NEW METRICS - 71 percent of all global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions since 1988 can be traced to just 100 fossil fuel producers, including ExxonMobil, Shell, BHP Billiton and Gazprom, says a new report by CDP.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION - Nature-inspired solutions designed to tackle some of the world’s most pressing problems continue to gain steam as five teams of entrepreneurs from around the world vie for the top prize at the 2017 Biomimicry Global Design Challenge.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING - Fashion is slowly shedding its negative rep as brands continue to embrace circular and forward-thinking practices that drive innovation and product durability. Only weeks after announcing a new partnership with Parley for the Oceans, luxury label Stella McCartney has made yet another push to keep the world’s oceans waste-free. The brand has revealed that its Autumn 2017 collection of Falabella GO bags will be made with yarn derived from converted ocean waste.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING - Viscose continues to dominate the news as brands ramp up efforts to eliminate the destruction of ancient and endangered forests and human rights violations from the viscose supply chain, while others fall behind.
COLLABORATION - We can’t become sustainable by going it alone. This is the core tenet that has underpinned the vinyl industry’s sustainability efforts from the onset. As industry leaders first came together to talk about establishing a sustainability platform, there was a general consensus that this was an effort that had to be broad-based and encompass companies across the vinyl value chain.
BLOG - What an honor to be here in this beautiful place with such a great group of passionate leaders — and even more so, to offer you some thoughts as you begin important next steps in your lives — steps that I know will be particularly important to our collective future.
NEW METRICS - To make it easier for companies to reduce their environmental impacts, businesses such as Kering, Interserve, Mars and Asda have banded together to develop a new healthy ecosystem metric designed to support companies as they make the transition to a more sustainable business model.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING - This was no introductory workshop. Everyone in attendance on Monday afternoon, day one of SB'17 Detroit, raised their hand when asked if they knew what biomimicry is, and everyone was interested in diving in and learning how to use biomimicry in their own work. Thus, organizers Nicole Hagerman Miller and Dr.
BUSINESS CASE - Learning from Detroit: Designing a More Diverse, Prosperous and Equitable Economy by Mara Slade Image credit: TechTown In an afternoon panel packed with Detroit leaders, we heard firsthand how they are working in human-centered ways to grow the local economy and support Detroit entrepreneurs.
SUPPLY CHAIN - By 2050, our global population will grow by more than 2 billion, which will require 70 percent more food. In addition to rising demand, companies are facing increasing scrutiny on the environmental impacts across their value chains. While improvements in processing and packaging are helping brands progress on sustainability, interventions at farm level are essential for driving real change. We recently spoke with Pure Strategies’ Co-Founder and Managing Director, Tim Greiner, to learn more about how brands and farmers both are working together to usher the industry towards a more sustainable future.
BUSINESS CASE - It’s been a busy year for Nestlé – joining various initiatives and making strategic investments aimed at everything from boosting recycling infrastructure to developing bio-based packaging to improving consumer eating habits. We spoke with Nestlé’s President of Corporate Affairs, Paul Bakus, ahead of his appearance this week at SB’17 Detroit, to learn how the food giant is leveraging partnerships to achieve its many sustainability goals.
COLLABORATION - Cotton is an integral part of the apparel and textile industry providing livelihoods for over 300 million people across the globe. The environmental and social implications of cotton production are, however, significant.
SUPPLY CHAIN - Four years after the collapse of the Rana Plaza garment factory in which 1,134 people were killed, Fashion Revolution has released its 2017 Fashion Transparency Index, which ranks 100 of the biggest fashion companies on their social and environmental policies, practices and impacts.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE - Seventy-five million people work directly in the fashion and textiles industry. Many are subject to exploitation; verbal and physical abuse, unsafe working conditions and poor pay. While some progress has been made since the collapse of the Rana Plaza garment factory in 2013, which killed 1,138 people, there is still a lot to be done.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION - Just weeks after the launch of McDonough Innovation’s Fashion for Good innovation and practical action lab in Amsterdam, the 12 startups selected to participate in the Plug and Play — Fashion for Good accelerator have been announced.
MARKETING AND COMMS - We’re continuing our discussion (see part one) on the role of activist brands in today’s roiling political and social climate. Our insights come from the Purpose Collaborative – North America’s largest community of purpose, corporate responsibility, and sustainability experts. Tread lightly into this minefield …
NEW METRICS - The question remains of how best to assess the sustainability of whole economies. If existing measurement models such as GDP, ISEW and GPI focus on size or welfare, then we need a third class of models – one that makes it possible to measure the sustainability performance of economies.
CLEANTECH - While electric vehicles have long been identified as a leading solution to reduce emissions and combat climate change, hydrogen fuel cells are still met with significant criticism. The flammability of the element leaves many skeptical about the feasibility of fuel cell vehicles, but for companies such as Toyota and Shell, hydrogen is the future.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION - Two new announcements from Ford highlight how the auto and mobility company is harnessing technology to get ahead. With ambitious plans to launch an autonomous vehicle in 2021, Ford has announced that it is investing $1 billion over the next five years in Argo AI, an artificial intelligence company founded by former Google and Uber leaders, to develop a virtual driver system.
MARKETING AND COMMS - The political unrest seems to be good for advertising with a conscience, as this year’s Super Bowl saw the highest number of Goodvertising campaigns ever.