sustainable branding | Eric Block On Responsible Branding

5 Actions to Kick-Start Your Environmental Sustainability Agenda

6 07 2023

Credit: ZoonarGmbH via Alamy Stock

A new Forrester report shows how and why to launch an active sustainability strategy. By John Edwards, Technology Journalist & Author from Information Week • Reposted: July 6, 2023

When it comes to creating an environmental sustainability agenda, many firms do little more than announcing vague plans and goals.

A recent Forrester report finds that as many enterprises dawdle, customers and other stakeholders are increasingly demanding authentic and effective environmental sustainability initiatives and strategies that demonstrate an understanding of and commitment to tomorrow amid growing economic and geopolitical uncertainties.

The report also notes that while many enterprise architects and their teams are well positioned to prepare their organizations for the next wave of optimization, transformation, and disruption — having worked on sustainability initiatives for decades — many more enterprises are just beginning their planning.

The challenge facing sustainability planners is that while most enterprises believe sustainability is a good idea, day-to-day operational issues, staffing challenges, and budget cuts can make it hard to prioritize goals. On the bright side, the most successful sustainability initiatives not only lower costs but also improve revenue and enhance margins.

To help tech leaders kick-start their sustainability planning, Forrester distilled hundreds of conversations with CIOs, enterprise architects, and teams, to identify five strategic areas of opportunity and key actions that can be taken to improve their sustainability maturity.

Set goals and add environmental metrics to your strategic plans and budgets.
Implement tools for environmental sustainability measurement and reporting.
Integrate sustainability outcomes into your transformation initiatives.
Evaluate the role of emerging technology in achieving your sustainability goals.
Seize innovation and partnering opportunities to enhance sustainability.

Implementation Basics

Abhijit Sunil, a Forrester senior analyst, says the initiative that repeatedly came up in all conversations, across all regions, was the challenge of implementing the environmental monitoring tools and solutions required for carbon accounting. “In our research we found that the majority of organizations at this time are in a maturity level where they are automating their carbon accounting and trying to create workflows that will enable data collection from across the organization,” he says.

Sunil notes that the need for strong, reliable environmental monitoring tools is reflected in the arrival of solutions from an array of providers, including software specialists, product firms, and even consulting organizations. “We compared some of them in our report on environmental monitoring software tools,” he says.

Environmental technology tools are a prime medium for a wide range of enterprises, Sunil says. “The technology leader has a big role to play in understanding how these tools differ from each other and how they can be plugged into existing systems within an organization,” he states. “For example, how these tools can plug into ERP systems or HR management systems, and how some of these tools may be able to provide insights into data center management and cloud optimization as well.”

Getting Started With Sustainability

Embarking on a new sustainability journey requires a different approach from bringing an IT leader into a strategy that’s already at an advanced maturity level. “Our report emphasized how the tech leader can start playing a role or optimize their role in sustainability,” Sunil says.

The best way to start a sustainability mission is by understanding the contribution of IT to the overall sustainability or carbon footprint of the organization, Sunil says. The next step, he notes, is to identify the most feasible opportunities within the enterprise to make the biggest impact on sustainability.

Leadership Is Critical for Successful Sustainability

Top-down leadership buy-in is essential for a successful sustainability initiative, both within the overall organization as well as the IT stack. “The best way to counter opposition is to have a clear understanding of the ROI of investing into various sustainability levers,” Sunil says.

The report advises IT leaders to challenge their innovation teams to eliminate scope-1 emissions. “As your organization explores new materials and manufacturing processes, examine the data to find opportunities to collaborate with other ecosystem partners,” the report suggests. “Ask your existing innovation facilitators to run dedicated campaigns to collect ideas to improve your environmental sustainability and consider sharing the findings with your strategic partners and long-term suppliers.”

Sunil notes that an organization might monitor, for example, exactly how much money data center energy optimization is conserving along with carbon footprint savings. “This is also how initiatives can be funded — sustainability is often synonymous with optimization and vice versa,” he says. “In many cases, green energy may be cheaper than conventional energy.”

Sunil adds that working directly with vendors and infrastructure suppliers can be extremely helpful for technology leaders planning a sustainability agenda. As the report notes: “Together, you can move faster, identify opportunities, and leverage their ecosystem of partners to help with projects, such as data center and network optimization, automation, and software platforms.”

To see the original post, follow this link: https://www.informationweek.com/sustainability/5-actions-to-kick-start-your-environmental-sustainability-agenda#

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: accountability, corporate social reponsibility, corporate social responsibility, CSR, ESG, Forrester, green marketing, responsible brands, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands
Categories : Climate Change, corporate social responsibility, social responsibility, sustainability, sustainable branding

Oh Good – Brands Have Found Another Sneaky Way To Greenwash

6 07 2023

ULIIA BURMISTROVA VIA GETTY IMAGES

If you prefer buying bags and clothes in “softer colours” we’ve got bad news. By Kate Nicholson from Huffington Post/U.K. • Reposted: July 6, 2023

Are you leaning into a more muted palette recently?

A fan of the beige trend, or just trying to go for a more subtle look?

Well, it seems brands might be onto you and one of the reasons you really find yourself going for “softer colours.”

Research from Psychology and Marketing published in June suggested that colours, and their saturation (a colour’s purity and intensity), influence how eco-friendly we think a product is.

So, the less saturated – more muted – an object is, the more we unconsciously think that it’s more eco-friendly, even if it’s not.

After conducting five experimental studies, researchers suggest consumers link low colour saturation with a product which has a “gentler” impact on the environment.

They explained: “This perception of eco-friendliness, in turn, increases their trust in the product maker’s greenness.”

While the research doesn’t mention greenwashing, this explanation of how consumers perceive colour lends itself to that particular form of advertising.

Greenwashing is a practice where brands and corporations seem to advocate for good environmental policies without putting them in place.

A study from the EU in 2021 found greenwashing is particularly prevalent in online marketing, with many websites making exaggerated, false claims to reel in the eco-conscious among us.

What with the climate crisis being on our doorsteps right now – the world had its hottest day ever on record on Monday, July 3 – who isn’t keen to shop green at the moment?

As the research pointed out: “The results reveal that, by fostering perceptions of eco-friendliness and green trust, such colours favourably influence consumers’ behavioural intentions.”

As in, you’re more likely to buy it – and pay a “premium price” for it.

In fact, this does just happen with material possessions. Bright colours in any products are linked to other higher characteristics, like a higher amount of calories and a sharper taste in food, or a larger size or magnitude, in other objects.

In 2017, a Unilever market research survey of 20,000 people in five countries found a third of consumers choose to buy from companies they think are doing social or environmental good.

Being green is in – even if only wearing it in subtle shades.

“It’s become a status [to be eco-friendly]. Being an environmentally conscious consumer adds to people’s sense of self,” Sigal Segev, associate professor of advertising at Florida international University told the BBC.

The expert said being green (or trying to be) helps alleviate shopping guilt in consumers, explaining: “The guilt is kicking in. People are thinking, ‘this is the least I can do, not only for myself, but also for future generations.’”

Sustainability consultant and author of the Ethical Business Book, Sarah Duncan, told BBC Future that being green helps our conscience.

“These claims make us feel better about our overconsumption, our consumerism. But the reality is that we should all be buying less,” she explained. So, rather than shopping for the latest muted summer palette this summer, perhaps we should all try to stick to the second-hand shops instead?

To see the original post, follow this link: https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/brands-greenwash-with-muted-tones_uk_64a58380e4b0035bc5ca4e92

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: accountability, Climate Crisis, corporate social reponsibility, corporate social responsibility, CSR, ESG, green marketing, Greenwashing, responsible brands, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands
Categories : Climate Change, corporate social responsibility, sustainability, sustainable branding

Workplace Weight Discrimination is an Overlooked, Critical Aspect of DEI

4 07 2023

Image credits: Hannah Busing/Unsplash and Krystal Hardy Allen

By Amy Brown from Triple Pundit • Reposted: July 4, 2023

Weight discrimination is a common but under-identified aspect of workplace inequity that is finally getting some attention as organizations look to embrace a wider and more holistic definition of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Addressing the problem isn’t just the right thing to do, experts say — it is a fundamental aspect of social justice.

“Weight discrimination would be any form of offense, harm or oppression at the expense of one’s weight that could be detrimental to an employee’s mental, emotional or physical health,” said Krystal Hardy Allen, founder and CEO of K Allen Consulting and author of “What Goes Unspoken: How School Leaders Address DEI Beyond Race.”

Weight discrimination affects individuals across various industries and occupations. In fact, studies show the majority of employers would prefer not to hire a candidate who ais visibly overweight.

There are significant ramifications to weight discrimination in terms of lower compensation, fewer promotions, denial of health insurance and other aspects of employment. Some employees are required to meet weight requirements in order to qualify for full healthcare coverage, and studies show that overweight people earn less in their lifetimes compared their colleagues.

The mental health consequences of weight discrimination should not be overlooked as they can affect spiritual well-being and the ability to operate while working, Allen said.

“Trauma can occur in a workplace environment from peer to peer or from managers to direct reports and vice versa,” she said. “There’s a very real connection between a feeling of inadequacy or imposter syndrome and the work climate and conditions in which a manager or supervisor, for instance, may not grant you certain opportunities because they don’t feel you are ‘the right face’ for the organization or the brand.”

Weight discrimination should be on the radar of every organization’s DEI strategy as a matter of policy, practice and social justice, she advised. A native of historic Selma, Alabama, Allen grew up in a space where discussion around social justice advocacy and activism was “as normal as learning how to read a map.” For her, weight discrimination fits into that space.

“Any form of harm, injustice or oppression is an injustice,” she said. “And so, any commitment we make to bettering the world for humans is social justice work.”

Krystal Hardy Allen, founder and CEO of K Allen Consulting and author of “What Goes Unspoken: How School Leaders Address DEI Beyond Race” talks about stamping out weight discrimination at work — *Krystal Hardy Allen, founder and CEO of K Allen Consulting and author of “What Goes Unspoken: How School Leaders Address DEI Beyond Race.”*

EI

While in the U.S., weight discrimination might more commonly affect those who are of a heavier weight, Allen points out that it depends a great deal on context and geography.

“Different countries present different realities for workplace climate and conditions,” she said. “In certain countries, there are body types that tend to be ‘the average’ or what one would consider to be the ‘normative’ body type or weight. It’s not just about being heavier. In some cultural contexts, being too skinny or small can be the target of discrimination, where being more voluptuous is the norm and seen as a sign of being healthy.”

Organizations need to be inclusive of weight discrimination

There are few legal protections specifically targeted at weight discrimination in the U.S. Michigan is the only state with a law making weight a protected category. And discrimination based on weight is banned in only a few cities such as San Francisco, Madison and, most recently, New York City.

Without much legal recourse, the onus is even more so on organizations to ensure this issue is acknowledged and addressed in their DEI strategies, Allen said. The first step is being aware that this type of discrimination exists and that a thoughtful approach is required to solve it.

“It takes a lot of intentionality for organizations, when they make a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, that they are not pigeonholing diversity and inclusion to only be about one identity and one lived experience,” she said.

Creating the conditions for change

Once weight discrimination becomes part of an organization’s awareness, it is a matter of creating the right conditions and climate for change. A helpful approach that Allen recommends is liberatory consciousness, a concept developed by thought leader Barbara J. Love.

The framework uses four elements — awareness, analysis, action and accountability/allyship — to change systems of oppression. And it is a way for an organization to be conscious of all forms of oppression before it applies any action, Allen said.

“It could include being mindful even in the process of planning events — for example, an outdoor physical team-bonding activity — and giving everyone an opportunity to raise concerns confidentially if needed, to be as accommodating and thoughtful as possible to every individual who works there,” she said.

For Allen, the bottom line is that “every organization should be open to an intersectional approach or a diverse way of thinking of identity and lived experiences.”

Along with awareness raising, the right policies and practices are critical, she adds. Capacity building and learning opportunities give people the knowledge of what an equitable policy actually is and bring to the forefront any biases they might be operating under.

“A change in practices and policies is vitally important because it pushes the organization to ask if they are being true to what they believe,” Allen said. “And it certainly gives protection to those who are on the receiving end of harmful acts and treatment because it gives them a sense of psychological and emotional safety, that they are cared for, that they do matter, and that the organization is invested in making sure that they are 100 percent part of this team.”

When organizations undertake an analysis, like auditing their practices, they can better understand the experience of their employees, Allen said. “That can be through a survey, focus groups [or] one-on-one interviews, but you have to ascertain and understand the current state before you move to action and develop a real plan to shift your policies, to shift your language and other unconscious forms of bias around weight discrimination.”

The good news is “that we’re incrementally getting better when it comes to this topic,” she said. “I invite all organizations to have more intentionality around weight discrimination as a way to evolve their DEI approach.”

To see the original post, follow this link: https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2023/workplace-weight-discrimination-dei/778111

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: accountability, corporate social reponsibility, CSR, DEI, ESG, K Allen Consulting, responsible brands, Weight Discrimination
Categories : corporate social responsibility, DEI, ESG, reputation management, responsible brands, social responsibility, sustainable branding

International ESG Rulemaker Publishes New Climate and Sustainability Disclosure Rules

4 07 2023

Photo: Greenomy

By Denise Lugo Editor, Accounting and Compliance Alert from Thomson Reuters • Reposted: July 4, 2023

As expected, the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) on June 26, 2023, issued two new disclosure standards that aim to interweave the climate and sustainability footprint of businesses into financial reporting.

The standards are the first round of environmental, social and governance (ESG)-related disclosure rules to be developed by the board and are being pushed for global use. Both standards are effective for annual reporting periods beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2024. Earlier application is permitted if both are applied at the same time.

“Our language is an accounting language; it is sustainability translated into an accounting language,” ISSB Chair Emmanuel Faber said in a speech at an IFRS Foundation conference that same day. “So you will find in S1, in particular the general requirements, a huge amount of notions that you’re very familiar with on purpose because we want as much as possible that connection within the general purpose financial reporting with the financial statements and with the valuation,” he said. “We are here to support the needs of the primary users of general purpose financial reports in the amount and the decision that they take on providing resources to entities, companies, bankers investors and others. That’s the reason why we exist and for that we know which language they need to be using and we’re focusing on that.”

Under IFRS S1, General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information, and IFRS S2, Climate-Related Disclosures, businesses must disclose all sustainability-related risks and opportunities that could reasonably be expected to affect their cash flows, access to finance or cost of capital over the short, medium or long term that could reasonably be expected to affect prospects.

S2 is specific to climate-related risks to which the entity is exposed, i.e., climate-related physical risks; climate-related transition risks; and climate-related opportunities available to the entity.

The ISSB’s trustees have stressed that the rules are to be viewed as a global baseline for use worldwide.

“The global baseline approach, supported by the G20 and others, will provide investors with globally comparable sustainability-related disclosures that have the potential to move market prices, without constraining jurisdictions from requiring additional disclosures,” IFRS Foundation Trustee Chair Erkki Liikanen said in a statement. “This will help companies and investors by tackling duplicative reporting.”

Upon issuance, the standards pulled strong support from regulatory and other bodies including the AICPA-CIMA, the Financial Stability Board, and International Organization of Securities Commission (IOSCO).

“IOSCO has been actively involved in the IFRS Foundation’s consideration of whether and how to apply its trusted reputation and internationally renowned global standard-setting process to the topic of sustainability disclosures,” IOSCO Chair Jean-Paul Servais said in a statement. “We commend the leadership of the ISSB for the pace and quality of their work. IOSCO is conducting an independent assessment of the ISSB Standards, with a view to completing this review promptly.”

According to the main tenets of the guidance, both S1 and S2 require business entities to disclose information that will enable investors to understand:

the governance processes, controls and procedures a business entity uses to monitor, manage and oversee sustainability (S1) and climate-related (S2) risks and opportunities;
the entity’s strategy for managing sustainability (S1) and climate-related (S2) risks and opportunities;
the processes the entity uses to identify, assess, prioritize and monitor sustainability (S1) and climate-related (S2) risks and opportunities, including whether and how those processes are integrated into and inform the entity’s overall risk management process; and
the entity’s performance in relation to its sustainability (S1) and climate-related (S2) risks and opportunities, including progress towards any climate-related targets it has set, and any targets it is required to meet by law or regulation.

This article originally appeared in the June 27, 2023 edition of Accounting & Compliance Alert, available on Checkpoint.

To see the original post, follow this link: https://tax.thomsonreuters.com/news/international-esg-rulemaker-publishes-new-climate-and-sustainability-disclosure-rules/

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: accountability, corporate social reponsibility, corporate social responsibility, CSR, ESG, International Sustainability Standards Board, responsible brands, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands
Categories : corporate social responsibility, ESG, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands

The Non-Financial Reporting Directive: A First Step Towards a More Sustainable Economy

3 07 2023

Photo: cause artist.com

From cause artist.com • Reposted: July 3, 2023

The Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD) is a directive established by the European Union, which mandates large companies and select organizations to disclose their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance.

Adopted in 2014 and enforced since 2017, the NFRD ensures transparency and accountability in reporting non-financial aspects for these entities.

The NFRD is a significant step forward in the fight for sustainability. It requires companies to disclose information about their ESG performance, which will help investors, consumers, and other stakeholders to make more informed decisions about where to put their money and how to spend their time and resources.

The Non-Financial Reporting Directive covers a wide range of ESG issues, including:

Environmental issues: climate change, pollution, and resource use
Social issues: human rights, labor practices, and diversity
Governance issues: corporate governance, risk management, and ethics

The Non-Financial Reporting Directive requires companies to report on their ESG performance in a way that is:

Consistent: Companies must use the same methods and metrics to report on their ESG performance. This will make it easier for investors and other stakeholders to compare the ESG performance of different companies.
Comparable: Companies must report on their ESG performance in a way that is comparable to other companies in the same industry. This will help investors and other stakeholders to understand how a company’s ESG performance compares to its peers.
Transparent: Companies must provide detailed information about their ESG performance. This will help investors and other stakeholders to understand the risks and opportunities associated with a company’s ESG performance.

The NFRD is a complex directive, and there are still some challenges to its implementation. However, the directive is an important step towards a more sustainable economy.

By requiring companies to disclose information about their ESG performance, the directive will help to increase transparency and accountability, and it will encourage companies to improve their ESG performance.

The Impact of the Non-Financial Reporting Directive

The NFRD has had a significant impact on the way that companies report on their ESG performance. In the years since the NFRD came into force, there has been a significant increase in the number of companies that are reporting on their ESG performance.

This directive has also led to an improvement in the quality of ESG reporting. Companies are now providing more detailed information about their ESG performance, and they are using more consistent and comparable metrics.

The NFRD has also had an impact on the way that investors and other stakeholders make decisions. Investors are now more likely to consider ESG factors when making investment decisions.

Consumers are also more likely to buy products and services from companies that have a good ESG reputation.

The Future of the Non-Financial Reporting Directive

The NFRD is a dynamic directive, and it is likely to be updated in the future. The European Commission is currently working on a new directive, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), which will replace the NFRD.

The CSRD is expected to be more ambitious and it is expected to require companies to report on a wider range of ESG issues.

The CSRD is a significant step forward in the fight for sustainability. It will require companies to disclose more information about their ESG performance, and it will encourage companies to improve their ESG performance. The CSRD is expected to have a positive impact on the environment, society, and the economy.

The Non-Financial Reporting Directive is an important step towards a more sustainable economy. It requires companies to disclose information about their ESG performance, which will help investors, consumers, and other stakeholders to make more informed decisions about where to put their money and how to spend their time and resources.

The NFRD has had a significant impact on the way that companies report on their ESG performance, and it is likely to be updated in the future to become even more ambitious.

The CSRD is a significant step forward in the fight for sustainability, and it is expected to have a positive impact on the environment, society, and the economy.

To see the original post, follow this link: https://causeartist.com/non-financial-reporting-directive-nfrd/

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: Cause Artist, corporate social reponsibility, corporate social responsibility, Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, CSR, CSRD, ESG, ESG Performance, NFRB, Non-Financial Reporting Directive, responsible brands, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands
Categories : corporate social responsibility, ESG, responsible brands, sustainable branding, sustainable brands

ESG: Exploring The Benefits and Challenges

3 07 2023

Photo: Causeartist.com

From causeartist.com • Reposted: July 3, 2023

ESG stands for environmental, social, and governance. It is a framework for evaluating how companies manage their environmental, social, and governance risks and opportunities. ESG investing is the practice of investing in companies that have good ESG performance.

Understanding ESG

ESG encompasses a broad range of factors that evaluate a company’s performance and its impact on society and the environment.

Environmental factors focus on a company’s ecological footprint, including its carbon emissions, resource consumption, and waste management practices.

Social factors assess a company’s treatment of employees, diversity and inclusion policies, community engagement, and supply chain practices.

Governance factors examine a company’s leadership, transparency, board structure, and adherence to ethical business practices.

ESG as a Catalyst for Sustainable Change

ESG considerations are no longer just a checkbox exercise but a catalyst for positive change. Increasingly, consumers, employees, and investors are demanding accountability and transparency from companies.

Businesses that prioritize these factors are better positioned to attract and retain customers, enhance their brand reputation, and foster innovation.

Moreover, integrating this thesis into investment strategies can potentially deliver long-term financial performance, manage risks, and align portfolios with the values of investors.

Driving Responsible Business Practices

ESG considerations compel businesses to adopt responsible practices that benefit society and the environment.

Companies are now integrating sustainability initiatives into their core operations, such as implementing energy-efficient practices, reducing waste, and prioritizing renewable energysources.

Furthermore, it encourages companies to uphold strong labor rights, ensure workplace safety, and promote diversity and inclusion.

These responsible practices not only benefit the communities in which companies operate but also improve employee morale and productivity.

Risk Management and Resilience

ESG factors play a crucial role in identifying and managing risks. By assessing a company’s environmental impact, for example, investors can better understand its exposure to climate change-related risks, such as physical risks (e.g., extreme weather events) and transition risks (e.g., policy changes and market shifts).

Similarly, social factors help identify risks associated with poor labor practices, supply chain disruptions, or reputational damage due to unethical behavior. Integrating ESG into risk management strategies enhances resilience and long-term viability.

Investing for Impact

ESG investing, also known as responsible or impact investing, has gained significant traction. Investors are increasingly allocating capital to companies that align with their values and exhibit strong ESG performance.

This approach allows investors to support businesses that prioritize sustainability, social responsibility, and effective governance while pursuing financial returns.

These focused investment products, such as ESG-themed funds and green bonds, provide opportunities for individuals and institutions to drive positive change through their investment decisions.

