ESG News from Leading Brands

Environment

Guest Blog: Drawdown Celebrates One Year Since Publication; Heads, Hearts and Hands Keep Moving it Forward

Apr 23, 2018 12:45 PM ET

Katharine Wilkinson, Senior Writer for Drawdown, joins us as this week's guest blogger. April 18th marked the one-year anniversary of the publication of Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming, and pull for the book’s message only continues to grow. It is a great joy to be something of an itinerant preacher these days—roaming from town to town, conference to campus to company, sharing this blueprint of possibility.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

HP Inc. Named First Technology Company in California to Achieve TRUE Zero Waste Certification

Apr 23, 2018 12:45 PM ET

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Smithfield Foods Donates More Than 40,000 Pounds of Protein to FeedMore

Apr 23, 2018 12:30 PM ET

In celebration of the spring TOYOTA OWNERS 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup race, Smithfield Foods, Inc., and Kroger joined forces at Richmond Raceway over the weekend to donate more than 40,000 pounds of protein to FeedMore, Central Virginia’s core hunger-relief organization. Assisting with the donation was Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

Smithfield’s contribution is part of the company’s 2018 Helping Hungry Homes® tour. Now in the program’s 10th year, Helping Hungry Homes® is Smithfield’s signature hunger-relief initiative focused on alleviating hunger and helping Americans become more food secure.

Social Impact & Volunteering

More Than One Million Volunteers Have Improved Communities Around the World on Comcast Cares Day

Apr 23, 2018 12:15 PM ET

Today, we reached an historic milestone on Comcast Cares Day – more than one million volunteers have joined in service to improve their communities around the world since 2001. Comcast NBCUniversal employees and their families, friends, and community partners participated in the 17th annual Comcast Cares Day, the nation’s largest single-day corporate volunteer effort and a powerful representation of the company’s year-round commitment to community service. What started with 6,100 volunteers in 2001 in one city has now grown to more than 100,000 volunteers this year at over 1,000 sites in about 20 countries.

Diversity & Inclusion

Female Workforces Can Revolutionize Latin American Business

Apr 23, 2018 12:15 PM ET

Embracing gender equality in the workforce has benefits for retention, supply chains, and other benefits accoridng to case studies by the World Economic Forum.

Environment

For #EarthDay, We’re Spotlighting Our Packaging Priorities

Apr 23, 2018 11:00 AM ET

At Mars, we know quality packaging lets us deliver the products you and your pets love in a safe and sustainable way. Among its many benefits, packaging helps preserve the life of our products, whether they’re on the grocery shelf or in your cupboard.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Scotiabank to Award $1.5M to Start-ups in Latest Business Plan Contest

Apr 23, 2018 11:00 AM ET

Social Impact & Volunteering

Arrow Electronics Employees Participate in Earth Day Park Cleanup

Apr 23, 2018 10:55 AM ET

In honor of Earth Day, Arrow Electronics’ Corporate Social Responsibility Team organized a volunteer event with Denver Parks and Recreation near the company’s global headquarter campus. Arrow employees mulched trees, removed debris, weeded and painted.

Energy

Michael Bloomberg Takes on the Coal Industry

Apr 23, 2018 10:55 AM ET

On Monday afternoon, Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire businessman and former three-term Mayor of New York City, escaped to a deserted ballroom at the Grand Hyatt, in midtown Manhattan, to talk about climate change. Moments earlier, he had announced to attendees of the Bloomberg New Energy Finance summit that his philanthropic organization was partnering with the Canadian and British governments to expedite the global eradication of coal mining. His two new partners—Catherine McKenna, Canada’s minister of environment and climate change, and Claire Perry, the United Kingdom’s minister of state for energy and clean growth—came along for the discussion.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Are Chinese enterprises going global responsibly?

Apr 23, 2018 10:30 AM ET

China is now the second largest investing country in the world, with it's outward foreign direct investment (FDI) rising 44 percent to $183 billion in 2016, according to the World Investment Report 2017 published by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. China’s latest official statistics show that by the end of 2016, around 24,400 domestic investors had established some 37,200 FDI enterprises in 190 countries and regions.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Bacardi Named One of the World’s Most Reputable Companies for Sixth Year in a Row

Apr 23, 2018 10:30 AM ET

Family-owned Bacardi Limited, the largest privately held spirits company in the world, has once again been named among the most reputable companies in the world, as part of the annual Global RepTrak® 100 list compiled by the Reputation Institute (RI) and published in Forbes. Ranked at #89, this is the sixth consecutive time Bacardi has made the annual global list.

Based on more than 230,000 individual ratings collected in the first quarter of 2018, the annual survey is the largest corporate reputation study of its kind, and provides comparative rankings, demographic trends, and unique insights into the dynamics behind reputational impact.

