ESG News from Leading Brands

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Second Year of Microsoft Affordable Access Initiative Grants Awarded

Jun 26, 2017 12:20 PM ET

Meet some of the entrepreneurs bringing internet connectivity, access to energy and economic opportunity where they're needed most

Supply Chain & the Circular Economy

Ceres Launches New Investor Guide to Engage Food Sector on Sustainability Risks

Jun 26, 2017 11:40 AM ET

Ceres has released a new peer-reviewed resource guide to help investors better understand and evaluate the environmental and social impacts that drive financial risk in the food sector. The tool comes as sustainability shareholder resolutions with food companies rise to several dozen filed in 2017, according to an analysis by Ceres.

Environment

Four Steps to Uncovering Enterprise-Level Gaps in EHS Compliance and Culture

Jun 26, 2017 11:25 AM ET

EHS FleX, Antea Group’s low-cost, enterprise-level EHS gap analysis service offering, aims to provide EHS managers with the data and insights they need to make informed choices on where to focus their efforts and spend their resources for maximum impact. In this blog, we outline the 4 steps of EHS FleX that make EHS management so much easier for our clients.

Sustainable Finance & Socially Responsible Investment

U.S. Conference of Mayors, Wells Fargo Announce 2017 CommunityWINS Grants

Jun 26, 2017 10:55 AM ET

Presented at the Conference’s 85th annual meeting in Miami Beach, Fla., the awards recognize nonprofits and cities for leadership in driving neighborhood stabilization, economic development and job creation efforts. An independent panel of judges selected recipients of the Wells Fargo-funded grants from 245 applicants representing small, medium and large cities.

Research, Reports & Publications

WBCSD Releases Practitioner Guide to the Circular Economy

Jun 26, 2017 10:25 AM ET

Today at the 2017 US Circular Economy Summit, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) officially launched its Practitioner Guide to the Circular Economy after a three-week beta testing period.

Energy

Unreasonable Impact | Finally, the Turbine We’ve Been Waiting For: Q&A with Semtive

Jun 26, 2017 10:20 AM ET

Semtive, founded in Buenos Aires with an office in Silicon Valley, builds small wind turbines that function both on and off the grid in any weather conditions. These turbines need only a light breeze to activate, and they can work for individual households, businesses, and industrial applications.

Energy

Powered by Partnership: Procter & Gamble and Constellation Complete 50-Megawatt Renewable Energy Plant

Jun 26, 2017 10:20 AM ET

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Final Days to Nominate Environmental Volunteers for Cox and The Trust for Public Land’s 2017 Cox Conserves Heroes Awards Program in Louisiana

Jun 26, 2017 10:00 AM ET

At the beginning of June, Cox Communications, in partnership with The Trust for Public Land, launched Louisiana’s 2017 Cox Conserves Heroes program to honor local environmental volunteers.

Nominations for volunteers who are creating, preserving or enhancing outdoor spaces are being accepted at CoxConservesHeroes.com through 5 p.m. EST on June 30. The program is seeking nominations from Acadiana, Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

Innovation & Technology

How Innovation Can Unlock System-level Change for Environmental Progress

Jun 26, 2017 10:00 AM ET

Wayne Balta, Vice President of Corporate Environmental Affairs and Product Safety at IBM Corp., describes next horizon in advancing corporate EHS management.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Responsible Labor Initiative Launches to Promote Rights of Workers Vulnerable to Forced Labor

Jun 26, 2017 9:30 AM ET

Responsible Labor Initiative Launches to Promote Rights of Workers Vulnerable to Forced Labor

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

How Can Companies Respond to the Refugee Crisis?

Jun 26, 2017 9:30 AM ET

FSG Managing Director Philippe Sion recently hosted a panel on the role companies can take in accelerating solutions to the refugee crisis, as part of the Everyone a Humanitarian series, hosted by swissnex in San Francisco.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Sands Cares Honored as Corporate Partner of the Year

Jun 26, 2017 9:15 AM ET

Communities in Schools of Nevada (CIS) recently honored Sands Cares, Las Vegas Sands’ corporate giving program, as the Corporate Partners of the Year. Since 2012, Las Vegas Sands and Sands Cares have donated over $270,000 to CIS and in 2017, Sands Cares donated $10,000 to CIS, offsetting the cost of college application fees and post-secondary interests for CIS seniors.

Energy

Consumers Energy Works to Save Michigan’s Water

Jun 26, 2017 9:15 AM ET

The company uses hundreds of billions of gallons of water each year, the vast majority related to producing power at its electric generating plants. But in 2016, Consumers Energy reduced water intensity — gallons used per megawatt-hour of electricity produced — by 17 percent at its electric generating plants. The energy provider is aiming for a 20 percent reduction by 2018. Reaching that goal would save more than 100 million gallons of water per year.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Cargill Installs 1,000-Meter Water Supply Pipeline to Improve Water Access for 1,200 Farming Households in Karnataka’s Bannikodu Village

Jun 26, 2017 9:15 AM ET

Cargill strengthened the water supply network for 1,200 farming households in Bannikodu village, Karnataka, India, by installing a 1,000-meter water supply pipeline. Demonstrating its commitment to strengthen agricultural communities, Cargill linked an existing bore well on the lower side of the village to the water tank on the upper side, making tap water available for nearby homes.

