Presented at the Conference’s 85th annual meeting in Miami Beach, Fla., the awards recognize nonprofits and cities for leadership in driving neighborhood stabilization, economic development and job creation efforts. An independent panel of judges selected recipients of the Wells Fargo-funded grants from 245 applicants representing small, medium and large cities.

Today at the 2017 US Circular Economy Summit, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) officially launched its Practitioner Guide to the Circular Economy after a three-week beta testing period.

Semtive, founded in Buenos Aires with an office in Silicon Valley, builds small wind turbines that function both on and off the grid in any weather conditions. These turbines need only a light breeze to activate, and they can work for individual households, businesses, and industrial applications.

Wayne Balta, Vice President of Corporate Environmental Affairs and Product Safety at IBM Corp., describes next horizon in advancing corporate EHS management.

At the beginning of June, Cox Communications, in partnership with The Trust for Public Land, launched Louisiana’s 2017 Cox Conserves Heroes program to honor local environmental volunteers.

Nominations for volunteers who are creating, preserving or enhancing outdoor spaces are being accepted at CoxConservesHeroes.com through 5 p.m. EST on June 30. The program is seeking nominations from Acadiana, Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

FSG Managing Director Philippe Sion recently hosted a panel on the role companies can take in accelerating solutions to the refugee crisis, as part of the Everyone a Humanitarian series, hosted by swissnex in San Francisco.

Responsible Labor Initiative Launches to Promote Rights of Workers Vulnerable to Forced Labor

The company uses hundreds of billions of gallons of water each year, the vast majority related to producing power at its electric generating plants. But in 2016, Consumers Energy reduced water intensity — gallons used per megawatt-hour of electricity produced — by 17 percent at its electric generating plants. The energy provider is aiming for a 20 percent reduction by 2018. Reaching that goal would save more than 100 million gallons of water per year.

Communities in Schools of Nevada (CIS) recently honored Sands Cares, Las Vegas Sands’ corporate giving program, as the Corporate Partners of the Year. Since 2012, Las Vegas Sands and Sands Cares have donated over $270,000 to CIS and in 2017, Sands Cares donated $10,000 to CIS, offsetting the cost of college application fees and post-secondary interests for CIS seniors.