ESG News from Leading Brands

Sustainable Finance & Socially Responsible Investment

Why Gyms Love January: Leveraging Behavioral Economics for Financial Health

Jan 8, 2018 8:00 AM ET

People are famously irrational when it comes to financial matters. We can’t seem to resist wasting money on things that we know aren’t beneficial. MetLife Foundation‘s Evelyn Stark offers a painfully familiar example: “We join gyms every January. We stop going every February. And yet people don’t stop paying for the gym until you have to renew – which is probably the following January. And you may actually renew, because you think, ‘This year, I’m going to go.'”

Research, Reports & Publications

Walgreens Boots Alliance Publishes 2017 Corporate Responsibility Report

Jan 8, 2018 8:00 AM ET

Walgreens Boots Alliance (Nasdaq:WBA) on Friday published its 2017 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Report covering the company’s progress during the fiscal year ended 31 August 2017. The report shows how the company is setting the pace on sustainability issues from health care and combatting climate change to promoting diversity and fostering inclusion.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

LA Kings Team Up with Children’s Hospital Los Angeles to Celebrate National Blood Donor Month

Jan 6, 2018 1:00 PM ET

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

LA Kings to Host Firefighter Appreciation Night at STAPLES Center

Jan 5, 2018 8:00 PM ET

AEG’s LA Kings will host its annual Firefighter Appreciation Night on Jan. 6 at STAPLES Center as the Kings take on the Nashville Predators. A cornerstone of the team’s community outreach, the Kings Care Foundation will donate tickets to local organizations that serve firefighters and their families in addition to encouraging LA Kings season ticket members to donate money toward a fund to provide free tickets to local firefighters.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Whirlpool Corporation’s Global Habitat Build Honors the 13-year Tenure of Former CEO Jeff Fettig

Jan 5, 2018 2:30 PM ET

Whirlpool Corporation is celebrating the conclusion of its first-ever Global Habitat Build Project -- a project which engaged more than 200 Whirlpool Corporation employee volunteers in 14 Habitat for Humanity home build projects in eight countries. The project was coordinated to recognize the many contributions of the company’s former CEO, Jeff Fettig, who stepped down as CEO on October 31, 2017.

Environment

In Dallas as in Phoenix, People Look to Trees for Relief from Urban Heat Islands

Jan 5, 2018 2:15 PM ET

Islands of urban development contribute to a steady rise in temperatures and can intensify heat's deadly effects, focusing the worst of it on inner cities and neighborhoods where residents can least afford to seek relief.

Research, Reports & Publications

Case Study: GUESS Jeans Taking Leaps in CSR Reporting to Create Positive Impacts

Jan 5, 2018 1:00 PM ET

As a recent CSR reporter with the GRI framework, GUESS Jeans is using reporting to fulfil regulatory requirements, enhance stakeholder engagement and improve supply chain conditions, among other things. For GUESS, CSR is a corporate imperative, and transparency around it is becoming intertwined with its core business.

Health & Healthcare

Scotiabank Supports Children’s Health

Jan 5, 2018 11:15 AM ET

Scotiabank has again committed support to the Bustamante Children's Hospital through sponsorship of the upcoming Shaggy and Friends concert. Since the concert's inception, the bank has 'Dared to Care', donating more than $30-million in funds, and volunteer hours to the cause.

Innovation & Technology

Arrow Electronics Engages Local Business Students in Global Learning Opportunity

Jan 5, 2018 10:35 AM ET

Colorado-based global technology-solutions provider Arrow Electronics recently hosted students from the University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business at its Tel Aviv, Israel location as part of the students’ global consulting course. The collaboration provided the second-year Master of Business Administration (MBA) students with a unique, hands-on business learning opportunity, with Arrow benefitting from their fresh perspectives.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Harvesting Rainwater, Serving Meals to Children and More Social Sustainability in India

Jan 5, 2018 10:30 AM ET

In the midst of a water crisis in India – where 77 million people don't have access to safe drinking water – the Green Team at the Ingersoll Rand Sahibabad facility built a rainwater harvesting system to collect and filter rainwater before putting it back into the water table. This restores about 1.2 million gallons of rainwater annually, offsetting 75 percent of the water the plant uses in its operations. In addition, the Green Team reduced the facility's water consumption by 43 percent by implementing standard work and making important upgrades to its wastewater treatment plants.

Diversity & Inclusion

Marina Bay Sands: An Inclusive Workplace

Jan 5, 2018 9:35 AM ET

After a decade of service in the consumer goods sales line, 63-year-old Lee Poh Tee joined Marina Bay Sands earlier this year as a Valet Cashier in the Transportation department as she wanted to branch out of her comfort zone. However, her supervisors realized that she was having difficulties performing her duties as she was unable to hear the phone ring.

