ESG News from Leading Brands

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

AEG Teams up With Young Storytellers to Host the “Big Show” at L.A. LIVE’s GRAMMY Museum

Mar 29, 2018 4:00 PM ET

AEG, the world’s leading sports and live entertainment company in the world, and Young Storytellers, a nonprofit organization that develops creative learning behaviors through the art of storytelling, recently teamed up to mentor a group of students from Hollenbeck Middle School in Boyle Heights, Calif. through Young Storytellers Script-to-Stage program.

Research, Reports & Publications

French Translation of the GRI Standards Now Available

Mar 29, 2018 3:00 PM ET

Companies whose main working language is French can now access the GRI Standards in French. The translation appears after a successful crowdfunding campaign.

Innovation & Technology

Fostering a Secure Tomorrow (FAST) Launches with Congressional Briefing

Mar 29, 2018 2:45 PM ET

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

HanesBrands Earns 11th United Way Campaign Excellence Honor, Raising $1.97 Million to be Donated In 2018

Mar 29, 2018 2:25 PM ET

HanesBrands announced today that the company and its employees have pledged $1.97 million this year to the United Way of Forsyth County and surrounding communities, earning the United Way’s 11th campaign excellence award.

Environment

Domtar's Sustainability Monthly Minute: March 2018

Mar 29, 2018 1:00 PM ET

Domtar’s Sustainability Monthly Minute is a monthly newsletter offering bite-sized updates on Domtar’s latest sustainability efforts and provides practical eco-tips recipients can use in their daily lives.

Energy

Duke Energy Using North Carolina-based Renewable Natural Gas in First-of-its-kind Project

Mar 29, 2018 1:00 PM ET

CHARLOTTE, N.C., March 29, 2018 /3BL Media/ -- A Duke Energy power plant is using renewable natural gas from North Carolina-based hog farms to produce electricity – the first application of the technology from in-state farms.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Smithfield Foods and Food Lion Partner to Donate Easter Meals to Families in Need

Mar 29, 2018 1:00 PM ET

Smithfield Foods, Inc., and Food Lion have partnered for the second annual Easter Eats donation, a Food Lion Feeds initiative to provide Easter meals to families facing hunger. Together, Smithfield and Food Lion delivered a total of 300 Easter meal bags each containing a Smithfield ham and an assortment of sweet potatoes, green beans, corn, cornbread stuffing, carrots, brown gravy mix, and more.

Part of Smithfield’s and Food Lion’s shared mission to alleviate hunger and address food insecurity across the country, the Easter Eats donation served families in need at two donation events: one in southeastern Virginia and the second in central West Virginia.

Research, Reports & Publications

A Year of Achievements for the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption

Mar 29, 2018 12:00 PM ET

The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption is excited to share our successes from our 25th anniversary year. Check out our annual report to learn more about the families created through the Wendy's Wonderful Kids program, the adoption recruiters who are so dedicated to our mission and the donors who make their work possible.

Environment

Progressive Race in the Keystone State

Mar 29, 2018 11:55 AM ET

What would US energy policy look like if we had more committed progressives in Congress? Our guest today on Sea Change Radio, Ray Linsenmayer, hopes he can help us find out.

Environment

Why Materiality Matters More Than Ever in Sustainability Reporting

Mar 29, 2018 11:20 AM ET

Antea Group’s delves into why materiality matters so much. Read this and more-- such as steps on how to conduct your own materiality assessment.

Research, Reports & Publications

Partnering for Change

Mar 29, 2018 11:00 AM ET

Mondi, the international packaging and paper Group, today released its 2017 reporting suite including its full online Sustainable development report, its printed sustainability publication Partnering for change, and its Integrated report and financial statements 2017.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Purdue Pharma L.P. Names Lisa C. Miller, Pharm.D, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility

Mar 29, 2018 11:00 AM ET

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Four Trends Indicating a Pivot to Shared Value

Mar 29, 2018 11:00 AM ET

When Michael Porter and Mark Kramer published Creating Shared Value in 2011 in the Harvard Business Review, the concept struck an immediate and resonant chord with business leaders globally. Why? Recall that particular moment in time – trust in the private sector was at an all-time low on the heels of the 2008 global financial meltdown and an ever-expanding list of social and environmental issues seemed beyond the reach of governments driven by partisan divides. Ten years later, the narrative sounds familiar with issues like growing inequality, climate change, and access to medicine for underserved populations proving to be challenges that are too big for any one entity to solve alone.

Sustainable Development Goals

Circular Economy: Good for the Planet, Good for Power Distribution

Mar 29, 2018 10:15 AM ET

The world is running out of critical resources. By 2050, demand for important resources like biomass and fossil energy is expected to surpass production by 40 billion tons, leaving companies and consumers at risk from the shortfall. Shifting from the traditional “take, make, consume, and throw away” economic model to a zero-waste, circular economy that focuses on making smarter decisions about resource use, using them to their maximum capacity, and reducing waste combats this global crisis.

