Impact & Sustainability News From Leading Brands

Research, Reports & Publications

Ingersoll Rand Achieves 45% Reduction in Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Increases Spend in Women-Owned Businesses by 23%

Apr 23, 2019 1:30 PM ET

Ingersoll Rand released its 12th annual ESG Report, Performance with Purpose today. The report provides a comprehensive update on its environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance, including significant advances in its climate and social sustainability initiatives.

Education

First Year ABE Teacher Shares Her Experience With the Program

Apr 23, 2019 12:40 PM ET

Why did you choose teaching as a career?

I joined the teaching service as I realised that teaching was very meaningful and rewarding, especially when students came back after their graduation to express how much we, as their teachers had impacted their lives and how we had influenced their career choices.

Responsible Production & Consumption

How Billionaire Greed Ruined a Perfectly Good Strategy Called Corporate Sustainability. (Part 1)

Apr 23, 2019 12:25 PM ET

Where has corporate Sustainability and its cousins; CSR, Impact Investing, Profit with Purpose, and Social Innovation actually taken us? Some may argue that it’s delivering a cultural shift in how we conduct business and some might argue that it’s a slow process and that we just need more time. But the harsh truth is that despite all of the positive inputs that are being added to the capitalist recipe, the end product is becoming more brutal and difficult to swallow.

Responsible Production & Consumption

Fair Trade USA & Rachael Wang Create First-Ever We Wear Fair Trade Lookbook

Apr 23, 2019 12:05 PM ET

Fair Trade USA unveils its first ever lookbook, We Wear Fair Trade. Made in partnership with renowned fashion director, activist, and stylist Rachael Wang, the lookbook features exclusively Fair Trade Certified™ apparel modeled by contemporary human and environmental rights advocates.

Sustainable Finance & Socially Responsible Investment

Strategic Investor Initiative Releases New Framework for Companies Seeking to Develop Long-Term Plans

Apr 23, 2019 11:30 AM ET

Building on a significant body of original research and ongoing feedback from institutional investors, CECP’s Strategic Investor Initiative (SII) has released a template for companies seeking to develop and communicate effective long-term strategic plans that help inform investment, voting, and engagement decisions. According to buy-side investors, the long-term should be described in terms of goals, metrics, and milestones, to enable a deeper understanding of the strategy and to track progress as it is implemented.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Blackbaud + YourCause | The sgENGAGE Podcast Episode 92: The State of CSR

Apr 23, 2019 11:25 AM ET

Things are changing in the world of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Employee volunteerism is on the rise, and a variety of new trends in employee giving programs are taking hold. Today’s guest, Dustin Joost, VP of Sales and Marketing at YourCause (a Blackbaud company), joins the podcast to talk more about these trends and what they say about the state of CSR today.

Diversity & Inclusion

The Importance of Culture, Community, Family and Diversity

Apr 23, 2019 11:10 AM ET

President of Asset Management, Shundrawn Thomas, discussed the importance of culture, community, family and diversity during a town hall last week in hashtag#Tempe. The panel was represented by a member of the Northern Trust Women in Leadership, L.I.F.E, and Black Business Resource Council's.

Supply Chain & the Circular Economy

General Mills to Match 100 Percent of Its Annual U.S. Electricity Use With New Wind Power Agreement

Apr 23, 2019 11:10 AM ET

General Mills has taken one of the biggest steps thus far toward its climate goal by signing a virtual 15-year power purchase agreement with Roaring Fork Wind, LLC, a joint venture partnership between RES (Renewable Energy Systems) and Steelhead Americas, for 200 megawatts (MW) of its Maverick Creek wind project.

Health & Healthcare

Mental Health Crisis… A Region Unites for Solutions

Apr 23, 2019 11:10 AM ET

One in five. That’s the percentage of adults in America who experience a mental illness. Nearly one in 25 adults in America live with a serious mental illness. And, perhaps even more startling, one-half of all chronic mental illness begins by the age of 14.

Environment

Marco Ugarte Joins Antea Group Sustainability Team

Apr 23, 2019 11:10 AM ET

Marco Ugarte joins Antea Group with 15+ years of experience in corporate sustainability, supply chain management & strategic partnership development.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Comerica Aids Big Brothers Big Sisters of Washtenaw County in Raising Over $50,000 for 2019

Apr 23, 2019 10:05 AM ET

For the seventh consecutive year, Comerica Incorporated (NYSE: CMA) served as the presenting sponsor for the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Washtenaw County’s annual Rise and Shine for Kid’s Sake! Breakfast. The event, held April 18 at the Barton Hills Country Club in Ann Arbor, Michigan, supports the organization’s Investing in Children Circle annual fundraising campaign.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Gildan Empowers Students to Care for the Planet in the Dominican Republic

Apr 23, 2019 9:00 AM ET

Gildan believes that a more sustainable future starts with education by encouraging students to take ownership over the environmental issues in their own communities.

