ESG News from Leading Brands

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Finalists Announced for 2017 Comcast Community Champion of the Year Award

Oct 30, 2017 4:50 PM ET

Comcast announced the finalists for the 2017 Comcast Community Champion of the Year Award, which was created to recognize the charitable efforts of individuals associated with the NASCAR industry. Comcast’s Xfinity brand has been the Official Entertainment Provider of NASCAR® and entitlement sponsor of the NASCAR XFINITY Series™ since 2015.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Volunteers: People Who Are Preserving Our Parks and Places

Oct 30, 2017 3:50 PM ET

Everyone working on the Chattahoochee today owes a debt of gratitude to the Friends of the River. They are our heroes. And since 2008, we have partnered with Cox Enterprises to recognize these heroes – environmental volunteers who are creating and preserving outdoor spaces.

Events, Media & Communications

Bloomberg Unveils New European Headquarters in the City of London

Oct 30, 2017 3:45 PM ET

Bloomberg unveiled its new European headquarters today at an event hosted by its founder Michael R. Bloomberg in the company of Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London and the building’s architect Lord Foster, Founder and Executive Chairman, Foster + Partners. Located in the heart of the City of London, it is the first wholly owned and designed Bloomberg building in the world. Designed to facilitate collaboration and fuel innovation, it will bring Bloomberg’s 4,000 London-based employees under one roof for the first time.

Media & Communications

John Elkington Presents: "6 Ways for Business Leaders to Talk About Sustainability" in the Sustainability / Strategies Series From the Influential Harvard Business Review

Oct 30, 2017 3:15 PM ET

"The" voice of authority for many board members and C-suite executives is The Harvard Business Review. Sustainability pioneer and influential thought leader John Elkington in the current "HBR" talks about the practice of "issues framing" at the highest levels of the corporation, and suggests (to leaders) that to change our usual way of perceiving, prioritizing and investing time/effort/money, that "re-framing" for social change is the wave of the future.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Employers Recognized for Giving Employees Foster Parent Benefits

Oct 30, 2017 2:00 PM ET

When a child is taken from an unsafe environment and placed in foster care, the clock is ticking to find them a safe home to stay in. Foster parents are required within days to be sure that the children placed with them are in school and taken to the doctor. Setting up these appointments and planning to care for a child takes time.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Points of Light Names Rose McManus Coleman as Chief Development Officer

Oct 30, 2017 1:15 PM ET

Points of Light announced today that Rose McManus Coleman, senior vice president at NeighborWorks America, has been selected as its new chief development officer. McManus Coleman, who will join Points of Light in November 2017, will oversee the creation and execution of all development strategy, including annual giving, major gifts, sponsorships, government, corporate, foundation and special campaigns.

Diversity & Inclusion

Where ‘Me Too’ Can Take Us

Oct 30, 2017 12:55 PM ET

The “#MeToo” social media campaign is extraordinary and enlightening. Clearly, we all need to take seriously that so many women are posting and tweeting those two words to say that they, too, have been harassed or assaulted. There have been many heartfelt examinations of the personal impact of harassment and worse these past weeks. Those consequences are devastating, but they are not isolated.

Health & Healthcare

Think F.A.S.T. VR Training: Improving Stroke Education and Saving Lives

Oct 30, 2017 12:30 PM ET

Qualcomm Technologies (QTI) is helping medical practitioners and first responders diagnose strokes faster and in turn, reduce the long-term impact of the disease. We’ve collaborated with VR industry pioneers ForwardXP and Leap Motion as well as Dr. Raj Dahiya, a renowned radiation oncologist and founder of a high complexity diagnostic testing laboratory, to create Think F.A.S.T., a cutting-edge Virtual Reality (VR) application, to demonstrate how VR technology can be utilized to educate people about stroke and ultimately, to save lives. The application leverages the FAST test for stroke diagnoses, endorsed by the American Stroke Association.

Energy

Ecocentricity Blog: Suniva vs. Solar Installers, Round Two

Oct 30, 2017 12:00 PM ET

The problem remains the same – the expected tariff would drive up the cost of solar panels in the United States, making renewable energy less competitive in the marketplace while simultaneously harming solar installation jobs.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

One Year of the GRI Standards: in Numbers

Oct 30, 2017 12:00 PM ET

​Launched in October 2016, the GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards are the world's first global standards for disclosing ESG performance. The GRI Standards replace the G4 Guidelines, which will be phased out by 30 June 2018. Here's a recap of what has happened since the launch last year.

Innovation & Technology

Systemic Investments in Equity, Talent & Tech – Towards an Equity Lens

Oct 30, 2017 11:35 AM ET

Developing a robust and diverse technical workforce in the United States remains a critical national challenge. Addressing equity directly is a requirement for meeting that challenge. Federal guidelines established under the last administration have made the goal clear. In response, U.S. educational institutions, corporations and philanthropic organizations have targeted efforts to address this issue that sits squarely at the intersection of industry needs and social justice.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Carlsberg Group Wins Award for Reporting on UN Sustainable Development Goals

Oct 30, 2017 11:30 AM ET

The Carlsberg Group has been awarded for the communication and integration of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) in its 2016 Sustainability Report, at the Danish CSR Rapporteringsprisen 2017.