The global ESG investment market is expected to reach $53 trillion by 2025.

The Benefits of ESG Investing

There are many benefits to ESG investing, including:

Potential for higher returns: ESG-focused companies tend to be more resilient and have lower risks, which can lead to higher returns for investors.
Reduced risk: ESG investing can help to reduce risk by mitigating environmental, social, and governance risks.
Positive impact: ESG investing can help to create a more sustainable future by investing in companies that are committed to environmental and social responsibility.
More transparency: ESG-focused companies tend to be more transparent, which can give investors more confidence in their investments.

The Challenges of ESG Investing

There are also some challenges to ESG investing, including:

Lack of standardization: There is no single standard for ESG reporting, which can make it difficult to compare companies.
Cost: ESG investments can be more expensive than traditional investments.
Greenwashing: Some companies may engage in greenwashing, which is the practice of making false or misleading claims about their ESG performance.

FAQs

What does ESG stand for?

Environmental, Social, and Governance

What is ESG Investing?

ESG investing, also referred to as sustainable or responsible investing, is a strategy that incorporates environmental, social, and governance factors into investment decisions. It surpasses the boundaries of conventional financial analysis to assess how companies and investments influence the environment, society, and governance practices.

To see the original post, follow this link: https://causeartist.com/esg/

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: accountability, Cause Artist, corporate social reponsibility, corporate social responsibility, CSR, ESG, ESG Investing, responsible brands, sustainable branding, sustainable brands
Categories : corporate social responsibility, ESG, sustainable branding, sustainable brands

Secondhand is on Track to Take First Place in Retail

30 06 2023

Image credit: cottonbro studio/Pexels

By Terry E. Cohen via Triple pundit • Reposted: June 30, 2023

Say “secondhand shopping” and many people latch onto an image of thrift stores for the tightly budgeted or the treasure-hunting consumer, whether the shops are physical or online. However, the resale of goods — particularly clothing, footwear and accessories — encompasses a much broader market that is rising quickly to a powerhouse.

Growth in resale — also known as re-commerce, a name derived from the term reverse commerce — is expected to dwarf the growth of fast fashion in the next few years. This speaks to the trend’s potential to improve sustainability in an industry notorious for being anything but planet-friendly. The National Retail Federation put a white-hot spotlight on resale and sustainability at its January 2023 Big Show in New York City, with one expert’s estimation of the resale market reaching $300 billion by 2031.

Thrift stores and consignment shops still factor into the consumer search for secondhand clothes, footwear and accessories, but both brands with big names and smaller merchants using online platforms like Shopify are bringing resale to unprecedented scale.

What’s driving re-commerce’s accelerating positive trajectory?

The rise of resale: The consumer experience and the retail shift

To learn more about what is driving the rise of resale in fashion retail, TriplePundit spoke with Tasha Reasor, senior vice president of marketing at Loop, a returns management app for brands on the e-commerce site Shopify. She likened the shift to the appeal of factory outlet stores, which initially offered discounts on unsold stock before many companies added product lines exclusively for those shops.

“Think about returns: they can come back damaged, they’re out of season or simply just can’t be resold,” Reasor said. “When we think about re-commerce, you take the ones that can be resold, and you’re opting to save money and not waste the returns. You’re boosting your profit margins while also promoting a sustainable behavior.”

“American Eagle recently opened a resale shop called AE/RE, and they partnered with ThredUp, a company that specializes in reverse commerce,” she said.

American Eagle’s resale shop offers newer items for resale and vintage wear from its past decades. Therefore, the value of re-commerce isn’t a one-way street benefitting business to recoup profits on unsold and returned merchandise. It brings back the thrill of the hunt for bargains on quality-made items, nostalgia or other shopping aesthetics consumers enjoy.

Digital space created a definite need for resale, too. While the ease of shopping online and the rise of social media influencers stimulated purchasing, consumers also heavily leveraged return policies. Retailers and brands then had to look for ways to process those returns, not only as profitably as possible, but also in a way that retained consumer engagement and loyalty.

“Amazon for years has had ‘buy new, buy old, buy used’ optionality,” Reasor said. “We’re seeing re-commerce … bring that to any brand, all brands, giving them the ability, [especially] through companies like Arrive or ThredUp.” While American Eagle works with ThredUp, Eddie Bauer chose Arrive.

For smaller entities like many of the merchants on Shopify — the world through which Reasor and Loop operate in partnership with Arrive — facilitator platforms provide a more level playing field in resale and return management.

Plus, while younger generations have long been fans of both online and secondhand shopping, older consumers are in the mix as well. Geared to the 50 and older crowd, AARP featured new innovations in shopping as its May 2023 Bulletin cover story, specifically mentioning secondhand retail as a smart option for dealing with inflation.

Sustainability: A major force behind resale’s rocketing growth

For those consumers pursuing savings through re-commerce, sustainability may not be at the forefront of their minds, but their secondhand purchases nonetheless contribute to more planet-friendly consumption habits. Still, a growing percentage of consumers do have sustainability in mind when shopping resale.

In its survey of shoppers in September 2021, IBM found that 44 percent of consumers — the largest segment of respondents — chose products and brands based on alignment with their values. In our own survey in December 2022, TriplePundit and our parent company, 3BL Media, learned that over half of respondents were already shopping secondhand, with more intending to do so within six months.

That’s a whopping 70 percent of consumers actively or planning to purchase resale goods. Reasor affirmed the relevance of those numbers to sustainability.

“The environmental impact of re-commerce would be reducing resource consumption,” Reasor said. “When you produce new products, you require significant amounts of resources, including raw materials, energy and water. So, if you are repurposing existing products and you are extending their life, you’re naturally not needing to build and leverage all those materials.”

More than 70 percent of greenhouse gas emissions of the fashion industry come from raw material production and processing, according to research giant McKinsey. Therefore, avoiding product creation from scratch can be a big boost to reducing emissions. Satisfying the customer with resale inventory instead of brand new also saves a sizable investment for companies.

A two-way street of changing behavior: The future of re-commerce and secondhand shopping

As someone who works with the logistics side of sustainability, Reasor noted that companies can use resale to encourage more sustainable behavior by their customers.

“Re-commerce promotes sustainable consumption,” Reasor said. “That starts to change the behavior and the habits of consumers in terms of getting them to think about secondhand being more environmentally friendly and thinking about their own consumption.”

Loop also partners with the app EcoCart, which enables consumers to get education about carbon reductions associated with order and return choices, as well as to actively make a positive contribution to carbon neutrality.

Fast fashion is still growing, albeit at a much lower rate than resale, and it would be naïve to think that resale alone will put it to rest. But brands and merchants have a huge opportunity to influence consumer behavior toward secondhand shopping. Just as sustainability-minded shoppers have steered companies to provide them with environment-friendly options, companies can educate consumers about resale’s value to both the pocketbook and the planet.

Recent reports on the damage caused by fashion’s disposability in Chile and Ghana provide photographic proof of the need for increasing circularity in the industry, to which all forms of secondhand shopping make a contribution. Re-commerce models optimize the ability to scale those contributions.

Consumers have a lot of drivers behind their purchasing choices, and re-commerce speaks to a number of them — affordability, the value of more durable goods, sustainability, shopping experiences and, yes, the desire for style. The “new to me/new to you” mindset and variety behind secondhand can be as satisfying as shopping for never-worn fashion. For some, resale purchases score a bigger buzz.

Given predictions that re-commerce’s growth will be huge over the next several years — and has grown the last few — resale is unlikely to be a short-lived trend. Sustainability has joined price, value, quality and style as an economic force in retail.

Both companies and consumers save money and get the “cool factor” while cooling the planet. That’s too good a bargain to pass up.

To see the original post, follow this link: https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2023/secondhand-shopping-growing-fast/777816

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: National Retain Federation
Categories : corporate social responsibility, ESG, social responsibility, sustainability, sustainable branding

The circular economy: How marketing teams can help broaden its adoption

30 06 2023

Image: Fast Company

Marketing has a pivotal role to play in driving the significant change required to shift from a linear to a circular economy. By Marie Hattar via Fast Company • Reposted: June 30, 2023

Corporate social responsibility has long been viewed as a unifying organizational principle. These initiatives have successfully helped companies improve their impact on society, local communities, and the environment. However, the magnitude of climate-related problems is pushing environmental concerns to the forefront, with the principles of a circular economy gaining visibility as we understand the need to change how we produce and consume products.

The circular economy is a broad-reaching product lifecycle approach in the CSR space that reflects systemic change rather than a series of initiatives to achieve social, economic, and environmental sustainability. This means creating products that are more durable, reusable, repairable, and recyclable so they remain in circulation as long as possible. In addition, it requires a cultural shift to end the practice of make, buy, and throw away.

CIRCULAR ECONOMY 101

Driven by design, the circular economy involves eliminating waste and pollution, keeping products and materials circulating, and regenerating natural systems. This means designing for long-lasting use, then extending the product life by sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, and refurbishing, ultimately ending with product and component recycling. This represents a shift in how we produce and consume goods and services.

And if the circular economy gains more traction, it can help slow the pace of rising temperatures. Global adoption remains slow, with less than 9% of economic systems embracing circularity. In addition to the sustainability benefits, there are other business advantages, including creating new revenue streams, cost savings, and reputational gains. By moving to a circular model, organizations can build a more sustainable and profitable entity, helping create a more resilient and responsible future.

Marketing plays a pivotal role in helping push circular economy approaches forward. Brands should champion the principles of less raw material and waste, resulting in fewer emissions. This can help fundamentally change how to promote and position products, and the focus should be on demonstrating evidence of living the values.

So, how can marketing teams help broaden the adoption of the circular economy? Below are some fundamentals to focus on.

PRODUCT REUSE

Patagonia is a prime example of a consumer brand that has long advocated for a more sustainable approach, as reflected by its Worn Wear initiative launched in 2013. The program aims to reduce the environmental impact of Patagonia’s products and ensure that its gear and clothing remain in circulation as long as possible by offering repairs by expert technicians. In addition, it has long demonstrated its commitment to recycling materials in its product range.

Every company, irrespective of industry or target persona, can follow Patagonia’s lead and adopt key principles of the circular economy. By promoting circular attributes of products, brands can differentiate and appeal to customers searching for more sustainable options.

For example, the Keysight Trade-In Program promotes and rewards technology refreshes for customers by offering compelling credits. This trade-in initiative helps keep electronic waste out of landfills, reduces the need for new products, and reuses existing equipment. This program has been highly successful, with 80% of the returned products resold and the remaining 20% recycled. The program is a vital part of our commitment to sustainability, repurposing, and reuse.

TRANSPARENCY = TRUST

Marketing teams should be clear on exactly how their products support the circular economy. Building trust with your audience requires disclosing critical information, including the product’s carbon footprint, reusability, and recyclability. Through campaigns, advertisements, and branding, marketing can show the entire life cycle, highlighting aspects such as designing for circularity, material sourcing, production, usage, and end-of-life management.

SHARING AND SERVICE

The sharing economy is another crucial piece of circularity, as it promotes allocating resources with multiple groups rather than a single entity helping maximize the usage. It can also uncover new revenue streams such as ride-sharing, coworking, peer-to-peer lending, and cloud solutions.

DIGITAL ACCELERATOR

Digital technologies like big data, IoT, and AI can help marketers optimize the circularity of products and materials and create more personalized and efficient experiences. At Keysight, our digital twin technologies allow organizations to evaluate new product designs. The virtual model ensures the solution is fit for purpose before building anything, supporting a more sustainable and efficient way to design and build products.

COST BENEFITS

There are many financial benefits from using recycled materials, minimizing waste, and extending the life of products. In addition, with governments increasingly introducing environmental regulations, organizations can ensure compliance by adopting circularity.

THE FUTURE IS CIRCULAR

Marketing has a pivotal role to play in driving the significant change required to shift from a linear to a circular economy. From demand creation for sustainable products and services to promoting the shift towards a more circular way of doing business, I believe CMOs must champion the cause. As teams embrace circularity, it’s vital to remember that the long-term benefits for the organization and the world far outweigh any short-term difficulty experienced.

And for anyone thinking about ignoring the circular economy, I will remind you of the wise words of Robert Swan: “The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.”

Marie Hattar is CMO at Keysight Technologies, responsible for brand and global marketing efforts.

To see the original post, follow this link: https://www.fastcompany.com/90914456/the-circular-economy-how-marketing-teams-can-help-broaden-its-adoption

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: accountability, Circular Economy, CMOs, corporate social reponsibility, corporate social responsibility, CSR, ESG, green marketing, patagonia, responsible brands, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands, Worn Wear
Categories : Climate Change, corporate social responsibility, ESG, responsible brands, sustainable branding

Cannes Lions Was a Climate Kindergarten; Time to Mature the Conversation

29 06 2023

IMAGE: SOLAR IMPULSE FOUNDATION

This year’s awards recognized a historic number of climate-related campaigns; but as an industry, we continue to talk in circles. By Tom Kolster from Sustainable Brands • Reposted: June 29, 2023

You can’t ignore the world’s biggest advertising festival, Cannes Lions, and its impact. Yet talking about sustainability at an advertising festival as grand as Cannes can still feel like pitching peace at a weapons conference.

Marcel Marcondes, global CMO of AB InBev, opened the festival – he did so, because AB InBev is the first brand in the festival’s history was named Advertiser of the Year for the second year in a row for its successful and effective way of driving growth. He reminded us that, while everyone can make mistakes, his role is to utilize creativity and his partner agencies’ creativity to drive that growth.

The big question is: Can the advertising industry ever grow responsibly? The urgent call for climate action launched ahead of Cannes Lions this year stayed mostly unanswered across both the programming and the conversations. DEI was strongly represented, as it has been for many years — and it is supported by a Glass Lion; yet, climate still doesn’t have an award or even a focused track at the festival. This is a disappointment, as our industry lacks education — as is evident on the reemerged focus on greenwashing. For me, it’s like going back a decade, when greenwashing was first a concern. It’s incredibly sad to see that we keep talking about the same things instead of exploring the tougher topics.

There’s a push to turn sustainability and climate into a black and white topic. It’s the industry’s own fault, with its counterproductive focus on corporate activism — which, for the most part, is virtue signaling. The way forward is to be found in the nuances within the topic of sustainability — and that’s what we need to discuss at Cannes. It should be a meeting of peers, where we’re not afraid to discuss and where we acknowledge it’s ok to disagree. We need honest climate conversations — not yet another sales pitch from a brand that went from talking about the greatest mayonnaise in the world to how great it is at saving the world.

Standout climate-related creative

As big a disappointment as Cannes Lions was across programming and the lack of focus on climate, it’s the first time in its history that we’ve seen that many Grand Prixes and Golds focused on climate. My top pick would be the campaign by theUnited Nations Global Compact’s Brazilian arm that turned Earth into a company, EART4, and took it public on the stock exchange. The work shines a light on the importance of putting a value on our planetary dependency — and how climate change is creating real economic havoc around the world.

It was also great to see the challenges transforming the Global South being tackled in a second Grand Prix. As rising sea levels due to climate change threaten its physical territory, the island country of Tuvalu has been forced to become the “world’s first digital nation.”

The Solar Impulse Foundation, founded by explorer and environmentalist Bertrand Piccard, launched an exciting legislative push in France — “Prêt à Voter” (“ready to vote”). It’s 50 law proposals shared with elected French MPs to help accelerate current regulations for the climate transition; already, three of them have been adopted. Creativity does work!

I also want to share one low-tech idea: Life-Extending Stickers — clever produce stickers created by South African retailer Makro that can help consumers stop wasting fresh fruit and vegetables by educating them on how to use different items at different stages of ripeness. The sticker’s gradient matches the ripeness color of various fruits and vegetables. Along the wheel, text shows you the best way to cook it at each color: Bananas, for example, smoothly transition from green (fry it) to yellow (ice cream) to slightly brown (tempura) to brown (“cupcake”).

Lights, camera, climate action?

There are two types of brands in Cannes. Those that stick to their strategy and despite economic uncertainty push forward on sustainability. And then there are those that think short term and abandon the ‘green’ ship (it’s like pissing in your pants — it will stink at some point).

Let’s embrace failure. I’m not perfect (admittedly, I sometimes unintentionally help companies that greenwash; but on a good day, I believe I’m leaving an impact) and our industry is far from perfect (it’s still an oxymoron to talk about sustainability and advertising). Yet let’s embrace creativity and put marketing and advertising as the lead horse behind responsible and, hopefully one day, sustainable or even regenerative growth. Our climate-changing world is just waiting for us to answer.

To see the original post, follow this link: https://sustainablebrands.com/read/marketing-and-comms/cannes-lions-was-a-climate-kindergarten-time-to-mature-the-conversation

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: accountability, Cannes, Cannes Lions, corporate social reponsibility, corporate social responsibility, CSR, ESG, green marketing, responsible brands, Solar Impulse Foundation, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands
Categories : corporate social responsibility, sustainable branding

AccountAbility 7 Sustainability Trends 2023 Report – Shaping the Global Business Agenda

23 06 2023

This report brings into focus the key sustainability issues and priorities, and the business opportunities they present. From AccountAbiity • Reposted: June 23, 2023

AccountAbility, a trusted global ESG Consulting and Standards firm with a three-decade history in guiding leaders to build better companies, today released the AccountAbility 7 Sustainability Trends 2023 Report. Leveraging the firm’s global consulting, research, and standards experience, the report provides timely data, comprehensive insights, and action-oriented guidance to help organizations across industries and geographies make informed sustainability decisions towards meeting their business objectives.

“Consumers and society, as a whole, are expecting more (and different) from business – in an atmosphere of low trust and high expectations,” comments AccountAbility CEO Sunil (Sunny) A. Misser. “Today, the sustainability agenda is central to business competitiveness. Leaders recognize the financial imperatives of moving to a more sustainable economy and the business potential this presents. With this 7 Sustainability Trends 2023 Report, we enable organizations to navigate the fast-changing ESG landscape and focus on the meaningful trends that are shaping the business agenda.”

The AccountAbility 7 Sustainability Trends 2023 Report provides organizations and businesses with timely and valuable insights into the most pressing environmental, social, and governance issues. In identifying and analyzing these latest trends, challenges, and opportunities in sustainability, the report enables strategic planning, informed decision-making, and effective stakeholder engagement. This report helps organizations align their strategies with evolving sustainability priorities, anticipate future developments, and address risks and opportunities proactively.

Furthermore, the report is designed to enhance investor confidence, supporting sustainability reporting, facilitate knowledge sharing, and promote policy and regulation alignment. The AccountAbility 7 Sustainability Trends 2023 Report is an important tool to help organizations stay at the forefront of these important developments, drive positive change, position themselves as leaders in sustainability, and deliver on their business agenda.

The AccountAbility 7 Sustainability Trends 2023 Report was researched and compiled by the firm’s Global Leadership, Consulting, Research, and Standards teams and benefits from the firm’s extensive work with prominent global organizations across Industries, including Financial Services, Energy & Extractives, Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals, Real Estate, Consumer Packaged Goods, Telecom & Technology, Foundations, Governments, and others, in jurisdictions including the US, UK, EU, Mid-East, and Asia.

The AccountAbility 7 Sustainability Trends 2023 – Highlights

Navigating The Net Zero Landscape: Against an unprecedented volume of net zero commitments, what are the risks for those that fail to act, and the opportunities for transparent leaders?
Stakeholder Activism Is Getting Louder: As businesses face increasing pressure to take a stance and demonstrate actionable progress on a range of ESG issues, how best can leaders balance this with the imperative to maximize shareholder value?
Geopolitics: The New “G” In ESG: In an era of increasingly globalized business operations, how can organizations address the outsized role that the new G (Geopolitics) is playing in the business landscape?
Building an Effective, Future-Focused Board: As demands and expectations shift, how best to equip future-focused Boards to meet the requirements of the evolving business environment?
Next Generation ESG Disclosure and Reporting: A shift from voluntary to mandatory ESG Disclosure is set to heighten attention on corporate sustainability disclosure practices. How will these changes impact ESG Reporting?
The Road to a Sustainable Value Chain: How can the integration of sustainability criteria into supply chains drive organizational shifts towards a more context-aware and competitive value chain?
Nature Based Assets Will Drive Valuations: As nature-based assets are increasingly recognized for their significant impact on valuations, what steps can companies take to achieve nature-based performance goals?

To download the Report, visit: AccountAbility 7 Sustainability Trends 2023 Report

To see the original post, follow this link: https://www.csrwire.com/press_releases/777271-accountability-7-sustainability-trends-2023-report-shaping-global-business

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: accountability, AccountAbility 7 Sustainability Trends 2023 Report., corporate social reponsibility, corporate social responsibility, CSR, ESG, green marketing, net zero, responsible brands, Stakeholder Activism, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands, Sustainable Value Chain
Categories : social responsibility, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands

How Much Do You Really Know About Your Suppliers?

22 06 2023

Modern third-party risk management requires deep, near-constant monitoring by Matthew Debbag from Corporate Compliance Insights • Reposted: June 22, 2023

Ethical sourcing and due diligence have become crucial components of third-party risk management. But as Creditsafe’s Matthew Debbage explains, many companies still aren’t taking the threat seriously enough.

Despite the increasing focus on compliance and risk management, a recent survey by Creditsafe found that nearly half (42%) of companies would still work with a supplier even if they have been sanctioned or involved in corruption, bribery, fraud, money laundering or forced labor. And it’s not as if this is simply a function of ignorance of the truth: 83% of companies run compliance checks on international suppliers at least once a quarter, indicating that they are either not taking the results seriously or may be ignoring the outcomes.

We expected the respondents in our study to show a stronger commitment to ethical sourcing, but what we discovered was a contradiction between companies’ publicly espoused values and their actions.

This contradiction highlights a significant issue in global supply chain management, and it must change if brands want to restore customer confidence and prevent costly mistakes like lawsuits or fines.

Answering the call for ethical sourcing

Ignoring ethical sourcing and supplier due diligence within your business and with your international suppliers can have severe consequences. A brand’s reputation can be severely damaged, with negative publicity or plummeting stock prices and could be subject to lawsuits, compliance violations and regulatory fines.

There are a number of laws in place to safeguard the U.S. market from unethical businesses. The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act bans imports from China’s Xinjiang region unless companies can prove their goods were not produced using forced labor or child labor. More legislation in this area is possible, as a bipartisan measure, the Slave-Free Business Certification Bill, would require certain large companies to carry out audits on their supply chains to ensure they are free of slave labor.

Beyond compliance violations, another huge risk is the financial and reputational impact. Industry giants like H&M and Nike have encountered consumer boycotts due to their association with suppliers engaging in forced labor.