Environment

Top 5 Highlights of 2017 From TD's Chief Environment Officer

Jan 5, 2018 9:20 AM ET

2017 was a transformative year for the environment, with numerous national and regional policies introduced or implemented, such as Canada's federal cap-and-trade policy; a shift in the direction of U.S. climate-action policy with the federal government sharing its intention to withdraw from the Paris Agreement; extreme weather events such as Hurricane Harvey and Irma, and wildfires in the west.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

The First 2018 'Year in Review'

Jan 5, 2018 9:00 AM ET

This is not exactly a forecast for 2018, and it is also not exactly a wish list. This is a view of a year that will see the business community make even greater progress toward the promise of 2015’s twin achievements of the SDGs and the Paris Agreement.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Winging Supplies Across the Skies

Jan 5, 2018 9:00 AM ET

Combining two loves is always a thrill. Using them to help those in need can put you on cloud nine. Or even above it, as the case may be.

That’s exactly what Minnesota native Louis Olsen did recently when he loaded his plane with the likes of work gloves, diapers and mosquito repellant – as well as 384 cans of SPAM® classic – to aid victims and first responders of Hurricane Harvey.

Diversity & Inclusion

Women Roar and a Few Corporate CEOs Bet on Them

Jan 5, 2018 9:00 AM ET

By far the best thing CEOs and their companies can do to combat sexism, gender discrimination, and sexual misconduct–in short, to support women–is to put diverse women into half of the positions of power and leadership. This is how we resolve a foul, permissive culture.

Social Impact & Volunteering

De Beers Group Diamond Mine Backs Rugby at Ground Level

Jan 5, 2018 8:30 AM ET

Debswana, a joint venture between De Beers Group and the Government of the Republic of Botswana, has already invested P6.5 million in the programme.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Consumers Energy Helps Close the Gap in Heating Costs During Harsh Michigan Winters

Jan 5, 2018 8:20 AM ET

Each winter in Michigan, the question we all ask ourselves is: How cold will it get this year?

Education

How Dell is Reimagining the Classroom to Break the Cycle of Poverty

Jan 5, 2018 8:05 AM ET

In Johannesburg, South Africa, a student tells her father she will be a graphic designer. She now has access to a whole new world of learning thanks to a computer and the internet in a Dell Solar Powered Learning Lab. Her father talks about how technology is changing the lives of his daughter and her peers, as he sits outside the new lab. He believes in his daughter.

Green Infrastructure

Tree City USA Is Greening Communities Across the Country

Jan 5, 2018 8:00 AM ET

With the support of our members and partners, the Tree City USA program has strengthened and sustained urban forests across the country. From the Gulf of Alaska to the Gulf Coast, more than 143 million Americans are living in Tree City USA towns and cities that pay particular attention to tree planting, management, and care.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Wells Fargo invita a veteranos a solicitar becas y subvenciones de emergencia para veteranos

Jan 4, 2018 4:40 PM ET

Wells Fargo & Company y Scholarship America (en inglés) anunciaron que están aceptando solicitudes para el Programa de Becas para Veteranos de Wells Fargo y el Programa de Subvenciones de Emergencia para Veteranos de Wells Fargo de 2018. En 2016, Wells Fargo consignó $2 millones durante un período de cuatro años para financiar los programas y ayudar a los veteranos y cónyuges de veteranos con discapacidades a alcanzar el éxito en las carreras que elijan. Desde el lanzamiento de los programas, se han otorgado 48 becas y 84 subvenciones de emergencia.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Wells Fargo Invites Veterans to Apply for Veteran Scholarships, Emergency Grants

Jan 4, 2018 4:30 PM ET

Wells Fargo & Company and Scholarship America announced they are accepting applications for the 2018 Wells Fargo Veterans Scholarship and Wells Fargo Veterans Emergency Grant Programs. In 2016, Wells Fargo committed $2 million over a four-year period to fund the programs and help veterans and spouses of veterans with disabilities succeed in careers they choose. Since the programs launched, 48 scholarships and 84 emergency grants have been awarded.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Open Blue Becomes First Cobia Farming Company in World to Achieve ASC Certification

Jan 4, 2018 12:30 PM ET

Open Blue is pleased to announce that following a successful audit in September 2017 by SCS Global Services, it has achieved Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) certification. This is a major accomplishment for Open Blue as it becomes the first cobia farming company in the world to achieve recognition under this responsibly farmed standard.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Voya Financial Congratulates Finalists for 2018 National Teacher of the Year Award

Jan 4, 2018 12:30 PM ET

Voya is proud to support the NTOY program, which helps recognize excellence in the classroom, highlights the important, positive impact that skilled teachers can have on the lives of their students, and amplifies and empowers teachers’ voices. This year marks Voya’s 14th year supporting the National Teacher of the Year program.

Energy

Consumers Energy Starts Operations of Cross Winds® Energy Park II in Michigan’s Thumb

Jan 4, 2018 12:00 PM ET

Consumers Energy announced today that Cross Winds® Energy Park II in Tuscola County’s Columbia Township began serving customers and contributing 44 megawatts of renewable energy in Michigan.

Environment

Mark Murphy Joins Antea Group as Vice President

Jan 4, 2018 11:40 AM ET

Mark Murphy has joined Antea Group as Vice President and Co-Leader of its Railroad Segment.