ESG News from Leading Brands

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

KeyBank Forms Corporate Responsibility National Advisory Council

Aug 16, 2017 2:00 PM ET

Launched earlier this year, KeyBank’s five-year National Community Benefits plan is focused on supporting people and neighborhoods by providing safe and decent affordable housing, small business and farm lending, mortgage lending to low-to-moderate income communities, and philanthropy.

Environment

Water Supply Diversification Continues Rising to Reach Resiliency, Reliability Goals

Aug 16, 2017 1:45 PM ET

Objectives for developing alternative water supplies to increase availability and improve water system resilience continue as top priorities for resource stakeholders. This year more than 50 percent of Strategic Directions: Water Industry Report respondents cited resiliency as an increasingly important driver for ensuring reliable water system delivery.

Energy

Grid Modernization: How a Smart Grid Offers Customers More Control, Reliability and Clean Energy

Aug 16, 2017 1:00 PM ET

The energy grid is the backbone of the new digital economy. That’s why Duke Energy is investing $25 billion to modernize it.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Is Your Company's Giving Program as World-Changing as You Think?

Aug 16, 2017 12:40 PM ET

Innovation & Technology

Innovation for the Greater Good

Aug 16, 2017 12:10 PM ET

We take pride in innovating for the greater good. Our products are helping to empower people and enhance the quality of life around the globe. They’re enabling economic development, “smart” urban infrastructure, efficient transportation, cost-efficient health care and more.

Sustainable Development Goals

Pfizer Supports the UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development

Aug 16, 2017 12:00 PM ET

For Pfizer, Sustainable Development Goal 3: Good Health and Well-Being, is inextricably linked to our belief that every individual deserves to lead a long, healthy and productive life. Good health is fundamental to advancing all of the 17 SDGs, each of which is connected to advances in public health.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

CSRHub Releases Third e-Book in How to Improve Your CSR Score Series

Aug 16, 2017 11:05 AM ET

CSRHub is pleased to release the third e-Book in the new series, How to Improve Your CSR Score, sponsored by Triple Pundit. “Telling Your Story... Is more disclosure better disclosure?"

Research, Reports & Publications

Erb Institute | Business for Sustainability Faculty, Tom Lyon asks, "Do Millenials Have a Sense of 'Meh' When It Comes to the U.S. Auto Industry?"

Aug 16, 2017 11:00 AM ET

Erb Institute, faculty member, Tom Lyon along with A. Wren Montgomery and Kimberly S. Wolske, have recently completed research which considers differences between Millennial’s perceptions of automotive ownership versus prior generations and whether Millennials are exhibiting significantly different driving behaviors and attitudes. Interestingly, “changing emotional connections to and meanings around driving and ownership, and utility perceptions around vehicles” may be indicative of a general lack of interest by this generation, or more simply, ‘meh’.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Former Foster Youth Is Now Adoptive Mom

Aug 16, 2017 11:00 AM ET

Imagine growing up in foster care and never being adopted. You start your life as an 18 year old on your own and build a family of your own. What’s the next step? For Nichole, it was adopting an older child from foster care to ensure that he had the love and support as an adult that she didn’t have.

Sustainable Development Goals

Growing Role for the Private Sector in the 2030 Agenda

Aug 16, 2017 11:00 AM ET

At this year's United Nations high-level political forum, 43 countries presented their voluntary national reviews on the progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. GRI took this opportunity to investigate how the private sector in particular has been included in these reviews. Here we present a quick overview of three emerging trends on the private sector role in the 2030 Agenda.

Research, Reports & Publications

VIDEO | Making Cargill More Efficient & Sustainable

Aug 16, 2017 10:50 AM ET

In 2015, Cargill set five-year goals to improve our use of energy and natural resources. By 2020, we're committed to sourcing 18 percent of our energy portfolio for renewable sources, up from 14.4 percent today. We are also committed to improving energy efficiency, freshwater efficiency and greenhouse gas intensity by 2020. See the video for a look at our progress so far.

Innovation & Technology

Accelerating Technology and Globalized Markets

Aug 16, 2017 10:45 AM ET

Globalization and rapidly advancing technology are reshaping society in unprecedented ways. These trends can open new markets, drive economic growth and improve quality of life around the world.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

IBM Study: Advanced Analytics Are Vital for Nonprofits

Aug 16, 2017 10:30 AM ET

Diversity & Inclusion

Shifting Workplace Attitudes in Texas

Aug 16, 2017 10:20 AM ET

Environment

The Virtual Reality of EHS

Aug 16, 2017 10:20 AM ET

Antea Group’s blog offers you an insight into the different features of virtual reality technology, possible benefits, and problems you should be aware of before jumping in.