On the other hand, a prime example of how being a purpose-driven, sustainable company can boost revenue growth and profitability is Patagonia. Regarded as one of the world’s most responsible companies, Patagonia monitors all of its processes, including every step of the manufacturing process, with the goal of minimizing its environmental and social impact. The clothing brand is also a certified B Corporation, having met or exceeded stringent criteria consistently and earning an “outstanding” score in each of the past five years.

Three ways to improve third-party risk management

Here are three ways compliance professionals can enhance third party risk management:

Screening for compliance: By leveraging real-time sanctions databases, global enforcement lists, adverse media coverage and profiles of politically exposed persons (PEPs) and state-owned companies, organizations can proactively identify potential red flags and compliance risks. An automated approach can streamline the screening process and optimizes decision making of potential supplier partnerships.

Mitigating operational disruptions: Timely identification of red flags and potential risks allows organizations to proactively develop contingency plans, ensuring they can swiftly address disruptions, such as factory shutdowns, by swiftly reallocating production orders to alternative suppliers.

Enhancing financial stability: One key aspect of third-party risk management is assessing the financial stability of international suppliers. Such insights are vital, as disruptions in the supplier’s operations, whether due to financial difficulties, political unrest, worker disputes or unforeseen events like pandemics, can severely impact a brand’s ability to fulfill production orders on time.

Matthew Debbage is the CEO of the Americas and Asia for Creditsafe. As a longtime veteran of Creditsafe, he has held various leadership roles including COO of Creditsafe Group and CEO of the Americas and Asia since 2012. Over the past 10 years, he led the expansion of the business in the United States, where he has built a high-performing team, driven impressive revenue growth and worked with thousands of American businesses across various industries.

To see the original post, follow this link: https://www.corporatecomplianceinsights.com/how-much-suppliers/

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: accountability, corporate social reponsibility, corporate social responsibility, Creditsafe, CSR, ESG, Ethical Sourcing, green marketing, responsible brands, Supply Chain, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands, Third Party Risk Management
Categories : Climate Change, corporate social responsibility, sustainable branding, sustainable brands

5 Ways To Seamlessly Integrate ESG Initiatives Into Your Brand

22 06 2023

Photo: Getty

By Leeza Hoyt, Forbes Councils Member • Forbes Agency Council via Forbes • Reposted: June 22, 2023

Environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) has become a transformative force in the corporate landscape. Embracing ESG principles allows companies to drive sustainable growth while making a positive impact on society. With a well-defined strategy in place, companies can also enhance their reputation, attract top talent and build enduring relationships with key stakeholders.

Moreover, as millennials and Gen Z gain purchasing power, the demand for companies to prioritize ESG is growing. Notably, 75% of millennials reported a willingness to change their buying habits for eco-friendly products, and the majority of Gen Z is willing to spend 10% more on sustainable brands. Additionally, one-third of millennials prioritize investment products considering ESG factors, along with 19% of Gen Z, 16% of Gen X and 2% of baby boomers.

Integrating ESG into business strategies goes beyond buzzwords—it demands accountability and concrete actions aligned with environmental stewardship, social responsibility and ethical governance. As an experienced strategic communications agency, we have successfully guided numerous businesses through effective ESG initiatives. Read on to discover five strategies for seamlessly incorporating ESG initiatives into your brand and showcasing your unwavering commitment to responsible business practices.

1. Understand Your Brand Values

Before implementing any ESG initiatives, it’s important to understand your brand values and how they align with ESG principles. For example, if your brand is focused on sustainability, then incorporating environmentally friendly initiatives makes sense. If your brand is focused on social justice, initiatives promoting diversity, equity and inclusion would be more fitting.

2. Prioritize Initiatives That Align With Your Business

ESG initiatives should be integrated into your overall business strategy and should not be seen as a separate entity. Identify the areas where your business has the most impact and prioritize initiatives that will have the biggest impact in those areas. For example, if you’re a clothing company, reducing your carbon footprint by using sustainable materials or implementing a recycling program would make sense.

3. Be Transparent And Authentic

Consumers can see through inauthentic attempts at ESG initiatives, so it’s important to be transparent about your goals and progress. Communicate openly about the initiatives you’re implementing and the progress you’re making toward your goals. Be honest about areas where you may be struggling or where there’s room for improvement.

4. Engage With Stakeholders

ESG initiatives require buy-in from all stakeholders, including employees, investors and customers. Engage with these groups to get their feedback and input on your initiatives. This will not only help you identify areas where you can improve but will also create a sense of ownership and accountability among stakeholders.

5. Measure And Report On Your Progress

ESG initiatives require ongoing monitoring and measurement to ensure that they’re having the intended impact. Set measurable goals and regularly report on your progress toward those goals. This will not only help you identify areas where you can improve but will also demonstrate your commitment to ESG principles to stakeholders.

How To Develop Your ESG Communications

Here are some ways you can effectively communicate your company’s comprehensive commitment to sustainability, responsible governance and social progress, enhancing your reputation and building trust among stakeholders:

• Emphasizing innovation: Highlight your company’s investment in research and development for sustainable solutions, demonstrating a forward-thinking approach.

• Supply chain transparency: Communicate your suppliers’ social and environmental practices to showcase your commitment to ethical sourcing and responsible partnerships.

• Promoting a sustainable product life cycle: Showcase your efforts to minimize waste, optimize resource efficiency and promote circular economy principles throughout the entire product life cycle.

• Engaging with communities: Amplify your community engagement initiatives, including philanthropy, volunteer programs and partnerships that contribute to social and environmental causes.

• Stakeholder collaboration: Communicate your active engagement with stakeholders. Solicit their feedback and incorporate their perspectives to drive positive change.

The Bottom Line

Remember, ESG isn’t a one-time initiative—it’s an ongoing commitment to embedding these values in your business strategy and operations. By prioritizing ESG initiatives that align with your brand values, engaging with stakeholders, and measuring and reporting on your progress, you can make ESG fit your brand and demonstrate your commitment to creating positive change.

Leeza L. Hoyt, APR, is the president of The Hoyt Organization, Inc., a public relations firm based in the greater Los Angeles area.

To see the original post, follow this link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2023/06/21/5-ways-to-seamlessly-integrate-esg-initiatives-into-your-brand/?sh=7f1f6e8d58f3

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: accountability, corporate social reponsibility, corporate social responsibility, CSR, ESG, green marketing, responsible brands, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands
Categories : ESG, green marketing, reputation management, sustainable branding

Measuring & Improving Brand Portfolio Sustainability to Meet the Demands of a Changing Market

9 06 2023

IMAGE: АННА РЫЖКОВА

From Sustainable Brands • Reposted: June 9, 2023

The complex issues facing business and society demand complex and collaborative solutions; disconnected, myopic management techniques are no longer effective.

Brands are adapting to a rapidly changing market in which customer demand for sustainable products and services continues to grow. In order to remain competitive, they must prioritize innovation while simultaneously juggling the multitude of tasks required to make it happen. Companies of all sizes are finding new ways to stay relevant in this ever-evolving landscape, and working hard to innovate and create sustainable solutions that will remain attractive to customers in the near and long term. It can be a difficult balancing act, but one that more and more companies are successfully managing.

Sustainable Brands (SB) Socio-Cultural Trends Research™ reveals that 70 percent of US consumers are looking for companies to provide sustainable products or services that will help them to live more sustainable lifestyles. Further, 78 percent say they will support companies that act sustainably by purchasing its products or services; and 73 percent report that, all else being equal, they would switch brands if a competitor offered a more sustainable version of the same product. The market is rewarding businesses that are acting on social and environmental challenges while simultaneously building brand trust in the process. It is imperative for today’s leading brands to implement industry tools that allow them to seamlessly embed sustainability across its organization.

As a health and wellness company, The Clorox Company recognizes the potential of its diverse portfolio of brands to touch people’s lives throughout every part of their day. Through its Sustainability Center, the company launched its 2030 strategy with the ambition to have every brand within its portfolio play a part in creating a more inclusive and sustainable world. To achieve these goals, Clorox needed to find a way to align its brand teams across the enterprise and engage consumers in storytelling strategies that would unlock higher brand performance and value.

To establish its baseline and create a common language, the company applied the SB Brand Transformation Roadmap® (SB Roadmap) at the brand level across the enterprise. The self-assessment revealed best practices and gaps across the SB Five Pillars of Brand Sustainability™ while also offering tangible targets to prioritize on its journey to becoming a sustainable enterprise. This tool allowed each of the brands to benchmark its current operational progress and then determine the actions each brand needed to take to advance its individual aspirations. Clorox says giving the technical teams the ability to own their individual Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) process was a huge win for garnering buy-in across the teams.

The process revealed that the Governance pillar was something that needed to be centrally managed, where subject-matter experts have the ability to standardize their overarching enterprise goals and business practices. The SB Roadmap process also motivated Clorox to identify specific emotional, functional and societal values to prioritize in its product development and marketing communications to take its brand influence with consumers and other stakeholders to the next level and beyond — including representation in public-policy positions and driving systemic change throughout the industry.

Implementing the SB Roadmap across the enterprise enabled The Clorox Company to:

Create cross-functional alignment on individual brand baselines and aspirations within the SB Roadmap framework
Streamline its process on how to benchmark and achieve its sustainability goals
Elevate the role and priority of sustainability messaging through both responsible ingredient sourcing and sustainable packaging choices
Receive increased earned media coverage for individual brands

“What we love about the SB Brand Transformation Roadmap® is it’s a self-assessment tool that helps a leadership team in our business units understand where the brand is on the journey and break down the steps to get from here to where they aspire to be.”

— Eric Schwartz, Chief Marketing Officer, The Clorox Company

Clorox’s central team has hosted 13 internal workshops to introduce the SB Roadmap into its business processes and to embed it into its annual strategic sustainability planning for every business unit across the portfolio. Through this transformative process, Clorox has fostered a culture of sustainability across its enterprise — allowing the teams to take a whole-systems approach to product design and innovation with an understanding of how they each contribute to the larger mission of the company.

In order to thrive in an increasingly challenged world, brands must quickly adjust their strategies away from the traditional ‘business as usual’ approach. Complex issues demand complex and collaborative solutions; disconnected, myopic management techniques are no longer effective.

To see the original post, follow this link: https://sustainablebrands.com/read/product-service-design-innovation/measuring-improving-brand-portfolio-sustainability-demands-changing-market

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: accountability, Clorox, corporate social reponsibility, corporate social responsibility, CSR, ESG, green marketing, responsible brands, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands, SustainableBrnads Life Cycle Analysis
Categories : corporate social responsibility, ESG, sustainable branding, sustainable brands

1.5 Percent of Corporate Profits Can Transform the Fight Against Climate Change

8 06 2023

Image credit: Mika Baumeister/Unsplash

By Abha Malpani Naismith from Triple Pundit • Reposted: June 8, 2023

The current narrative on climate action puts the world in a bind. On one side, present-day action is considered inadequate to achieve the global warming limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius determined by the U.N. On the other side, there is increasing debate over whether that limit is even attainable.

This narrative is dubbed the “doom loop” in a recent report from the U.K.-based think tanks Chatham House and the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). In the doom loop, the focus on crisis consequences and failure to reach targets takes away from the focus required to implement solutions.

In order to move forward, the narrative needs to quickly change to one that encourages action. TriplePundit spoke with Saskia Feast, managing director of global client solutions at Climate Impact Partners, about how collective private-sector action can help to catalyze that change — starting with Fortune Global 500 companies.

We don’t need large investments to create change

Fortune Global 500 companies made more than $2.2 trillion in annual profits over the last three years, according to a recent report by Climate Impact Partners. Investing only 1.5 percent of that — about $33.5 billion — to fund carbon reduction projects like forest conservation, reforestation and micro-renewables would be a massive step toward achieving the transformational change required to hit global climate action targets.

On average, each Global 500 company made $6.7 billion over the last year, according to the report. Committing 1.5 percent of those profits ($100 million) could cut 7.8 million tons of carbon emissions, plant 60,000 trees and protect 120,000 hectares of forest. If every company in the index did the same each year, it would amount to more than 2.6 billion tons in carbon reductions — even more than what scientists say is necessary to cap global temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius.

To put this corporate expense into perspective, on average the world’s largest companies spend 12 percent of their annual profits on research and development, 27 percent on sales and administrative expenses, 8.7 percent on marketing and 8.2 percent on information technology, according to the report.

Offsets or no offsets?

For more than 20 years, Climate Impact Partners has worked with businesses to support over 600 carbon removal and reduction projects in 56 countries. But its work faces criticism around carbon offsets.

“There is a lot of criticism of the companies who are taking action around offsetting carbon emissions and this idea that it is greenwashing,” Feast said. “By not criticizing the companies that are not taking action, those companies are feeling safer.”

Saskia Feast, the managing director of global client solutions at Climate Impact Partners. — *Saskia Feast, managing director of global client solutions at Climate Impact Partners. Photo courtesy of Climate Impact Partners.*

Inaction on climate change could cost the global economy $178 trillion over the next 50 years, or a 7.6 percent cut to global gross domestic product (GDP) in the year 2070 alone, according to a recent report from the Deloitte Center for Sustainable Progress.

Carbon offsetting is a long-debated method for companies and other large emitters to get involved. Supporters claim it is effective in reducing greenhouse gas emissions while conserving natural resources in sectors like transportation, energy and agriculture.

Some critics dismiss the practice as a flawed system that has negligible impact on reducing emissions. They argue offsets are generated by projects that enable polluting industries to continue their harmful practices.

When a company first starts its carbon-neutral journey, it might need to offset a higher proportion of emissions, Feast said. But putting a price on it forces emission reductions over time.

“Once you start putting a price on carbon, you start measuring it and looking for strategic ways to reduce it,” she said. “That helps you drive the internal reduction strategy or the adoption of renewable energy within your organization. The role of the offsetting market is just to help transition us to the low-carbon economy.”

The number of companies using, or planning to use, an internal carbon price increased by 80 percent over just five years, according to a 2021 report by the environmental disclosure management nonprofit CDP.

The return on sustainability investments

Today, financial success and sustainable practices are increasingly tied to each other. “The business of sustainability reporting has improved dramatically over the last 20 years,” Feast said. “What we’re seeing now is companies including those metrics in their annual reports, like a carbon footprint or water use risk. So, the metrics are merging, which is a great development in the market. We’re seeing sustainability leaders, who are our clients, now working directly with investor relations, their CFO and financial teams.”

The business case is stronger than before as company sustainability measures impact reputation, market value, and overall ability to attract and retain employees. And now there are many carbon footprint and ESG measurement tools that enable business leaders to truly consider how their operations impact people and the planet.

Smaller companies can fight climate change, too

Investing in carbon reduction and removal is for every company — small, medium or large. Smaller companies that want to act don’t need a grand plan, Feast said. They can start making decisions in incremental steps like measuring their footprint, supporting renewable energy, making climate-friendly products, and discussing the price of carbon on their business.

“We want to encourage companies to take action,” she said.”Get out there, start taking your steps and maybe one day run a marathon.”

COP28 Global Stocktake: Tracking progress to 1.5 degrees Celsius

As the baton moves from climate technicians to politicians at the COP28 Global Stocktake, which is also commented on with skepticism, policies driving increased financing of climate action could make a significant impact.

Emerging markets and developing economies must collectively invest at least $1 trillion in energy infrastructure by 2030 and $3 trillion to $6 trillion per year across all sectors by 2050 to mitigate climate change by substantially reducing greenhouse gas emissions, according to the International Monetary Fund.

An additional $140 billion to $300 billion a year is needed by 2030 to adapt to the environmental consequences of climate change, such as rising sea levels and intensifying droughts. This could skyrocket to between $520 billion and $1.75 trillion annually after 2050 depending on how effective climate mitigation measures are.

“One of the most important things is to move away from talking about climate financing — and actually doing the financing,” Feast said. “The more money we can put to finance these projects, the more we will be reducing emissions going forward.”

To see the original post, follow this link: https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2023/corporate-profits-climate-change/775241

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: accountability, Climate Change, Climate Impact Partners, corporate social reponsibility, corporate social responsibility, CSR, ESG, green marketing, responsible brands, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands
Categories : Climate Change, corporate social responsibility, ESG, social responsibility, sustainability, sustainable branding

How Brands Can Step Up to Better Support LGBTQ Employees

8 06 2023

Image credit: Jose Pablo Garcia/Unsplash

By Mary Mazzoni from Triple Pundit • Reposted: June 8, 2023

Pride Month is meant to be a joyful celebration of the LGBTQ community and a rallying cry for justice and inclusion. But this year’s celebrations are dampened by a disturbing rise in anti-LGBTQ legislation and rhetoric across the United States. Considering a third of our lives are spent at work, employers have a significant role to play in creating safe and inclusive spaces for people in the community who feel increasingly under attack.

The explosion of anti-LGBTQ legislation runs counter to public opinion

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is tracking 491 pieces of anti-LGBTQ legislation making their way through statehouses across the country. The scope of these bills include weakening anti-discrimination laws, censoring discussion of LGBTQ issues and history in schools, restricting gender-affirming care for transgender people, and banning LGBTQ gatherings like drag shows.

As state lawmakers look to push this type of discriminatory legislation through, many have adopted increasingly extreme anti-LGBTQ rhetoric. Groups of their fans and followers have done the same, in person and online, including a coordinated campaign against brands promoting inclusion during Pride Month.

The surge in discriminatory legislation and rhetoric could lead people to believe the public’s attitudes have shifted when it comes to welcoming and including people in the community. But data indicates that’s far from true.

Recent polling from GLAAD and the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) found that support for equal rights is increasing, not decreasing. In the GLAAD survey, 91 percent of non-LGBTQ Americans agreed that LGBTQ people “should have the freedom to live their life and not be discriminated against,” and 84 percent support equal rights for the community. Similarly, 8 in 10 respondents to the PRRI survey are in favor of laws that shield people in the community from discrimination.

Support for equal rights for the LGBTQ community is at an all-time high GLAAD survey shows — *(Source: GLAAD)*

The discriminatory climate is taking a toll on LGBTQ people at work

A study released last week by Indeed sheds light on how discriminatory policies and rhetoric are affecting LGBTQ people in the workplace. The majority of LGBTQ respondents (60 percent) report experiencing discrimination at work, ranging from being passed over for promotions and raises to outright harassment and violence. More than a quarter of LGBTQ people, including over 30 percent of trans people, say they are not out at work.

“This climate of fear and intimidation comes on the heels of hard-earned fights for employers to do better by LGTBQ+ communities,” journalist S. Mitra Kalita, CEO of URL Media, wrote on Charter this week. “That’s all at risk as literally hundreds of bills seek to obliterate the existence of our colleagues.”

She spoke with three LGBTQ and workplace experts about what brands can do to better support their employees. The results are insightful and well worth a read in full. “Work continues to be a major source of stress for LGBTQ+ professionals, especially with rising anti-LGBTQ+ legislation which has a direct impact on access to economic opportunity,” Andrew McCaskill, who works on LinkedIn’s communications team and authors The Black Guy in Marketing newsletter, told Kalita.

So, what are other leaders saying about what brands can do to support employees better?

How brands can step up to better support LGBTQ employees

Offer LGBTQ-specific benefits. Over half of LGBTQ employees want to see benefits that are specific to their community, but less than a quarter report having any in their current workplace, according to Indeed’s survey. Benefits employees are seeking include health insurance that covers LGBTQ-friendly providers and gender-affirming care, benefits that extend to domestic partners rather than solely spouses, mental health benefits, and paid caregiver leave.

In many cases, these are benefits employers already offer, but they haven’t modified them to be inclusive of all their employees. In its guidance for LGBTQ inclusion in the workplace, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) — which represents 325,000 HR professionals across 165 countries — recommends employers revisit their policies and practices to ensure they are equally available to all employees.

Check your culture. Creating inclusive benefits packages and corporate policies is an important baseline, but “having a written policy isn’t enough,” SHRM’s guide reminds employers. “Even if an employee is in a workplace with internal policies that protect LGBTQ+ workers, a company’s culture may inhibit employees from bringing their whole selves to work.”

LGBTQ-specific diversity training — another benefit highlighted by employees in Indeed’s survey — is a solid first step for educating your teams about how to avoid, spot, and stamp out microaggressions and discrimination against their colleagues. So is setting clear, values-based expectations for employees, such as respecting others. Even dress codes can set the tone for how people show up at work. “Make sure they are neutral without gender stereotypes,” SHRM recommends. “General Motors gained national attention when CEO Mary Barra replaced a 10-page dress code with two words: Dress appropriately.”

Lift up diverse leaders. “If employees are hearing from the same types of individuals, they’re seeing that a clear mark of success [to their employer] isn’t someone who looks or sounds like them,” Sabrina Kent of the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce told the Story Exchange.

When recruiting, make it clear that your company is an equal opportunity employer, and ensure you interview and consider diverse candidates rather than quickly deciding on someone who looks and lives like you. Do the same when choosing who will head up projects, present during meetings and lead teams. The more you lift up leaders from all backgrounds, including LGBTQ people and those from other historically marginalized communities, the more your employees get the message that you want every one of them to succeed.

Use your marketing to raise awareness. Your company’s voice matters in the fight for inclusion. In its recommendations for corporate allies, GLAAD calls on companies to use their marketing materials and social media to speak out against discriminatory legislation and support “Pride 365,” running inclusive campaigns throughout the year rather than solely during Pride Month. Even better, engage LGBTQ-owned media companies to help you get the message out.

Flex your political muscles. “Extend support to the political fight,” GLAAD challenges business leaders. “True corporate allies do not donate to candidates or elected officials who introduce, vote yes, or otherwise support anti-LGBTQ legislation or block passage of pro-LGBTQ legislation like the Equality Act.”

Beyond revisiting your political donations, GLAAD called out Apple as an example of how companies can step into the role of political ally. “Amidst an unprecedented wave of anti-LGBTQ legislation in 2022, Apple utilized multiple offices to take action. Apple lobbied against these harmful bills, filled court briefs in cases involving LGBTQ people, and encouraged other large companies to take public stands against this legislation,” GLAAD observed.

The bottom line

LGBTQ employees work day in and day out to make their companies successful, and with discrimination on the rise, employers have a responsibility to them.

Failing to live up to that responsibility tells employees — whether they’re part of the community or not — that your company ignores or tacitly approves of an increasingly hostile climate that threatens people’s well-being. Decision-makers at any company that claims to lead with values and purpose certainly wouldn’t want to send that message. And with leaders creating clear blueprints for inclusion, there’s really no excuse for companies not to do better.

