ESG News from Leading Brands

Environment

GM’s Carsharing Service Expands. Is Your City Next?

Dec 16, 2016 2:20 PM ET

General Motors’ Maven carsharing service debuted in January 2016 as an alternative mode of transportation for people living in the college town of Ann Arbor, Michigan. It has since grown to 15 more cities and 17,000 users that together have clocked in 40 million miles. Peter Kosak, GM’s executive director of urban mobility, said the company will announce even more locations in 2017.

Health & Healthcare

Volunteers Ensure the American Red Cross Stands Ready to Respond

Dec 16, 2016 2:10 PM ET

Everything the American Red Cross does is powered by the commitment of our volunteers, and the generosity of the public and our corporate partners.

Education

Bechtel Sponsored DiscoverE Future City Team Visits White House, Appears on FabLabTV

Dec 16, 2016 2:05 PM ET

Who knew that joining a Future City team could land you a visit to the White House? That’s exactly what happened to the Nevada Future City team this year. Future City is a middle school competition that ask students to imagine, design and build cities of the future. After four months of designing a virtual city (using SimCity), they write up their solution to a city-wide issue, build scale models of their city, and then present their vision to a panel of judges. Luckily a team from Nevada was chosen to participate in the U.S. Science Fair Engineering Festival which was hosted by U.S. President Barack Obama, April 16-17, 2016.

Innovation & Technology

Topcoder, Booz Allen and Red Hat bring the Best Coders in the World to D.C. for the ‘Super Bowl’ of Crowdsourcing Competitions

Dec 16, 2016 2:00 PM ET

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Walmart and the Walmart Foundation Announce $250,000 Towards Relief and Recovery Efforts in Tennessee Wildfires

Dec 16, 2016 1:50 PM ET

Walmart and the Walmart Foundation have made a commitment to provide support of $250,000 to organizations helping with relief efforts for those affected by Tennessee wildfires in Sevier County, which includes Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Sevierville.

Environment

Task Force Issues Specific Guidance for the Financial Sector

Dec 16, 2016 1:25 PM ET

A key aim of the FSB Task Force is to encourage disclosures that "would enable stakeholders to understand better the concentrations of carbon-related assets in the financial sector and the financial system's exposures to climate-related risks."

Diversity & Inclusion

How to Reward Employees With Time Off for Volunteer Work

Dec 16, 2016 1:25 PM ET

There’s a lot of evidence to show that launching a paid time off to volunteer (VTO) initiative will improve your corporate social responsibility image while benefiting your company in return. Here are a few things you need to know if you want to reward employees with time off for volunteer work.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

A Day for All Dogkind

Dec 16, 2016 1:15 PM ET

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Helping Public-Private Partnerships Reach Their Full Potential

Dec 16, 2016 12:30 PM ET

Companies partner with nonprofit organizations every day, but how closely are they measuring the outcomes of these partnerships? Are companies holding their partners accountable and setting goals that will help define success?

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

A Gift - Help 10 Students and Yourself - One for TEN for CSR

Dec 16, 2016 12:00 PM ET

CSRHub will give you 10% off an annual plan AND give TEN students a free subscription for their academic research… from now until 12/31. We are calling this our One for Ten for CSR.

Sustainable Finance & Socially Responsible Investment

Swiss Re Adopts Climate-Related Financial Disclosure Recommendations

Dec 16, 2016 10:35 AM ET

Swiss Re announced on Wednesday that it will adopt the climate-related financial disclosure recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).

Social Impact & Volunteering

Timberland’s Holiday Season of Giving

Dec 16, 2016 10:00 AM ET

In November, outdoor lifestyle brand Timberland kicked off its holiday season of giving at its Stratham, NH headquarters to benefit the local community. Since then, through the company’s Path of Service™ program, more than 100 employees have volunteered at seven events in support of nonprofit organizations in New Hampshire. Approaching its 25th year, Timberland’s Path of Service™ program provides employees with up to 40 paid hours each year to serve in the community.

Sustainable Finance & Socially Responsible Investment

Carney-Backed Report Urges Companies to Disclose Climate Change Effects

Dec 16, 2016 9:40 AM ET

A task force led by Michael Bloomberg and backed by Mark Carney has urged companies to disclose to investors the impact of climate change on their businesses.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Transaction Support for a Retail Petroleum Portfolio Acquisition

Dec 16, 2016 9:20 AM ET

Antea Group was contracted as part of an acquisition team to provide environmental liability and compliance related due diligence services for an approximately 500 location retail fuel outlet portfolio acquisition in the southeast US. The client was a South American energy company making its first retail fuel outlet acquisition in the US, and the project was to be performed under an extremely tight timeline.

