Impact & Sustainability News From Leading Brands

Keep up with the latest news from 3BL’s clients.







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Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

2017-2018 Scotiabank Girls HockeyFest Inspires Girls to Reach their Infinite Potential

On December 13 and 14, 300 female hockey players aged 7-14 will hit the ice with Canadian hockey legend Cassie Campbell-Pascall for the 14th annual Scotiabank Girls HockeyFest in Ottawa, on the outdoor rink located on Parliament Hill.

Events, Media & Communications

Exploring Best Practices for Human Rights Issues – An Erb Institute/WEC roundtable

The field of sustainability has evolved in recent years to include human rights issues. Consumers and investors have made these issues a priority, so businesses are responding. As they do, collaboration is critical.

The field of sustainability began with environmental issues, which brought about standards and regulations that companies must follow. But human rights issues don’t yet have the same kind of established standards. “It’s still a relatively new dialogue and language for the business community,” said Theresa Loar, an independent consultant who focuses on human rights in business. “While there are excellent UN guiding principles, it’s not the same thing as your government setting certain requirements and standards.”

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Save the Date - Is your Workplace Adoption Friendly?

Just as every child deserves a home, we believe all parents deserve support and time to bond with their children. The 2018 Top 100 Best Adoption-Friendly Workplaces survey opens next month! If your employer offers adoption benefits, we want to hear about it. Encourage them to take part in our survey, which will be available beginning January 8: https://davethomasfoundation.org/partner/become-an-adoption-friendly-workplace/

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Newsweek Ranks Consumers Energy as #1 Company in Michigan in Annual "Green Rankings"

Consumers Energy has been ranked as Michigan’s top company – and ninth in the nation – in Newsweek’s annual “Green Rankings,” a reflection of its commitment to environmental principles that are good for its home state of Michigan and customers. Consumers Energy was flanked by Apple and Johnson & Johnson on the list of top performing companies in the country. California-based Cisco Systems finished first overall.

Innovation & Technology

Arrow Electronics Applauds Collegiate Inventors Competition Winners

rrow Electronics congratulated Matthew Rooda and Abraham Espinoza with the University of Iowa spin-out company SwineTech for winning the top undergraduate award last month at the 2017 Collegiate Inventors Competition. The SwineTech team also walked away with the first-ever Arrow Innovation Prize at the annual competition, which advanced the pair of young innovators to the final round of judging with all expenses paid.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

CBRE Hong Kong Completes 5th MoonTrekker in 2017

80 athletes from CBRE Hong Kong participated in MoonTrekker 2017, a challenging overnight trail run to raise funds for charity. CBRE was the lead sponsor for the 5th consecutive year. The team's determination and team spirit are a true reflection of our Employee Advantage.

Research, Reports & Publications

The Wendy's Company Reports on 2017 Corporate Social Responsibility Progress

Today, The Wendy's Company released its annual update on the strides made to further Wendy's® Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives related to its Food, Family and Community strategy.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

How Reporting Helps Businesses Uphold Human Rights

When companies use the GRI Standards for their sustainability reporting, they assess their positive and negative impacts on economic, environmental and social issues, including human rights, and are transparent about the results. Transparency makes human rights information available, empowering NGOs and other stakeholders to hold companies accountable and provide access to remedy.

Supply Chain & the Circular Economy

Thai Union and Nestlé Launch Demonstration Boat to Promote Human Rights in Fishing Industry

Thai Union Group PCL and Nestlé have launched a demonstration boat to promote the human rights of workers in the Thai fishing industry. The boat is the first of its kind in Thailand.

The two companies, in collaboration with global non-profit Verité, renovated a standard Thai fishing boat, transforming it into a modern vessel demonstrating improved working conditions and labor standards.

The renovated boat demonstrates the standards set for boats greater than 24 meters by the International Labor Organisation’s (ILO) C188 convention for human rights at sea, as well as Thailand’s updated fisheries regulations.