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: accountability, ACLU, corporate social reponsibility, corporate social responsibility, CSR, GLAAD, πride Month', LGBTQ, responsible brands, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands
Categories : ESG, reputation management, sustainable branding, sustainable brands

5 ways to drive sustainability in procurement

5 06 2023

Reusable grocery bags for sale at Whole Foods. David McNew via Getty Images

The majority of a company’s emissions stems from their suppliers. Here’s how to work with them toward a greener future. By Praveen Kumar Soni from supplychaindive.com • Reposted: June 5, 2023

With sustainability priorities becoming one of the biggest components of a company’s reputation, they can often be the competitive edge needed to become the brand of the choice.

Procurement plays a pivotal role in ensuring sustainability goals become reality, especially since a business’ environmental footprint is largely tied to their suppliers. But cost pressures and other risks can make it difficult for many teams to know where to start.

Below are five key steps to drive sustainability:

1. Make sustainable procurement compulsory

For existing products, it may take time to switch to sustainable options based on feasibility and cost impact. However, wherever possible and for any new product, make it mandatory to go for green options. It’ll help to steadily progress forward on the sustainability journey.

When green materials are harder to find, seek out partnerships with companies that are working toward new solutions. For instance, L’Oréalrecently partnered with biotechnology platform Geno to develop sustainable alternatives to ingredients.

2. Develop supplier sustainability scorecard

Management visionary Peter Drucker once said: “What gets measured gets improved.”

Procurement folks should take this to heart in all matters, including sustainability. Develop a dashboard to measure Scope 1, 2 & 3 emissionsto inform future decisions.

Additionally, organizations can start recognizing and rewarding the suppliers on an annual basis for their sustainability efforts to keep them motivated.

3. Share experiences and learn from others

Sustainability is an evolving field and procurement may not have all the answers. Meaningful engagement with suppliers or other industry experts can help you to find a fix for your problem.

For instance, I once noticed that my carton supplier had switched from plastic shrink wraps to reusable belts for pallet storage. I shared this practice with our manufacturing teams and it helped us, too, cut down on plastic.

Being connected to external world, procurement people can bring in lot of value through learning and sharing.

4. Invest in technology

Technology can help fine tune the processes and help make decisions around sustainability.

For instance, the use of digital twin technology in our manufacturing setup helped us to optimize the consumption of energy and water, leading to positive impact in sustainability KPIs.

Similarly, AI has the ability to assess millions of data sources and come up with the recommendations for sustainability alternatives. Procurement should invest in technology to get the benefit at scale.

To see the original post, follow this link: https://www.supplychaindive.com/news/5-ways-to-drive-sustainability-in-procurement/651357/

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: accountability, corporate social reponsibility, corporate social responsibility, CSR, ESG, green marketing, responsible brands, Supply Chain, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands
Categories : corporate social responsibility, ESG, sustainability, sustainable branding

Americans Are Ready to Change Their Behavior for the Sake of Sustainability: Are Brands Willing to Help?

2 06 2023

Image credit: Bluewater Sweden/Unsplash

By Mary Mazzoni from Triple Pundit • Reposted: June 2, 2023

We hear it time and time again: People aren’t ready, willing or interested in changing their lifestyles for the sake of sustainability. They’re too busy, too broke or too ambivalent to think about how their choices impact the world around them. And until they change their tune, there’s nothing brands can do about it — except sell them more stuff.

This prevailing narrative has been around for decades, but data continues to show that it isn’t representative of how people really feel. The public is increasingly aware of the environmental and social challenges we face — from climate change to wealth inequality — and they want to be part of the solution.

Over half of Americans say they’ve already made lifestyle changes like shopping secondhand, purchasing products in reusable or refillable packaging, and buying less overall in order to reduce their impact on people and the planet, according to a December survey conducted by TriplePundit and our parent company, 3BL Media, in partnership with the research technology firm Glow.

Let’s break down what U.S. consumers are really saying about sustainability, how it factors into their own lives, and how brands can respond differently than they have in the past.

what people view as the most pressing challenges facing society - survey findings — Americans rank climate change and economic inequality among the top three challenges facing society today, only behind their anxiety about keeping food on the table. Download the report to learn more.

People are willing to change their behavior for the sake of sustainability

Shopping secondhand. Purchasing products made from, or packaged in, recycled materials. Choosing items in reusable or refillable containers. Shopping in the grocery bulk aisle to avoid packaging altogether. Some would have us believe these lifestyle shifts are too expensive or too cumbersome for Americans. But more than 60 percent of respondents to our survey said they’re already making these changes or intend to do so within the next six months.

Of course the say/do gap — which refers to the difference between what people say in surveys and what they actually do in their daly lives — is always a factor. Even so, the interest in these lifestyle changes is significant and runs counter to preconceived notions that consumers don’t really want — or aren’t really ready — to change their lifestyles for sustainability reasons.

People even expressed interest in behaviors that are commonplace in other countries but often dismissed as something that could “never work” in the U.S. For example, over half of respondents said they would be willing to take packaging like bottles back to a store for wash and refill.

people are willing to change their behaviors for sustainability - survey findings — More than 60 percent of U.S. consumers are willing to adopt lifestyle changes like shopping secondhand, opting for the bulk aisle, or choosing items in reusable or refillable packaging. Download the report to learn more.

Our findings support existing research on general readiness for behavior change: In another 2022 survey, for example, half of responding U.S. adults said they’re willing to accept 95 percent of the changes needed to avert the climate crisis and restore ecosystems. The survey also revealed the extent of climate anxiety among the public, with 1 out of 4 respondents worried they may have to give up long-term goals like starting a family.

When it comes to packaging in particular, our findings indicate that 75 percent of U.S. consumers are willing to choose reusable alternatives — echoing 2022 polling from Trivium Packaging which found the same. The trade publication Packaging World recently declared reusable and refillable packaging to be a “global opportunity,” with sales forecast to grow by 4.9 percent annually to $53.4 billion by 2027.

75 percent of people have purchased a product in refillable packaging or would be willing to do so - sustainability survey findings — Download the report to learn more.

How brands can respond to shifting consumer preferences

Many advocates point to the calls for consumer behavior change as merely a delay tactic from large companies: If the narrative keeps people focused on their own behaviors — analyzing everything from cup preferences to clothing choice — they won’t have energy left to push for a shift in corporate practices or government regulations.

In the past, this may have been true, with consumers and brands pitted against each other in a cyclical blame-game while the poor get poorer and global temperatures rise. But findings like these indicate we’ve reached a critical moment when ideologies can align, and brands can show up as partners for consumers looking to play a role in the future they want to see.

Leveraging our nearly two decades of experience in communicating about sustainability, TriplePundit and 3BL Media’s Consumer Insights and Sustainability Benchmark report includes key action items for businesses looking to respond to consumer sentiment in a positive way.

“Understanding people’s uncertainties and anxieties about the future, and what they want to see from business, gives companies the opportunity to communicate and present themselves as part of the solution that consumers are looking for,” the report reads. “The next piece of the puzzle is to figure out how businesses can tailor their communications to appeal to consumer interests and bring them on board their journey to a more sustainable world.”

In particular, we highlight how brands can adopt a more meaningful role of partner and educator — rather than simply another purveyor of goods and services. “Since consumers want to be part of the solution, help them do that by sharing actionable information,” the report reads. “It may be as simple as telling them how to make your product last longer or how to lower their personal carbon footprint with a checklist on your website. You can celebrate your company’s successes by applauding theirs.”

For more insight on how brands can — and should — respond to shifting consumer attitudes about sustainability, check out prior reporting on TriplePundit or download the report here.

To see the original post, follow this link: https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2023/consumer-behaviors-sustainability/775591

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: 3BL Media, accountability, corporate social reponsibility, corporate social responsibility, CSR, ESG, green marketing, responsible brands, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands, Triple Pundit
Categories : Climate Change, corporate social responsibility, ESG, social responsibility, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands

How to close the corporate accountability gap on sustainability

2 06 2023

A fire burns in a in Porto Velho, Brazil, 09 September 2019. Photo Credit: FERNANDO BIZERRA JR [Fernando Bizerra Jr (EPA-EFE)]

If businesses are to take corporate sustainability seriously, they will need to add relevant sustainability expertise to their boards, argue Nicolas Sauviat and Sanjini Jain. By Nicolas Sauviat and Sanjini Jain from euractiv.com • Reposted: June 2, 2023

On 1 June, the European Parliament is due to take a plenary vote on a Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), legislation which aims to foster sustainable and responsible corporate behaviour throughout global value chains. If it’s formally adopted, it will require companies to identify – and, where necessary, prevent, end or mitigate – the adverse impacts of their activities on human rights, in terms of issues like child labour and worker exploitation, as well as the environment, for problems like pollution and biodiversity loss.

The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) was heralded internationally as the ‘Paris moment’ for nature to lead the world towards a more harmonious relationship between nature, people and the economy. If we have any hope of living up to this moment and fulfilling the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – the blueprint for how we achieve a better, fairer and greener world in the short time left – the private sector must take responsibility for its actions.

One key issue in this vote up for debate is whether now is the time to challenge boardroom’s traditional focus on generating wealth for its shareholders, and to reorientate their focus to provide value for all its stakeholders.

With scientists projecting that the crucial 1.5°C global average temperature threshold will be temporarily breached in just five years, we are running out of time to change direction. But do boards have the needed skills and expertise are required to meet this challenge, and should legislation be used to accelerate their action?

This could be a crucial moment to close the corporate accountability gap on sustainability. As things stand, business action remains largely voluntary. And yet, we cannot keep this planet viable for life without the private sector.

At the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA), we assess corporate progress against the SDGs. From our experience we know that company boards are key to action on sustainability. Only by ensuring that they have the right knowledge and expertise can the accountability gap be closed, and progress made.

As things stand, most big companies have set sustainability targets. Many have pledged to a net-zero carbon objective. However, very few actually provide the necessary details on how they will go about accomplishing these ambitions. The data reported by businesses often lacks substance. Knowingly or not, many companies oversell their sustainability credentials.

A major reason for this is a skill and knowledge gap, especially within companies’ top executive forces. This impacts the boardroom’s understanding and subsequent ability to address Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) risks. Indeed, a recent survey by the professional services experts at PwC found that only 27% of boards fully understand ESG risks.

Our own research delivered even worse findings. Assessing corporate progress on protecting the natural world, WBA’s Nature Benchmark examined the governance structures of 400 of the world’s largest companies. It looked into whether they have accountability systems in place for achieving their sustainable development goals – including governance bodies with the right expertise to understand the material pressures on nature created by their business activities.

While nearly 70% of companies assigned responsibility for their sustainability strategy to their board, just 2% of boards possessed the relevant sustainability expertise. This stark discrepancy highlights the fact that boards are accepting their sustainability responsibility without a clear understanding of what it actually entails.

Boards must rapidly adapt to their new sustainability role, lest they become an obstacle to their companies’ futures. In this context, we desperately need corporate board members with CVs beyond banking and accounting. Specialist scientific committees can also help provide boards with credible information.

Businesses should ensure that boards have the expertise to tackle their most relevant sustainability topics. This could be done by demonstrating that they have undertaken training by a certified organisation. Alternatively, they could have board members with previous experience in specialist organisations, like consulting firms or NGOs, or have authored academic studies.

As we hurtle towards irreversible environmental tipping points, we hope that European legislators pass the CSDDD with a legal mandate for boards to have a duty to oversee and sign off on their due diligence policies. This mandate should be accompanied by further guidance to ensure boards demonstrate relevant ESG expertise. That’s how to close the corporate accountability gap on sustainability and drive action.

Now is the time for boardrooms to shift from their traditional focus on generating wealth for their shareholders towards generating value for all stakeholders. After all, no company will profit from an uninhabitable planet.

Nicolas Sauviat and Sanjini Jain are researchers at the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA).

To see the original post, follow this link: https://www.euractiv.com/section/economy-jobs/opinion/how-to-close-the-corporate-accountability-gap-on-sustainability/

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: accountability, corporate social reponsibility, corporate social responsibility, Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), CSR, ESG, green marketing, Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), responsible brands, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands, World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA)
Categories : Climate Change, ESG, social responsibility, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands

B Corp: Are they really the gold standard of sustainability?

1 06 2023

Graphic: Seismic Change

B Corp certification has become the gold standard of sustainability – we explore whether it’s a valuable credential or a glorified greenwashing tool. By Lucy Buchholz from Sustainability Magazine • Reposted: June 1, 2023

Sustainability has become a somewhat murky term. With businesses fighting it out to be the biggest, the richest and, nowadays, of course, the greenest, it can be hard to know which ones should actually be trusted.

Luckily, the business world has B Corp certifications, which puts businesses to the test to ensure their credentials have been earned honestly, rather than being artificially dyed green.

What is a B Corp?

B Corporations, informally known as B Corps, are businesses or organisations that have voluntarily met the highest standards for social and environmental performance; in other words, they’re doing everything they possibly can to create a better future for people and the planet.

To more accurately define them, B Lab – the nonprofit behind B Corps – explains: “Certified B Corporations are businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. B Corps are accelerating a global culture shift to redefine success in business and build a more inclusive, sustainable economy.”

So, in other words, B Corp Certification is for businesses what Fair Trade is for products and goods.

What to expect from the process

It’s not easy to become a B Corp.

Certification is holistic, meaning it’s not exclusively focused on a single social or environmental issue, so businesses have to achieve rigorous standards that require engagement from every aspect of a company. And these standards don’t just relate to the businesses themselves, but to every company or organisation affiliated within the value and supply chain

Yvonne Filler, Marketing Manager at Good Innovation – a certified B Corp – shares that B Corp certification is a way to hold businesses accountable for their actions and statements. As a Social Impact Innovation Consultancy, Good Innovation finds creative, cutting-edge solutions to the world’s most difficult social problems by helping organisations that want to make a difference do it smarter, faster and, crucially, with greater impact.

“Becoming a B Corp is a fairly long process, with around 150 questions requiring lots of data – but it wouldn’t be a quality standard without it,” Yvonne shares. “You need a certain score to pass and be certified. Your score will then be published on the B Corp website, but there’s no ranking system.”

To become a certified B Corp, businesses must abide by stringent requirements, including completing a comprehensive assessment, which then must be verified by founding company B Lab. Any controversial operations must be disclosed to B Lab, and businesses must commit to the transparent public disclosure of their performance.

“It’s easier to apply for B Corp certification when your company is smaller or just starting out, because you can see all the areas upon which you need to focus,” says Heidi Schoeneck, Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Grounded. “This is largely because it can be costly and time consuming to ensure all ground is covered correctly.”

Yvonne supports this idea, stating that larger businesses will be required to provide more data. “For us, the process is really beneficial. It’s required us to hold ourselves accountable for our actions,” Yvonne adds.

Is B Corp right for your business?

Those considering applying for B Corp certification will most likely have sustainability and environmental impact at the forefront of their business model. But how can a business owner or CEO be sure that it’s the right step for them?

“Applying for B Corp certification can be costly and time consuming,” Laura Harnett, founder of sustainable cleaning tool brand Seep, explains. “But for business owners contemplating whether or not to make the commitment, I would urge them to consider why they want to achieve it and what they want to gain. Fundamentally, are you a business for good? Can your business improve the current situation with the climate or social inequality, for example?

“If you believe that your business does play these roles, the B Corp certification is a really great structure to guide you through that process. As a founder or CEO, you may not have the time to come up with your own framework, but with B Corp, it’s already been done for you and it’s constantly evolving to keep you on top of the game.”

“We thought we were a shoo-in to become a B Corp because we had built our whole business around sustainability,” Heidi says. “But once you get into the criteria, you see how much more can be done. It’s something you have to check in with every few months to make sure you’re on top of everything.”

Abiding by sustainability rules has become akin to a box-ticking exercise for many companies. As consumers have become increasingly concerned about the impact their purchases have on the environment – with 75% of US consumers reporting it’s a priority for them – more businesses are pledging eco-friendly standards, only to fall spectacularly short. In fact, 42% of companies have been said to exaggerate sustainability claims, according to research from The European Commission.

B Corps are, therefore, an avenue that businesses can venture down to prove they’re living up to their claims. But the crucial question surrounds whether B Corp really is the gold standard it’s claimed to be?

“As so many companies greenwash, it can be hard to know which ones are genuinely prioritising positive change,” Laura says. “B Corp certifications hold companies and founders to a standard that they need to adhere to across five key areas: environment, governance, people, communities, and customers. I’ve found that, as a business owner, B Corp has made me think more deeply about the decisions I am making and the impact Seep is having on society.”

Reaching B Corp status will therefore help to eradicate greenwashing, with Heidi stating there’s “no room for it” in the B Corp community. She continues to state that, although the certifications have sparked debate as to whether the growing number of companies achieving the status weakens its validity, Heidi believes that more companies should strive to reach the criteria.

“There has been some talk about whether the number of businesses joining the B Corp community dilutes the message; I think the more the merrier. It’s a great achievement to meet the 80-point benchmark, and we need more businesses to commit to making an impact.”

Good Innovation’s Yvonne supports this idea, suggesting that this is often where B Corps are “misunderstood”. “Some people might say the number of companies becoming a B Corp is weakening its impact,” Yvonne explains, “but if you look at it in terms of what it was set up to do, then more certified members can only be a good thing.”

For companies that go above and beyond, B Corp awards the ‘Best for the World B Corp’ status to the top 5% of B Corps. Seep was one business that achieved this status last year for their environmental impact.

“As a founder, you can easily beat yourself up thinking you’re not doing enough,” Laura says. “Although there’s a lot of discussion around B Corps, I truly believe that it is the most robust system to demonstrate that a company is sustainable.”

To see the original post, follow this link: https://sustainabilitymag.com/esg/b-corp-are-they-really-the-gold-standard-of-sustainability

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: accountability, B Corps, Certificaton, corporate social reponsibility, corporate social responsibility, CSR, ESG, Good Innovation, green marketing, responsible brands, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands
Categories : corporate social responsibility, ESG, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands

Circular Platforms: Unlocking Sustainability And Material Security

31 05 2023

Photo: Getty Images

By Peter Evans, Chief Strategy Officer, McFadyen Digital; Co-Chair, MIT Platform Strategy Summit and Faculty, Fast Future Executive via Forbes • Reposted: May 31, 2023

The world is grappling with a sustainability crisis, but the emerging circular economy shows promise as a solution. Circular platforms, which combine digital marketplaces with circular models of production and consumption, can play a vital role in increasing the reuse, repair and recycling of valuable resources.

To date, platform marketplaces have largely supported linear consumption, with products and packaging becoming waste after use. Through the examples below, I hope to show how businesses can use circular platforms in consumer and B2B markets to help reduce waste, improve material security and drive innovation.

Consumer-Oriented Circular Platforms

There are several circular platforms emerging that are facilitating the sharing, leasing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling in consumer markets. The following are some lessons I think we can learn from them.

Building Community

One benefit of using a circular platform is the ability to build community. As an example, Poshmark, a popular online marketplace that connects users to buy and sell things like used clothing and beauty products, has a social media-like interface that helps foster a sense of community among its users. Including a community aspect in your platform can enhance the overall user experience, increase user loyalty and boost the visibility of users’ listings. Look for ways that users can connect with each other, share inspiration and receive feedback.

Giving Assurance

Platforms can also help provide quality assurance. Backmarket is an online marketplace for refurbished electronics that ensures the quality of products sold through its marketplace through rigorous testing and certification processes. This gives buyers confidence in the reliability and performance of refurbished electronics, overcoming concerns associated with second-hand purchases.

Providing Affordability

Too Good To Go offers a platform to purchase surplus food from local restaurants and grocery stores, reducing food waste and enhancing affordability. Any way that you can find to increase accessibility to sustainable options is a smart move in this economy.

Enabling B2B Transactions For The Circular Economy

Circular platforms also facilitate circular transactions between businesses. Like their consumer-facing counterparts, platforms in the B2B marketplace can showcase benefits.

Obtaining Data

One main thing you can take advantage of with platforms is the ability to gather otherwise hard-to-obtain data. For example, Scrap Monster connects buyers and sellers in the scrap metal trading industry and is able to provide unique data for scrap metal pricing that cannot be found elsewhere.

Enhance Discovery

Often the “waste” from one industry can be a valuable input into another industry. Platforms can provide discovery engines that help procurement teams in one industry find useful used materials from another industry. Rheaply, which enables buying and selling of construction waste, recently expanded to play this discovery role when it acquired Materials Marketplace and its network of 2,600 partners.

Allow Cross-Broder Transactions

Rebound Plastic Exchange is a trading platform for recycled plastic and is just one example of how you can significantly reduce friction associated with cross-border transactions. To illustrate, Rebound Plastic Exchange provides standardized processes and procedures for listing, communication, pricing and compliance with complex international rules governing the moment of waste materials. When it comes to complex processes like this, customers appreciate a platform that can streamline and simplify.

The Overall Power of Platforms

One of the strengths of platform business models is their ability to scale rapidly. As they facilitate user interactions, they can quickly grow to reach a large audience, creating a positive feedback loop where more users attract more users, leading to exponential growth.

You can also use platforms to leverage discovery engines to reach a wider audience. Discovery engines help users find new content and products, which can attract more visitors to the platform. Using data and algorithms can personalize recommendations to individual users based on their interests and behavior.

Circular platforms, specifically, can aid in responding to the growth of extended producer responsibility (EPR) laws. These laws assign responsibility for managing a product’s end-of-life environmental impacts to manufacturers or brand owners, reducing the burden on taxpayers. By joining a marketplace, industries can improve recycling rates, reduce resource consumption and prevent pollution.

Emerging Opportunities

In addition to participating in existing circular marketplaces, I see new emerging opportunities to establish circular markets. One area is around battery recycling. The shift to electric vehicles is creating significant demand for the materials for EV battery production. Ideally, circular platforms can orchestrate the collection and recycling of batteries, thereby reducing the pressure to expand mining capacity.

Another example involves recycling plastics used in the construction of new cars. BMW is already using recycled fishing nets to make headliners and floor mats for a few of their other models. Imagine if a marketplace was established in which all car manufacturers participated in a used plastics exchange. Given the size of the automotive sector, such a marketplace would create significant demand for waste plastics that are increasingly choking landfills and the world’s oceans.

Challenges

Creating and growing circular marketplaces is not without challenges. Like traditional platforms, circular platforms also must overcome the classic “chicken and egg” dilemma of attracting enough supply and demand to secure sufficient transactions.

Circular marketplaces often meet resistance as they can require changes to traditional procurement and supply chain management. Companies may need to rework business processes and align incentives with various stakeholders to create a closed-loop system.

