Mike Hower
Managing Director, Sustainability & Social Impact
Deutsche Bank
Mike Hower is tagged in 1051 stories.
Page 39 of 53.
Chemistry, Materials & Packaging /
Procter & Gamble has developed a new process to mold plastic that it claims is thinner, cheaper and more environmentally friendly than the current industry standard and could save the company $1 billion a year by using less plastic and different raw materials.The company says it plans to use the material for its own products and its patent applications and may also sell it to other marketers from non-competitive package-goods players to automotive giants.
- 10 years ago
Global investment in climate change plateaued at $359 billion in 2012, roughly the same as the previous year, according to a new study by the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI).The Global Landscape of Climate Finance 2013 says this figure falls well below the $5 trillion the International Energy Agency projects is needed by 2020 to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius — and the gap is likely to widen. The World Bank estimates we are on a path to four-degree Celsius warming, which suggests that efforts to scale up finance are falling further and further behind.
- 10 years ago
Marketing and Comms /
Unilever, KT and Nestlé lead the Tomorrow’s Value Rating 2013 (TVR), which recognizes companies that increasingly demonstrate “clarity of vision and innovation in their pursuit of a sustainable business model.”Sprint, Vodafone, Iberdrola, E.ON, BMW, Ford and Deutsche Telekom rounded out the top 10. Two Tomorrows, the sustainability strategy consultancy that created the rating, says the average for the top 10 this year is 83 percent compared to 55 percent in 2010. While the average score across the companies rated has varied only slightly over recent years, in that time the highest scores have gotten higher. There also is a growing gap between sustainability leaders and laggards, the report says.
- 10 years ago
Collaboration /
Businesses must work with government and the scientific community to help counter damage to the world’s oceans, according to a panel established by the World Bank to advise the Global Partnership for Oceans (GPO).The Blue Ribbon Panel consists of 21 global experts from 16 countries and includes high-level players ranging from CEOs of some of the largest seafood companies in the world — such as Thai Union Frozen Products, Bumble Bee Foods and High Liner Foods — to government officials and prominent marine conservationists. Without taking action to turn around the declining health of the ocean, the panel warns the consequences for economies, communities and ecosystems will be irreversible.
- 10 years ago
Organizational Change /
A majority of Americans (69 percent) would not take a job with a company that had a bad reputation, even if they were unemployed, according to an annual corporate reputation survey released by Corporate Responsibility (CR) magazine and Allegis Group Services. This is a six percent decrease from 2012.CR says it polled more than 1,000 employed and unemployed Americans to gain insights into how both corporate reputation and transparency can impact job decisions.More than half (62 percent) of those currently employed said they would take a job with a company that had a bad reputation if they were offered more money. This number has increased by four percent year-over-year, the magazine says.
- 10 years ago
Waste Not /
UK households waste £6.9 billion ($11 billion) worth of food and drink, or 7 percent of overall sales, each year, according to new research from WRAP.The organization estimates that the grocery retail supply chain produces roughly 6.5 million tons (Mt) of annual waste. Of this, 3.9 Mt is derived from food and drink manufacturers, with the majority being food.
- 10 years ago
Marketing and Comms /
Earlier this week, Dell announced a commitment to reduce the energy intensity of its product portfolio by 80 percent, as part of a comprehensive long-term corporate responsibility framework to achieve by 2020.The information technology company’s 2020 Legacy of Good plan is divided into three areas — the Environment, People and Communities. Dell says the plan complements its overarching purpose to “provide technology that enables people everywhere to grow, thrive and reach their full potential.”The Environment
- 10 years ago
Waste Not /
Boeing and Oracle Team USA are collaborating to recycle 7,000 pounds of carbon fiber from USA-71, a yacht built for the America's Cup campaign in 2003. The hull and mast of the racing yacht will be processed and repurposed — a first-of-its-kind effort for what could be the largest carbon structure ever recycled.Boeing and Oracle Team USA say they are working with research partners to utilize a technique developed to recycle composite materials from Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, which is 50 percent composite by weight and 20 percent more fuel-efficient than similarly sized aircraft.
- 10 years ago
Waste Not /
Italian biotech firm Bio-on has developed a bioplastic called PHA (Polyhydroxyalkanoate), made from agricultural processing waste materials, which is 100 percent biodegradable in water and soil and can be used as a substrate for electric circuits. When combined with suitable nanofillers, the polymer can act as an electricity conductor, with the potential of replacing plastics in most electronics.The company says the use of PHAs can help put a dent in the 50 million tons of waste produced worldwide every year from discarded smartphones, tablets, computers and other electronics.
- 10 years ago
Collaboration /
Monsanto on Friday announced that it has joined a multi-stakeholder coalition aimed at improving health in honey bee populations, which includes agriculture commodity groups, industry groups, government agencies, environmental NGOs and agriculture companies.The coalition will have four priority areas of focus:
- 10 years ago
Marketing and Comms /
Diageo, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Anglo American were recently ranked highest among the companies reporting on indirect emissions and supply chain impacts on the CDP's FTSE 350 Climate Change Report.Launched this week, the report provides an annual update on greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) data and climate change strategies at the UK's biggest public companies. While those topping the list make up a wide range of industries, the financial sector is prominent among the leading eight firms.Rounding up the top 8 were BT, Barclays, British Sky Broadcasting, HSBC and British Land, which all received a disclosure score of more than 90.