Education

Schools Make Recycling Fun in Japan

Mar 29, 2018 10:00 AM ET

Our educational program in schools throughout Japan helps to spread information about carton recycling in a fun, interactive way. It is also helping to increase the number of cartons people recycle.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Habitat Volunteer Builds Home, Finds Unexpected Friendship

Mar 29, 2018 10:00 AM ET

If it wasn’t for Paul Manyok and his family, Sammie Griffin might not be as heavily involved with Habitat for Humanity as she is today. But, like many of Wells Fargo’s volunteer team members, she found there are certain families whose stories have stayed with her and who inspire her to continue helping others.

Events, Media & Communications

Sustainable Brands Announces Full Conference Program for SB’18 Vancouver

Mar 29, 2018 10:00 AM ET

Sustainable Brands® recently announced full program details for SB’18 Vancouver, running June 4-7 at the Vancouver Convention Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia. The conference will convene more than 3,000 senior executives, top brand strategists and leading sustainability practitioners to discover how brands can update their products and services to prepare for a changing economy.

Events, Media & Communications

Reporting 3.0 Announces First Round of Stellar Speakers for 5th International Conference: Context for Thriveable Transformation

Mar 29, 2018 10:00 AM ET

Reporting 3.0, a global public good platform leveraging economic system transformation via the fulcrum of disclosure, announces an exciting speaker line-up and program for the 5th International Reporting 3.0 Conference hosted at KPMG in Amsterdam on 12-13 June 2018.

Sustainable Development Goals

Giving Small Businesses the World--While Keeping Jobs Close to Home

Mar 29, 2018 9:45 AM ET

Through Retail Revival, we are working with the city of Akron and other partners to identify promising local retail businesses and onboard them to eBay, providing store set-up support and ongoing training. The Akron pilot is our first in the U.S., but it builds on similar–and highly successful–programs we’ve executed in communities in Europe.

Social Impact & Volunteering

The Countdown is On - Comcast Cares Day

Mar 29, 2018 9:30 AM ET

In less than a month, Comcast NBCUniversal volunteers will lend a hand in support of communities around the world where we live and work during the 17th annual Comcast Cares Day on Saturday, April 21. Giving back is a value we embrace throughout the entire year, but on Comcast Cares Day we leverage our relationship with hundreds of partners large and small, to make change happen and broaden our reach. Last year alone, more than 100,000 employees participated in events in more than 20 different countries.

This year, our volunteers will refresh school playgrounds, teach kids to code, prepare urban gardens for spring, and provide free legal support to families in need, among many other meaningful acts of service.

Environment

HanesBrands Makes Significant Strides Toward 2020 Environmental Goals

Mar 29, 2018 9:25 AM ET

HanesBrands reports achievements in water use, carbon dioxide emissions, energy use, renewable energy use and landfill diversion; on track to meet 2020 benchmarks

Diversity & Inclusion

HP VIDEO | Help Reinvent Mindsets About Workplace Diversity Around the World

Mar 29, 2018 9:15 AM ET

Environment

Global Transition to Halophyte Agriculture

Mar 29, 2018 9:15 AM ET

In 2014, I predicted “Desert Greening the Next Big Thing”, would be led by green investors. I’m still waiting for this shift from humanity’s single minded focus on traditional agricultural crops (glycophytes) relying on the planet’s three percent of fresh water. Why so little shift to more sustainable, nutrient-richer, salt loving (halophyte) plant foods, such as quinoa? Because vested interests in the vast incumbent global agro-chemical industrial complex are as powerful and persistent as those in the worldwide fossilized sectors. Corporations like Cargill and ConAgra dominate, along with agro-chemical giants Monsanto, Syngenta, Bayer, BASF, and DowDupont, selling fertilizers, herbicides, insecticides, fungicides and genetically-modified seeds, etc.

Sustainable Development Goals

Empowering Farmers, Sustaining Changes

Mar 29, 2018 9:10 AM ET

Sumba Island in East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia is possibly the driest area in the country. Sumba has a dry season that lasts for nine months. In East Sumba, the Ministry of Forestry estimates that 80 percent of the land is in critical condition owing to most of its forest being felled before the turn of the millennium. The Indonesian Rural Economic Development (IRED) project has been helping local communities rehabilitate their degraded land through farmer-managed natural regeneration and agroforestry. IRED is led by Wahana Visi Indonesia in collaboration with the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) and Lutheran World Relief.

Responsible Production & Consumption

Forest Management and Certification Expert Dave Bubser Joins SCS Global Services

Mar 29, 2018 9:00 AM ET

SCS Global Services (SCS) announced today that Dave Bubser, a world-renowned forest resource management and certification expert, has joined the company as its new Vice President of Forestry Services. Bubser now oversees international business for SCS’ forest-based certification programs in the company’s Natural Resources division, providing strategic and operational guidance and support to Program Directors, and focusing on client relations, sales and marketing, auditing key accounts, and special projects.