CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
In its first year, the American Climate Corps aims to put more than 20,000 young people on career pathways in the growing fields of clean energy, conservation and climate resilience.
MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Loliware, Uuvipak and Twiice have created rapidly biodegradable (and even edible) bio-based products that completely upstage their petroleum-based, single-use plastic-polluting counterparts.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
Keeping the planet below 1.5ºC will require rapid scaling of current technologies and deployment of emergent climate solutions — as well as innovative, binding policy interventions.
ORGANIZATIONAL GOVERNANCE -
While many companies now understand the value of dedicated ESG leadership, there remains no real playbook for how to get started. Here’s how ESG practitioners can standardize sustainability-forward operations and innovation across workstreams.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
With the explosive growth of the voluntary carbon market came concerns around carbon-reduction claims lacking clarity or being misleading. Several refined claims frameworks have emerged to bridge these gaps.
FINANCE & INVESTMENT -
The new endowment fund will reach vulnerable communities facing greatest disaster risk through partnerships with both local disaster-relief organizations and international NGOs.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
As companies have faced reputational risk due to the uncovering of labor abuses from suppliers that many did not even realize were supplying them, there’s been a push to better manage and ensure supply-chain
transparency — with technology playing a key role.
FINANCE & INVESTMENT -
Kroll analyzed data on over 13K companies across industries and found that those with better ESG ratings outperformed their peers with lower ratings; globally,
ESG leaders had annual returns of 12.9% vs 8.6% for laggards.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
Many see DAC as a necessary, if imperfect, tool for
achieving needed carbon reductions; but climate justice groups oppose anything that perpetuates petrochemical operation, which often disproportionately harms communities where they are built.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
Frequent flyer reward programs encourage flyers to emit up to 34x their lifetime carbon budget; while flying private can pollute up to 30x more than a standard flight.
COLLABORATION & CO-CREATION -
Forging strategic partnerships can unlock immediate win-win solutions while also creating a roadmap for future success across the supply network.
ORGANIZATIONAL GOVERNANCE -
Forum for the Future’s latest 'Future of Sustainability' report sets out four plausible trajectories for how companies can respond to current threats and opportunities across markets.
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Highlighting the impact of individual purchases and their associated emissions output, the app — fresh off a large funding round — is evolving to meet the daily spending directives of its users.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
By upcycling coconut husks and shrimp shells, Fortuna Cools and Cruz Foam are diverting agricultural waste from landfill and offering circular polystyrene alternatives that match its performance.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
The investor letter asserts that the financial materiality of human rights-related topics – and the critical role of human rights due diligence in identifying business risks – has never been clearer, and that ‘investors are in dire need of a unified social disclosure framework.’
FINANCE & INVESTMENT -
“By valuing and giving a voice to [women of color], and recognizing their potential as solutions and stabilizers, impact investing is a powerful way to build systemic resilience … and reduce the negative impact of climate change on everyone.” — Durreen Shahnaz
NEW METRICS -
Climate resilience is the ‘resilience of a company’s strategy and business model to climate-related changes, developments and uncertainties.’ This language is worth reflecting on, as it brings the concept of resilience science
into mainstream business thinking.
NEW METRICS -
The availability and measurability of data is critical in determining the right metric. Quantifying ‘social good,’ for example, is nebulous; if the metrics we select give us no ability to measurably improve them, then our work is for
naught.
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
A recent study shows that people across the socioeconomic spectrum care about climate action; but taking that action remains cost-prohibitive for lower-income groups.