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
Political deadlock in Washington might be stifling any hope of a national carbon program, but it isn’t preventing companies from establishing their own initiatives. Take Microsoft, which has implemented a carbon fee program aimed at incorporating the cost of carbon pollution, both internal and external, into the financial structure of the company.First implemented at the beginning of the 2013 fiscal year (July 1, 2012), Microsoft’s Carbon Fee Program is a financial model that puts an incremental fee on the carbon emissions associated with the company’s operations.
We know that stakeholder engagement is tough. Whether large or small, here at 2degrees we’ve seen businesses around the world sourcing expert opinion from our pool of sustainability professionals to find out how best to continue their journey.We also know that you guys are doing some tremendous things — initiatives that have been largely tucked away in a cupboard, silently working away without the respect they deserve. And we think they need a little bit of sunshine.Enter the 2degrees Champions Awards, v 2.0.
Sony Pictures’ upcoming blockbuster The Amazing Spider-Man 2 weaves an exciting web of action onscreen, combined with environmental consciousness and responsibility behind the screen. According to the studio, the physical production of the film, hailed as “the most eco-friendly blockbuster in the history of the studio” by Hannah Minghella, president of Production at Sony Pictures, was entirely carbon-neutral, thanks to attention to a variety of pertinent and easily modifiable details.
Strengthening the systems that provide health products and care is the most critical investment in global health, according to international survey results released today by Devex and global health organizations PSI and PATH.Of the 1,500 international health development experts polled in the survey, 63 percent believe that strengthening health systems is a crucial investment over the next five to 10 years. The survey also found that 60 percent of respondents rated improving service delivery systems — or getting health care to people who need them — as a top priority for achieving stronger health systems.
Microsoft, Allstate and Unilever are sponsoring California’s first We Day — an educational initiative aimed at inspiring students to become active local and global citizens — on March 26.Organized by international charity and educational partner Free the Children, the event will feature celebrity speakers and performers including recording artists Macklemore, Selena Gomez and Jennifer Hudson, Kid President, and actors Seth Rogen and Orlando Bloom. It will bring together 16,000 students from over 400 schools across the state.
Because sustainability impacts occur in the hands of decision makers and front-line employees across an organization, a successful approach to sustainability requires that managing or acting sustainably be a job function for every employee, every day. This means everyone is responsible and no one is exempt from managing and acting with sustainability in mind.
Marks & Spencer has become the first retailer to receive the triple award of certification for achievements in carbon, water and waste reduction from the Carbon Trust. The Carbon Trust Standards are independent certifications recognising organisations that successfully measure, manage and reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, water use and waste — demonstrating leadership within their sector by making year-on-year progress.
The story of the hedgehog and the fox, originally conceived in ancient Greece and popularized in the 1950s by philosopher Isaiah Berlin, figures prominently in the business canon as a parable of depth vs. breadth. The most popular version of the tale involves a hungry, wily fox and a slow, simple hedgehog. One expects the fox to devour his prey. But the hedgehog regularly evades death by freezing in place, forming into a ball of unappetizing spikes, too painful a prospect for even the hungriest of foxes. The hedgehog's ability to "know one thing well" prevails over the fox's assiduous advances.
Five major brands have just made news for decisions that buck the bottom-line mantra. Could this be momentum for the "CVS Effect"? Take a look and see if you agree. And note too how brands are joining with allies on these issues, while one brand — Chipotle — is potentially breaking major new ground.Feb. 28: Apple CEO defends doing the right thing — not just the bottom line
IBM, Sprint, Boeing and several other brands were among this year’s winners of the EPA's Climate Leadership Awards. Nineteen awards were given to 15 organizations and two individuals in the public and private sectors for their leadership in addressing climate change by reducing carbon pollution.The EPA says the awards recognize and incentivize exemplary corporate, organizational and individual leadership in response to climate change. Award recipients represent a wide array of industries, including finance, manufacturing, retail, technology, higher education and local government. The 2014 Climate Leadership Award recipients are:Organizational Leadership Award: City of Chula Vista; Sprint; and University of California, Irvine
A majority of American workers prefer executives that utilize newer, more collaborative leadership styles, and 7 out of 10 associate these leadership styles with women, according to a new study by Pershing LLC.Conversely, some 77 percent of respondents attribute “traditional” leadership approaches, such as giving orders and employing the reward/punishment model, with men.
Apple, SolarCity, San Diego International Airport, Sungevity and Sapphire Energy have joined with more than 120 California-based companies in signing the Climate Declaration, a business leader call to action that urges federal and state policymakers to seize the economic opportunity of addressing climate change.
Why do some entrepreneurs manage to defy social gravity and thrive, while most go down in flames? How is it possible to attract a truly passionate following through social media? Why is the marketing mindset that worked in years past falling flat today? What’s the best way to find security in a flat, upside-down, digitally connected world where cultural and economic boundaries are collapsing like cut-rate lawn chairs?These questions are impossible to answer in any satisfying way without first challenging many conventional beliefs about the nature of human communication.
When I was a director of a financial institution in the 1990s, we struggled in vain to get top executives to pay attention to the Board’s sustainability priorities. To no avail. Then we stumbled upon the idea of rewarding the CEO for long-term sustainability performance. The result? We saw a dramatic improvement in the company’s sustainability performance from then on (financial performance, too!). Once we realized the impact of this simple measure, the board quickly embedded the principle in its compensation philosophy, which, in turn, spread the concept throughout the management ranks.Investor scrutiny of “pay for breathing” practices shows results
What would happen if your company ceased to exist? Would journalists write headlines heralding your past achievements, or would their stories simply add you to a list of bygones? Would analysts express disappointment or would they point to indicators that made your death predictable? Would employees wonder how it could have ended, or would they have known it was inevitable? Would customers mourn your passing, or would the demise of your brand go unnoticed?
Last month, a front-page New York Times story reported that global business leaders Coca-Cola, Nike, and others are factoring in climate change risks as threats to the bottom line. This news followed CDP’s December reveal that 29 major companies use a shadow carbon price in their finances for climate risk evaluation.What do these stories have in common? Risk.
In part one of our review of Andrew Savitz’s book Talent, Transformation, and the Triple Bottom Line, we explored why human resource managers should be involved in a brand’s sustainability initiatives. Now, we’ll look at how companies can leverage HR to achieve sustainable growth throughout the entire workforce lifecycle, starting from employee selection all the way to retirement.
Finding the right media partners for your advertising dollars is a critical part of any brand’s market success. It’s a competitive landscape with new and traditional advertising mediums vying for consumer attention as well as your coveted marketing dollars. And for any brand that is a leader in sustainability, partnering with media outlets that complement your values and sustainability positioning is important.
Once considered strange bedfellows, sustainability and human resource management are being increasingly recognized as an ideal match. Andrew Savitz’s book Talent, Transformation, and the Triple Bottom Line: How Companies Can Leverage Human Resources to Achieve Sustainable Growth compellingly demonstrates why HR leaders are uniquely well-positioned to aid in sustainability efforts and why they need to be included in any brand’s successful transition to embedded sustainability. Here are a few of Savitz’s reasons why:
Less than a year ago at Sustainable Brands ‘13, leading brand innovators from around the world came together in San Diego for the seventh year to address some of their biggest sustainability challenges. These innovators realize that no brand is an island and many challenges they face are shared by their peers, competitors, suppliers and customers. In order to support shared learning and collaboration beyond the conference itself, members of the SB advisory board designed a new structure — the SB Collaboratory — to provide a forum for these professionals to come together to share experiences, ask questions, learn from each other and brainstorm a path forward.