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The Next Economy

The myriad new models and processes aimed at fixing the flaws in capitalism and laying the groundwork for practical, alternative economic frameworks designed to benefit all stakeholders.

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New Bank of the West Report Highlights Major Consumer Knowledge Gaps in Sustainable Finance

Cross-Posted from Finance & Investment. Fossil fuels and other climate-risky endeavors are still big money for banks; and even if consumers find their bank continues to fund them, it’s something they often feel powerless to change.

New Target Collection Answers Increased Consumer Demand for Products That Reduce Waste

Cross-Posted from Marketing and Comms. The ‘Target Zero’ collection features products and packaging designed to be refillable, reusable or compostable; made from recycled content; or made from materials that reduce the use of plastic.

Advertising: A Missing Link in Successful Corporate Climate Action Plans

Cross-Posted from Marketing and Comms. Advertising is a $700B industry that has been overlooked as a source of significant carbon emissions. To achieve sustainable advertising, we must make it easier for companies to calculate their Scope 3 emissions. Here's how some of the world's largest brands, agencies and ad-tech companies will benefit from new innovations.

How Can Apparel Brands Solve a Problem Like Deadstock?

Cross-Posted from Waste Not. A growing number of niche brands are finding success with apparel repurposing; but many larger apparel companies have no best practices in place for managing their enormous volumes of unsellable merchandise. Fortunately, a new sub-industry of upcycling partners is stepping in to ‘reimagine’ increasingly large volumes of deadstock.

Racing to Zero, Part 3: Reimagining Construction for Circularity

The latent circular revolution is slow in getting off the ground in construction — but it’s time to reimagine and transform the industry. Here we explore eight key shifts to help construction actors rise to the circular challenge.

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IPCC to Global Business and Government Leaders: The Jig Is Up

The latest IPCC report provides further detail about just how far we’re careening off the proverbial rails and our ever-narrowing window for getting back on a habitable track. But it also provides deeper insight into a potential path forward — if we take definitive, collective action immediately.

EU Proposes Plan to Hold Companies Accountable for Human Rights Violations

The Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence would oblige companies to identify, prevent, and mitigate human rights and environmental violations in their value chain. But there is debate over whether companies can be reasonably expected to control their entire value chain, down to the smallest suppliers.

New UN Global Treaty Seeks to Break the ‘Plastic Wave’

We can cut annual flow of plastic into the ocean by 80% in the next 20 years. The technology and will is there, but one important piece of the puzzle is missing — and the UN is hopeful they can pull it together.

Meet Svart: The World’s First Off-Grid, Energy-Positive, Luxury Resort

Cross-Posted from Product, Service & Design Innovation. The futuristic hotel is being built using a ‘360-degree, holistic circular approach.’ With a data-driven approach to next-level ecotourism, Svart’s goals include not only its guests’ relaxation, but education on environmental conservation, and changes in ‘attitude and behavior.’

After Going Public, On Rightly Has Its Head in the Cloud

The Swiss company now has the funds to take its sustainability ethos to the next level — with the launch of a potentially game-changing, truly circular shoe and long-awaited subscription service.

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How Climate Risk Can Inform Climate Solutions

The fast and yet slow pace of climate change, along with the geographically dispersed nature of the impacts, can make a collective risk accounting seem overwhelming. Yet there is an interplay between climate risk and certain mitigation measures; we need to factor the risks into how we approach solutions.

There’s an Opportunity for Purpose Leadership in the Metaverse Gold Rush

Companies getting into the gold rush of the metaverse can, like many before them in burgeoning industries, put profit first with little thought to the implications on society. Rarely have we been able to proactively factor in brand purpose and ESG planning into the early stages of an industry; and we have the unique opportunity to get it right this time around.

To Ensure Our Future in Business, We Must Make Sustainability Accessible to All

As consumer-product companies, we have a unique ability to make meaningful change in the broadest sense — and a shared responsibility to our consumers to help make doing the right thing an easy, affordable choice.

The 3 Vital Perspectives Sustainability Leaders Need for the 2020s

As we look back on 25 years of the sustainability movement and focus on the critical decade ahead, we challenge business leaders to embrace three vital perspectives in order to drive deep transformation of the way we live and work in unsettled times.

‘Toxic Tours’ Shed Light on Communities Most Affected by Petrochemical Pollution

Cross-Posted from Marketing and Comms. New platform from Break Free from Plastic explores the hardest-hit frontline communities in the world, from India to Ohio. After hearing each story, viewers can choose to view another location, or take actions designed to make local and global impact.

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Umpqua Bank Offers $2M Infusion to Support Minority, Women Entrepreneurs

Cross-Posted from Finance & Investment. Through a series of multi-year partnerships with business-focused nonprofits, Umpqua aims to close the opportunity gap in access to capital, resources, and expertise for traditionally underserved innovators.

Meet the Company Deconstructing Food Products to Reconstruct a More Resilient Food System

Cross-Posted from Product, Service & Design Innovation. Journey Foods is on a mission to transform our food system, one product at a time. Its database of over 17B data points on millions of food products and ingredients is helping companies optimize the complete lifecycle of products, from ideation to market.

Rural Studio Immersion Program Enriching Students, Reviving West Alabama’s Black Belt

Cross-Posted from Product, Service & Design Innovation. At Auburn University’s architectural-training program, “housing is health.” Associate Director Rusty Smith asserts: “As architects, we have a professional responsibility. It's not only an ethical or moral responsibility; it's a professional responsibility, as well, to act when we see people in crisis.”

No Matter the Industry, We All Have a Role to Play in Fighting Hunger

As I write this, we are anxiously awaiting the US Senate to pass President Biden’s “Build Back Better” legislation. It’s important that this passes, as it calls for the continuation of the Child Tax Credit program that has been instrumental in helping US families rise out of poverty.

14 Innovators Win Grants for Solutions Aimed at Sustainably ‘Seeding the Future’

Cross-Posted from Product, Service & Design Innovation. The startups and NGOs have won the inaugural Seeding the Future Global Food System Challenge, from the Institute of Food Technologists, aimed at scaling innovations that will help transform the food system.

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