ESG News from Leading Brands

Social Impact & Volunteering

LA Galaxy Girls’ Academy Director Joins Mayor Eric Garcetti to Speak Out Against Sexual Violence During Denim Day

Apr 27, 2017 2:45 PM ET

In support of Denim Day – a day of action to protest sexual violence by wearing denim clothing –AEG’s new LA Galaxy Girls’ Academy Director Kevin Hartman joined Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Singer Aloe Blacc and other officials yesterday morning to proclaim Denim Day throughout the city with an official presentation at City Hall in Downtown Los Angeles.

Education

Promoting Physical Safety Programs and Education on College Campuses

Apr 27, 2017 1:50 PM ET

Often a stepping stone from childhood to young adulthood, college acts as a safe environment in which students can explore life beyond high school before entering the workforce.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Impact at Work: Wheeler Mission Ministries Project Spotlight

Apr 27, 2017 1:10 PM ET

This National Volunteer Week, we’re excited to highlight a project with a talented team from Charles Schwab and its nonprofit partner, Wheeler Mission Ministries (Wheeler), whose mission is to meet the short-term and long-term needs of homeless, hungry and other people in need in central Indiana. Wheeler's Center for Women & Children operates Restored Creations, a social enterprise run by women from their various long-term programs that produces and sells hand-poured, scented, soy blend candles. We paired Wheeler with a team of Schwab volunteers to develop an interactive financial model that informs the development of a financial and operational strategy to promote sales growth for the Restored Creations Program.

Responsible Production & Consumption

Timberland Joins Forces with Over 100 Signatories to Accelerate Social Progress in Factories Worldwide

Apr 27, 2017 1:00 PM ET

Social compliance is nothing new for Timberland. The nearly $2 billion global outdoor lifestyle brand formally launched its factory compliance program in 1994 with the creation of its Code of Conduct, which established minimum standards for workplace conditions and worker rights. Today, most every major brand has its own compliance program and standard against which it audits its factories. This is good news for workers around the world, but often presents logistical challenges for factories, as each brand tends to use its own audit tool, meaning factories can be audited multiple times each year with a different set of standards, codes and protocols for each brand. The time and resources factory owners spend with multiple auditors from multiple brands often detracts from their ability to

Energy

Spring Power & Gas Launches Green-e Certified Natural Gas Offset and REC Plans for Maryland and New Jersey

Apr 27, 2017 1:00 PM ET

Center for Resource Solutions (CRS) announced that Spring Power and Gas, a retail energy provider of electricity and gas supply services for Maryland and New Jersey, launched two Green-e certified products: “Zero Gas,” a natural gas product paired with Green-e Climate certified carbon offsets; and “Wind REC,” a Green-e Energy certified renewable energy certificate (REC) product. Both are available to new Spring Power and Gas customers in MD and NJ.

Social Impact & Volunteering

NFL Cornerback Coty Sensabaugh Pays It Forward, Serving Communities in Need

Apr 27, 2017 12:30 PM ET

"I volunteer because I enjoy putting smiles on other people's faces," said Coty Sensabaugh, cornerback for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Coty finds every excuse to help others – even at his own wedding, where in lieu of gifts, he and his wife, Dominique, asked guests to donate shoes or money to Soles4Souls. Accompanied by friends and family, the newlyweds traveled to the Dominican Republic and distributed more than 500 pairs of shoes to adults and children in need. Through his involvement with the group, Coty has helped collect more than 11,000 pairs of shoes.

Education

Qualcomm Cultivates Interest in STEM Education

Apr 27, 2017 12:15 PM ET

Science, technology, engineering and mathematics, known collectively as STEM, are essential for inventions that we bring to life. It’s easy to imagine that technology will always get better, faster and cheaper – but without disruptors, scientists and engineers, our culture of creative innovation would not exist. We must lead the next generation of great thinkers and inventors by showing them the possibilities that lay before them in areas such as robotics, connected cars, IoT and 5G. Our STEM education efforts are helping to do just that and more.

Events, Media & Communications

UN Global Compact Calls on Business to Shift from Incremental Change to Breakthrough Innovation on the SDGs

Apr 27, 2017 11:35 AM ET

“Time is of the essence,” urged Lise Kingo, CEO and Executive Director of the United Nations Global Compact, to an audience of more than 300 local and global leaders from business, finance, civil society, Government and the UN, at the conclusion of the UN Global Compact two-day event, Making Global Goals Local Businesses – India, in New Delhi today. The closing of the meeting focused on the opportunities for driving transformational change and using breakthrough innovation to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Research, Reports & Publications

Lockheed Martin Releases Its 2016 Sustainability Report

Apr 27, 2017 11:25 AM ET

Our 2016 Sustainability Report, “Science of Citizenship” details how we are making progress against our newest cycle of Sustainability Management Plan goals and our five newly-evolved core areas: business integrity, employee wellbeing, product impact, information security, and resource efficiency.

Media & Communications

Domtar Monthly Minute | April 2017

Apr 27, 2017 11:20 AM ET

Check out Domtar's April Monthly Minute today for sustainability news, eco-tips and fun facts.

