Latest News
Small Gains, Big Wins: Net Zero Is About More Than Just Carbon Offsetting
Offsetting initiatives are becoming increasingly popular among businesses looking to be seen as leaders in sustainability. However — while the approach can be an interim solution for operations that can’t be fully decarbonized — companies must focus first on working with their supply chain to identify where immediate changes can be made.
Company Shareholders Vote to Examine More Climate-Beneficial Retirement Plans
FINANCE & INVESTMENT - Campbell's — and many other companies’ — current 401(k) options have employees investing millions in fossil fuels and deforestation through Vanguard, which has just announced it has left the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative.
COP15: ‘Environmental DNA’ Technology Enables World-First Nature Performance-Monitoring Service
NEW METRICS - NatureMetrics says new platform represents breakthrough in understanding and managing our impact on nature — providing simple, standardized metrics to track and report on site-based nature impacts.
Why Activism, Advocacy and Allyship Are Essential to Corporate Diversity
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE - If a corporation really wants diversity and its benefits, the only way to get it is to regularly hire and promote people who don’t look like the current leadership. The task is to create not just the appearance of change, but a genuine commitment to creating equitable organizations and systems.
COP27: Holding Both Hope and Despair as We Fight For Every 0.1°C
COLLABORATION - The first COP took place in 1995 — 27 years later, and it’s easy to understand the scepticism. We’re still quite a long way from universal adoption by all nations and private sector actors of net-zero strategies that align with the urgent timescales science tells us are needed. But no other issue brings 198 nation states together in this way.
Closing the Loop: Rethinking Operations, the Economy to Save the Planet
WASTE NOT - Whether making a widget or a culinary treat, prioritizing a circular life cycle for products helps keep them out of waste streams until they are negligible — or better yet, they never land there.
Record Number of Companies Recognize Biodiversity Risks, But Struggling to Turn Commitments Into Action
FINANCE & INVESTMENT - Self-reported data from over 7,700 companies that responded to questions on biodiversity through CDP’s climate change questionnaire shows they are ready to disclose on biodiversity, sending a powerful signal to negotiators ahead of COP15.
As 2022 Season Closes, World Surf League Reports Progress of ‘We Are One Ocean’ Initiative
WALKING THE TALK - In 2021, WSL launched WAOO to protect and conserve surf ecosystems around the world. Over the 2022 tour season, it collaborated with community organizations, indigenous groups, surfers and others on activations including replanting native coastal vegetation in Hawaii, removing plastic pollution from Indonesian waterways, and restoring coral reefs in Tahiti.
UN Forum on Business and Human Rights, Day 3: Responsible Lobbying vs ‘Corporate Capture’
MARKETING AND COMMS - For most readers, bribery or corruption aren’t part of your everyday experience — though they should be part of due diligence processes on your business partners and supply chain. However, the danger that one department says one thing and another does something different and inconsistent is clear in every company.
The V Model: Validity, Vulnerability and Elon Musk
MARKETING AND COMMS - The financial and reputational freefall that Eli Lilly experienced in the first few weeks of Musk’s tenure as Twitter chief illustrated an underappreciated factor in an organization’s level of vulnerability: validity. Companies need a risk model that includes the key elements of vulnerability — and that helps them take precautions, set up checkpoints and plan for contingencies.
Edge rebrands to deliver more positive impact in a time of action
PRESS RELEASE - Edge has launched its new brand position focused on global impact.
UN Forum on Business and Human Rights, Day 2: A Compass for ‘Big Tech'
WALKING THE TALK - This is the second of three daily updates from the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights 2022. Day two proposed redefining tech companies as part of infrastructure — similar to railways and supply chains — that govern people’s lives, and a new ‘UNGPs Compass’ aimed at doing that.
Q&A: Why Partnerships Are Essential for Delivering Circular Packaging for the Food Industry
FROM PURPOSE TO ACTION: BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE TOGETHER - While flexible packaging plays an important role in keeping food fresher longer, it has long been difficult to recycle. Designing more recyclable flexible packaging from the start and determining a better end-of-life process for current materials is a vital step in reducing food waste.
New Guide Shows How CMOs Can Mainstream Sustainability by Closing Say-Do Gap for Good
MARKETING AND COMMS - BCG and the CMO Sustainability Accelerator — a coalition that includes Sustainable Brands, ANA and Adweek — have developed a practical guide to help brands “bring green to the mainstream” by developing and marketing sustainable choices for all consumers, not just those moved by sustainability claims.
The UN Forum on Business and Human Rights 2022, Day 1: Holding Business to Account
WALKING THE TALK - This is the first of three daily updates from the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights 2022. Day one started a week that focuses not on holding individual companies to account, but where the systems that will enable this are being framed.
New Program Aims to Expand Plastic Film Recycling Capacity in US
COLLABORATION - The joint effort from WM and Dow aims to provide a solution to make it easier for households to recycle the film while the companies explore new options to reuse it. When fully implemented, the program is expected to prevent 120,000 tons of plastic film from reaching landfills each year.
Harnessing the Power of Social Media for Good Delivers Brand Trust and Loyalty While Driving Meaningful Change
MARKETING AND COMMS - When done thoughtfully, brands can use social media to champion sustainable living and generate positive outcomes that are favorable to people, the planet and their overall business results.
Brand Blind Spots, Empty Promises Hindering Effective Action Against Plastic Pollution
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING - As seen in ongoing incidents of greenwashing and a new Greenpeace report, the onus is on consumer product manufacturers to take more comprehensive approaches to stemming their flow of plastic into the world — and turning the tide of public opinion.
New Cookbook Showcases Meals That Benefit Both Human and Planetary Health
MARKETING AND COMMS - "The Cookbook in Support of the United Nations: For People and Planet" features 75 recipes divided into sections on food systems, biodiversity, sustainable consumption, food and climate change, and food waste — and shares each dish’s carbon footprint.
Breaking Through the Logjam to Accelerate Decarbonization in the Energy Sector
WALKING THE TALK - Why have the collective efforts of national governments, NGOs, forward-looking companies and citizens had so little impact on curbing carbon emissions? Here are three reasons why high-level pledges are not translating into concrete actions — and what’s needed to break through.