The judging panel praised the clear connection between Carlsberg's sustainability programme and selected SDG’s for which it can effectively contribute towards, alongside the steps that will be taken to impact them.

Environment

Sustainable Solutions for Organics

Oct 30, 2017 11:20 AM ET

Organics are a fast growing part of an evolving waste stream and represent nearly 30% of what Americans discard daily. According to the EPA, food waste is the second largest category of municipal solid waste sent to the nation’s landfills. At Republic Services, we are working with some of our nation’s most iconic hotels, resorts and theme parks, and forward-thinking municipalities, on sustainable solutions for their organics needs.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Smithfield Foods Donates 80,000 Pounds of Protein to The Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma and to The North Texas Food Bank

Oct 30, 2017 11:15 AM ET

Smithfield Foods joined forces with Homeland Stores and with WinCo Foods part of their Helping Hungry Homes® initiative

Sustainable Finance & Socially Responsible Investment

Unreported World: Embarrassed Fraud Victims Sweep a Third of Scams Under the Carpet

Oct 30, 2017 11:15 AM ET

Green Infrastructure

Why So Few Buildings are Smart

Oct 30, 2017 11:00 AM ET

Today’s take-up of smart buildings technology is slower than anticipated. The expectation about the size of the smart buildings opportunity in the marketplace is not reflecting the actual activity. Very few retrofit projects are materialising, and on new construction sites, only 30% of the C-Suite believe they got what they were promised when implementing building technology solutions. This is mostly attributable to poor planning, the wrong focus, and the wrong partners or technology solutions.

Health & Healthcare

Hormel Foods Inspires Cancer Awareness

Oct 30, 2017 11:00 AM ET

At Hormel Foods, we’re proud of all of our work supporting cancer research and promoting cancer nutrition. Through The Hormel Foundation and The Hormel Institute, we are working every day to help move forward cancer research, education and awareness.

This year during Breast Cancer Awareness month, more than 275 Hormel Foods and The Hormel Institute employees gathered to raise awareness and show their unified support for cancer survivors, patients battling cancer, and all of those working to find cause and cure.

We’ve joined together to create our own Hormel Foods cancer awareness “living ribbon.” Our pink ribbon outlined by lavender signifies the fight for all cancers with a special dedication to our Hormel Foods team members and families who are living with breast cancer.

Diversity & Inclusion

Wells Fargo Volunteer George Baskerville Brings Baseball to Kids With Disabilities

Oct 30, 2017 11:00 AM ET

Wells Fargo volunteer George Baskerville works with The Miracle® League of Richmond to bring baseball to kids with disabilities.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

In Keney Park, a 'Mobile Kitchen' Prepares to Roll Into Food Deserts

Oct 30, 2017 10:15 AM ET

Herb Virgo’s vision arrived on four wheels, painted a yellow as bright as the future he hopes it’ll bring to the North End.

A decommissioned school bus, a relic from the Springfield school district, sits behind the greenhouse operated by the Keney Park Sustainability Project, which Virgo directs. By Thanksgiving, the bus’ transformation will be complete, creating a mobile teaching kitchen, a roving oasis to bring relief to the food deserts of Hartford’s poorest neighborhoods.

Education

This Open Learning Platform Could Improve Education for 264 Million Children Around the World

Oct 30, 2017 10:05 AM ET

HP believes that education is a human right. That's why HP is working with other companies, nonprofit organizations, and governments to create technology solutions that can connect individuals to educational opportunities wherever they live.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Playing Our Part -- Tetra Pak Supports School Feeding in Bolivia

Oct 30, 2017 10:00 AM ET

Our years of school feeding experience is helping to improve nutrition and, in turn, the educational outcomes, for school children in Bolivia.

Events, Media & Communications

National Geographic Photographer Annie Griffiths Addresses BSR Conference 2017

Oct 30, 2017 10:00 AM ET

National Geographic Photographer Annie Griffiths addressed the audience at the BSR Conference 2017 with a speech about how photography can be a powerful tool for telling stories.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Benevity Data Shows 2016 Election Cycle Kicked Off Major Shift in Corporate Giving Trends

Oct 30, 2017 9:40 AM ET

Data from the Benevity client community shows a significant shift in charitable donation trends in 2016 and 2017, with human rights organizations taking top slots from long-standing leaders. Likely sparked by the current socio-political climate and by long-brewing changes in the way companies and their people look at giving back, the data points to a growing notion that today’s corporate giving landscape is at a tipping point.

Research, Reports & Publications

Schneider Electric | WHITE PAPER: Almost 25% of Global GHG Emissions Will Soon Be Regulated by Government Carbon Pricing

Oct 30, 2017 9:25 AM ET

What are SBTs? Put simply, Science-based Targets specifies how much and how quickly companies need to reduce GHG emissions in order to avoid a 2°C global temperature increase. SBTs provide a clear pathway for a company to achieve future business growth while remaining below the 2°C limit. More than 300 companies have committed to setting SBTs under the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) and over 70 companies have approved SBTs.

Environment

Advancing the Circular Economy through Shared Value

Oct 30, 2017 9:15 AM ET

The need and the opportunity to transition to a circular economy—an economic model that is restorative and regenerative by design—have become clear to many industries over the last 5 years.