ESG News from Leading Brands

Keep up with the latest environmental, social and governance news from companies embracing the triple bottom line, shared via 3BL's distribution platform.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

My Special Aflac Duck® Testimonial: Dr. William Slayton

his is what health care professionals are saying about My Special Aflac Duck™: “These ducks are a wonderful way to help ease the minds of our youngest patients who are going through therapy. The ducks are programmed to communicate emotion. Through playing with the duck, children can communicate what they are thinking and what their needs are at any given moment. What a terrific tool and wonderful toy to help us better care for our children!" - Dr. William Slayton, Division Chief of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at UF Health Shands Children's Hospital at the University of Florida.

Sustainable Finance & Socially Responsible Investment

Reporting 3.0 Announces Conference Keynoters Led by Doughnut Economics Author Kate Raworth and UN Global Compact CEO Lise Kingo

“If we are to create 21st century economies and businesses that can meet the needs of all within the means of the planet, then Reporting 3.0’s Global Thresholds & Allocations Council is just the kind of initiative that can start making it happen,” says Kate Raworth. “I look forward to exploring and presenting the synergies between Doughnut Economics and Reporting 3.0 in order to promote business for a thriving future.”

Social Impact & Volunteering

Yan Peng: Building a Better World Through Pro Bono

The 2019 Global Pro Bono Summit, hosted by Taproot Foundation, will take place in New York City this May. Leading up to this gathering, Taproot will be releasing a series of profiles featuring movers and shakers of the pro bono movement, from companies with cutting-edge programs to individuals working towards a more engaged society to nonprofits tapping into pro bono service as a way to deepen their impact on the communities they serve.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Mayor Cantrell Welcomed the Johnson & Johnson Global Pro Bono Team to New Orleans

The Mayor of New Orleans, LaToya Cantrell, will welcome the Johnson & Johnson Global Pro Bono team to New Orleans for the program’s official kickoff event at City Hall on April 29. Johnson & Johnson has designed its Global Pro Bono program in collaboration with PYXERA Global to tackle healthcare and community issues by harnessing the power of its most powerful resource—its people. The mayor’s attendance shows that the city believes cross-sector partnerships are needed to improve the lives of the citizens of New Orleans.

The 12-person cohort will engage the skills of employees from Brazil, Colombia, USA, and Canada. The teams will work for four weeks with four organizations in the New Orleans area.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

AccountAbility CEO, Sunny Misser, peaks to the Key Trends Driving Sustainability Performance

AccountAbility CEO, Mr. Sunny Misser, spoke with Mr. Matthew Bechard, Senior Vice President of Communications at the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (Nareit), about the key trends shaping business in 2019.

Environment

Consumers Energy | Bright Future Blooms

Tom Hess has worked with many companies during his 28-year career as an environmental inspector.

In many cases, Hess has experienced clients who tolerate his environmental recommendations, or do only what’s required — often with pressure. Thus, Hess wasn’t sure what to expect when he proposed spending extra money to restore construction areas on a major natural gas pipeline project for Michigan-based Consumers Energy. He suggested using seed mix containing native grasses and wildflowers to attract bees, butterflies and other pollinators losing habitat across the country.

Responsible Production & Consumption

Nestlé Verifies Three-Quarters of Its Supply Chain as Deforestation-Free

Nestlé today announced that 77% of its agricultural commodities are verified as deforestation-free. This is a key milestone in the company’s efforts to achieve its zero-deforestation commitment.

Research, Reports & Publications

Re-imagining Olam

Sunny Verghese, Co-Founder and Group CEO comments: “2018 was another turbulent year for the global economy and the food and agri-industry. Against this backdrop, we continued to focus on ensuring that Olam is future-fit, pioneering a number of major financial, sustainability and digital initiatives to create long-term value for our continuing shareholders and other stakeholders, particularly customers and farmer suppliers.”

Supply Chain & the Circular Economy

Ethical Corporation Announces a New Event to Its Global Events Portfolio

For 14-years Ethical Corporation has run the world-renowned Responsible Supply Chain Summit, providing companies with practical ideas and new connections to help solve the key supply chain issues and opportunities. The past couple of years has seen a significant shift where both procurement and sustainability teams have discussed the challenges on how business can embed sustainability at the heart of supply chain activities.