Innovation & Technology

PYXERA Global Secures Grant of IBM Technology

Dec 16, 2016 9:10 AM ET

PYXERA Global has earned an Impact Grant from IBM for 2017, giving it data analytics technology designed to help organizations make more informed decisions and be more effective.

Diversity & Inclusion

Nestlé in the U.S. Committed to Implementing Responsible Sourcing

Dec 16, 2016 8:35 AM ET

Nestlé in the U.S. is committed to establishing and growing successful business relationships with qualified and certified diverse suppliers that reflect the gender, cultural and ethnic diversity of the consumers we serve.

Innovation & Technology

Arrow Electronics’ Technology Helps IndyCar’s Sam Schmidt Compete in Annual Online Race for Charity

Dec 16, 2016 8:20 AM ET

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

HP's Kirstie McIntyre on Circular Economy

Dec 16, 2016 8:15 AM ET

Sustainability—both operational and environmental—is crucial for any enterprise. The pressures on companies are different and more urgent now than they were just ten years ago. Most companies now have business goals based around energy efficiency, reducing waste, and doing more with less, usually for good economic reasons. However, the environmental sustainability of a company is now fully intertwined with its operational sustainability.

Events, Media & Communications

Las Vegas Sands and Sands China Team Members Gather in Macao for Global Sands ECO360 Sustainability Summit

Dec 16, 2016 8:10 AM ET

Sustainability Team Members from each of Las Vegas Sands’ various properties recently attended the 2016 Sands ECO360 Global Sustainability Summit. Also in attendance were some select Team Members from the company’s Macao properties, which included representatives from the following departments: housekeeping, food and beverage, convention and exhibition, facilities, procurement and supply chain, and engineering.

Education

Ten to Watch: Suan Tuang

Dec 16, 2016 8:00 AM ET

Suan Tuang left Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) with his family at the age of 16, and upon arriving in Orlando, FL, his family struggled amidst the economic recession of 2008. Having never even heard of MIT before arriving in the U.S., he applied and was accepted in 2010 where he conducted bioinorganic chemistry and systems biology research in cancer.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Pride and the Spirit of Christmas

Dec 16, 2016 12:45 AM ET

Whirlpool Pride Network – an employee resource group that operates within the appliance maker – worked in collaboration with the Society of Women Engineers and Community AIDS Resource & Education Services to support the charity known as Angel Tree by donating gifts to children that are affected by HIV in the Twin Cities and Kalamazoo area.

Sustainable Finance & Socially Responsible Investment

TCFD Report Launch: Key Comments from Carney, Bloomberg, Schapiro, Lindeijer

Dec 15, 2016 8:25 PM ET

Bank of England Governor and Chair of the Financial Stability Board Mark Carney has said the newly released report from the Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) represents a breakthrough in managing the risks and opportunities related with climate change.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Mark Carney & Mike Bloomberg: How to Make a Profit from Defeating Climate Change

Dec 15, 2016 8:05 PM ET

From rising sea levels to more severe storms and more intense droughts, climate change will present serious risks to, and create major opportunities for, nearly every industry. Citizens, consumers, businesses, governments, and international organisations are all taking action.

Innovation & Technology

GM to Start Autonomous Vehicle Manufacturing and Testing in Michigan

Dec 15, 2016 5:30 PM ET

On the heels of the signing of the SAVE Act legislation to support autonomous vehicle testing and deployment in Michigan, General Motors will immediately begin testing autonomous vehicles on public roads. GM also announced it will produce the next generation of its autonomous test vehicles at its Orion Township assembly plant beginning in early 2017.

Events, Media & Communications

Everyday is Earth Day for Minneapolis Media Focused on Sustainability

Dec 15, 2016 4:25 PM ET

Unlike many cities where Sunday newspaper readership has tanked, plenty of Minneapolis residents still treasure delivery of a chunky Star Tribune as part of their weekend routine.

“It’s our meal ticket,” Business Editor Thom Kupper said of the 580,000-circulation Sunday edition during a 3BL Media event for sustainability communicators.

Those pitching Minnesota’s largest daily need to understand that the “digital first” mantra adhered to by print outlets in some markets does not apply for his team.