Other barriers to acknowledge include the need for trust to ensure the quality and reliability of recycled materials. This requires things like testing and digital twin technology to capture, store and update critical information. Like other marketplaces, circular platforms must also ensure timely delivery, manage inventory and handle returns and refunds, which can all be complex, time-consuming and resource intensive.

Circular platforms offer a promising path toward a sustainable future by enhancing material security, reducing waste and driving innovation. While the transition to a fully circular economy may take time, I believe significant progress can be made by adopting circular platforms. These platforms can help incentivize companies to design products that are more durable, repairable and recyclable. By shifting from a linear “take-make-dispose” economy to circular models of production and consumption, we can pave the way for a more sustainable world.

To see the original post, follow this link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2023/05/30/circular-platforms-unlocking-sustainability-and-material-security/?sh=6fbd4c766d01

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: accountability, Circular Platforms, corporate social reponsibility, corporate social responsibility, CSR, ESG, green marketing, responsible brands, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands
Categories : Climate Change, corporate social responsibility, ESG, social responsibility, sustainability, sustainable branding

The Carrot or the Stick: Which Inspires Business to Be More Sustainable?

30 05 2023

Image credit: THIS IS ZUN/Pexels

By Riya Anne Polcastro from Triple Pundit • Reposted: May 30, 2023

Corporations are more likely to embrace sustainability when it benefits the bottom line. That isn’t surprising considering they are ultimately in business to make a profit. For many, purpose may very well come in second — if at all. Still, there’s more than one way to encourage businesses to do better by people and the planet.

TriplePundit spoke with Dr. Steven Cohen, a professor of public affairs at Columbia University and author of the new book “Environmentally Sustainable Growth,” about how the profit motive can catalyze the desired effect where shame and guilt have failed.

Incentivizing sustainability can be easier than it sounds

The best way to make corporations behave is by creating an environment in which doing so will help them make more money, Cohen argues. “In some cases, you don’t have to do anything other than educate people and say, you know, this will be a profitable item,” he told TriplePundit.

Cohen advocates for a carrot instead of a stick approach. He’s hopeful that making good behavior profitable will hasten more wide-sweeping changes at the business level than punishing or charging companies for the negative impacts they have. And he’s not alone in that opinion.

“Sustainability is on the cusp of an evolutionary leap,” Georgia Makridou of the ESCP (École Supérieure de Commerce de Paris) Business School wrote in an impact paper on the challenges confronting sustainable energy companies and their resulting tactics. “Sustainable companies are becoming the new norm as those that have a well-rounded approach to sustainability can see wide-ranging growth opportunities.”

That’s because many business leaders now see that sustainable practices can actually lower their operating costs in the long run — and that naturally leads to increased profits, Cohen explained. Additionally, doing the right thing resonates with consumers — especially those in younger generations — and promotes brand loyalty over time.

Further, employees want to work for companies that align with their values. “If I’m in a business that requires talented engineers, talented designers and and so forth, to attract those people, I have to be a company they want to work for,” Cohen said. “That’s also incentivizing companies to start behaving this way: If you want to attract the best brains out there, then companies are under internal pressure to behave and to start focusing on their energy use and their waste and pollution.”

Environmentally Sustainable Growth - book cover - book on corporate sustainability — Dr. Steven Cohen unpacks practical steps to push sustainable business forward in his new book “Environmentally Sustainable Growth: A Pragmatic Approach,” out this month from Columbia University Press. Image provided.

Major companies reap cost savings through sustainability, while creating measurable impact that matters

Cohen gave examples of major multinational companies that moved toward sustainable practices because they foresaw a financial benefit. For example, “Walmart discovered they have a lot of flat roofs,” he said. All that space adds up vast solar energy potential — and Walmart and its big-box competitor, Target, are on the job.

Together, they’re the top two business installers of onsite solar. “In their case, you don’t have to do anything. They just had to internally figure out this was going to help them make money,” Cohen said. If fully harnessed, Walmart’s available roof space at stores across the country could produce enough solar energy to power more than 842,000 homes, according to the nonprofit Environment America.

This month Walmart also teased new plans to roll out electric vehicle charging stations at thousands of stores across the U.S. The move will help bring in shoppers, while making EV charging more accessible to millions of people in towns large and small.

One of the country’s top agricultural producers, Land O’Lakes, also cut its footprint through cost reduction measures. The company uses satellite telemetry, artificial intelligence, and robotics to ensure it doesn’t waste inputs like water, pesticides and fertilizer — using only what’s needed and none of what’s not. “They’ve now created a much more efficient form of agriculture, which also just so happens to cost less and pollute less,” Cohen said.

Apple’s engagement in sustainability came out of a need to satisfy its customer base. “[Young people] started to make the demand that Apple reduce the pollution [associated with] their products, and Apple has done that dramatically over the last 10 years,” Cohen said. He cited the company’s buyback program and the fact that it hired a former Environmental Protection Agency administrator to manage its environmental endeavors as examples. “It’s not required by the government, but in order to meet their market, they have to do that,” he said.

Incentives and regulations work. Shame and guilt doesn’t, this expert says.

That’s not to say there isn’t room for regulations — there still needs to be rules of the road. The key is a good balance between government regulations and the incentives provided by an improved profit margin, Cohen said.

“What doesn’t work is trying to shame people, to shame companies,” he argued. “People want to live their lives, and companies want to make money. I think that green principles are most effective when they line up with the self interest of people and of corporations. And when that happens, you see a lot of activity.”

As for how to shift from a scapegoating and punishment approach to one that focuses on financial rewards: “Instead of thinking about the company as an enemy, you think about the company as a partner,” Cohen said. “And the only way they’re going to be a partner is if they see they’re gonna make money out of it.”

To see the original post, follow this link: https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2023/corporate-sustainability-carrot-stick/775116

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: accountability, corporate social reponsibility, corporate social responsibility, CSR, Dr. Steven Cohen, Environmentally Sustainable Growth, EPA, ESG, green marketing, responsible brands, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands
Categories : Climate Change, social responsibility, sustainability, sustainable branding

The journey from harvest to table: Cutting out food waste

29 05 2023

Photo: Getty Images

Jean Pierre Azañedo, CEO and co-founder of CoreZero, share the importance of achieving a sustainable food value chain. By Jean Pierre Azañedo from Sustainability Magazine • Reposted: May 29, 2023

The journey from farm to table is characterised by loss and waste – from overproduction to accidental damage and unmet quality standards – these are just some of the “opportunities” for waste that are encountered amid the farm-to-table process. In fact, almost 40% of the food in the United States is wasted.

Not only does food waste cause greenhouse gas emissions and environmental damage, but it also exacerbates food insecurity in many communities. Like a vicious cycle, food waste accounts for 10% of total global emissions, yet, at the same time, the climate crisis is one of the main factors exacerbating food insecurity.

Since methane, a greenhouse gas that is 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide over twenty years, is released into the atmosphere when food ends up in landfills, it’s safe to say that minimising food loss across the supply chain should be treated as a priority, not as an option.

Food waste across the supply chain

Besides the release of greenhouse gasses, when food goes to waste, so do all the resources that were utilised for its production, processing, transportation, preparation, and storage. Food waste in the United States, for example, results in the loss of water and energy equivalent to building more than 50 million homes.

Consequently, it’s important to not only acknowledge the environmental effects of food waste but also to assess where food is specifically wasted and lost in the supply chain.

For starters, while discussions about food waste usually refer to the household and retail sections, more than 15% of food is dissipated before leaving the farm. As an example, due to price volatility, farmers may not end up moving products into the market since the food prices may be lower than the costs of processing and shipping. From damaged crops due to environmental and biological factors to products that do not meet cosmetic market standards, these are a few of the reasons that lead to food loss and waste during the production stage.

Then, in the handling and storage stage, food waste and loss can occur due to numerous different factors, but it mainly boils down to improper handling and storage. In the case of vegetables, loss predominantly happens because of spillage and degradation during loading and unloading and improper transportation and storage. Then, when it comes to meat products, loss often occurs due to condemnation in the slaughterhouse while, for fish, spillage takes place during the icing, storing, and packing processes. Despite high-income countries having adequate storage facilities in the supply chain, food loss still happens during the storage stage due to technical malfunctions, overstocking, or inadequate temperature.

While some inevitable losses happen during the processing and packaging stage such as the loss of milk during the processing of yoghurt, most of the losses in this stage of the supply chain occur due to technical problems. Similarly, packaging materials can contribute to food loss if they are not designed to preserve the freshness of the products.

Subsequently, in the transportation and distribution stage, food is lost, as the name implies, amid its transportation. In developing countries, for example, products may not meet cosmetic standards since they acquire bumps and bruises along the journey. Then, if food is delivered after its prime freshness window, it gets rejected in most cases. In Japan, for example, “the rule of one-third” entails that food and beverages must be delivered within one-third of their shelf life.

Finally, in the consumption stage, food is either wasted or lost in households or other food service establishments. In truth, the largest amount of food waste occurs in households, with 76 billion pounds of food being wasted annually per person in the United States. Moreover, the food wasted at this stage also has the largest resource footprint in the supply chain because of the resources utilised for its transportation, storage, and cooking.

A sustainable food value chain

While acknowledging the effects of food waste as well as its causes is crucial, in order to move forward, innovation is necessary. In fact, according to ReFED’s 2030 roadmap, the United States could reduce food waste by 45mn tonnes a year, cut GHG emissions by 75 million metric tons, and save food equivalent to four billion meals for those in need with the right policy changes and investments.

Since food waste has both societal and environmental effects, a sustainable food value chain should produce and distribute food in a way that is environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable. Essentially, this means that the food chain should function in such a way that it has minimal impact on the environment while ensuring that people have access to nutritious food and supporting the livelihoods of farmers and other food system employees.

A sustainable food value chain presupposes that all resources are used efficiently and sustainably and that waste is minimised. For instance, the food that is wasted during the production stage could be used to produce biogas or fertiliser through anaerobic digestion. Similarly, the ‘ugly’ food that doesn’t meet cosmetic standards could be kept out of landfills by being upcycled. That being said, for this transition to be resilient and sustainable, change needs to happen across the entire food chain.

For instance, in the production stage, food loss could be minimised through precision agriculture and improved agricultural practices such as crop rotation. However, precision agriculture technology will only work with education regarding sustainable agricultural practices and technologies. Alternatively, ‘waste’ can be repurposed by identifying alternative markets that might be interested in ‘imperfect’ products. Similarly, since the vegetables and fruits that do not meet cosmetic standards are still nutritious, they could be donated to food-insecure communities.

On the other side of the food chain, awareness is key to reducing food waste at the consumption stage. The problem of food waste boils down, especially in developed countries, to cultural expectations and preconceptions regarding food and its transition to ‘waste’. From shopping locally and more responsibly to using leftovers and composting food scraps, these are just a few examples of how food waste can be reduced at the household level.

Food waste minimisation: a necessity

From consumers composting food scraps and restaurants collaborating with food banks to edible by-products being developed into ingredients and local food distribution being promoted, a sustainable food value chain is achievable through collaboration.

However, food waste and loss need to be halved per person for the 2030 SDGs to be met, hence these tweaks in the food supply chain need to be treated as priorities instead of options. Since the effects of food waste are visible not only from an environmental perspective but also from an economic and societal one, an equitable and sustainable food system should result in improved food security and economic savings in addition to lowering greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing biodiversity.

To see the original post, follow this link: https://sustainabilitymag.com/articles/the-journey-from-harvest-to-table-cutting-out-food-waste

Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: 2030 SDGs, accountability, CoreZero, corporate social reponsibility, corporate social responsibility, CSR, ESG, Food Value Chain, Food Waste, green marketing, responsible brands, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands
Categories : Climate Change, corporate social responsibility, ESG, social responsibility, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands

Measuring & Improving Brand Portfolio Sustainability to Meet the Demands of a Changing Market

26 05 2023

From Sustainable Brands • Reposted: May 26, 2023

The complex issues facing business and society demand complex and collaborative solutions; disconnected, myopic management techniques are no longer effective.

Implementing the SB Roadmap across the enterprise enabled The Clorox Company to:

Create cross-functional alignment on individual brand baselines and aspirations within the SB Roadmap framework
Streamline its process on how to benchmark and achieve its sustainability goals
Elevate the role and priority of sustainability messaging through both responsible ingredient sourcing and sustainable packaging choices
Receive increased earned media coverage for individual brands

“What we love about the SB Brand Transformation Roadmap® is it’s a self-assessment tool that helps a leadership team in our business units understand where the brand is on the journey and break down the steps to get from here to where they aspire to be.”

— Eric Schwartz, Chief Marketing Officer, The Clorox Company

To see the original post, follow this link: https://sustainablebrands.com/read/product-service-design-innovation/measuring-improving-brand-portfolio-sustainability-demands-changing-market

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: accountability, corporate social reponsibility, corporate social responsibility, CSR, ESG, green marketing, responsible brands, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands, Sustainable Brands (SB) Socio-Cultural Trends Research™
Categories : corporate social responsibility, ESG, sustainable branding, sustainable brands

Donating Goods: A Sustainable, Socially Responsible Solution to Excess Inventory

26 05 2023

By Romaine Seguin from Chain Store Age • Reposted: March 26, 2023

The retail industry is facing an excess inventory crisis. Whether it’s inflation, supply chain issues, or higher-than-anticipated returns, retailers are in a precarious position when it comes to a glut of merchandise that cannot be sold.

A 2022 report from AD Global Supply Chain Research estimates as much as 8% of stock, worth an astounding $163 billion, goes to waste every year. Not only is this bad for business, but it also creates an enormous environmental impact from the stock that gets discarded.

For retailers, the growing issue of product waste cannot be ignored. According to McKinsey, companies that are sustainability leaders consistently outperform the market in both the medium and long term. As a result, many retailers are putting greater focus on their ESG goals and becoming more thoughtful and strategic about product waste. What we’re seeing as a result is the opportunity to help people in need while solving a massive business challenge.

While excess inventory is a complex issue, there is a turnkey solution for retailers to transform the fate of these goods into a cost-effective, efficient and sustainable way to help people in need. With an in-kind donation program, companies can ensure that they are making the best use of inventory that cannot be sold for a variety of reasons (customer returns, out-of-season items, dead stock, etc.).

Whether it’s clothing, housewares, toiletries, school supplies, and even furniture and appliances, donating these goods to nonprofit organizations that serve those who are economically disadvantaged has a substantial impact on both the environment and the people who receive the items—a win/win/win all around.

To help solve their inventory problems, more than 400 of the world’s best-known companies (Amazon, Walmart, Gap Inc., and many more) work with Good360 for a turnkey solution from a single partner. Good360 distributes this donated product through our network of 100,000-plus pre-qualified and vetted nonprofit partners that serve a variety of causes, including homelessness, foster families, veterans’ services, natural disaster recovery and many more.

Good360’s stringent vetting process helps protect the brands we work with by ensuring that the donated items don’t end up on the secondary market. Once the product is sent to the nonprofits, it is then distributed within the communities they serve. For the donors, Good360 manages all the logistics and finds the appropriate nonprofit that has indicated a need for the items.

Once the nonprofit distributes the donated goods, we report back on the impact the donation has made so donors know exactly where it went and who it helped. So, whether it’s toys for a holiday drive, mattresses for a homeless shelter, or even automotive supplies for a nonprofit technical school in an underserved community, every donation has a unique and impactful story behind it, and we make sure that story is told.

To accommodate a wide range of both donor company and nonprofit needs, Good360 has developed a number of product philanthropy solutions. For example, Good360 matches individual store or distribution center locations with nearby nonprofits to help drive local impact with donated goods and build bonds with the community.

Additionally, Good360 brings large donations into our own distribution centers for sorting and reconfiguration in order to best meet nonprofit needs– from a single carton of personal hygiene items to full semi-truckloads of mattresses.

By making product donation placement and distribution seamless for donors, Good360 helps retailers, brands, and manufacturers solve the business challenges around unsellable inventory, demonstrate their leadership in responsible and sustainable business practices, and increase their social impact.

In many cases, donating product is a more economical decision than disposing of the goods. There may also be enhanced tax benefits, and we encourage companies to explore these options with their tax experts.

The bottom line: Retailers should consider donating excess inventory to help individuals facing challenging life circumstances get the goods they need. This way not only are they generating hope, but the products are given a new life, reducing waste, and helping build resilient communities for the future.

To see the original post, follow this link: https://chainstoreage.com/donating-goods-sustainable-socially-responsible-solution-excess-inventory

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: accountability, AD Global Supply Chain Research, corporate social reponsibility, corporate social responsibility, CSR, ESG, Good360, green marketing, Non-profit donations, responsible brands, Supply Chain, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands
Categories : corporate social responsibility, ESG, sustainable branding, sustainable brands

Sustainability is moving up the agenda for business schools.

23 05 2023

Educators are looking at ways to tackle the ambiguity that exists around definitions and measurement. By Aruni Sunil from Sifted.com * Reposted: May 23, 2023

Researching and teaching sustainability is high on business schools’ strategic agendas. At the same time, startups are struggling with measurement, reporting, definitions, action and strategy — and the path to net zero.

We looked into how sustainability is currently taught at business schools, how it’s changing and what it should grow into so that Europe’s startups can achieve their sustainability goals.

Founders want more

For Laurence Lehmann-Ortega, professor of strategy and business policy at HEC Paris, companies struggle to measure environmental and social aspects because there’s a lack of standardisation.

“In finance, we’ve been building the standards for the past 70 years or so,” she says. “So there are no clear standards to measure ESG and I’m not sure we’ll get to very clear standards in the near future — the only common metric we’ve got now is measuring carbon emissions.”

It can be reductionist to measure just carbon emissions — metrics should be more industry and product-specific. For example, if your product is going to have a big impact on biodiversity because it’s in the agricultural space, it’s crucial to think about biodiversity first instead of carbon and the associated human rights challenges around agricultural commodities.

The only common metric we’ve got now is measuring carbon emissions That’s where business schools could come in.

For Prateek Mahalwar, founder of Bioweg — a startup producing bio-based ingredients to replace microplastics in personal care and food products — sustainability should be taught at business schools with one part focusing on what sustainability means in the broadest sense, and the second part focusing on quantification.

He says that discussing case studies tackling different aspects of sustainability such as energy or the use of raw materials is key for students to understand how sustainability works in the real world of business. It’s especially important to understand how startups can adhere to the new laws and regulations around sustainability such as the plastic packaging regulation, he adds.

Bioweg had MBA students working with its team through the Creative Destruction Lab (CDL), a programme at HEC Paris that allows management students to work directly with companies, helping them develop financial models, evaluate potential markets and fine-tune their strategies.

“It’s a win-win — for the startup as well as for the student, not only in terms of exchanging knowledge or doing something practical, but also from the angle that there is a possibility for startup founders to hire them or get into the ESOP pool,” Mahalwar says.

A to ESG

As well as experiential learning through programmes like CDL, HEC Paris teaches sustainability as part of its strategy and entrepreneurship programmes.

Lehmann-Ortega says that there are two ways that sustainability is taught as part of strategy in theory. The first is how a business can adapt and rethink their business model to be more sustainable, and the second is advanced strategy which is about being “more proactive and coming up with a new business model”.

She says that there’s also differences in how different subjects address the topic of sustainability. “For an accounting professor, it’s about how carbon emissions can be measured and measuring the environmental and social impact of the organisation; for finance professors, it’s about how to finance it; and for marketing, it’s about how to educate your customer to think about it.”

Other business schools are also encouraging students to take part in environmentally and socially relevant initiatives.

For example, during the first year of their MBA at the University of Pretoria’s Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) in South Africa, students are required to work with local non-profit organisations on community projects that tackle social problems.

A shift in mindset

Fabien Koutchekian was part of the CDL programme and is the cofounder of Genomines, a biotech that enhances the natural ability of plants to absorb metals. For him, teaching sustainability is primarily about tackling misinformation in the sector and for entrepreneurs to be more involved in the space of regulations and policy making.

“There’s this mentality now that we are doomed and nothing will save us from what the previous generation has done to the environment. But I don’t believe this — we have to fight, we have to create startups, create innovation and change the regulatory environment, to spur innovation and research in the field,” he says.

For Lehmann-Ortega, sustainability is here to stay in business schools.

“We don’t need standalone courses about sustainability — this doesn’t make any sense anymore. Every single course should have it — it’s about how you adapt the curriculum to the current shift that’s going on in the world,” she says.

“This reminds me of what happened 10 to 15 years ago with the shift to digital. We all had to integrate classes about digital marketing and so on, and now you can’t teach marketing anymore without digital.”

Mahalwar agrees, adding that sustainability isn’t dismissed as a passing fad anymore — it’s part of the core business in both startups and corporates. “Companies are paying attention to whole supply chains and committing at every level to look into carbon emissions, ESG goals and so on.

“This creates a need for future hires to have knowledge in that area, and not only people who go into businesses with impact at their core, but also in other areas such as finance, strategy, product and procurement.”

At any given time, there are about a million green startups exploring new energy solutions. As of 2023, there are also at least 13k large and medium-sized companies in Europe transitioning towards more sustainable operations.

This has to come from students, because they are the future of politics, the future of innovation and the future leaders

“There hasn’t been a single moment in the history of mankind where there were so many brains solving the same issue at the same time. It needs to keep going and we need to put in the work to find solutions,” says Koutchekian.

“More capital is needed and politicians have to create policies that stimulate the economy along with taxing polluting activity and so on — and this has to come from students, because they are the future of politics, the future of innovation and the future leaders.”

To see the original post, follow this link: https://sifted.eu/articles/sustainability-business-schools-brnd

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: accountability, corporate social reponsibility, corporate social responsibility, CSR, ESG, green marketing, HEC Paris, responsible brands, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands, University of Pretoria’s Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS)
Categories : Climate Change, ESG, social responsibility, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands

Sustainability and Employee Wellness: The Hidden Connection

23 05 2023

By Corporate Wellness Magazine * Reposted: May 23, 2023

In recent years, sustainability has become a hot topic in the corporate world, as businesses recognize the importance of minimizing their environmental impact. However, there is a hidden connection between sustainability and employee wellness that often goes unnoticed. By adopting sustainable practices, companies can positively influence the physical and mental well-being of their employees. In this article, we will delve into the various ways in which sustainability and employee wellness intersect, emphasizing the benefits that arise from aligning these two vital aspects of corporate culture.

