ESG News from Leading Brands

Sustainable Development Goals

Providing Access to Clean, Safe Water in Tanzania

Dec 22, 2015 8:00 AM ET

Working with a Maasai community to design and construct a gravity pipeline, related storage, and public tapstands

Innovation & Technology

Fox and Microsoft Announce Grand Prize Winners of 'Hacking Mars' STEM Design Contest

Dec 22, 2015 7:00 AM ET

Microsoft has named Matt Marshall, Nis Bojin, and Dallas Kasaboski the winners of the Hacking Mars Design Challege, a unique online science and technology competition launched in September and developed exclusively around the Twentieth Century Fox film The Martian. Marshall's team created devices called Modular Sensors, which monitor radiation levels, temperature, atmospheric pressure, oxygen, and more in the Mars station that Mark Watney (Matt Damon) inhabits in the film. The team collected $25,000 in prize money and flew to Microsoft's headquarters in Seattle to experience the company's groundbreaking Hololens technology.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Join Albertsons Companies to Give the Gift of Food

Dec 22, 2015 7:00 AM ET

The holidays are a special time of year for families to gather around a bountiful meal and celebrate their good fortune. However, the holidays can also be a particularly difficult time of year to experience food insecurity – that means not all household members know where their n

Social Impact & Volunteering

#GIFtATree This Holiday Season

Dec 21, 2015 6:00 PM ET

Social Impact & Volunteering

New Opportunities for Trade Education for At-risk Youth

Dec 21, 2015 5:30 PM ET

“Basically what I was hoping for was a spot for me, where I could actually help.”

This specific quote is from reality TV star, Josh Temple. But whether you are a celebrity, an individual employee donor, a volunteer, or a company looking for a cause to support – we’ve all said this quote in our own words at some point.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Interview with Mario di Loreto, People Value Director at Telecom Italia

Dec 21, 2015 5:00 PM ET

GRI’s Sustainability and Reporting 2025 project is designed to promote an international discussion about the purpose of sustainability reporting and disclosures looking ahead to 2025.

Innovation & Technology

Five CSR Trends to Watch for in 2016

Dec 21, 2015 4:00 PM ET

Companies worldwide will have to navigate through new CSR requirements. In India, for instance, the India Companies Act, a legislation passed into law in 2013, mandates that companies of a certain size donate 2 percent of their net profits generated by the Indian entity to social impact initiatives.

Social Impact & Volunteering

A Special Holiday Delivery

Dec 21, 2015 3:00 PM ET

Energy

Podcast: GM’s Anthony Davis Discusses Company’s Wind Projects

Dec 21, 2015 2:55 PM ET

General Motors will soon use wind as an energy source for its operations in Mexico and its Arlington, Texas assembly plant. When these wind projects are up and spinning by the end of next year, GM will source a total of 170 megawatts of renewable energy to provide electricity for plants across the globe.

Health & Healthcare

Australia's Legal Victory on Plain Cigarette Packaging Law

Dec 21, 2015 2:15 PM ET

Australia’s legal victory over the tobacco industry on plain packaging will save many lives, especially by helping young people who are susceptible to advertising avoid picking up smoking in the first place – and it’s further evidence that countries can stand up to the tobacco industry and win. Tobacco companies will do whatever it takes to undermine efforts to reduce smoking, especially in low-income countries that don’t have the resources to fight expensive lawsuits. Bloomberg Philanthropies is committed to helping more of those countries fight back through the litigation fund we launched with the Gates Foundation and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. This is a fight for people’s lives, and as today’s decision shows, the momentum is on our side.

Sustainable Finance & Socially Responsible Investment

Do We Have CommonCents?

Dec 21, 2015 2:05 PM ET

It is not often that a corporate foundation will partner with a disruptive [the new buzz word] thinker to advance a cause, but recently MetLife Foundation did just that.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Merry Wishes Fulfilled by Republic Services Employees

Dec 21, 2015 12:45 PM ET

The Republic Services Northwest Area and Bellevue Division employees teamed up to fill the holiday wishes of several children in need from Kenmore Elementary. More than half of the students who attend Kenmore Elementary are below poverty level and require food assistance and additional resources.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

CITGO and Local Marketers Raise Thousands for C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital During Month of Mott Fundraiser

Dec 21, 2015 12:00 PM ET

CITGO Marketers in Michigan recently participated in the Month of Mott fundraiser for the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, raising nearly $5,000 to support the hospital’s Buckle Up program, which provides car seats for children and educates parents on how to properly use them.