Diversity & Inclusion

Sanofi Espoir Foundation’s Presentation at the New African Woman Forum

Apr 27, 2017 11:05 AM ET

Social Impact & Volunteering

Man Turns Heartbreak into Mission to Adopt

Apr 27, 2017 11:00 AM ET

When Steve Allen lost his wife to cancer in 2011, he didn’t know what to do with all the love that was left in his heart.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

The Stanley Cup® and Hockey Stars to Arrive in Eight Communities in Nunavut

Apr 27, 2017 11:00 AM ET

Scotiabank, Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities, the NHL®, Project North and First Air, are inviting eight Nunavut communities to experience a special celebration of hockey taking place from Wednesday, April 26 to Saturday, April 29.

Research, Reports & Publications

Duke Energy’s Latest Sustainability Report Details Cleaner Energy Investments and Aggressive Goal to Reduce Carbon Emissions 40 Percent by 2030

Apr 27, 2017 10:40 AM ET

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A modernized generating fleet and additional investments of $11 billion in cleaner generation are spurring Duke Energy to establish an aggressive carbon dioxide reduction goal: 40 percent by 2030 from 2005 levels. The goals are spelled out in the company’s 2016 Sustainability Report, which was issued today.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

CITGO Lake Charles Refinery Receives Highest Award from LMOGA

Apr 27, 2017 10:30 AM ET

Recently, the CITGO Lake Charles Refinery received the Pelican award by the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association (LMOGA) at the organization’s annual meeting in New Orleans.

Education

Curiosity Cube Inspires Hands-On STEM Exploration

Apr 27, 2017 10:30 AM ET

Be brave, creative, and curious: that’s what we say at Girlstart every day. We hope to inspire girls to make this their personal goal, because we believe that these three traits are vital to nurturing tomorrow’s STEM workforce. Everything that we do is designed to foster interest and excitement in STEM studies, majors, and careers. MilliporeSigma—a long-time partner and supporter of our programs—demonstrates this same belief through its science education efforts, aimed at inspiring curiosity in the next generation of scientists. In the past, the company helped to fund our summer camp and after-school programs, including new programs for high-need Round Rock schools.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Franklin Park Conservatory Announces The Scotts Miracle-Gro Foundation Children's Garden

Apr 27, 2017 10:15 AM ET

Health & Healthcare

Putting It Plainly

Apr 27, 2017 10:00 AM ET

“As a practicing physician for over a decade and a lawyer committed to improving health policy, I understand patients want to see the results of studies they contributed to, sometimes to see if a medicine might benefit them, but often times because they want to help the next patient. Developing plain language summaries is a way to show our appreciation to patients who made important contributions to our studies and helps take GSK another step forward in our transparency journey.” (Jessica, M.D., Director, Medical Advocacy and Policy)

Environment

FedEx Blazing Trail for Efficient Fleets and Fuels

Apr 27, 2017 10:00 AM ET

Practical sustainability requires leadership, service innovation and efficiency from FedEx team members. We also need smart collaboration with other organizations, such as Environmental Defense Fund and WRI EMBARQ.

Research, Reports & Publications

Transparency & Progress: 2016 NRG Sustainability Report

Apr 27, 2017 9:30 AM ET

Today we publish our 2016 Sustainability report and mark another year filled with firsts for NRG in the U.S. power industry. As corporations and states continue to demand lower-carbon energy – facilitated by rapid technology advancements – the 2016 NRG Sustainability report showcases our commitment to transparency while highlighting the milestones we achieved as we continue to deliver value to our stakeholders.

Health & Healthcare

European Occupiers Turn Their Focus to Wellness and Technology

Apr 27, 2017 9:05 AM ET

Occupiers’ thinking is strongly focussed on introducing efficiency gains and enhanced workplace strategies, increasingly underpinned by greater use of technology.

Sustainable Development Goals

Bechtel Launches Long-Term Sustainability Targets

Apr 27, 2017 9:05 AM ET

Bechtel, a global leader in engineering, procurement, and construction, announced a set of ambitious long-term targets to increase the company’s contributions to global sustainability. The goals and targets are part of Bechtel’s ongoing and comprehensive strategy to further integrate sustainability within the company.

Innovation & Technology

SERVIR West Africa | Assisting Governments to Take Advantage of Publicly Available Data

Apr 27, 2017 9:00 AM ET

Changing climate and strained ecological systems in West Africa intensify pressure from population growth, urbanization, and conflict over resources, all of which pose a substantial threat to economic growth and people in the region. Communities face recurring droughts, floods, food insecurity and famine, and population displacement.

Research, Reports & Publications

EY EMEIA Financial Services Releases its 2016 Sustainability Report: 'Our Sustainability Journey'

Apr 27, 2017 5:00 AM ET

EY continues its sustainability journey with its latest report exploring the six material issues the financial services industry is facing, and reflects on their journey with their clients, people and communities.

Education

Fox’s ‘Xploration Station’ Launches Third-Annual #StudentAstronaut Contest, Giving STEM Students the Chance to Train for a Trip to Mars

Apr 26, 2017 8:30 PM ET

As space exploration efforts around the world focus more and more on mounting a manned mission to Mars, Xploration Station’s latest #StudentAstronaut contest offers America’s top STEM students the chance to join the action. The contest, now in its third year, allows college students to compete for an all-expenses-paid trip to Hawaii to train for a journey to Mars alongside Xploration Outer Space host Emily Calandrelli. Students should apply by posting their video submissions to the Xploration Station Facebook page by Sunday, May 28. Xploration Station is a three-hour block of STEM programming for teens and their families airing weekend mornings primarily on Fox TV Stations in more than 100 million homes nationwide.