Environment

Last week, I got to celebrate the Winter Solstice in another form.

As we close the books on 2015, Cone Communications has evaluated a year's-worth of corporate social responsibility (CSR) tracking to share the top 10 trends.

As 2015 draws to a close, we've evaluated a year's-worth of corporate social responsibility (CSR) tracking to share the top 10 trends of 2015.

The unprecedented Paris climate accord is expected to bring additional focus on most or all sustainability initiatives by companies, and require additional tracking and reporting efforts. The Paris climate accord includes commitments from 186 of the 195 signatory countries to cut or limit the growth of greenhouse gas emissions, as well as more transparent reporting. These countries, in turn, are expected to place additional requirements on companies to reduce their overall carbon footprint.

In November, GM GREEN students from Southeast Michigan attended a Student Congress. Organized by the Clinton River Watershed Council, a nonprofit advocacy group and GM GREEN partner, the event gave students an opportunity to share their environmental investigations with peers from other areas within the watershed and to think about the positive impact they can have on their local environment.

Several years ago, I visited the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Northern Kenya. Lewa’s owner’s goal is to set an example of how wildlife can be even more valuable as a source of tourism than for sale on the black-market, providing a model throughout Africa. I was there to assess potential branding opportunities. Virgin Air had committed to a corridor for migrating elephants. Lewa hoped there were others.

On December 12, the COP21 climate summit in Paris culminated in an historic agreement that was unanimously adopted by 195 nations. The agreement was the result of two weeks of intense negotiations between almost every country on the planet. Years of effort from government, business and civil society fueled the momentum for a substantive and strong international accord. Having successfully achieved that goal, the hard work now begins.

Mike Bloomberg traveled to Paris during the first week of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP21) in his role as UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change. During his 5-day trip he hosted and spoke at several events and made numerous announcements significant to his UN Envoy role.