Environment

The Movement Toward Socially Responsible Workplaces

Apr 23, 2019 8:30 AM ET

Since celebrating 10 years of CSR initiatives in 2018, Legg Mason has embarked on a series of new initiatives to drastically reduce the volume of waste being sent to landfills and reduce consumption of single-use plastics.

Health & Healthcare

Asian Malaria Endgame Threatened by Resistance to Insecticides and Malaria Treatments

Apr 23, 2019 8:00 AM ET

Asian malaria experts surveyed in a new report are saying that new tools are needed as the disease is becoming resistant to existing prevention and therapy measures. They called for continued investment in R&D for new antimalarials and insecticides to achieve the World Health Organization’s 2030 elimination targets.

Environment

Gila River Arena Partners With City of Glendale’s Parks Maintenance Division to Celebrate Earth Day

Apr 22, 2019 8:10 PM ET

In Celebration of Earth Day today, more than 20 AEG Facilities employees at Gila River Arena in Glendale, Ariz. spent the day cleaning and picking up trash at Grand Canal Linear Park and Glendale Heroes Regional Park.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Lockheed Martin Employees Embrace Earth Day All Year Long

Apr 22, 2019 8:00 PM ET

This week, Lockheed Martin employees around the world will come together for informational events and volunteer activities focused on Earth Day. Their commitment to the environment is on display throughout the year, however.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Scotiabank Supports Talk With Our Kids About Money Day Across Canada

Apr 22, 2019 5:45 PM ET

Talking with kids about money to improve financial literacy is increasingly recognized as a priority, not only for Canada's young people, but also for the future financial health of individuals, families and communities.

There is growing recognition across Canada and around the world of the correlation between financial health and physical and mental health and wellbeing. Many Canadians of all ages are struggling with stress, anxiety and feeling out of control in managing their financial affairs. The TWOKAM program helps to engage parents and teachers in talking with youth about money. It can help prepare youth to manage their financial futures and avoid the stresses faced by so many Canadians today. And teachers and parents are listening– and getting involved.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Changing the Game on Climate Advocacy: BICEP 10 Years Strong

Apr 22, 2019 5:30 PM ET

Ceres BICEP Network members have weighed in on a range of state and federal policies from renewable energy issues to fuel efficiency standards, to various Clean Air Act measures to the Paris Climate Agreement. These forward-thinking companies are respected leaders in their sectors who recognize that the low-carbon economy will continue stimulating growth and create new jobs, while stabilizing our climate.

Sustainable Finance & Socially Responsible Investment

New dimensions for climate-change analysis

Apr 22, 2019 5:05 PM ET

Environment

Partners in Purpose: Bacardi & Mercy Corps Restore Coral Reefs in Puerto Rico

Apr 22, 2019 5:00 PM ET

One year following Hurricanes Maria and Irma, Puerto Rico is still rebuilding. In 2018, Bacardi provided a $1 million grant to Mercy Corps, a global humanitarian organization, to aid in long term recovery, providing support to small business owners and tourism restoration in the Caribbean.

Responsible Production & Consumption

ZLAP Strives to Educate and Reduce Denali Waste

Apr 22, 2019 5:00 PM ET

When the Zero Landfill Initiative came to the Denali Park area, it was the young people who had spread the word. They formed ZLAP, the Zero Landfill Ambassador Program. This small group of teens, who attend Tri-Valley School, are now being honored for their past three years of dedication to this program.

Environment

Earth Day with PayPal CEO Dan Schulman and Jaxon Love, Global Lead, Environmental Sustainability

Apr 22, 2019 4:10 PM ET

PayPal CEO Dan Schulman sat down with Jaxon Love, Global Lead of Environmental Sustainability, to talk about the company's focus on minimizing environmental impact.

Diversity & Inclusion

Balancing the Scales of Opportunity

Apr 22, 2019 4:00 PM ET

For the 2019 Milken Institute Global Conference, we asked speakers to consider what prosperity means. See their insights and share your thoughts using #MIGlobal. See more coverage on the Milken Institute LinkedIn page. This article originally appeared in the #PowerofIdeas. See the entire POI series.

Environment

Earth Day 2019: Our Long Term Plan to Address Rising Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Apr 22, 2019 3:45 PM ET

Two weeks ago, I joined the CEO of Walmart’s international business to discuss how PepsiCo can help them reach their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions goals under Project Gigaton. For our part, we are striving to reduce absolute GHG emissions across our value chain by 20% by 2030—avoiding roughly 35 million metric tons of GHG emissions overall. That’s the equivalent of more than 73 billion miles driven by the average car—or taking more than half the cars in PepsiCo’s home state of New York off the road for a year. This is a science-based target, and it represents PepsiCo’s contribution to meeting the initial goal of the 2016 Paris Agreement: limiting global warming to within two degrees Celsius of pre-industrial levels.

Environment

This Earth Day, We’re Focusing on the Power of Supercomputers

Apr 22, 2019 3:35 PM ET

Inspired by a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California—the first Earth Day was held in 1970. Flash-forward 49 years, Earth Day is now celebrated by more than a billion people worldwide, bringing social awareness to some of our most urgent and complex environmental issues, such as climate change.