Responsible Production & the Circular Economy

Food giants have been investing increasingly in vegetarian and vegan brands this year, as plant-based food sales grew 20 percent to $3.3 billion in 2018, according to data from Nielsen and the Plant Based Foods Association.

The company hasn’t decided on brand names, whether to target food-service or retail, or what kind of protein it will use. But it says the move is part of a necessity for agriculture to evolve. Agriculture -- as one of the world’s biggest sources of global greenhouse gas emissions -- faces significant supply threats in a warming world.

Read the blog by Darrell High, Head of Nestlé Cocoa Plan, on Forests, cocoa and farmers.

Ethical Corporation and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) today announced they will partner together on the inaugural Circular Economy Forum ahead of the Responsible Business Summit Europe 2019

In 2014, the United Nations issued a warning to farmers: If they don’t change their agricultural practices, most of the soil they rely on to sustain their livelihoods will disappear within 60 years. Industrial-scale agricultural practices lean on polluting machinery and chemicals, which contaminate farmland. Insistence on monoculture–growing a single crop on the same patch of land–saps the soil of nutrients that more diverse crops deliver. And aggressive tilling breaks down soil structure and makes it harder for healthy land to regenerate.

From turning on the lights to do our makeup to blending our favorite smoothie, we not only need electricity to look our best, but to feel our best too.

VMware pioneers solutions that help build a low-carbon economy that’s radically more efficient. By creating advanced technology, we break down barriers to enable low-carbon growth with the potential to transform how businesses, governments and communities meet their energy needs. Our long-term focus is changing the world’s relationship with energy and how we use it. That starts with creating solutions that reduce carbon emissions at system, project and local levels and finding ways to bridge all three.

Learn & Live is a carpet collection that draws its influence from a design study and nature-inspired concepts of complexity and order proven to increase collaboration and creativity, reduce negative behavior and encourage social interaction. Education designers, specifiers and end users can leverage Red List-free carpet tile and broadloom styles together to create unique installations inspired by biophilic principles through the use of neutrals and accent colors.

Nestlé today laid out an action plan to help end deforestation and restore forests in its cocoa supply chain in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. This plan is part of the company’s commitment to support the Cocoa & Forests Initiative, a new public-private partnership bringing together the governments of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana and the cocoa and chocolate industry. Nestlé today also disclosed its cocoa suppliers to increase transparency.

More than 600 new Fair Trade Certified™ consumer packaged goods (CPG) products in 2018, many of which will be featured at the upcoming Natural Products Expo West trade show in Anaheim (March 5-9).

Automation. Urbanization. Impact. Supply chain intelligence. The shift to circular business models.

What do these trends have in common? They are all advancing the case for Corporate Sustainability and in turn, making it a core business issue within boardrooms and enterprises worldwide.