Education

Don’t Recline Behind the Wheel: High School Student from St. Petersburg, Fla. Wins National PSA Video Challenge

To encourage positive driving habits for young drivers, Shorecrest Preparatory School junior, Caleb Kravitz developed a creative PSA to inspire his peers to practice safe driving skills. His video, titled Don’t Recline Behind the Wheel, is the winner of the Toyota TeenDrive365 Video Challenge, a national peer-to-peer driver safety public service announcement competition. More than a thousand videos were submitted in the TeenDrive365 Video Challenge by teens educating students on the risky behavior of distracted driving.

Education

Lockheed Martin’s Annual “Code Quest” Encourages Students to Explore Careers in Coding, Software, STEM

More than 2,000 high-school students visited Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) facilities across the globe on Saturday to compete in the company’s Code Quest computer programming competition.

Energy

Duke Energy: Cleaner Energy Mix Can Be Affordable, Too

Duke Energy continues to generate cleaner energy at prices below the national average for its 7.7 million residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Innovation & Technology

How Federal Agencies Can Improve Online Experiences—Tips from Booz Allen

Consumer brands from eBay to E*TRADE have raised the bar for online customer experiences, investing in disruptive innovations, and raising expectations for all digital experiences, including those delivered by government. As noted in the 2018 President’s Management Agenda, federal agencies need to keep up. But how can they do so with public sector budgets and under scrutiny? One place to start is technology that scales, yields high ROI, and fits into an agency’s overarching strategy, according to Booz Allen Senior Vice President Shannon Fitzgerald, who leads the firm’s Citizen Services business.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Bloomberg employees make a real impact — on Earth Day and every day

At Bloomberg, sustainability considerations are integrated into everything we do – from the way we operate our business and develop our products to giving back to our communities.

In fact, many of our sustainable projects begin with an employee’s idea. No idea is too small or too big to rally for support. Whether it’s drinking from a re-usable water bottle or installing solar panels, our company is a place where smart sustainable ideas can be put into action.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Human Highlight: Art Formas, Sales Director

February 15th, 2019 marked our Sales Director Art Formas’ 41st anniversary in the energy industry. Well before we became known as NRG, Art worked for our predecessor, Houston Lighting and Power Company, as a Power Consultant—one of seven job titles he’s held in the industry to date.

Education

Meet David Hansen, Executive Director of Global Statistical Programming at Amgen

For David Hansen, learning how to work with others has been his single greatest asset in navigating a technical career. Now Executive Director of Global Statistical Programming at Amgen, he reflects on a career that started in math and science but has evolved to include program management and collaborating across disciplines to bring life-saving medicine to people around the world. He spoke with ABE about this path and advice he has to students.

Research, Reports & Publications

PayPal’s 2018 Global Impact Report

At PayPal, we are focused on creating inclusive economic opportunities for as many people and as many businesses as possible. We strive to create a world where everyone has access to the tools, resources, and opportunities they need to improve their financial health and participate in the global economy. To fulfill our mission, we work to maximize the positive impact of our business and to be a responsible, transparent, and sustainable corporate citizen on behalf of all of our stakeholders. And, we take these commitments seriously.

Environment

ANGEL'S ENVY® Supports the Future of Bourbon Through White Oak Preservation

ANGEL'S ENVY, the Louisville-based craft distiller that produces small batch, hand-finished whiskeys, wants to help ensure that forests of oak trees will stand tall for future generations.

This month, the team took to Daniel Boone National Forest to begin planting 20,724 trees – a commitment generated last September during National Bourbon Month as part of the brand’s annual Toast the Trees campaign.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Yaroslavl Becomes the First Eastern European City to Join Retail Revival

Yaroslavl is an ancient Russian city standing on the legendary Volga River in the country’s northern region. The city boasts more than 1,000 years of history. With access to several major highways, railways and waterways, Yaroslavl has become an important industrial center in Eastern Europe. Today, entrepreneurs in Yaroslavl are working to make its unique offerings better known on a global stage. Together with the Center of Entrepreneurship Support, eBay is helping small-to-medium business owners in Yaroslavl learn to sell online.

