STAKEHOLDER TRENDS AND INSIGHTS -
Each year in the U.S. more than 2.3 million people experience homelessness, 7.4 million live “doubled up” with friends or family and scores live on the edge of homelessness.
Estimates are a community pays $5,000 for every person who enters a shelter, to say nothing of the social and health problems amongst homeless adults and children.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
Three of the world’s largest insurers have called on G20 leaders to implement a timeframe for the end of fossil fuel subsidies when they meet in China this week.
The G20 has already committed to phase out “inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption” over the “medium term.” In May, the G7 nations pledged to achieve this by 2025.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
NIKE, Inc. has announced a new strategic partnership with private equity firm Apollo Global Management, LLC, aimed at building a transparent and ethical apparel supply chain in the Americas. Through the partnership, Nike aims to increase regional manufacturing capabilities, enable quicker delivery of more customized product to consumers and drive investment in sustainability.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
In most parts of the country, we don’t have an unemployment problem anymore. Our problem is a lack of good job opportunities for most Americans. While millions of jobs have been created since the Great Recession, the fastest job growth has occurred in places such as strip malls and fast food restaurants, where jobs provide people a means of subsistence but not an opportunity to achieve financial security and advance a career. Averaged across all occupations, real wages have not only remained stagnant but have dropped, building on a decades-long trend where workers and their families increasingly cannot afford the basic goods and services they need to get by.
CLEANTECH -
A report released today from As Yow Sow and Corporate Knights reveals that a list of 200 clean energy companies known as the Carbon Clean 200™ (Clean200™) show a simulated annualized return of 21.82 percent over the past decade – nearly triple that of the Carbon Underground 200™, a list of fossil fuel companies being targeted for divestment, which generated a 7.84 percent annualized return over the same period. The Clean200’s high figure was largely due to the explosive growth experienced by Chinese cleantech firms, but firms outside of China still had figures superior to the S&P 1200 global benchmark and Carbon Underground 200.
CLEANTECH -
Information and communications technology (ICT) is expected to play an influential role in the future of agriculture. News this month provides some insight into just how significant it could be: Bayer and DuPont have joined what Reuters is calling an “ag-tech investment boom,” while the startup creating artificial intelligence-based solutions for farms that supply Walmart and other major retailers has completed a $7 million Series A funding round.
CLEANTECH -
For the eco-conscious American, it may seem counterintuitive to invest in companies notorious for deforestation. Unfortunately, they may be unknowingly supporting such corporations through their retirement funds.
“When Americans put their hard-earned money in savings and retirement accounts, they believe they are preparing for a better future. But large asset managers undermine that very future, globally speaking, by putting this money into destructive agribusiness firms, generally through complex investment chains and failures in due diligence,” said Jeff Conant, the senior international forests program manager at Friends of the Earth.
NEW METRICS -
With increasing pressure on natural resources and the accompanying impact on the environment, more businesses are beginning to realize the importance of properly valuing the natural resources upon which they depend. To do this they need to include ‘natural capital’ in their decision-making processes alongside other forms of capital, such as financial and human capital. The challenge for companies is a lack of data, tools and processes to facilitate business decision making in a rigorous and consistent way.
NEW METRICS -
Two years in the making, the first global Natural Capital Protocol was launched today. The standardized framework brings together and builds on a number of approaches that already exist to help business measure and value natural capital. The Natural Capital Coalition suggests that by harmonizing these existing approaches, businesses everywhere can benefit from understanding their relationships with nature.
PRESS RELEASE -
Bank of America today announced a $40 million commitment to connect 100,000 teens and young adults to the skills and employment experiences needed for 21st-century jobs. Over the next three years, in partnership with nonprofit organizations across the country, the bank will fund summer internships, education and job training, and support diverse talent to help build a pipeline that will strengthen and enhance tomorrow’s workforce.
"Investing in young adults to help provide them the opportunities they need to build their career skills makes a meaningful impact in their lives and the lives of our communities," said Brian Moynihan, chairman and CEO, Bank of America.
PRESS RELEASE -
This article was originally posted on the Conference Board, Giving Thoughts Series May 24, 2016.
PRESS RELEASE -
General Motors has announced plans to invest $10m (£6.96m) in a Canadian plant as part of an effort to boost driverless technology and cold weather testing. GM will also hire 1,000 new workers in Ontario to focus on research for connected and driverless cars.
Canada, and particularly Ontario, has been promoting its car-making sector as it attempts to compete with Mexico. Canada has been fighting to keep carmakers in the country. Many have been lured to Mexico, where production is cheaper and the cars have the same tariff free access to the US market.Ontario's Premier called the investment a "vote of confidence".
PRESS RELEASE -
To further expand how Bank of America is creating long-term value across Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors, today the company shares progress made to deliver on its purpose of helping make financial lives better for customers, clients and communities around the world. The Business Standards Report, first published earlier this year, plus the ESG Addendum, together detail how the company is delivering responsible, sustainable growth – making the business more efficient, helping employees realize their potential and helping local communities around the world address their biggest challenges.
CLEANTECH -
Apple seems to be embedding its renewable energy commitments into its corporate structure. The company recently created a new wholly-owned subsidiary known as Apple Energy LLC and filed an application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which regulates power companies, to be able to sell electricity and other power grid services to non-utility customers. The move is a strong sign that Apple will not only fulfill its plans to operate on 100 percent renewable energy through net-metering, but plans to generate and sell renewable energy back to the grid.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
Evonomics co-founders Joe Brewer and Robert Kadar led an engaging presentation-turned-debate Wednesday morning that started with the question, “Is economics a science?”
The discussion generated from this kickoff question set the tone for the rest of the hour, where individuals from academia, finance, NGOs, and corporations engaged in rich discussion on the evolution of economics – its history, its relevance, and its future.
NEW METRICS -
“I think we’re upright and we’re walking, but there’s no higher cortex functions yet,” said Gregory Unruh, sustainability editor at MIT Sloan Management Review, discussing where we stand in sustainable business evolution during a Tuesday breakout session at SB'16 San Diego.
While awareness and valuation of sustainable practices continues to grow overall, investors are demanding more data, better data, and deepening engagement with their investment prospects.
STAKEHOLDER TRENDS AND INSIGHTS -
At Sustainable Brands ’16 San Diego, I’m announcing an additional eight Green Giants. Find out who the new billion-dollar sustainable business leaders are here.
What’s the business case for sustainability? A BILLION DOLLARS.
NEW METRICS -
Global index and data provider FTSE Russell today announced the launch of its LCE data model, which measures the “green” revenues of 13,400 public companies, representing 98.5 percent of total global market capitalization. Revenues from a broad range of large, mid- and small capitalization companies in 48 developed and emerging markets are mapped to 60 new green industrial subsectors, with FTSE Russell assigning each company in the model a low-carbon industrial indicator (LOWCII) factor, representing the ratio of its green revenues to its total revenues.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Back to the Roots, an Oakland, California startup pioneering how families reconnect with food, announced today that it has expanded its January crowdfunding campaign on CircleUp into a $10M Series A. The new investment was led by Acre Venture Partners, Campbell Soup’s venture capital fund for food startups, and also includes funding from S2G Ventures and Red Sea Ventures.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
From investors to growers, producers, blenders and consumers, the below50 initiative, launched today, expects to attract every industry sector involved in the pipeline of sustainable fuels. Any company who produces, uses and/or invests in fuels that are at least 50 percent less carbon intensive than conventional fossil fuels can join below50.