Creating a Healthier Work Environment:

Sustainable initiatives such as improving indoor air quality, optimizing lighting, and implementing ergonomic workstations contribute to a healthier work environment. Studies have shown that these factors directly impact employee well-being, leading to increased job satisfaction, productivity, and reduced absenteeism. When employees are provided with clean air, adequate lighting, and ergonomic workstations, they experience fewer health issues such as eye strain, respiratory problems, and musculoskeletal disorders. By prioritizing sustainability, organizations demonstrate their commitment to providing a conducive workplace that enhances both physical and mental health.

Encouraging Active Transportation:

Promoting sustainable commuting options such as walking, cycling, or carpooling not only reduces carbon emissions but also encourages employees to engage in regular physical activity. Active transportation is known to improve cardiovascular health, lower stress levels, and boost overall fitness. By integrating sustainable transportation programs, companies can facilitate employee wellness while reducing their environmental footprint. Implementing bike-friendly facilities, offering incentives for carpooling, or providing shower facilities for employees who walk or cycle to work can contribute to a healthier workforce.

Access to Nature:

Sustainable workplaces often incorporate elements of nature, such as green spaces, rooftop gardens, or indoor plants. These features not only enhance aesthetics but also provide numerous mental health benefits. Exposure to nature has been linked to reduced stress, improved mood, increased creativity, and enhanced cognitive function. By incorporating sustainable design elements that bring nature into the workplace, organizations can create a more calming and nurturing environment for their employees. Additionally, employees can be encouraged to take breaks in outdoor areas or engage in nature-inspired activities to further promote their well-being.

Stress Reduction and Mindfulness:

Sustainability efforts often align with practices that promote stress reduction and mindfulness. Initiatives such as encouraging breaks, providing meditation spaces, or offering wellness programs help employees manage stress and improve mental well-being. The corporate world is often fast-paced and demanding, leading to high levels of stress and burnout. Sustainable companies understand the importance of addressing the holistic needs of their workforce, recognizing that employee wellness is key to long-term success. By incorporating mindfulness practices, such as meditation or yoga sessions, into the workday, companies can provide employees with tools to reduce stress, improve focus, and enhance overall well-being.

Engaging employees in sustainability initiatives can foster a sense of purpose and pride within the organization. When employees feel that their work contributes to a greater cause, it boosts their overall job satisfaction and motivation. Sustainability projects provide employees with an opportunity to make a positive impact on the environment and society, creating a sense of fulfillment beyond their everyday tasks. By involving employees in sustainability projects, companies can enhance their well-being by nurturing a sense of community, empowerment, and fulfillment.

Collaboration and Team Building:

Sustainability often requires cross-departmental collaboration and teamwork. Initiatives such as waste reduction, recycling programs, or energy-saving campaigns encourage employees to work together towards a common goal. These collaborative efforts not only promote a positive work culture but also strengthen team dynamics and relationships. Through sustainability practices, companies can create a supportive and cohesive work environment, fostering employee wellness through meaningful connections. When employees come together to achieve sustainability goals, they build trust, communication, and a shared sense of purpose. Team members learn to rely on each other’s strengths, fostering a collaborative spirit that extends beyond sustainability initiatives and positively impacts overall productivity.

Employee Recognition and Rewards:

Sustainable practices provide an opportunity for organizations to recognize and reward employees who actively contribute to sustainability efforts. By acknowledging their efforts, companies reinforce the value of employee engagement and foster a culture of appreciation. Recognizing employees’ contributions to sustainability not only boosts morale but also reinforces the connection between individual well-being and the organization’s mission. It encourages employees to continue their sustainable efforts, ultimately enhancing their overall wellness.

Educational and Skill Development Opportunities:

Incorporating sustainability into the workplace often requires learning new skills and staying updated on industry best practices. By offering educational opportunities and skill development programs related to sustainability, companies empower employees to enhance their professional growth and well-being. These programs can include workshops, webinars, or certifications that provide employees with the knowledge and tools to actively contribute to sustainability initiatives. Investing in employee development not only benefits the individual but also strengthens the organization as a whole.

Corporate Social Responsibility and Employee Pride:

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives often intersect with sustainability practices. When companies engage in socially responsible activities, such as community service or charitable partnerships, it fosters a sense of pride among employees. Employees who are proud of their organization’s commitment to sustainability and social responsibility experience higher job satisfaction and overall well-being. By aligning sustainability with CSR efforts, companies create a positive impact on both the environment and their workforce.

Work-Life Balance and Flexibility:

Sustainability initiatives can also contribute to improving work-life balance and flexibility for employees. Implementing measures like flexible work hours, remote work options, or compressed work weeks reduces commuting time and allows employees to better manage their personal responsibilities. This flexibility enables employees to achieve a healthier work-life balance, resulting in reduced stress levels and improved overall well-being.

Wellness Challenges and Competitions:

Sustainability and employee wellness can be further integrated through wellness challenges and competitions that focus on sustainable practices. For example, companies can organize competitions to encourage employees to reduce waste, conserve energy, or adopt sustainable lifestyle habits. These challenges not only promote sustainability but also foster a sense of camaraderie and friendly competition among employees. The combination of wellness and sustainability goals enhances employee engagement, boosts morale, and promotes a culture of well-being.

The hidden connection between sustainability and employee wellness is a powerful force that can transform the workplace and the lives of individuals. By adopting sustainable practices, organizations create healthier work environments, encourage physical activity, provide access to nature, reduce stress, and foster a sense of purpose and pride among employees. The positive impacts ripple beyond the workplace, contributing to the overall well-being of employees and society as a whole.

To further explore the importance of mental health in the workplace, we invite you to submit your inquiries through our contact form at https://www.corporatewellnessmagazine.com/contact-mental-health. Our team of experts is here to provide valuable insights and support. Together, let us embrace sustainability and employee wellness for a brighter, healthier future.

‍To see the original post, follow this link: https://www.corporatewellnessmagazine.com/article/sustainability-and-employee-wellness-the-hidden-connection

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: accountability, corporate social reponsibility, corporate social responsibility, CSR, ESG, green marketing, responsible brands, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands
Categories : sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands

Sustainability is a trend that’s here to stay, expert tells Restaurant Association Show

23 05 2023

Alex Nicolaou, the Coca-Cola Co.’s senior manager for sustainability customer strategy. Photo: Ron Ruggless

Alex Nicolaou of Coca-Cola offers ideas for tapping into the growing consumer demand for restaurant commitments. By Ron Ruggless from Nation’s Restaurant News * Reposted: May 23, 2023

Sustainability is a restaurant trend that restaurant operators can capitalize on, an expert told a packed crowd at the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago on Saturday.

“It’s a trend that’s here to stay,” said Alex Nicolaou, the Coca-Cola Co.’s senior manager for sustainability customer strategy, on Saturday at an educational session entitled “Driving Growth with Sustainability.”

About 62% of U.S. consumers surveyed in 2022 said they would reward restaurants that showed a sustainability commitment, Nicolaou said.

In addition, the restaurant operator commitment has grown, he said. In 2019, for example, 58% of operators said sustainability activities were necessary to remain competitive in foodservice. In 2022, that number had grown to 65%, Nicolaou said.

However, he added, “Sustainability can’t be just a marketing slogan. It has to be lived.”

Nicolaou suggested restaurant operators partner with trusted organizations such as the Clean Conservency, the National Park Service or Shoreline Cleanup to give their sustainability programs legitimacy.

“Customers are looking for optimism,” he said. “There is so much lack of trust in this space.”

To see the original post, follow this link: https://www.nrn.com/operations/sustainability-trend-s-here-stay-expert-tells-nra-show

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: accountability, Alex Nicolaou, Clean Conservency, corporate social reponsibility, corporate social responsibility, CSR, responsible brands, sustainability, sustainable brands, the Coca-Cola Co.’s senior manager for sustainability customer strategy
Categories : sustainability, sustainable branding

Why ESG Still Matters During Economic Downturns

18 05 2023

mage credit: Miltiadis Fragkidis/Unsplash

By Mary Riddle from Triple Pundit • Reposted: May 18, 2023

The global economic turndown is top-of-mind for business leaders. In the U.S., 59 percent of CEOs anticipate needing to pause or scale back their environmental, social and governance (ESG) efforts as a result, according to a recent survey by KPMG.

However, walking away from ESG right now could be disastrous for business, argues Geetanjli Dhanjal, senior director of business transformation for the consulting firm Yantra.

Scaling back environmental commitments would not only be detrimental to the planet, but it could also hurt the bottom line. “Companies should be committed to ESG and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) now more than ever,” Dhanjal told TriplePundit. Pausing these programs to bolster the budget could backfire by eroding consumer perceptions and damaging trust among employees, she warned.

Case in point: The retail sector proves ESG still matters

While certain sectors are more vulnerable to recession than others, retail is one of the highest-risk industries during economic downturns. Still, Dhanjal noted that many of her clients in retail, fashion and apparel are not turning away from ESG to save money. Rather, they are doubling down on their initiatives, from sourcing sustainable materials to ensuring fair pay for workers in their supply chains.

“These clients know that when in an economic downturn, one doesn’t just stop investing in ESG,” Dhanjal said. “ESG is a long-term strategy and roadmap. During economic downturns, businesses can invest in low-cost sustainability initiatives in order to maintain brand value and give back to the community.”

Further, many sustainability programs come with a cost savings. “When we enable green shipping methods, we reduce our costs, reduce our carbon footprint, and the customer benefits by paying less for shipping,” Dhanjal noted as an example.

Investor trust is in jeopardy: Stronger ESG programs and reporting can help

While robust ESG programs can help grow consumer affinity and employee engagement, businesses now face a new problem: waning investor trust.

In KPMG’s survey, 3 out of 4 institutional investors said they do not trust companies to meet their ESG and DEI commitments. Dhanjal believes their concerns are valid: Indeed, many companies are not meeting their commitments. But the trust gap also presents investment and growth opportunities for companies that are serious about implementing ESG, she said.

“There are many reasons for distrust,” Dhanjal told us. “There are no consistent reporting frameworks. Enterprises may have more standardized reporting methods than small businesses, but they need to report transparently with the proof that they’re doing what they’re saying.”

Businesses and international agencies have also recognized the need for companies to demonstrate proof of their progress through standardized frameworks for sustainability reporting. At the COP26 climate talks in 2021, the United Nations and participating governments established the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) in order to create a standard, global framework.

An evolving regulatory landscape calls for more ESG investment, not less

Dhanjal sees more changes on the horizon for corporate ESG programs. Regulatory changes will make compliance more challenging for companies that do not proactively measure, monitor and report on their sustainability efforts. Time is critical.

“Companies must invest in the tools they can use and the systems to provide them with the data they need to create their long-term strategy,” Dhanjal said. “Companies also need the right consultants and partners to guide their programs and initiatives. Your specific company doesn’t need to be experts in ESG, but you can invest in the consultants and tools to guide you.”

Investment in tools to measure sustainability data is increasingly critical for companies that hope to to stay ahead of ESG regulations. The United States and European Union are moving toward making sustainability reporting mandatory for large businesses. That includes climate risk reporting in the near term, with mandatory disclosure of nature-related risk not far off.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in particular is expected to release its long-awaited climate reporting rules this fall. But many businesses are not waiting for the final verdict. In fact, 70 percent of business leaders said they’ve already begun to disclose their climate-related data in alignment with expected changes from the SEC, according to 2023 polling from PwC and Workiva. Still, 85 percent of those respondents worry their teams don’t have the right technology to accurately track and report their sustainability data.

Keeping up with the times requires consistent investment, and pulling back could mean falling behind. “It is not easy to implement systems, transform supply chains and invest in proper tools,” Dhanjal said. “Things are changing rapidly while everyone is learning about sustainability at the same time, and that can be a challenge. Making sure we have appropriate tools and clear guidelines is a major challenge for ESG, but this is also our work [as ESG professionals]: to educate.”

To see the original post, follow this link: https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2023/esg-still-matters-recession/774346

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: accountability, corporate social reponsibility, corporate social responsibility, CSR, DEI, ESG, green marketing, KPMG, responsible brands, SEC, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands, Yantra
Categories : corporate social responsibility, ESG, sustainable branding, sustainable brands

Only 8% of firms have ‘essential tools’ needed for net zero

18 05 2023

Image: Sustainability Magazine/Getty

Low uptake of digital technology for net zero reporting is putting companies at risk of significant consequences, a new study from Verdantix finds. By Lucy Buchholz from Sustainability Magazine • Reposted: May 18, 2023

A recent Verdantix report warns that companies face significant risks due to the limited adoption of digital technologies for net-zero applications. The survey of 350 net-zero leaders reveals that only 8% of firms believe they possess the necessary software tools to achieve net-zero goals effectively.

The inaugural Verdantix Global Corporate Survey 2023: Net Zero Budgets, Priorities and Tech Preferences report highlights that in-house digital capabilities are not enough to deliver net zero. The report identifies a lack of climate change expertise at the board level as the biggest obstacle to net-zero strategies.

This lack of expertise is particularly worrying for US firms, as the SEC’s proposed climate disclosure rule may demand clarity as to whether any board members possess expertise in climate change.

The increase in reporting

Over one-third of the world’s largest listed firms are now publicising net zero targets, a significant increase up from just one-fifth in December 2020. With incoming regulations set to impact economies globally, tens of thousands of firms are at risk of severe consequences, including legal penalties, reputational damage, financial risks, investor pressure, and employee dissatisfaction, if they fail to accurately report ESG and climate information.

In light of this, it is imperative for companies to promptly embrace digital technologies in order to provide accurate and high-calibre carbon data. This step is crucial to address the increasing demand for regulated climate disclosures and the amplified stakeholder pressure for transparency and performance.

“The low market penetration of net zero reporting tools highlights the urgent need for companies to adopt digital technologies to deliver reliable and high-quality carbon data,” said Ryan Skinner, Research Director at Verdantix. “With regulated climate disclosures and increasing stakeholder pressure for transparency and performance, it’s critical that firms prioritise decarbonisation and invest in net zero reporting tools.

“We anticipate a significant increase in spending on net zero digital tools over the next few years as companies seek to avoid penalties and demonstrate their commitment to sustainability. However, achieving success in decarbonisation will require consistent collaboration with other departments to drive change at the operational level.”

Climate change budgets are set to increase

According to Verdantix’s projections, the expenditure on carbon management software is projected to reach US1.4bn by 2027. The survey reveals that budgets for net zero and climate change initiatives are expected to experience substantial growth in 2023, with most companies anticipating double-digit spending increases. However, effectively achieving net zero goals will necessitate ongoing collaboration with other departments to drive decarbonization efforts at the operational level.

The Verdantix Net Zero Global Corporate Survey provides insights into the budgets, priorities, and technology preferences of net zero leaders across industries and geographies. Read the full report here Global Corporate Survey 2023: Net Zero Budgets, Priorities and Tech Preferences.

To see the original post, follow this link: https://sustainabilitymag.com/articles/only-8-of-firms-have-essential-tools-needed-for-net-zero

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: accountability, corporate social reponsibility, corporate social responsibility, ESG, green marketing, net zero, responsible brands, SEC, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands, Verdantix
Categories : corporate social responsibility, ESG, sustainable branding

The Greenwash Era Is Over, But Are Our Communicators Ready to Step Up?

18 05 2023

Image: Sustainable Brands

As advertising regulators, consumer watchdogs and even governments take a tougher stance, the risks of getting it wrong grow significantly; and the pressure is on communicators to up their game and back up their claims. By Tom Idle from sustainable brands.com • Reposted: May 18, 2023

It’s officially, and legally, getting harder for brands to greenwash. In Europe, the EU Parliament has just voted to ramp up regulation to deter companies from making ‘carbon-neutral’ claims that can so easily mislead consumers into believing the products they are buying are good for the environment. Proposed new anti-greenwashing rules – said to represent a “significant victory for consumers and the environment” – were voted by an overwhelming majority of 544 votes in favour, 18 against and 17 abstentions.

This paves the way for EU nations to adopt their own laws that will ban dubious claims and “strengthen the fight against greenwashing by banning practices that mislead consumers on the actual sustainability of products,” as put by EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders. The move will effectively ban the use of generic ‘green’ marketing claims such as ‘environmentally friendly,’ ‘natural,’ ‘biodegradable’ and ‘eco,’ if they are not supported by evidence. Brands won’t be able to suggest a whole product or service is ‘sustainable’ when only a part of it is, either. And only official sustainability certification schemes will be recognised when it comes to marketing claims.

Where carbon offsetting is used, companies will no longer be able to make ‘net-zero’ or ‘carbon-neutral’ claims, which have long been criticised by campaign groups for seriously misleading consumers. In fact, banning the use of offsets as the basis for carbon-neutral claims is already happening. In the UK, the Advertising Standards Authority has spent the last six months reviewing the landscape and is about to commence stricter enforcement procedures. Brands are set to be banned from declaring their products or services are carbon neutral using offsets, unless they can prove they are actually working. This has coincided with a renewed focus on the true impact of offsets. In January, a Guardianinvestigation found that 90 percent of the rainforest project-derived offsets generated byVerra, one of the world’s biggest offset certifiers, were “worthless.” Verra strongly disputed the findings, but it got the world talking — not only about the value of offsetting, but the validity of making carbon-neutral claims more generally.

Greenwash clampdowns are also underway in the UK investment scene. The fact that so-called ‘sustainable’ pension funds are still entrenched in oil and gas firm funding has prompted the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority to publish anti-greenwashing rulesdesigned to clean up the labelling of investment funds.

6 CRITICAL STEPS TO AVOID GREENWASHING

Sustainability stakes are high; so are stakeholder distrust and scrutiny. So, how can your brand win the trust, loyalty, and advocacy of conscious consumers while protecting your reputation from greenwashing? Join us as Simon Mainwaring outlines 6 critical steps to avoiding greenwashing, building brand love and enabling consumers to live the sustainable lifestyles they seek at Brand-Led Culture Change – May 22-24 in Minneapolis.

Tell me more!

In the US, the Federal Trade Commission has updated its Green Guides for the first time in more than a decade, with a similar goal – to make it harder for companies to fall into the trap of making overblown sustainability claims about the products and materials they use.

Obviously, it will take time to completely stem the tide of greenwash; but incoming regulation and improved standards are having the desired impact, as evidenced by recent action taken to halt greenwash from the likes of airlines including Etihad andLufthansa. Yet, in the race to win more savvy consumers and meet increasingly ambitious sustainability goals, avoiding greenwash remains a challenge. Even companies forced to row back on their ambitions face huge scrutiny. Just look at the backlash footwear business Crocs received this week having announced plans to push back its net-zero target from 2030 to 2040 after recording a 45.5 percent increase in absolute emissions year-on-year after acquiring another company. The new goal might be “more credible and realistic;” but consumers expect more transparent and sophisticated communications from brands.

And that is proving to be a real struggle. New research suggests that while marketing professionals acknowledge the need to be braver when it comes to sustainability communications to avoid greenwashing, more than a third of them lack the capacity or knowledge to do so. At a time when more brands claim to have a sustainability-related story worth sharing (41 percent versus 25 percent in 2021), the survey suggests the situation is getting worse; capability gaps were cited by 35 percent of respondents, versus 20 percent in 2021. This is especially a concern given that more brands have sustainability as a KPI in their marketing functions – up from 26 percent in 2021 to 43 percent today: “It’s remarkable that even though 94 percent of marketers are willing to be brave to drive transformative change, organizations still behave in the same way,” says Ozlem Senturk, a senior partner with Kantar, which was behind the research.

This research echoes the key findings of a recent Chartered Institute of Marketing survey, which showed half of companies were reluctant to work on sustainability campaigns for fear of getting tripped up and accused of greenwash.

As with many sustainability challenges, solving the greenwash problem can benefit from a collaborative response. That’s certainly the view of the team behind Creatives for Climate— which has just launched a new platform designed to help communicators ‘reskill’ for sustainability communications. The website features a training program called Greenwash Watch — which provides a useful analysis of anti-greenwashing regulation and rulings and provides a framework from which to craft credible strategies that do not mislead consumers.

As advertising regulators enforce tougher sanctions, consumer watchdogs get more savvy and even governments double-down on their efforts, the era of unsubstantiated green claims from corporates is over. But as the risks of getting it wrong grow significantly, the pressure is on communicators to up their game and be sure to back up their claims.

To see the original post, follow this link: https://sustainablebrands.com/read/marketing-and-comms/greenwash-era-over-can-communicators-step-up

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: accountability, corporate social reponsibility, corporate social responsibility, ESG, Federal Trade Commission', green marketing, responsible brands, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands
Categories : Climate Change, corporate social responsibility, ESG, green marketing, sustainable branding, sustainable brands

Why sustainability improves recruitment, retention

17 05 2023

Many workers consider environmental sustainability practices when deciding whether to stay, or accept a job with, a company. Image: ADP

Publicizing sustainability efforts can help a company with employee recruitment. Learn how sustainability is also affecting retention, as well as some best practices for HR leaders. By David Beck via tech target.com • Reposted: May 17, 2023

As the talent marketplace remains competitive, a company’s stance on social issues, such as the environment and climate change, can help attract talent or potentially drive it away. HR leaders must encourage companies to publicize their environmental, social and governance practices so they can hire the candidates they want and keep them as employees.

Over 70% of workers and those looking for work are drawn to environmentally sustainable employers, according to the 2021 study “Sustainability at a turning point” by the IBM Institute for Business Value. In addition, more than two-thirds of respondents said they are more likely to seek out and take jobs with environmentally and socially responsible organizations, and almost half surveyed would take a lower salary to do so, according to the IBM study. A company’s sustainability record can make a major difference in its talent search and employee retention.

Here’s more about environmental, social and governance initiatives, as well as some steps HR leaders can take to get the word out about their organization’s ESG efforts.

What is sustainability?

For the most part, when job candidates inquire about a company’s environmental sustainability record, they are referring to the organization’s environmentally related business practices, such as carbon footprint and energy use. Social issues, like diversity, equity and inclusion programs and labor practices, are also part of ESG.

Companies are facing more pressure from the government and from consumers to make their business practices more sustainable. Customers have increasingly expressed interest in supporting companies with what they view as positive ESG practices, with 55% of respondents saying company sustainability is “very or extremely important” when they’re making purchasing decisions, according to the IBM study.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission proposed a rule last year that would require public companies to share climate risk and greenhouse gas emissions, among other information, though the rule may be delayed until later this year.

Why companies should care about sustainability

Many company executives believe their recruitment will be positively affected by increased ESG reporting.

Fifty-two percent of respondents ranked talent attraction and retention as one of the most likely beneficial outcomes of enhanced ESG reporting, according to a 2022 Deloitte study, “Sustainability action report: Survey findings on ESG disclosure and preparedness.”