Education

Smithfield Foods Makes Sizable Donation to Support STEAM Education in Rural Communities

The Smithfield Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Smithfield Foods, Inc., announced today a $350,000 donation to FUSE Studios, a high-quality and results-driven educational program piloted through Northwestern University that aims to transform science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) learning in schools across America. Smithfield’s substantial contribution to FUSE is part of the company’s recently announced charitable grant program that aims to address the unique needs of Smithfield’s local communities. The company’s donation will support 20 new FUSE Studios in participating school districts throughout the Midwest and North Carolina beginning in Fall 2020.

Energy

Energy Is No Longer A Cost Center: How Executives Can Use Efficiency to Future-Proof Business

Already, 93 percent of global commercial and industrial companies have energy efficiency technologies in place. Meanwhile, adoption of combined heat and power (CHP) systems and battery storage increased at a similar rate to renewables: up 11 percent in 2019 from the previous year. These companies realize emissions are inextricably linked to energy consumption, which can be a major contributor to net corporate expenditure and a hurdle for low-carbon growth. In fact, a recent International Energy Agency study shows that efficiency improvements can yield up to 13.8 percent growth in annual profits.

Media & Communications

Environmental Threats to Us and Mother Earth --- Seven Trends to Consider…and Develop Solutions From the Forum for the Future

This week we celebrated Earth Day. That first (1970) observance became a catalyst for action – soon after the first of a series of environmental-focused Federal legislation began to change dirty air to cleaner and then clean, and more laws to address a very unhealthy state of affairs in the U.S.A. (The Environmental Act, Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, RCRA, etc.). But…the challenges for society have not gone away. The list of “hot ESG issues” grows by the week.

Research, Reports & Publications

Hunger, Help, and Hope: Albertsons Companies Highlights Food and Financial Outreach and Releases Community Impact Report for Foundation Giving

Albertsons Companies and Albertsons Companies Foundation today announced the results of a wide-ranging donation and community involvement effort to effect change in the neighborhoods they serve. Through the hard work of its employees and generosity of its customers, the nation’s

Diversity & Inclusion

HP's Sustainable Impact: HOPE Program

HOPE is one of the D&I initiatives in China. HOPE stands for Opportunity & Equality program, provides development and practice opportunities for people with disabilities, or different-ability.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

EPA Recognizes GM for Green Power Leadership

General Motors has earned a spot on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Top 100 List of the largest green power users from the Green Power Partnership. Ranked No. 29, GM is the only automotive company on this list. GM is also No. 6 on the GPP’s Top On-Site Generation list and No. 14 on EPA’s list of Green Power Partners from the Fortune 500®.

Latest Campaigns

  1. Investing in our Communities
    We invest in sustainable community outcomes that improve lives.
  2. Cascale Events
    Cascale organizes and participates in a series of events, leveraging its position as a global convener of close to half the sector to bring together...
  3. CARE News & Stories
    CARE News & Stories is where to find out what's happening around the world through vibrant, engaging stories that put humanity at the center. 👉 https...
  4. Innovation & Sustainable Solutions
    Chemours chemistry is essential to our daily lives, global commerce, and the future. Our commitment to product sustainability drives us to innovate...
  5. Policy
    Ceres is the leading organizer of investor and company support for climate and clean energy policies in the U.S. By making the economic case for...
  6. Corporate Social Responsibility
    Corporate Social Responsibility
  7. Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG)
    The business landscape is reorienting itself and you can almost hear priorities shifting toward change-readiness and the bigger picture. And in this...
  8. Policy and Regulation
    Cascale shares insights regarding policy and regulation impacting the consumer goods industry, and highlights how it's supporting members prepare for...
  9. ESG Talk: Season Three
    The ESG Talk podcast features candid conversations with business leaders from around the world. In season three, co-hosts Mandi McReynolds, Steve...
  10. Aflac Stories
    Get a closer look at the people, products and stories that make Aflac the company we know today.
  11. KeyBank's Community Investment
    In states where Key has a presence, there are approximately 1.7 million low- to moderate-income (LMI) households. Many LMI individuals don’t have bank...
  12. Advancing Sustainable Development Goals
    SUMMARY: SCS is working to empower companies, NGOs, institutions and government agencies around the globe meet the United Nation's Sustainable...
  13. State Policy
    It is imperative that states maintain and expand policies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting clean energy solutions. Strong...
  14. Integrity and Trust
    Our commitment to trust and responsibility informs our entire business. We foster that trust by incorporating privacy and security into every phase of...