Impact & Sustainability News From Leading Brands

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







Editors Pick

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Bloomberg Philanthropies Announces the American Cities Climate Challenge to Support Mayors Tackling Climate Change in the United States

On June 1, Mike Bloomberg, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Climate Action and co-chair of America’s Pledge, announced the $70 million American Cities Climate Challenge, a major new effort to expedite progress in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while growing local economies during a time of inaction from the federal government.

Research, Reports & Publications

Delivering Constructive Change through CSR

It is gratifying to work for a company genuinely committed to the wellbeing of the world and its citizens. Part of my role at BNY Mellon is to help determine where we can use our resources for the most positive, tangible impact. We do this by studying global trends, responding through our CSR strategy and supporting achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals that aim to address the world’s most pressing needs. As you’ve can see in our 2017 CSR Report, we believe we can make a real difference by focusing on gender equality, climate change and the effects of technology, globalization and the changing workforce.

Green Infrastructure

IWBI Launches WELL v2™

Launched worldwide and celebrated with fanfare in New York, Beijing, London and Sydney, the International WELL Building Institute™ (IWBI™) unveiled the WELL v2™ pilot, the next version of its pioneering WELL Building Standard™, the first rating system to focus exclusively on the impacts of buildings on human health and wellness.

Diversity & Inclusion

Integrating Diversity and Inclusion Into Corporate Social Engagement

Over the course of the past year, CECP has, with support of the Walmart Foundation, led an inquiry into the role and current practice of companies integrating Diversity and Inclusion into their Corporate Social Engagement efforts. This effort has been propelled by a questioning of the role of companies in the midst of rising inequality, racial tensions, and social movements such as #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter, among others. The interest and engagement of CECP’s coalition in this research has been high; CECP has engaged over 50 companies in interviews, case study collection, quantitative survey, and discussion.

Research, Reports & Publications

Alliance Data Offers 2017 Corporate Responsibility Highlights Ahead of Report Launch

Alliance Data shares how disruptive technologies are reshaping the business and social landscape and creating unparalleled opportunities for the company in its 2017 Corporate Responsibility Report that will be out later this month. In advance of the full report, the abbreviated highlights report shares an overview of 2017, a year that allowed us to thrive and do what we do best - be innovative, smart, trusted, responsible, inclusive and generous.

Innovation & Technology

Multipliers of Prosperity: Social Platforms, Social Change

Every month, Donna Bowen of Mattapan, Massachusetts, communicates with around 45 complete strangers. Some are looking for advice on saving or credit-building, while others want to compare notes on issues like housing or education. They come from all places: not just nearby Boston, but Detroit, Albuquerque and Oakland. Each has a personal goal in mind—like purchasing a home, getting out of debt or starting their own business—and whatever the case, wherever they are, Bowen is there to lend an open ear and a voice of experience. She’s a user of a platform called UpTogether, an online network connecting members of low- and moderate-income communities across the country.

Education

New York City Department of Education ‘Lighthouse School’ M.S. 88 Integrates Computational Thinking Into Core Subjects to Prepare Students 21ST Century Careers

Through “Ignite My Future in School,” Tata Consultancy Services and Discovery Education, in Partnership with Cornell Tech, Deliver Digital Skills to Students and World-Class Professional Development to Educators in New York City

Sustainable Finance & Socially Responsible Investment

INFOGRAPHIC | A Look at the “eBay Economy” In the US

Commercial sellers and full-time entrepreneurs on the eBay platform are responsible for creating more than 690,000 jobs, and more than a third of our U.S. sellers come from small towns and rural areas.

Events, Media & Communications

Calling All Authors and Subject Matter Experts: Submit Your Story by June 30!

PYXERA Global has an opportunity for you to contribute and inform the growing conversation around four solvable problems we are diving into at the Global Engagement Forum: Live conference this October 10–11. Our goal is to reveal the many facets of these complex global challenges to build a conceptual framework through which to propose collaborative solutions. To inform our work and broaden the conversation, we’ll share your valuable perspective on our publication, the Global Engagement Forum: Online this summer and fall, with the possibility of featuring it in our next print magazine.

Sustainable Finance & Socially Responsible Investment

The Woman Driving Sustainable Finance at Barclays

“Someone said to me a little while ago that once you start immersing yourself and engaging yourself with climate change issues, it’s almost impossible to go back to anything else. You would have to wake up every morning and think: I’m using all my skills and abilities to help support a ‘six degree world’. So, I can’t go back. This is me for the next twenty years.”

Research, Reports & Publications

Brands Taking Stands Newsletter, 6/6/18

“The Big Story” in this week’s edition of the Brands Taking Stands Newsletter focuses on how stands taken on principle by a business that already has a purpose-driven mission doubles down on the perception that that company is “better” than one that just does business-as-usual. New research shows positive benefits for firms promoting values as well as products and services.

Environment

Nestlé Waters to Certify All Its Sites to Alliance for Water Stewardship Standard by 2025

Nestlé Waters has today announced that it will extend its commitment to water stewardship by certifying all of its sites to the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) Standard by 2025.

The global standard promotes responsible water use that benefits local communities socially and economically, while ensuring environmental sustainability of watersheds – all priorities for Nestlé. Since first committing to the AWS Standard in 2017, Nestlé Waters has already certified eight of its factories around the world, including in Pakistan, Canada and the United States.

Events, Media & Communications

Bechtel Podcast | Jim Nolan on Construction Management and Innovation

“We need to focus on training, we need to focus on safety, we need to focus on everything you can imagine to be able to even function. It’s a journey in culture really, and I like to start with safety,” stated Bechtel’s Jim Nolan, president of equipment operations on the challenges of merging construction management and innovation.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Follow the Money: How Sands Cares Assists WestCare

Through the implementation of the Fresh Start Mobile Showers, WestCare partnered with Sands Cares, Las Vegas Sands’ corporate giving program, as a local stop for providing the community’s homeless population with private showering facilities. As the mobile showers began to gain traction, WestCare has been an important partner in assisting those experiencing homelessness in the Las Vegas area.