Education

Keep America Beautiful Announces Launch of 2017 Recycle-Bowl; Encourages Nation to #BeRecycled Ahead of America Recycles Day

Aug 16, 2017 10:15 AM ET

As students begin to gather their notebooks, backpacks and pencils for the new school year, Keep America Beautiful, the nation’s iconic community improvement nonprofit organization, plans to ignite a passion for recycling in schools across the country with the launch of its 7th Annual Keep America Beautiful Recycle-Bowl. Registration is now open for the fall recycling competition at http://Recycle-Bowl.org/.

Responsible Production & Consumption

General Mills Foundation & MealConnect

Aug 16, 2017 10:05 AM ET

Each year, 72 billion pounds of good, safe food ends up in landfills in the U.S., yet people go hungry. With support from General Mills, Feeding America created a technology platform called MealConnect that gives food donors a convenient, free and safe way to reduce waste and connect surplus meals with those facing hunger.

Education

Melbourne Business School Wins the Nespresso Sustainability MBA Challenge

Aug 16, 2017 9:55 AM ET

The Challenge is an important element of Nespresso's sustainability strategy - the Positive Cup - as it creates opportunities for collaboration, discussion and learning with experts in the academic community, while encouraging innovative solutions for key sustainability topics.

Innovation & Technology

Comcast Announces New Internet Essentials Program Milestones and Enhancements

Aug 16, 2017 9:45 AM ET

When Comcast launched Internet Essentials six years ago, we honestly had no idea how it would be received or how many low-income Americans we could reach. No one had ever tried anything this ambitious in the broadband adoption space before. We certainly wouldn’t have predicted the program would become the nation’s largest and most comprehensive broadband adoption initiative for low-income Americans, connecting more homes than all other similar programs combined – by several orders of magnitude.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

The JetBlue Foundation and the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals (OBAP) Help Fuel Students Interest in Aviation

Aug 16, 2017 9:35 AM ET

Throughout the summer, the JetBlue Foundation partnered with the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals (OBAP), to inspire more than 150 high school students through the Aviation Career Education (ACE) Academy. Students in Boston, New York, Long Beach Calif., Orlando Fla., San Juan Puerto Rico, and St. Croix were able to explore the various career opportunities available within the aviation industry.

Research, Reports & Publications

Discover Las Vegas Sands ECO360 Program 2020 Sustainability Goals and What the Company Achieved in 2016 (Video)

Aug 16, 2017 9:00 AM ET

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS) launched its 2016 Sands ECO360 Environmental Report. 2016 marks the beginning of the company’s new five-year reporting cycle with updated Sands ECO360 strategy and new ambitious 2020 sustainability goals. The company’s targets are aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and LVS became the first Integrated Resort company to have their emissions reduction targets approved by the Science Based Targets initiative.

Environment

Burbank Plum: Named After a Genius

Aug 16, 2017 9:00 AM ET

Luther Burbank is undoubtedly one of the most successful plant breeders the world has ever known. Through his keen eye and genius for selective breeding, Burbank created and introduced more than 200 new varieties of fruits and nuts and hundreds of decorative flowers.

Sustainable Development Goals

Tetra Tech Helps Strengthen the Liberian Land Authority to Promote Peace and Security

Aug 16, 2017 9:00 AM ET

Tetra Tech is on the ground in Liberia, implementing the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Land Governance Support Activity (LGSA), which provides assistance to the Government of Liberia as it builds the capacity of local and national land management institutions and strengthens the political, legal, and regulatory frameworks for land governance.

Diversity & Inclusion

Military Veterans Worth £1.5BN to UK Economy

Aug 16, 2017 8:45 AM ET

More than one in five (22%) armed forces leavers face employment challenges, resulting in a potential loss of £1.5bn to the economy. Barclays is calling on other employers to recognise the value that veterans can bring to the UK workforce, publishing new research that highlights how ex-military employees could help to plug UK skills shortage, by filling one in six predicted vacancies.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Highmark Health Uses Website to Match Employees to Community Service

Aug 16, 2017 7:00 AM ET

This year, insurance company Highmark Health subscribed to VolunteerMatch so its employees could more easily find projects that need their help and that fit their personal interests. VolunteerMatch also tracks service hours.

Since the site opened to workers in February, 2,300 of Highmark Health’s 40,000 employees have registered and logged 7,800 volunteer hours, said Judy Windom, who manages the company’s VolunteerMatch platform.