In addition, a positive sustainability record can potentially help with the perennial challenge of employee retention as well. ESG high performers also have high employee satisfaction, according to the 2023 study “Do ESG Efforts Create Value?” by Bain & Company and EcoVadis.

How HR can use sustainability to improve recruitment, retention

Job applicants may not be aware of a company’s ESG efforts, so HR leaders must take the lead in communicating them to the public.

HR staff can develop blog posts for the company website about the organization’s sustainability efforts. HR staff can also create initiatives within the company, like sponsoring a community composting program, and publicize those initiatives so potential job applicants will be aware of them.

If company leaders are weighing whether to take on sustainability initiatives, HR leaders can share the talent-related benefits of adapting an ESG-driven corporate culture.

HR leaders should also make sure company leaders are aware that partners’ sustainability practices are an emerging area of contention. Job candidates may object if the company works with vendors or other partners who are seen as negatively affecting the environment.

However, HR executives must also remain alert to the danger of greenwashing. Greenwashing is information that provides a misleading impression that a company’s processes, policies or investments are environmentally sound.

A company’s attempts to attract recruits can backfire if the public believes the company is practicing greenwashing. HR leaders must make sure HR staff or others working on recruitment efforts aren’t exaggerating the company’s sustainability practices in an attempt to win over job candidates.

To see the original post, follow this link: https://www.techtarget.com/searchhrsoftware/tip/Why-sustainability-improves-recruitment-retention

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: accountability, corporate social reponsibility, corporate social responsibility, CSR, Do ESG Efforts Create Value?" by Bain &, ESG, green marketing, HR, Recruitment, responsible brands, Retnetion, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands
Categories : corporate social responsibility, ESG, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands

Driving Growth Through Sustainability: Three Solutions For Brands

17 05 2023

Photo: Getty

UN SDG Pioneer for Circular Economy and CEO of GUAVA Amenities – driving circular innovations & partnerships in Sustainable Guest Amenities. By Gabriel Tan, Forbes Councils Member, Forbes Business Development Council from Forbes.com • Reposted: May 17, 2023

Today, we are living in a peculiar time with growing uncertainties such as high inflation and high interest rates. As a result, many global brands have scaled back their operations and reduced headcounts to brace themselves for further shocks down the road.

While all seems doom and gloom, sustainability remains a bright spot on the horizon. More businesses are looking to drive growth through sustainability. This means not only focusing on top-line growth but also bottom-line growth, while also augmenting social capital by driving positive impact that benefits communities and the environment.

Over the course of my company’s work with several of the world’s largest hospitality chains, airlines and cruise liners in the area of sustainable guest amenities, we help brands reach new consumers in the hospitality and travel industry. As recipient of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Pioneer for Circular Economy, I know first-hand the impact sustainability can have on business.

Below are three practical ways brands can aim to improve their overall business value, performance and positive impact.

The global intangible asset value grew from $61 trillion in 2019 to $74 trillion in 2021. According to research from McKinsey & Co, businesses in the top quartile for growth invest 2.6 times more into intangible assets than “low-growers.”

With more and more companies realizing that a portion of their value can be derived from intangibles, many are pouring in resources to strategically grow their intangibles—with sustainability being an area of focus. According to a 2022 study by NielsenIQ, 78% of consumers say “a sustainable lifestyle is important to them.” Brands that invest in sustainability can attract more customers and, in my experience, typically charge a higher price for their products.

In October 2022, LVMH announced an energy efficiency framework in partnership with shopping mall owner, Hang Lung Properties, which is expected to reduce the retailer’s energy footprint. From my perspective, I expect more value would eventually be derived from growth in their intangible value rather than actual energy cost savings.

Brands interested in positioning themselves as sustainable need to come out with more interesting stories in today’s competitive market. Simply changing your packaging and reducing energy costs is no longer sufficient to convince consumers of your sustainability edge. Impact has become a more objective yardstick to evaluate whether or not your brand is truly sustainable, and this is closely intertwined with scale to derive the actual impact of a brand in the world.

Create A Superior Business Model With Circular Design

According to the United Nations, the circular economy is a “new and inclusive economic paradigm that aims to minimize pollution and waste, extend product lifecycles and enable broad sharing of physical and natural assets.”

Given the increasing cost pressures experienced by businesses today, this new paradigm allows brands to generate value with minimal resources and correspondingly lesser impact on the environment. Recently, H&M, a large fashion retailer, pledged to be climate positive by 2040 through a textile reuse model, promoting circular design.

Circular design can be a profitable venture when brands are able and willing to make the adjustments necessary to change the status quo. Embracing a new circularity paradigm requires a holistic end-to-end understanding from the get-go. This includes product design, which minimizes the use of materials and takes into consideration the advantages of the different types of materials, a packaging approach that delivers the appropriate outcome without over-packaging, as well as a supply chain strategy that balances business performance and environmental impact.

Reach New Consumers With Sustainable Business Models

Thirdly, sustainability can also open up new business opportunities for consumer brands. Sustainability is not just about reducing carbon emissions and waste; it also involves creating innovative solutions to environmental challenges. Sustainable practices can lead to the development of new products, services and markets.

To reach new consumers with sustainable business models, brands can aim to position sustainability at their core. Consumer brands not only have the power to uniquely differentiate themselves in today’s crowded marketplace but also create an enduring competitive advantage that could lead to even greater possibilities and enhanced brand value.

If needed, consider looking for credible partners as a way to leverage each others’ strengths to drive sustainability initiatives. Ideally, a partnership should only require minimal investment, without the need for brands to reinvent the wheel. Look for a complementary partner with a successful track record; repeat customers, deep capabilities and a rich ecosystem can each be powerful multipliers for creating exponential outcomes.

By embracing sustainability, consumer brands can increase their brand’s intangible value, create superior circular design and open up new opportunities with new business models. With intangible value becoming a differentiator, your biggest gain could be from your sustainability initiatives—provided they are done authentically and with the right priorities.

To see the original post, follow this link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinessdevelopmentcouncil/2023/05/16/driving-growth-through-sustainability-three-solutions-for-brands/?sh=410f0b38258e

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: accountability, corporate social reponsibility, corporate social responsibility, CSR, ESG, green marketing, responsible brands, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands
Categories : Climate Change, ESG, sustainable branding, sustainable brands

ESG investment funds unlikely to comply with sustainable investing rules

16 05 2023

A lack of standardised regulatory regimes for non-financial disclosures and the naming of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) funds across the US, UK and Europe will mean that a lot of self-proclaimed “sustainable” funds will be unable to comply with proposed legislation. From edie.net • Reposted: May 16, 2023

Analysis of more than 18,000 investment funds across Europe has found that less than 4% would be able to comply with naming laws for ESG funds across key markets.

The research, from technology platform Clarity AI, found that many would have to rename their ESG funds if they wanted to sell across the UK, US and Europe, all of which have different definitions and naming laws for non-financial disclosures and sustainability funds.

“When looking at funds with all three investment fund regimes – the US’, UK’s, and EU’s – we found that over 95% of funds with the word ‘sustainable’, or similar term, would require renaming or restructuring in order to be sold across all three markets,” Clarity AI’s head of product research and innovation Patricia Pina.

“This is not only an added cost in terms of compliance, but also underscores how different actors – in this case regulators – are interpreting the meaning of core concepts like ESG and sustainability.”

In November 2022 the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ran a consultation to place minimum thresholds on Article 8 – which is for “light green” funds that use ESG-related terms in their names. ESMA proposed that these funds would need to ensure that 100% of the assets in each portfolio adhered to minimum safeguard thresholds that were aligned with the Paris Agreement.

It also suggested that 80% of the assets it invests in are used to meet the ESG-related characteristics that it promotes. Additionally, 50% of the assets would need to be defined as sustainable under the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR).

Clarity AI’s research found that only 20% of Article 8 funds using the term “sustainable” had current plans to comply with the recommendations of the consultation. The research suggests that the recommendations from the consultation would not closely align with investing proposals in the UK or US.

ESG down the agenda

Earlier this year, separate research found that investing in sustainable assets is less important to them now than it was in 2019.

The poll was conducted by British law firm Michelmores, covering 1,500 people in the UK with a minimum of £25,000 of investable assets each. 23% of respondents said they found investing in sustainable assets less important than they did in 2019, with the cost-of-living crisis cited as the key reason for this decrease in importance.

Research from EY found that the total amount of assets under management covered by specific ESG funds reached $2.7trn in 2021, marking a 53% year-on-year increase. But as the movement’s support grows, the perception that ESG is ineffective is also becoming more widespread.

EY acknowledges that many companies, ratings agencies and investors are using different definitions of ESG and different methodologies to assess performance across each of the three pillars. Some of these methodologies are based on historic data, some on future predictions. Some assign more importance to issues that are less material to a particular sector or project than those which materiality assessments have proven to be key. Some assign more weight to the ‘E’ and/or the ‘S’ than the ‘G’.

These discrepancies have led to rating agencies assigning scores that have caused controversy. Many of these controversies are now making mainstream news. For example, MSCI and Sustainalytics both provided high ratings to care home operator Opera Group, which this year was accused of mistreating residents and faced insider trading allegations. To give another example, in 2020, fast fashion retailer Boohoo was revealed to have the backing of 20 ESG-focused funds, despite persistent and credible allegations of supply chain workers being paid illegally low wages.

To see the original post, follow this link: https://www.edie.net/esg-investment-funds-unlikely-to-comply-with-sustainable-investing-rules/

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: accountability, corporate social reponsibility, corporate social responsibility, CSR, ESG, EU, European Securities and Markets Authority, green marketing, responsible brands, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands
Categories : ESG, sustainability, sustainable branding

Surviving the real-world challenges of sustainability communications

15 05 2023

Image: Green Buzz

By Joel Makower, Co-founder & Chairman, Green Buzz, Reposted • May 15, 2023

Corporate communications on sustainability issues have long been a sore spot, as I’ve written about multiple times. The questions are fundamental: Talk or not talk about your company’s commitments and achievements? Speak out in an era of political pushback on environmental, social and governance issues or keep a low profile? Be accused of greenwashing or greenhushing?

That was the basis of our daylong GreenBiz Comms Summit back in February, which brought together communications, sustainability and legal professionals from inside large companies for a candid conversation about the challenges companies face when they communicate, internally or externally, about sustainability matters. Nearly 200 professionals participated in hands-on exercises, where small groups were asked to concoct messaging for several hypothetical companies, both B-to-B and B-to-C. It was, by all accounts, an engaging event.

We recently published a summary of what took place there, which I’m pleased to share, in particular the on-stage conversations as opposed to the more candid table-level work. The event was conducted under the Chatham House rule, meaning that no participants can be identified without permission.

Getting internal alignment

One session built on a column I wrote last August, about the “Bermuda Triangle” of sustainability messaging: communications, sustainability and corporate counsel. Individually, each has a slightly different interest when creating press releases and media pitches. In concert, they often undermine a company’s messaging. Among the suggestions from a panel of experts:

Bring the players together early and often. Imagine reaching the end of a cross-functional, collaborative working group with external stakeholder input — and legal wants to frame the message differently, a sustainability expert says the language is imprecise, and comms is at a loss for how to tell acompelling story. That confounding situation can be prevented by inviting key internal stakeholders to the table much earlier than may seem necessary for the project. Try day one.

Integrate the expertise from each department and speak their language. Understand the subject matter and pain points of other stakeholders, and be hyper-transparent. Long before soliciting sign-off from a subject matter expert, check and double-check the accuracy of a communication. Have resources and questions ready on an ongoing basis; don’t just spring a problem on someone during a meeting.

Have playbooks, guides and protocols ready. To disseminate an effective message, have all of your analysis and facts in order and be able to stand behind them in case there is a challenge. Prepare messaging playbooks, guides and protocols for your teammates to help them understand the whole picture involved in a messaging challenge.

Avoiding greenwash

The practice of making exaggerated or unverifiable claims about environmental benefits is widely frowned upon, butwithout a single definition for greenwashing, companies all too easily make missteps. Some takeaways:

Greenwashing charges are up. Although it’s probably impossible to quantify how much greenwashing exists, regulatory challenges related to it have risen over the past several years. These include actions by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and U.S. state attorneys general, private litigation and challenges by the Better Business Bureau.

Greenwashing is in the eye of the accuser. The FTC considers greenwashing through the eyes of the “reasonable consumer,” which leaves lots of room for interpretation. Accusations of greenwashing tend to focus on one of two things: either the types of words or even the colors used to describe a product or brand, such as lawsuits charging that Keurig falsely called its coffee pods recyclable, or the tactics used to achieve a goal, such asBloombergcalling out companies for using renewable energy credits toward their net-zero targets. Watchdog groups may target an industry leader, for example, that fumbles in efforts to decarbonize its supply chain, yet they leave alone competitors who haven’t even announced a similar initiative.

Greenwashing is ‘more sloppy than sinister’. Cases of a nefarious business setting out to mislead the public are relatively few and far between. More often, greenwashing charges tend to target companies fumbling their way through their sustainability communications. Maybe someone without the right expertise led a public relations or ad campaign or a communication gap arose from failing to speak to the right stakeholders or providing inadequate (or inaccurate) proof points.

Dealing with haters and critics

Of course, even the best-laid communications plan can attract criticism — sometimes more than if a company had said nothing at all. “The rise of anti-ESG rhetoric” was a top concern among Comms Summit attendees, according to a pre-event survey.

Adversaries who slur business leadership as “woke” for addressing the world’s urgent social and environmental challenges are true “haters,” but not every critic is a hater. Here are the three types of pushback and what to learn from them:

Haters. Haters are diametrically opposed to your existence. For instance, they may hate you as a corporation because they believe capitalism shouldn’t exist. In general, don’t listen to haters — although sometimes they offer important information about what you’re getting wrong.

Critics. Critics want you to be your best self, even if there’s no business case now for what they demand that you do. They won’t stop until you do what they say, but they tend to be right over time. Greenpeace, for example, has “been right” years ahead of the curve about climate change, biodiversity and plastics. Instead, consider critics your early warning system of what will go mainstream next.

Critical friends. Critical friends push you to do better, telling you what you’re doing isn’t good enough, calling you out on greenwash or on not reaching targets or claims. But don’t confuse critical friends for haters.

That’s a taste. There’s more insight and inspiration in this free, downloadable report. Feel free to share it with your internal and external comms partners.

To see the original post, follow this link: https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgzGsmXDbGHvznvXqZrFKqtNShwpk

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: accountability, corporate social reponsibility, corporate social responsibility, CSR, ESG, Green Buzzz, green marketing, Greenwashing, responsible brands, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands
Categories : corporate social responsibility, ESG, sustainable branding, sustainable brands

The target audience for sustainability ads is exactly who you think

12 05 2023

By Jordan Wollman via Politico • Reposted; May 12, 2023

SURVEY SAYS — The data is pretty clear-cut on who brands should target for sustainability-related marketing campaigns: It’s younger urban women.

A new predictive model from BlueLabs Analytics shared first with POLITICO scores American adults on their likelihood of making purchasing choices based on sustainability.

Perhaps the topline takeaway isn’t too surprising. But BlueLabs, a Washington-based data science service, found some other interesting data points that could be useful for brands looking to figure out who might be persuadable.

For one, the gaps based on gender, age and location were stark. Women were 19 percent more likely than men to say they’d made purchases based on sustainability, people aged 18 to 29 were 23 percent more likely to be sustainability consumers and people living in urban areas were 25 percent more likely.

White people were the racial demographic least likely to be sustainability consumers, with Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders the most likely.

A “sustainability consumer” is described as someone who responded to BlueLabs’ February survey of 1,800 American adults and said that in the last two weeks they had purchased a product or service because it was the environmentally friendly choice. BlueLabs then applied a model based on the survey to the country’s nearly 200 million adults to identify those most likely to make purchasing decisions on that basis.

The model showed that people in communities of color were more eager to make purchasing decisions based on sustainability compared with white people, said Meagan Knowlton, director of sustainability practice at BlueLabs. Knowlton clarified that the model doesn’t address whether a person actually made the environmentally friendly choice, but rather focuses on the individual’s perception of whether they actively made a sustainable purchase.

“It was the communities of color that were really exciting to us,” Knowlton said. “We think that this is an area that brands should really move forward exploring when designing or advertising products.”

The model identified 38 million Americans who rank within the top 20 percent of sustainability consumer scores — and in general, they’re more easily reached by digital and social media than cable TV or radio. Of those, 77 percent are women, with 37 percent being single women. About one-fifth are people aged 50 to 64.

BlueLabs conducted the research and compiled the report, and no brands paid for it, Knowlton said.

To see the original post, follow this link: https://www.politico.com/newsletters/the-long-game/2023/05/11/the-target-audience-for-sustainability-ads-is-exactly-who-you-think-00096406

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: accountability, BlueLabs Analytics', corporate social reponsibility, corporate social responsibility, CSR, ESG, green marketing, responsible brands, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands
Categories : corporate social responsibility, ESG, sustainability, sustainable branding

Consumers Want Companies to Invest in Climate Tech

11 05 2023

Getty Images / Morning Consult artwork by Ashley Berry

Mitigating the worst impacts of climate change will take significant investment, and the effort will require partnership across tech, energy and government, writes tech analyst Jordan Marlatt via morning consult.com • Re[posted May 11, 2023

At a time when only 29% of U.S. consumers say tech companies have a mostly positive impact on the environment, climate tech is emerging as an area that people want companies to invest in.
Power grid improvements, solar energy production and decarbonization of the atmosphere have emerged as the top areas where consumers say investments should be prioritized.
But it will take more than tech to save the world from climate change. Recent partnerships across tech, energy and government show promising developments in this space, and it will require continued joint efforts to scale climate tech.

Climate tech is emerging as a space where innovative technologies may help mitigate the effects of climate change — or even reverse them, depending on who one talks to. This corner of tech saw sizable investment late last year and at the start of 2023, before slowing down recently.

Saving the planet is reason enough to invest in technologies that will help us avert the worst effects of climate change, though investments currently aren’t happening with the level of urgency and intensity required to meet the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

A recent Morning Consult survey shows that two-thirds of U.S. adults are concerned about climate change — about the same as the share who say they’re concerned about political polarization in the country (67%) — and there is an appetite for investment in specific climate technologies. A Morning Consult report from last summer showed that consumers expect tech to lead the way on innovation in sustainability, and investing in climate tech is one way for tech companies to make good on their ambitious sustainability goals.

Positive perceptions of tech companies’ impact on the environment are down, but people still turn to tech for answers

Tech’s perceived positive impact on the environment has declined somewhat since July 2022. This is particularly the case among Gen Zers: 15% say tech’s impact on the environment is mostly positive (down from 27% in July of last year), while 29% say it is mostly negative. These sentiments are likely tied to a rough several months for tech in which overall favorability and trust in the industry diminished, as explained in our most recent State of Technology report. When trust and reputation fall, so too do brand perceptions, including how people perceive a company’s impact across the board.

U.S. adults’ perceptions of major technology companies’ impact on the environment

Surveys conducted July 22-23, 2022, and April 14-17, 2023, among representative samples of roughly 2,200 U.S. adults each, with unweighted margins of error of +/-2 percentage points. Figures may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

That being said, people largely agree that tech has an important role to play in innovating sustainability practices, and the opportunity for tech to invest in this space is rendered all the more important by declining perceptions of the industry’s impact on the environment. Over 2 in 5 adults (42%) say major technology companies have “a lot of responsibility” for driving innovation in sustainability, just behind energy companies and the federal government. Interestingly, tech startups — the source of many exciting innovations in this space — and venture capital — where the money comes from — sit lower on the list.

Another factor to consider when discussing investments in sustainable solutions is the politicization of climate change in the United States. The issue is much more concerning to Democrats (84%) than it is to Republicans (45%). Democrats also tend to be more concerned about the impact of companies on the environment (81%) than Republicans (54%). That said, energy companies, the federal government and major technology companies are seen by Democrats and Republicans alike as the three entities with the most responsibility for driving sustainability innovation.

Making climate tech happen will take a village

Major tech companies can drive innovation in sustainability through their own venture capital arms or through acquisitions of startups, with the latter capable of helping bigger companies scale up or integrate the acquired tech into their products, services and operations. Not only do the power players have an opportunity to drum up excitement around climate tech by putting it front and center, but they also get the added PR benefit of convincing people that they’re climate advocates.

As a catch-all term, “climate tech” encompasses many technologies, from generating clean energy to scrubbing the air of carbon (and even repurposing it for energy or useful products like concrete). Of a long list of climate tech applications, consumers feel that power infrastructure improvements, solar energy production and the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere should be top priorities for investment.

Of those three, carbon sequestration is the most experimental climate tech area, and has not yet been deployed at scale. However, at our current pace of emissions reductions, this technology may prove essential for hitting climate goals, and less of a last-ditch solution.

Moving climate tech forward will likely take a concerted and collaborative effort from technology companies, financial institutions, government and energy companies. But how each is best suited to help is subject to debate.

Consumers say tech companies should be the most responsible for investing in electronics recycling, electrification of vehicles and AI optimization in energy production. For energy companies, the expectation is that they should shoulder most of the responsibility for energy production, power grid improvements and decarbonization. Finally, consumers want the government to bolster cities against the effects of climate change (such as infrastructure improvements to reduce flooding risks), as well as reduce emissions in agriculture and develop water desalination technology.

To see the original post, follow this link: https://morningconsult.com/2023/05/10/climate-tech-survey/

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: accountability, Climate Tech, corporate social reponsibility, corporate social responsibility, CSR, ESG, green marketing, responsible brands, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands
Categories : Climate Change, ESG, sustainable branding

Do More Good with a Tribally-Owned Business

10 05 2023

A Seneca Nation family. Tribally-owned businesses generate profits that flow directly to the Native Nation and fund the support services its members need. Images courtesy of the Seneca Media and Communications Center

By Jeffrey Ellis via Triplepundit.com • Reposted: May 10, 2023

Businesses looking to amplify their environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals should consider the added impact that comes from working with a tribally-owned business. The mission of a business owned by a Native Nation is to generate income that will improve the lives of its people. Every other for-profit business seeks to maximize value for its owners. If a tribally-owned business can serve your business just as well as another (or better!), your company will simply “do more good” by working with one.

Why Native Nations form businesses

There are 574 federally recognized Native Nations in the United States. Many have sovereign territories on which their members live. For some Native Nations, their territory consists of a sliver of their ancestral homeland; for others, their territory is nowhere near their ancestral homeland. Still others have no territory at all.