Sustainable Development Goals

Insurance Works! ACRE Africa Providing Safety Nets to Small-Scale Farmers in Kenya

“When the money came through my phone via M-Pesa[1], I was sure it was a mistake! I was sure someone had erroneously sent me money. So I waited for the sender to call me and demand that I return the money,” Jacinta Mutuse, a farmer from Wote, Makueni County, Kenya, narrates. She had just received about KES 900 (USD 9) on her mobile phone as a payout through the Replanting Guarantee Maize Insurance Product (RPG). The RPG is an index product which covers the risk of poor rainfall during the crops’ germination phase that necessitates replanting.

Sustainable Development Goals

Using Text Analytics to Start Building an SDG Business Case

As part of Bechtel’s commitment to contribute 100 ideas to support the United Nation’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), this case study examines how text analytics can help advance a business case for the SDGs in terms of investment, project opportunity or risk management. Countries benefit from more strategic business investments, projects or programs that can advance a country’s SDG implementation process.

Green Infrastructure

Chicago Area Reservoir to Save Estimated $114 Million in Flood and Pollution Reduction

The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers last week celebrated the completion of the first phase of the McCook Reservoir project, a key component of MWRD’s plan to reduce flood damage and sewer overflow pollution in the Chicago area.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

GM Makes the Most JUST Companies List

General Motors was named one of America’s Most JUST Companies by Forbes and JUST Capital, a nonprofit that analyzes and ranks companies based on the priorities of the American people. GM is the only automaker on the list.

Environment

VIDEO | Introducing NextWave, A Cross-industry Collaboration Aimed at Developing the First Commercial-scale Ocean-bound Plastics Supply Chain

Dell Inc. and Lonely Whale will form of a collaborative and open-source initiative called NextWave, convening General Motors, Trek Bicycle, Interface, Van de Sant, Humanscale, Bureo and Herman Miller. NextWave convenes leading technology and consumer-focused companies to develop the first-ever commercial-scale ocean-bound plastics supply chain. Additional supporting members of the group include UN Environment, 5Gyres Institute, Zoological Society of London and New Materials Institute.

Sustainable Development Goals

Schneider Electric VIDEO: Aligning Sustainability Goals with Climate Science

A new movement has begun, with more than 300 companies coming together to lead the fight against climate change. The need for a low-carbon future has become undeniable, a conclusion supported by the Paris Climate Agreement. The expansion of an unchanged energy system, with anything close to current levels of carbon-dioxide (CO2) intensity, would likely lead to global warming in excess of 4 degrees Celsius by the end of the century[1]— a crisis scientists agree would cause widespread and disastrous ecological problems.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Freeport-McMoRan Invests in Indigenous Communities by Supporting Organic Coffee Cooperative

PT Freeport Indonesia, a Freeport-McMoRan company, has sponsored a coffee farmer collective in Papua, Indonesia since 2000. For 17 years Amungme Gold coffee has been farmed and processed by indigenous Amungme farmers under the guidance of Freeport’s entrepreneur business program to meet growing demand from consumers.

Green Infrastructure

Hassalo on Eighth | A LEED Platinum EcoDistrict Development in Oregon

In the midst of a population boom, Portland is in need of more residential space. With the city’s current infrastructure not able to keep up with that need, new private developments have to accommodate a growing population without damaging the surrounding environment. Hassalo on Eighth was conceived as an EcoDistrict—a series of buildings that share sustainable energy, water, and waste infrastructure—to ease the city’s housing squeeze, revitalize a neighborhood in need of development, and allow its tenants to reduce their carbon footprint by nearly a third.

Research, Reports & Publications

Do You Have the Right Staffing Levels to Manage Your Companies EHS & Sustainability Risks?

If you answered yes to any of these questions or would just like some hard, reliable facts and data about EHS&S staffing, structure and budgets, then the National Association of Environmental Management’s (NAEM) recently published report based on data from more than 190 companies across industry sectors is perfect for you.