Media & Communications

World Environment Center Announces the Appointment of New President and CEO, Lori Michelin

Apr 23, 2018 10:30 AM ET

The World Environment Center (WEC) today announced the appointment of Lori Michelin as their new CEO & President. Ms. Michelin will oversee WEC’s world-recognized programs and strategic mission to advance sustainable development and corporate sustainability in partnership with governments, multilateral organizations, the private sector, and other stakeholders. Ms. Michelin comes from the Colgate-Palmolive Company, where she led their global sustainability initiatives as the Vice-President of Sustainability and Environmental, Health, and Safety.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Sands Cares Makes a $50,000 Donation to ‘Mondays Dark’

Apr 23, 2018 10:20 AM ET

Sands Cares, the global corporate giving program of Las Vegas Sands Corp., The Venetian and The Palazzo, donated $50,000, $25,000 per year over the next two years, to help fund the operating costs of local philanthropic organization, Mondays Dark. Twice a month, Mondays Dark gathers stars from Hollywood and the Las Vegas Strip, musical acts, comedians, athletes, and the occasional celebrity chef, for 90 minutes of conversation and entertainment. Its mission is to raise $10,000 per performance for a rotating roster of Las Vegas charities.

Sustainable Development Goals

Go Boldly: We Can Grow Our Business While Protecting the Health of Our Planet

Apr 23, 2018 10:15 AM ET

Environment

How the Network Can Protect Earth’s Natural Cycles

Apr 23, 2018 10:15 AM ET

There is no denying that our modern lives are taking a toll on all of the earth’s natural cycles, whether carbon, resource, or biological. When we look at the carbon cycle, global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have grown by nearly 80% since 1970, and atmospheric concentrations of the major greenhouse gases are at their highest level in 800,000 years.

Sustainable Development Goals

Barclays INFOGRAPHIC | UK Electrification: The Road to 2050

Apr 23, 2018 10:10 AM ET

In the coming decades, transportation and heating in the UK will increasingly be powered by electricity. How can the UK overcome the challenges in the Energy Revolution? This new infographic highlights the key energy statistics and possibilities on the road ahead.

Energy

Consumers Energy: It's Time - Clean Energy Goal

Apr 23, 2018 10:10 AM ET

For us, loving Michigan means more than providing power. It means giving Michigan the power to be its best by leading the way in protecting the environment.

Diversity & Inclusion

PepsiCo's Commitment to Women's Empowerment in Latin America

Apr 23, 2018 10:00 AM ET

PepsiCo's goal is to invest $100 million USD to support at least 12.5 million women and girls worldwide by 2025. Learn more in the infographic above.

Diversity & Inclusion

Our Challenge to Businesses: Hire 100,000 New Impact Workers by 2020

Apr 23, 2018 10:00 AM ET

This new challenge from BSR's Global Impact Sourcing Coalition aims to help drive job creation for economically and socially vulnerable people across global supply chains.

Environment

VIDEO | The Race to Save Lake Erie

Apr 23, 2018 9:50 AM ET

In this video, part two of the Water Positive docuseries commissioned by The Scotts Miracle-Gro Foundation and filmed by acclaimed National Geographic photographer Andy Mann, Toledo-area residents share their efforts to save their Great Lake.

Media & Communications

Tetra Tech's 2017 Sustainability Report Card: Advancing Sustainability Through Science and Innovation

Apr 23, 2018 9:00 AM ET

Tetra Tech’s sustainability metrics are used to report, evaluate, and track our performance. By evaluating our contributions to sustainability, we have the opportunity to improve management, make our operations more efficient, and provide better long-term solutions for our clients—solutions that address critical global issues, environmental challenges, and the values important to our stakeholders.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

TreePhilly’s Erica Smith Fichman Recognized With Arbor Day Foundation’s Trailblazer Award

Apr 23, 2018 9:00 AM ET

The Arbor Day Foundation has announced today that Erica Smith Fichman has been awarded the Foundation’s Trailblazer Award which recognizes an individual under the age of 35 who has demonstrated leadership in forestry, community forestry, research or tree care during the past five years.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

'A Family Company at Work for a Better World' Highlights SC Johnson's Global Impact

Apr 23, 2018 8:55 AM ET

For the first time in nearly two decades, the company behind such ubiquitous and famous products as Windex®, Pledge®, Ziploc® and Glade® is updating its identity and putting a spotlight on its purpose by adopting a new tagline.

Environment

Enlightened Farm Policies, Practices and Sustainable Agriculture Standards Bear Fruit for Pollinators

Apr 23, 2018 7:00 AM ET

Many of our most beloved fresh food crops, as well as crops used for livestock forage, biofuels, and fibers–depend on pollinators to bear fruit. Pollinators are essential to our natural ecosystems, responsible for the reproduction of over 85 percent of the world’s flowering plants. As such, pollination services are central to the conversation about global food production, nutritional security, and our overall wellbeing. This Earth Day, we focus our attention on bees – and in particular honey bees, Apis mellifera - the world’s most important pollinator for commercial agriculture production. We look at the many public and private initiatives underway worldwide to protect pollinator populations and preserve our planet.

Energy

The Hidden Benefits of a Sustainable Mindset

Apr 21, 2018 2:25 PM ET

The link between sustainability and innovation is clear at companies like UPS. With Earth Day ahead, European Director of Sustainability at UPs shares how embracing sustainability and collaboration has led to innovative new clean technologies.