It is widely recognized that Native communities have not shared in the wealth generated from their lands. Native communities are also underserved compared to other communities in the United States. These factors have contributed to conditions where poverty is high, education levels are low, health disparities still exist, and opportunities are scarce. The reasons for this are complicated, generational and well-documented.

With few exceptions, Native Nations do not have tax revenue to fund the services they provide to their members. Instead, they need to generate other forms of income to provide for the health, safety, education and social support their community members need.

Increasingly over recent decades, Native Nations have established wholly-owned businesses to generate profits that flow directly to the Native Nation and fund the support services needed by its members. While many of these businesses have done well, the revenue they generate is still not enough for most Native Nations to provide the same services to their members that most other Americans get from their federal, state and local governments. Tribally-owned businesses are now expanding in the competitive marketplace, and there are more opportunities than ever to work with them.

Seneca Nation children - tribally-owned business operations fund Native Nations — *A group of Seneca Nation children.*

What makes a tribally-owned business unique?

A tribally-owned business is a for-profit business owned directly by a Native Nation, and not by any specific shareholders. Profits flow directly to the Native Nation and are used by its government to directly fund services and support for its members. The organization I lead is one such business, owned by the Seneca Nation located in the Western New York region. I regularly say that while the mission of Seneca Holdings is to generate profits — like any other business — we operate more like a nonprofit than a for-profit entity. We know that every dollar that we earn, and every dollar that we save, goes directly back to the Seneca Nation.

There are many exceptional businesses owned by minorities, women, veterans and other disadvantaged individuals that are worth supporting. The difference, which you can decide for yourself how much to value, is that the mission of a tribally-owned business is to improve the lives of an entire community, particularly those in need. This is why we think of our organization as operating more like a nonprofit than a for-profit business.

There are also unique capabilities that tribally-owned businesses can provide their customers that may not be available to smaller businesses. Seneca Holdings, for example, leverages its capabilities across multiple industries to provide back-office support and financial stability that is more mature and robust than any of our individual businesses would have on its own.

Seneca Nation workers learning on computer - tribally-owned business operations fund Native Nations — *The profit generated by tribally-owned businesses allow for education and workforce development services provided by Native Nations like the Seneca Nation.*

ESG and tribally-owned businesses

The promise of ESG is that it creates an expectation that companies “do more good” while running their businesses. Decision-makers have many options for the partnerships they pursue and the suppliers they use. A genuine commitment to ESG entails considering the added impact that a tribally-owned business has on improving the lives of the Native community it serves.

In addition to the inherent “S” benefit, many tribally-owned businesses are focused on renewable energy projects and environmental sustainability that also address the “E” in ESG. In the clean energy space, there will be an increasing number of tribally-owned businesses looking to partner with larger companies that seek to amplify their ESG commitment.

There are multiple benefits to partnering with a tribally-owned business on a renewable energy project beyond just satisfying your company’s ESG goals. Partnering can also be good for your bottom line, as these businesses provide access to unique advantages conferred by the federal government. Incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act, the Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act of 2021, the Justice40 Initiative, and Department of Energy grants and loan programs can all significantly reduce the cost of renewable energy projects.

You may also find that the kinds of people who choose to work for a tribally-owned business are more likely to earn your trust as a valued business partner. Those of us that do embrace the responsibility of representing the Native Nations we work for, and we are inspired by the meaningful contributions that our businesses can make. We are always looking for partners and clients that are inspired in the same way.

To see the original post, follow this link: https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2023/partner-tribally-owned-business/773881

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: corporate social reponsibility, corporate social responsibility, CSR, ESG, native nations, responsible brands, Seneca Nation, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands, Tribal business
Categories : ESG, sustainable branding, sustainable brands

How the new EU directive will rewrite ESG reporting

8 05 2023

Image via Shutterstock/Chayanuphol

The European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive won’t just affect local companies, it will transform sustainability reporting around the globe. By Matt Orsagh from green biz.com • Reposted: May 8, 2023

Europe has long been the trendsetter in policy and regulation around environmental, social and governance issues. The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is the latest in a line of European Union policies intended to nudge economic and investment activity towards more sustainable outcomes.

The CSRD replaced the Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD), which only covered the disclosure requirements for about 11,000 EU companies. In contrast, the CSRD will require nearly 50,000 companies to enhance their reporting around sustainability. This number includes about 10,000 companies outside the EU, and it doesn’t just include the largest of the large companies.

The CSRD was adopted by the EU Council in November. EU companies already subject to the NFRD will have to begin compliance with the CSRD, which means reporting in 2024. Those for whom this reporting will be new, including companies outside the EU, have until 2025 to begin complying.

The NFRD was never mandatory. As a result, investors, regulators and civil society groups were often frustrated with the lack of sustainability-related information from companies and the lack of comparability of that data. The European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) recently released an implementation appraisal on the NFRD that highlighted many shortcomings of the NFRD:

71 percent of respondents believed the non-financial information contained in the NFRD reports was deficient in terms of comparability
82 percent believed that CSRD’s requirements for companies to use a common standard would address identified issues

The purpose of the CSRD is to provide investors and businesses with more information about the sustainability of companies operating in the EU, that is timely, consistent and comparable.

In essence, the CSRD is becoming the de facto sustainability disclosure regulation for large global companies; as companies with significant business in Europe will have to adhere to the rules Europe sets down.

The rules will cover both public and private business that satisfy two of the following criteria:

Have more than 250 employees
Have net turnover of more than $44.51 million
Have a balance sheet of more than $22.25 million

Compliance with CSRD isn’t that far away. Companies that meet the reporting requirements will have to submit their first report of aligning with CSRD by Jan. 1, 2025. Smaller and medium-sized entities (SMEs) won’t have to comply with the rules until January 2026.

Companies outside of Europe that do business in the EU will also be covered by the new rules — companies that generate total revenue of $167 million in the EU and have at least one branch or subsidiary in the EU with more than $44.51 million in net revenue will be required to comply with the new disclosure requirements.

In essence, the CSRD is becoming the de facto sustainability disclosure regulation for large global companies; as companies with significant business in Europe will have to adhere to the rules Europe sets down. The hope of European regulators — and sustainability-minded professionals around the world — is that this higher disclosure bar will export European best practices in disclosure globally. As large companies in global markets are forced to raise their standards, these disclosure standards will cause other companies in those markets to follow the more stringent disclosure standards set by the EU in order to keep up with best practices.

What is covered?

In addition to information already required by the NFRD, companies that comply with the CSRD will have to publish information related to:

Environmental protections
Greenhouse gas emissions targets
Social responsibility and treatment of employees
Respect for human rights
Anti-corruption and bribery
Diversity on company boards
Double materiality
- How sustainability risks might affect performance
- The company’s impact on society and the environment
Materiality assessments
Forward-looking ESG targets and progress
Disclosures on intangible capitals (social, human, intellectual)
Due diligence processes in relation to sustainability
Potential adverse impacts due to sustainability issues

Companies will be required to set annual ESG targets and report their process hitting these targets, including transition plans (if any).

The CSRD will require third-party assurances, including integration into the auditor’s report, a requirement not covered by the NFRD. This information will be required to be presented in a company’s annual financial reports, not in a separate sustainability report. Assurances can at first be “limited” but must reach the threshold of “reasonable” assurances by 2028. For those of you out there who are not accountants (good for you), reasonable assurances amount to an auditor affirming that the information reported is materially correct, while limited assurances simply state that the auditor is not aware of any material modifications that need to be made.

The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) is drafting the upcoming EU Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) that the CSRD will adopt as its reporting standard. The European Commission is due to adopt the initial ESRS standards in mid-2023.

Start now. Get buy-in from everyone

If all of this sounds like a lot of work, you are right. If all of this sounds like a lot of work and a little bit intimidating if you are not a European company used to European regulation, accounting and disclosure standards, you are right again. Companies outside the EU that will be subject to CSRD reporting have realized the daunting task ahead of them. Those ahead of the curve have already started the process of adjustment to the CSRD landscape.

Chris Librie, senior director of ESG at Applied Materials, acknowledged that CSRD will require companies outside the EU to change their perspective on sustainability. “CSRD is pretty comprehensive,” Librie said. “It involves double materiality, which may bring into scope things that we may not have considered. For example, we haven’t traditionally looked at biodiversity, but that may come up.”

Most companies will need to expand their ability to measure and manage sustainability issues in their own operations; as well down their supply chains to comply with CSRD disclosure rules.

“Our ESG team is fairly small,” Librie said, “so we will be reaching to other divisions such as human resources, environmental health and safety and others, as well as our outside auditors and consultants. The number of potential topics are so many that we are taking a team approach to develop a structured approach to the CSRD process.”

The race is on to train financial professionals for the transition. Several organizations are working with companies to help them prepare for the transition. One of these is Accounting for Sustainability (A4S). A4S was established by King Charles III in 2004, with the aim of working with chief financial officers and other financial leaders to drive a shift towards more sustainable business models. A4S routinely hosts workshops to share best practices and build knowledge of financial professionals to bring them up to speed.

The number of potential topics are so many that we are taking a team approach to develop a structured approach to the CSRD process.

Brad Sparks, executive director of A4S Foundation U.S., emphasized how A4S is seeing significant interest from finance and accounting professionals that A4S works with around CSRD.

“CSRD has become part of the reporting workshops that we host,” Sparks said. “We also started a new controllers forum and had a meeting earlier this year where we brought in someone from EFRAG to discuss the emerging ESRS standards. The forum is designed for chief accounting officers, controllers and ESG controllers to exchange insights, challenges and responses to sustainability issues among peers. Our initial meeting had a focus on double materiality — a topic that is new to many in the finance and accounting community.”

Part of the learning curve for those outside the EU will be navigating the differences in accounting standards, investor expectations and legal systems that underpin EU regulation and norms outside the EU. “Finance and accounting professionals in the United States are seeking additional guidance to help with the emerging standards,” Sparks said. “In general, global accounting standards are typically principles-based, while U.S. accounting (GAAP) is typically rules-based. This is similar with the ESRS following a more principles-based approach, which some in the U.S. view as more challenging to implement.”

Although adjusting to a CSRD world will take time and resources, in the end, the goal is to provide investors, policymakers, civil society and companies themselves with better information. It may move sustainability reporting more to the mainstream, which has both positive and negative implications.

What companies and investors can do to prepare

Preparing for CSRD reporting will be a step change in managing and measuring sustainability data for many companies outside the EU. Companies that need to report under the CSRD standard will need to start now if they haven’t already: January 2025 isn’t that far away. There are steps companies can take to get ready. Here are just a few places to start:

Perform a gap analysis to determine current holes in sustainability measurement and management system.
Review EFRAG exposure draft ESRS rules.
Determine who within an organization will lead the CSRD process and determine what other people within an organization will be needed in the CSRD process.
Determine what outside resources such as accountants and consultants will be needed to undertake CSRD compliance reporting.
Coordinate with others within your industry to share best practices.

“I see this possibly driving companies toward more integrated reporting,” Librie said. “I think ultimately we will see more 10-Ks and sustainability reports that merge, so we will have a one-stop shop for all this information. That is a positive but a potential negative is that in a 10-K type document, you can’t be as verbose. You have to be more economical about telling your story, and that might make ESG engagement more challenging.”

“Companies are seeking to understand how they can comply with reporting requirements in an effective, efficient and impactful manner,” Sparks said. “They want to understand what best practices are and are looking for more guidance.” Sparks noted that A4S plans to hold more workshops around CSRD in the future, as it sees increasing demand from the CFOs and financial professionals they meet with.

To see the original post, follow this link: https://www.greenbiz.com/article/how-new-eu-directive-will-rewrite-esg-reporting

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: accountability, corporate social reponsibility, corporate social responsibility, Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), CSR, ESG, green marketing, Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD), sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands
Categories : corporate social responsibility, ESG, sustainable branding

3 challenges for making global sustainability strategies local

7 05 2023

Image via Shutterstock/Toria

They say “all politics are local.” So are effective sustainability strategies. By Danielle Allen, Sustainability Consultant, Salterbaxter via green biz.com • Reposted: May 7, 2023

Translating global corporate sustainability ambitions into local market strategies is necessary for accelerating progress — although it’s no simple task.

Companies of different sizes and cultures face similar challenges and questions around how to meet the needs of local markets while moving globally in a unified direction — and managing a broader strategy rollout across markets at different stages of maturity. Just as sustainability teams see the brand and business opportunities of localizing sustainability, so do local market activist employees and communicators.

And yet, most companies aren’t communicating how their global strategies will play out locally — in their reporting or other channels. Beyond the occasional case study showing how an aspect of their sustainability pillars has been implemented at the local level, companies aren’t telling complete, data-driven stories.

As companies look to localize global sustainability strategies, there are three challenges they must address.

1. Global sustainability strategies show the ‘big picture’ at the expense of the ‘true picture’

Global sustainability strategies must be broad and high level enough to account for all the differences of the diverse markets they cover. Global strategy is, in essence, a company average.

But averages can deflect focus and investment from the solutions and regions that need it most — and where the greatest impact can be made.

There can also be an inherent bias leading to a focus on the most pressing social and environmental issues of where the corporate headquarters is located. At Davos, many leaders acknowledged that a “one strategy fits all” global corporate approach will not drive innovation and deliver meaningful progress, and a regional picture of impact and action is needed. While global sustainability ambitions are important, sustainability leaders must understand that their location and the maturity of that market can influence the scale and type of ambitions being set and not adequately consider other local markets.

There’s been increased awareness and interest from local markets wanting to understand how they can take their company’s global sustainability goals and strategy and make them relevant to local stakeholders. One Australian food and drink business conducted a local materiality assessment that used global issues as a basis for stakeholder engagement. It enabled them to go deeper into the high-level company wide topics and understand how the specific topics translated to the local market. By understanding which aspects to dial up or down and what sub-topics were most material to the market, they were able to interpret their global strategy in a way that resonated with local understanding and needs. This local market information could then be used by global teams to prioritize resources and efforts.

2. Local regulations are becoming global requirements

A market’s specific regulatory environment is a major factor in the necessary approach to sustainability. What’s bold and ambitious in one market may be mere compliance in another.

Local regulations are becoming global requirements and impacting markets beyond a single local market. In January, the Germany supply chain act came into force, which requires suppliers for German companies to comply with new requirements related to human rights and environmental risks and violations. As the European Union prepares for its own supply chain regulations, global corporate teams need to be able to understand the cross-market implications and take appropriate action.

While global sustainability ambitions are important, sustainability leaders must understand that their location and the maturity of that market can influence the scale and type of ambitions being set and not adequately consider other local markets.

When setting global ambition levels, corporate teams should engage with local markets to understand the implications of global ambitions in those markets, including how the global strategy will be implemented in each market. Considering, and answering these questions, supports prioritization and implementation plans at a global and local level. Some questions to ask include:

Will each market be expected to deliver against the global targets equally?
Will there be a minimum standard that all markets need to meet but where some markets will be hero markets?
Are markets able to adapt the strategy depending on their regulatory or cultural context?
To what extent can global teams support local markets to set and deliver sustainability strategies through financial and resource support?

3. Top-down sustainability strategies fail to translate at the local level

The idea that global and local perspectives conflict is quickly going out of fashion. The very concept of “local” isn’t easily defined by country or city. Sometimes different countries can share more similarities than two cities in the same country.

When working with a global strategy at a local level, common frustrations are around the slow responsiveness of global teams, the reluctance of ambition and the centralization of sustainability resources. An approach that allows markets to retain flexibility and freedom to set their own goals while having overarching, thematic goals has been a more promising approach allowing markets to adopt a matrix approach rather than relying on top-down pressure.

Thinking three-dimensionally allows one market to look horizontally for support in similar markets. Companies have found that other markets with similar politico-cultural makeup often have learnings that are invaluable in understanding how to set a localized strategy and the allies aren’t always the ones that are geographically closest. The Australian businesses found more similarities within the Canadian market than they did with closer neighbors.

When sustainability teams are lean and global strategies rely on a law of averages, harnessing learnings from similar markets can be extremely valuable.

To succeed, companies must design bold strategies that are agile and adaptive.

These must be built on incremental roadmaps and supported by strong internal and external governance models, which are based on constant feedback loops across the company ecosystem. This will ensure global and local teams have the flexibility to respond to internal and external priorities, can create relevant and actional narratives that go beyond averages and set a clear direction so that everyone, regardless of location, can get behind them and be a part of delivering progress.

To see the original post, follow this link: https://www.greenbiz.com/article/3-challenges-making-global-sustainability-strategies-local

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: accountability, corporate social reponsibility, corporate social responsibility, CSR, ESG, green marketing, responsible brands, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands
Categories : Climate Change, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands

How Retailers Are Embracing Sustainability With Circular Initiatives

5 05 2023

Let’s Change The Way We Shop’ sign outside Selfridges on Oxford Street. Photo: GETTY

By Clara Ludmir, Contributor via Forbes • Reposted May 5, 2023

With shoppers becoming increasingly mindful of their consumption choices, businesses are facing heightened scrutiny and pressure to meet new sustainability standards and adapt to evolving shopping habits. This is driving retailers to rethink their business models to make circularity part of their mindset and operations. So, how are retailers that weren’t born with sustainability at the core of their business concretely adapting to the circular momentum?

From Linear To Circular Business Models

Certain brands and retailers are paving the way for impactful mindset and operational shifts needed to truly put sustainability at the heart of their agenda. Luxury department store Selfridges developed a vision to reinvent retail through its ‘Project Earth’ initiative, built on three pillars: transitioning to sustainable materials, investing in new shopping models, and challenging the mindsets of its partners, teams and customers. In addition to aiming for net-zero carbon emissions by 2040, the retailer made a bold commitment: by 2030, 45% of transactions within the business will come from circular products and services.

Selfridges considers a transaction to be circular when it comes from a resale, rental, refill, repair or recycled product. This target is backed by continuous efforts and initiatives designed to accompany this ambitious strategic objective, such as the definition of specific targets to deliver a material transformation roadmap, new repair and rental services and in-store experiences to shift customer attitude towards circular shopping and consumption.

Rethinking The Product Life Cycle To Develop A Closed-loop System

Fashion brand Coach has also recently demonstrated its intent to take the circular momentum seriously through the launch of Coachtopia. Developed as a collaborative lab for innovation focused on circular craft, the launch marks a significant milestone for the company. Speaking to FashionNetwork.com at the label’s Regent Street flagship, Joon Silverstein, Coach’s SVP of Global Marketing and Sustainability and Head of Coachtopia, considers that this line is “rethinking the product life cycle from end to end. Creating beautiful new things from waste, designing to re-make at scale and ultimately working towards a closed loop system.” This approach is focused on producing items designed to have multiple lives, implying that they are created with the intent to be easily disassembled and repurposed into another product in the future.

In addition to embracing an innovative approach to designing products made from waste and meant to be recycled and repurposed, Coachtopia leveraged insights from a beta community of GenZ individuals to inspire and be inspired by a demographic that is more actively invested in climate change and the environment. “We believe very strongly that it’s important to create it not for these consumers but with them,” Silverstein told FashionNetwork.com, allowing this initiative to give a voice and platform to creatives and climate advocates excited to participate in disrupting fashion for the better.

The sub-brand offers a line of bags, wallets and ready-to-wear items that are available in Selfridges, Coach stores across North America and the brand’s US and UK sites.

In-Store Resale Offering Is Expanding

The second-hand apparel market is experiencing continuous growth, with sales expected to reach $350 billion by 2037 based on a report from resale platform thredUp. In the United States, 1 in 3 apparel items bought by women in 2022 was second-hand, with Millenials and GenZ responsible for more than half of the revenue. As a response to this growing demand, a number of retailers are designing in-store spaces dedicated to second-hand shopping through the launch of pop-ups, corners and own-brand initiatives.

Galeries Lafayette Paris — (RE)STORE space in Galeries Lafayette HaussmannGALERIES LAFAYETTE

In Paris, leading department stores have all started to welcome circularity through dedicated store spaces and offerings. For instance, the Galeries Lafayette Haussmann launched in 2021 a (RE)STORE space of 500 square meters dedicated to second-hand players and sustainable brands. In addition to hosting Monogram, a French luxury second-hand e-tailer, the space features a number of popular online resale shops as well as sustainable brands designing clothing or products made exclusively from offcuts and recycled materials.

Brands with a large retail footprint are evolving to embed circularity in their commercial model. For example, French baby and children’s clothing brand Petit Bateau is making space in its stores for second-hand clothing with the launch of its resale program, allowing customers to both purchase or sell second-hand items in-store. So far, around 20 stores in France are participating in the initiative, with a roll-out to other European countries and Japan expected in the next year. Petit Bateau aims to be the most durable brand in this segment, with products designed to be re-worn by multiple kids, thus almost naturally expected to embrace circularity. While today, only 1% of products sold come from this program, the brand’s CEO Guillaume Darrousez shared on French TV channel BFMTV that by 2030, 1 in 3 transactions will come from the circular economy, either through second-hand or rental products.

Adopting Circularity Is Key To Customer Acquisition And Retention

As of today, retailers are for the most part engaging in the circular momentum as a means to acquire and retain shoppers, rather than to grow profits. In fact, most brands launching their resale platform via a dedicated website struggle to make it a profitable endeavour. Luxury resale platform The RealReal has yet to find an attractive economic model, reporting a net loss of $196 million in 2022 and the closure of various retail locations, which highlights the sector’s struggle to make second-hand retail a scaleable and profitable business.

However, while retailers might not drive significant revenue from recycle, repair or resale initiatives just yet, these allow them to attract a new audience: as mentioned in thredUp’s 2023 resale report, 60% of the resale market’s growth will be attributed to new shoppers, stressing the rising interest for second-hand offerings. Considering the expected size of the resale market and growing pressure on brands to become more accountable and conscious of climate change, retailers are expected to get on board and adopt circularity on a bigger scale in the next five years.

By then, we might have the answer to the following question: will circularity – whether through recycling and reusing materials to produce new items or launching an in-house resale program – ever be scaleable and profitable? Or will it just represent a fraction of brands’ industrial and commercial operations while enabling them to showcase sustainable commitments?

To see the original post, follow this link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/claraludmir/2023/05/04/how-retailers-are-embracing-sustainability-with-circular-initiatives/?sh=189db1a83288

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: accountability, Circular Business Models, Closed-loop system, corporate social reponsibility, corporate social responsibility, CSR, ESG, green marketing, responsible brands, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands
Categories : Climate Change, responsible brands, social responsibility, sustainability, sustainable branding, sustainable brands

Eric Block On Responsible Branding

Search

Links

Contact Us

Inspiring Experiences

Our Partners

Reliable Resources