Research, Reports & Publications

VIDEO: HPE Living Progress | A Message from Meg Whitman, President & CEO

Jun 26, 2017 9:10 AM ET

Meg Whitman, President and CEO of HPE, explains how Living Progress is helping build the sustainable business that will come to define our future.

Supply Chain & the Circular Economy

Meet the Team Making Eyewear for America in Brooklyn

Jun 26, 2017 9:10 AM ET

On the fifth floor, M Factory buzzes with the busy energy of an eyewear manufacturer. This type of space is rare to see in the U.S., for a very specific reason: Most eyewear manufacturing is done in Italy or China, and always has been. This is also one of the reasons why what M Factory is doing in Brooklyn is so exciting: Crafting quality, affordable eyewear is not something typically done in the United States.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

O-Cedar Partners with Habitat for Humanity to Help Make New Homes Shine

Jun 26, 2017 9:05 AM ET

O-Cedar has joined a new partnership with Habitat for Humanity, committing to donate products to help with on-site cleanup and post-construction deep cleans to get houses ready for Habitat homeowners.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Helping to Bring Clean, Potable Water to Mkutani, Tanzania

Jun 26, 2017 9:00 AM ET

Through its Engineers Without Borders (EWB) USA Grant Program, Tetra Tech supports projects that help communities in developing countries meet their basic human needs. The grant program provides funding to individual projects with which U.S.-based Tetra Tech associates are involved.

Energy

SCS Global Services Verified First Carbon Offsets for Sustainable Rice Growing Methodology

Jun 26, 2017 9:00 AM ET

SCS Global Services (SCS) would like to congratulate Terra Global Capital on managing the first Greenhouse Gas project to earn carbon credits from rice cultivation. As the third-party verification body, SCS verified this first-of-its-kind offset project under the American Carbon Registry, successfully proving the sustainable rice growing methodology demonstrated greenhouse gas reductions.

Health & Healthcare

National Sheriffs’ Association and Purdue Pharma Announce Additional Funding for Life-Saving Opioid Overdose Initiative

Jun 26, 2017 9:00 AM ET

Today the National Sheriffs1 Association (NSA) and pharmaceutical manufacturer Purdue Pharma L.P. announced the second round of its partnership to fund naloxone overdose kits and training for front-line officers. Naloxone is a “rescue drug” that can reverse an overdose from some opioids, including heroin. This new round permits the NSA to offer more of these naloxone kits and training free of charge to law enforcement agencies across the country, building on the pilot program launched in 2015. The second phase brings the total funding of the program to $850,000 since its inception.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Brands Taking Stands

Jun 26, 2017 9:00 AM ET

The intersection of business and politics—which for so long has rarely been encroached upon unless companies felt compelled to rally against policies on specific issues that might directly affect their profits—is shifting. U.S. companies are now speaking out on divisive hot button issues.

Education

High School Students Partner With Subaru and Grand Teton to Encourage Recycling

Jun 26, 2017 9:00 AM ET

The Fab Lab is based on Stanford University’s design thinking courses and blends engineering with art. Smith said the projects exemplify the positive and real impact student work has on the community. This winter the teens pitched ideas — from drive-through recycling centers to bottle cap pinball games — to representatives from Grand Teton and Subaru, which has partnered with the park on its zero-waste initiative. The ideas were then narrowed by a panel of judges.

Research, Reports & Publications

Canary Wharf Group Focuses on the Future for Long Term Improvements

Jun 26, 2017 9:00 AM ET

Canary Wharf Group’s latest Sustainability Report gives a snapshot of its activity and commitments in five key areas: making great places; pioneering innovation; promoting inclusive growth; optimising our performance and responsible business. The theme of the report is ‘evolution’ as we all strive for a brighter future.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Xylem Watermark and Planet Water Foundation’s Project 24

Jun 26, 2017 9:00 AM ET

Planet Water Foundation’s Project 24, an ambitious undertaking on World Water Day, built 24 AquaTowers in 24 communities in just 24 hours. These projects reached a total of 24,000 people. Xylem Watermark and 27 Xylem volunteers assisted in the construction of 6 of these community-based water systems this year on World Water Day, bringing clean water to thousands of people across five countries, including Cambodia, Colombia, India, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

Health & Healthcare

Safeway, Albertsons Join Fight Against State's Opioid Crisis

Jun 26, 2017 6:00 AM ET

Pharmacies at Safeways and Albertsons across the state began selling Narcan nasal spray to patients without requiring a prescription.