Environment

A Global and Comprehensive Greenhouse Gas Reduction Strategy

Dec 21, 2015 12:00 PM ET

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Top 10 CSR Trends of 2015

Dec 21, 2015 11:45 AM ET

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.

Innovation & Technology

Northwest High Students Develop Solution for Local Flooding, Earn $20,000 in Technology

Dec 21, 2015 11:40 AM ET

A horticulture class from Northwest High School in Nebraska is gaining attention for their student-designed plan to reduce local flooding and absorb storm runoff by developing a rain garden on the school campus. This spring, the students will construct the rain garden to promote native plant growth, which in turn will serve as a home for the declining bee and butterfly species in the area.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

America’s Charities Announces New Cause Funds This Giving Season

Dec 21, 2015 11:30 AM ET

Just in time for the peak giving season, America’s Charities, a mission-driven organization that drives collective impact by connecting nonprofits with companies and donors for 35 years, today announced new Cause Funds that enable donors to invest in an entire cause with a single donation.

Research, Reports & Publications

Culture at Northern Trust

Dec 21, 2015 11:30 AM ET

“Our diverse workforce is an important part of what enables our firm to be a best in class provider of products and services around the globe. Our senior leaders are engaged, which creates an environment of awareness, action and accountability. Our support of communities where our employees live and work is an important part of this strategy which we advance through our commitment to invest responsibly in communities.”

Responsible Production & Consumption

Digging Deep to Ensure a Greener Legacy

Dec 21, 2015 10:45 AM ET

We’ve adorned ourselves with it for thousands of years and its very existence made pirates dizzy with greed. Its applications range from micro-circuitry and medical products to the coating of astronauts’ helmets. A traditional storehouse of value throughout the centuries, gold has always been in high demand and today it’s no different. What’s changing though is the way it is mined and how that mining is managed.

Innovation & Technology

Call for Nominations for GRI’s Due Process Oversight Committee

Dec 21, 2015 10:45 AM ET

We are seeking five senior individuals of integrity and high reputation to join GRI’s inaugural Due Process Oversight Committee (DPOC). The DPOC has primary responsibility for ensuring that the standard-setting activities of theGlobal Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB) are conducted in accordance with its due process, in order to increase public and stakeholder confidence that the standards are responsive to the public interest.

Events, Media & Communications

Brief Notes for Your Favorite Investor Relations Officer To Help Move the Needle on Sustainability at The Board Level in 2016

Dec 21, 2015 10:10 AM ET

IR magazine, an authoritative voice for the investor relations professional, puts the recent Ceres report in focus.

Social Impact & Volunteering

The Intangibles: The Amazing Results From Children International's Into Employment Program

Dec 21, 2015 9:05 AM ET

I think we do good work at Children International, and to demonstrate that, we use fact-based reporting: outcome indicators, metrics, a full set of quantitative measurement tools – we got 'em.

Diversity & Inclusion

Real Advantage Series – Advancing Women in Leadership

Dec 21, 2015 8:45 AM ET

Innovation & Technology

McKibben, Klein, Greenpeace Call for Global Carbon Tax Now

Dec 21, 2015 8:00 AM ET

While there can be no question that the agreement reached in Paris last week was historic, and by most measures successful, there were those that felt that without having implemented a global carbon tax, it fell short of the mark. These folks, whose numbers include Bill McKibben, Naomi Klein and Greenpeace’s Kumi Naidoo, did not waste any time to seize the moment to come out with a fresh call for a “carbon levy.”

Environment

Paris Climate Accord's Impacts to be Felt Beyond Emissions Through Supply Chains, Sustainability Initiatives

Dec 21, 2015 6:00 AM ET

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.