Social Impact & Volunteering

The Neuroscience of Corporate Goodness and Employee Engagement

What does the Founder and CEO of a fast-growing Goodness software company consider his best day at work? The answer lies in the neuroscience and might be surprising. Continue reading to get the answer that also informs how companies can forge social bonds that underlie the authentic, lasting engagement of employees and customers (and how to infuse more of that ethos into the world!).

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Fisk Johnson Pledges 2-for-1 Match for Donations to Salvation Army Red Kettles

Fisk Johnson, Chairman and CEO of SC Johnson, has pledged a two-for-one personal match for all donations at Racine-area Salvation Army red kettles on Saturday, Dec. 16.

Environment

Nat Geo WILD Launches Eighth Annual Big Cat Week With Pushes to Mark the Cheetah as Endangered

On December 10, Nat Geo WILD kicked off its eighth annual Big Cat Week with a week-long programming lineup of stunning and touching specials documenting the lives and plights of big cats around the world. Big Cat Week is an extension of the Big Cats Initiative (BCI), a long-term commitment from National Geographic Society to protect and tell the stories of the planet’s fiercest felines—lions, tigers, jaguars, panthers, leopards and more.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

LBG Canada Data Stories: In-Kind Contributions are a Part of Community Investment

Social Impact & Volunteering

AEG and City Year Team Up to Improve Nevin Avenue Elementary in South Los Angeles

In celebration of AEG’s Season of Giving, more than 300 AEG employees from Southern California came together to participate in the company’s annual Service Day on Dec. 8 at Nevin Avenue Elementary School in South Los Angeles.

Diversity & Inclusion

Major League Baseball Players Association Supports Universal Declaration of Player Rights

Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) Executive Director and 14-year Major League Baseball veteran, Tony Clark, joined executives from some of the world’s leading player associations in unveiling the Universal Declaration of Player Rights (the Declaration) to protect players from ongoing and systemic human rights violations in global sport.

Latest Campaigns

  1. GoDaddy | Microbusiness
    They’re the people who build websites, run restaurants, and teach online classes. They power local economies and national growth but their impact...
  2. GoDaddy | Microbusiness
    They’re the people who build websites, run restaurants, and teach online classes. They power local economies and national growth but their impact...
  3. GoDaddy | Microbusiness
    They’re the people who build websites, run restaurants, and teach online classes. They power local economies and national growth but their impact...
  4. Integrated Tools
    Cascale shares updates on its efforts to align the industry on a common language to describe sustainability performance to reduce duplication and...
  5. Local Communities
    The principals of living and working in synergy with the communities in which we operate, as well as collaborating on projects that benefit those...
  6. GoDaddy | Microbusiness
    They’re the people who build websites, run restaurants, and teach online classes. They power local economies and national growth but their impact...
  7. GoDaddy | Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging
    Diverse teams build better products — period. At GoDaddy, we make apps and services that our worldwide community of entrepreneurs can relate to. Our...
  8. Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG)
    The business landscape is reorienting itself and you can almost hear priorities shifting toward change-readiness and the bigger picture. And in this...
  9. AEG's Commitment to Social Impact and Volunteerism
    AEG embraces its responsibility to enrich the lives of people in the communities around the world where we do business, and to use business to create...
  10. GoDaddy | Microbusiness
    They’re the people who build websites, run restaurants, and teach online classes. They power local economies and national growth but their impact...
  11. Biomimicry and Ray of Hope Accelerator
    The Ray C. Anderson Foundation has partnered with the Biomimicry Institute to create the Ray of Hope Accelerator, designed to bring commercially...
  12. Fifth Third's Commitment to Small Businesses
    Fifth Third believes that small businesses form the foundation of our communities – and when they succeed, we all succeed. Supporting them through...
  13. FedEx | Volunteer Campaigns
    Giving back is part of the FedEx culture. Team members support our charitable investments and local community needs by dedicating their time where...
  14. Social Progress
    Social engagement has always been an integral part of our sense of responsibility as a company. We care and we act to do our part to improve the...
  15. Collective Action
    Cascale shares updates on its efforts and initiatives geared toward activating its ecosystem to develop and scale solutions that drive collective...