Follow the growing amount of collaborative work — cross-functional, cross-sector, pre-competitive and more — bringing about massive, disruptive, needed shifts to business as usual.
The uproar over the recent poaching and killing of Zimbabwe’s beloved Cecil the Lion has thrust wildlife hunting and trafficking back into the international spotlight.On the heels of President Obama’s recent visit to Kenya, he announced on July 31 the formation of the United States Wildlife Trafficking Alliance - a voluntary coalition of non-profit organizations, companies, foundations and media interests that will be working closely with the U.S. government in a collaboration to reduce the purchase and sale of illegal wildlife and wildlife products.
The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF), a global industry network driven by its members to encourage the adoption of practices and standards that serve the consumer goods industry worldwide, has announced publication of the first-ever Sustainable Palm Oil Sourcing Guidelines.
Yesterday marked the launch of the American Business Act on Climate Pledge, uniting 13 of the largest U.S. companies in pledging a collective $140 billion of low-carbon investments in the global economy and over 1,600 MW of new renewable energy. The high-profile pledge is the latest indicator that the White House is succeeding in its effort to garner private-sector support for a substantive climate agreement at COP21.
The world’s first “summit of conscience” for the climate was held Tuesday in Paris, gathering UN officials, religious leaders and prominent global figures to urge action on climate change ahead of the COP21 meeting in December.Arnold Schwarzenegger was among those in attendance. The former California governor and actor spoke of the real threats posed by climate change.
At SB ‘15 San Diego in early June, speakers on the Sustainable Cities panel discussed big issues and a few case studies around global brands building innovative partnerships with cities. They also shared how new, non-conventional partnerships are necessary and discussed opportunities that corporate sustainability teams should take into consideration.
Regional and state governments around the world are committing to ambitious emissions-reduction targets in the lead-up to December’s COP 21 meeting.Today, the Climate Group’s Compact of States and Regions announced record commitments to reducing GHG emissions from 20 governments representing 220 million people and $8.3 trillion in GDP. All reporting governments have a series of reduction targets across their operations, with some as ambitious as 90 percent reduction by 2050 and 100 percent reduction by 2060. 18 governments have also reported renewable energy targets.
Deliver Change, a UK-based non-profit focused on sustainable technology projects, launched a campaign this week called “Let’s make air pollution visible,” which aims to bring together businesses, policy makers and local groups to solve the problem of air pollution in the UK.“Air pollution remains the greatest invisible threat to our health today, as well as to the economic performance of our cities,” said Deliver Change chief executive Jonathan Steel. “People are waking up to the problem, but we need to be able to see the ‘unseeable’.”
Unilever unveiled a new initiative at the Cannes Lions festival on Friday that aims to put fresh momentum behind its Sustainable Living Plan with public input. The Foundry IDEAS platform will act as a hub for consumers and entrepreneurs to work together to tackle sustainability challenges.
Last week, The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) — whose membership includes hundreds of consumer brands from a range of industries around the world, including food giants Campbell Soup, Clif Bar, Hershey, Mars and Procter & Gamble — announced a new resolution to mitigate the roughly 40 percent of food wasted globally by agreeing to halve food waste within the operations of its 400 retailer and manufacturer members by 2025, and to support wider U
The Hershey Company today announced a partnership that will support its campaign to fight malnutrition in Ghana. As part of its Energize Learning program, the company is teaming up with the Ghana School Feeding Programme and current partner Project Peanut Butter to distribute a peanut-based protein supplement called Vivi to schoolchildren. The program aims to reach 50,000 children by 2016, and eventually expand to serve all children in Ghana’s school feeding program.
This week, five major companies from the beverage and chemical industries announced a collaboration on sustainability initiatives in the shipping sector. FrieslandCampina, AB InBev, AkzoNobel, DSM and Huntsman will join forces under the BICEPS (Boosting Initiatives for Collaborative Emission-reduction with the Power of Shippers) network to create momentum for sustainability improvements in shipping.
Healthcare firm GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Columbia University’s National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP) and Save the Children have announced a partnership to protect the millions of children who are at risk of natural or man-made climate disasters.The Resilient Children/Resilient Communities Initiative — funded through a $2 million, three-year grant from GSK — will analyze and recommend procedures, trainings and guidance to help localities shield children from post-disaster devastation.
Field to Market: The Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture and The Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy announced a new partnership this week that seeks to harmonize on-farm sustainability metrics and drive greater collaboration between the two organizations. The collaboration will benefit crop producers, dairy farmers and the entire agricultural supply chain by creating a more consistent approach for measuring and advancing continuous improvement in the sustainability of dairy feed production.
Given the packed room for Wednesday afternoon’s panel discussing carbon offsetting, it’s evident that as organizations become increasingly aware of their environmental risks, carbon management has become a critical tool.
Whirlpool Corporation and Kohler will collaborate to identify ways to achieve net-zero water in the home, according to an announcement made this week at SB '15 San Diego.During the conference, representatives from both companies discussed a shared hope to create energy and water advancements that lead to reduced consumption and allow existing buildings to become self-sustaining systems.
Fresh from its successful collaboration with Southwest Airlines on its LUV Seat collection of bags and accessories upcycled from the airline’s leather seats, Looptworks has launched an email campaign to enlist its customers’ help in restoring the Colorado River.
Last week, California governor Jerry Brown signed an international agreement with 11 other state and province leaders, collectively representing more than 100 million people, to keep the global average temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius.Under 2 MOU is a subnational agreement designed to lead nations towards a legally binding global agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions ahead of this year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris this December.
There have been many high-profile commitments by corporations to end deforestation in their supply chains and to transition to sources that preserve these valuable forest resources. And while most will agree that deforestation remains one of the greatest contributors to global climate change, not all are in agreement on how exactly businesses will make this transition in a way that continues to meet the demands of their customers.
Hilton Worldwide today announced an initial three-year commitment with World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to reduce its impact on the environment.
The 7.8 magnitude Nepal earthquake that hit on April 25th has yielded a death toll of over 6,000, with thousands still reported missing. Villages throughout the country have been destroyed as well as a large portion of the capital Kathmandu. The Guardian reports that 90 percent of clinics and schools in some districts have become completely unusable. “There are still injured there who have not been treated. Whole villages are flattened. They need tents very badly,” Kempo Chimed Tsering, a local religious leader, told the Guardian.