I call them Radical Intrapreneurs.I know the word “radical” tends to make folks fret, so let’s try to uncoil that reaction with a few definitions.
Apple announced on Monday it has closed a deal to annex 100 acres in Claremont, NC for a new 17.5-megawatt solar farm, the construction of which is expected to cost some $55 million, according to Apple Insider. The Hickory Daily Record reports that Apple's latest olar installation will bring 100 acres of land into the city's corporate limits and should generate roughly 75 jobs, which the company agreed to source locally. Construction of the farm is expected to be completed in five years.
Symantec, one of the world's largest security software companies, has announced the launch of a first-of-its-kind program, the Symantec Cyber Career Connection (SC3), to address the global workforce gap in cybersecurity and provide new career opportunities for young adults who may not be college-bound. The program was announced as a Commitment to Action at the Clinton Global Initiative America meeting by Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton and Symantec’s executive director of the program, Aled Miles.
IKEA has announced it will raise its average minimum wage in its US stores to $10.76, a 17 percent increase over the current wage, and $3.51 above the current federal minimum wage.The furniture company says the increase will impact approximately half of its US retail workers. Hourly wages will vary based on the cost of living in each store location -- this is a departure from determining wages based on the local competitive situation and is centered on the needs of the employee. The wage increase is based on the MIT Living Wage Calculator, which takes into consideration housing, food, medical and transportation costs plus annual taxes.
Future 500 CEO Bill Shireman moderated two discussions during Sustainable Brands 2014 earlier this month that explored major progress made in the past two years in advancing zero-deforestation supply chains and implications for climate, human rights and transparency.Shireman kicked off the session on day one with an intriguing quote by a famous revolutionary: "There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen."
Increasing efficiency is among the several sustainability moves that will be critical for increasing the world’s food production by an estimated 70 percent to feed a projected global population of 9.6 billion people by 2050, according to the 2013 US Dairy Sustainability Report.The report, published by The Innovation Center for US Dairy®, outlines progress to measure, communicate and improve the social, environmental and economic performance of the dairy industry. This progress has helped strengthen dairy’s role in a sustainable food system, the organization says.