- 10 years ago
Boeing and South African Airways (SAA) announced thursday that they will work together to develop and implement a sustainable aviation biofuel supply chain in Southern Africa, the first for the continent.The companies signed a Memorandum of Understanding for sustainable aviation biofuel supply chain development this week at The Corporate Council on Africa's 9th Biennial U.S.-Africa Business, attended by executives from leading U.S. and African firms and government representatives from several countries.Boeing and SAA say their collaboration comes as part of a wider effort to support environmental sustainability for the airline's operations and the commercial aviation industry overall, while also advancing South Africa's social and economic development.
- 10 years ago
Waste Not /
Rogers Family Company says it has developed a single-serve coffee product that is 97 percent biodegradable.The coffee company claims an estimated 9.1 billion single-serve coffee and drink cartridges – some 19 million cubic feet of waste – end up in U.S. landfills each year. According to the National Coffee Association, more than a tenth of U.S. households (12 percent) own single-cup coffee brewers, and that number is on the rise.Rogers Family Company says it created the OneCup BIO to address this longstanding waste challenge and meet the demands of increasingly environmentally conscious consumers.
- 10 years ago
AT&T says it has placed over 7,500 alternative fuel vehicles in 44 states nationwide, reaching the halfway mark of its commitment to invest up to $565 million to deploy close to 15,000 alternative fuel vehicles by 2018.The 7,500th vehicle – a 2013 compressed natural gas (CNG) Chevy Express van - was recently delivered to a U-verse technician in Lenexa, Kansas.The CNG van is part of AT&T’s plan to deploy up to 8,000 CNG vehicles to its fleet over a five year period through the end of first quarter 2014 – the largest U.S. corporate commitment to CNG to date. The company says the 7,500 vehicles it already has put into service are comprised of 5,474 CNG, 1,996 hybrid electric, 27 extended range electric and 3 all-electric vehicles.
- 10 years ago
Supply Chain /
Fair Trade USA has partnered with nonprofit Kiva to help small-scale coffee farmers access financing, improve crop quality and invest in the future of their families and communities.The partnership resulted from a successful collaboration last year between Fair Trade USA, Kiva and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters to pilot Kiva’s first agricultural lending program with a Fair Trade coffee cooperative in Mexico. Kiva says its lenders around the world fully funded nearly all of the loans, which benefited hundreds of small farmers working to prepare their fields for harvest.
- 10 years ago
Collaboration /
CVS recently announced a partnership with health and well-being company Humana to help customers make sense of their healthcare coverage options under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).Starting this month, Humana representatives will be present at CVS’s Project Health events, where individuals can receive free health screenings to check blood pressure, body mass index, glucose, total cholesterol and even receive oral or dental care. During October and November, Humana representatives will be available to answer questions about health coverage under ACA at 80 Project Health weekly events in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan and Texas.
- 10 years ago
Leadership /
The number of women directors who now sit on the boards of the United Kingdom’s largest companies, the FTSE-100, has risen from 12.5 percent to 19 percent since 2011, according to a recent report by the UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.Former British Trade Minister Lord Davies founded Women on Boards in 2011 to track progress towards the UK’s goal of having 25 percent of board positions being held by women by 2015. According to the recent numbers, FTSE-100 companies must appoint 66 more female directors in the next two years to meet the target.The report also shows that the number of all-male boards on the FTSE-100 index has fallen to 6 companies, down from 21 companies in 2010.
- 10 years ago
Supply Chain /
Fair trade and organic fashion company INDIGENOUS has launched an Indiegogo campaign to crowdsource funds to increase access to The Fair Trace Tool and fund social impact research with artisans and farmers to bring the story of fair trade and supply chain transparency to the consumer at the point of purchase.
- 10 years ago
Marketing and Comms /
Microsoft says it achieved carbon neutrality after introducing an internal carbon fee for renewable energy and carbon offsets, which led the company to increase the purchase of green energy in the U.S. by 70 percent, from 1.1 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) in 2011 to 1.9 billion kWh in 2012.
- 10 years ago
Supply Chain /
HP recently announced that it has set a goal of driving a 20 percent decrease in its first-tier manufacturing and product transportation-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions intensity by 2020, compared to 2010, a first for the information technology industry.Developed in consultation with the World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) Climate Savers Program, HP says the GHG emissions-reduction goal will be pursued through a variety of HP-led activities, including:· Business incentives for suppliers to set and achieve tangible GHG emissions-reduction goals.· By 2020, direct prevention of 2 million metric tons of GHG emissions across HP’s multitier supply chain, cumulatively, through specific supplier environmental improvement projects, including:
- 10 years ago