Research, Reports & Publications

M&S Publishes Its First Update on Plan A 2025 as Part of Its Business Transformation

M&S updates stakeholders on progress against its 100 new Plan A commitments launched last year. This year’s update comes as part of a wider business transformation programme.

Environment

6 Natural Adventures to Visit This Summer

June marks National Great Outdoors Month and National Water Month. The beauty of our nation’s forests and parks are that they are filled with breathtaking views, unbeatable hiking trails, and diverse wildlife. The summer is the season to get outdoors and connect with nature. Here are 6 forests, parks, and preserves that we are replanting in and that are full of adventure.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Sustainability Winners Unwrapped

Events, Media & Communications

Twitter Chat With Aetna: #HealthierWorld, Thursday, 6/7 Noon ET/ 9am PT

Join us on Twitter tomorrow, Thursday, June 7, at Noon ET (9:00 a.m. PT), as Aetna, along with public health leaders, share ideas and provide insight on how to build a healthier world, one community at a time. You can follow the conversation by locating the hashtag, #HealthierWorld.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

National Grid Earns EEI Emergency Assistance Award and Emergency Recovery Award for Restoration Efforts Across U.S.

The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) today presented National Grid with the EEI Emergency Assistance Award and the EEI Emergency Recovery Award for its outstanding power restoration efforts after Winter Storm Riley, Winter Storm Quinn, and a severe wind and ice storm that impacted New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island in October 2017, March 2018, and April 2018.

Education

Washington, D.C., students learn in a floating classroom

It’s not often that teenagers are able to spend a school day on a boat instead of in a classroom, but students from The School Without Walls High School in Washington, D.C., had that opportunity recently. As the high school students traveled along the Potomac and Anacostia rivers, they tested water quality, identified fish, examined maps, and surveyed bird diversity.

Diversity & Inclusion

Northern Trust Celebrates Pride Month this Month and Every Month

This #PrideMonth, and every month, we're proud to recognize the diversity of our partners! We are committed to fostering diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

Environment

How China’s Ban on ‘Foreign Trash’ Will Impact U.S. Recycling

Are you a conscientious recycler, someone who scrubs their aluminum cans and glass containers before tossing them in the bin? Do you know the plastic recycling number codes by heart? Well, now a new rule by China might make some of these efforts moot.

Diversity & Inclusion

What’s in a Name?

As a child on the playground, did you ever experience a bully relentlessly calling you a “tomboy” (if you are a female) or a “sissy” (if you are a male)? That’s how many transgender people feel, even as adults, every time they have to present their identification with their birth name and assigned gender – that information does not represent who they are, and the exercise is dehumanizing and demoralizing.

Research, Reports & Publications

Sands ECO360 Launches 2017 Environmental Progress Report with Focus on Sustainable Dining

Las Vegas Sands is the leader in sustainability within the hospitality industry. Through Sands ECO360, its global sustainability program, the company implements strategic initiatives that minimize its environmental footprint on the planet. Since setting the five-year goals in 2015, the program has made outstanding progress detailed in its 2017 Environmental Progress Report.

Environment

Partnering to Build up Pollinator Populations

When rival automakers come together it’s usually to brag about their latest engineering accomplishment or to re-imagine the future of mobility, but sometimes they garden. Yes, garden. Through our membership with the Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC), FCA US is now tracking and promoting healthy biodiversity at 12 facilities across North America.

Latest Campaigns

  1. 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...
  2. Growth Through Sustainability
    Trane Technologies is a global climate innovator with a clear purpose to boldly challenge what’s possible for a sustainable world. See how embedding...
  3. Goals That Inspire: Environmental Stewardship
    Through our Goals That Inspire we have established aggressive commitments with targeted and measurable metrics which will require innovation...
  4. Leading ESG & Sustainability Stewardship
    The new CNH continues on its longstanding path of excellence in sustainability, which is recognized by the foremost authorities.
  5. KeyBank's Community Investment
    In states where Key has a presence, there are approximately 1.7 million low- to moderate-income (LMI) households. Many LMI individuals don’t have bank...
  6. Recognition of our Company
    As the leading sports and live music company in the world, we recognize our responsibility to provide industry leadership and to conduct our business...
  7. Aflac Insights
    Learn more about Aflac’s survey findings to better understand workplace trends as well as consumer attitudes, habits and opinions toward health and...
  8. Technology for Good
    We believe that technology, when thoughtfully and strategically applied, can bring positive, lasting change to people’s lives and communities and...
  9. Technology for Good
    We believe that technology, when thoughtfully and strategically applied, can bring positive, lasting change to people’s lives and communities and...
  10. EVP Campaign
    Driving awareness of DP World’s Employee Value Proposition across the Americas, showcasing the company’s purpose-driven mission, talent strategy, and...
  11. Aflac Voices
    Hear from Aflac’s senior leaders and subject matter experts about industry trends and more.
  12. Plastics Footprint
    We aspire to be a leader in driving innovative solutions that address the problem of plastic pollution and enable a circular economy. We are committed...
  13. Accelerating access to healthcare technology
    We believe technology can help close the world’s health gaps. By putting people first, we find new ways to advance health while reducing costs. And...
  14. Health & Nutrition
    Be the leading nutritious and sustainable product development partner for our customers, developing industry leading solutions that enable the...
  15. Sustainability by Antea Group
    At Antea Group, we believe the best sustainability programs integrate sustainability into core business practices, we identify and act on relevant...