SUPPLY CHAIN -
Laudes Foundation’s Transparency in Action portal features best practices, expert advice, tools and resources — including information on existing and upcoming legislation — for brands to take informed steps towards transparency and expand their current efforts.
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS -
PMI recently released its 2021 Sustainability Materiality Report, which describes how the company identifies the ESG topics that inform its strategies, goals, and reporting. It’s conducted with full transparency — for stakeholders, and for society.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
The Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence would oblige companies to identify, prevent, and mitigate human rights and environmental violations in their value chain. But there is debate over whether companies can be reasonably expected to control their entire value chain, down to the smallest suppliers.
FINANCE & INVESTMENT -
MDIs are trusted providers for communities of color and include some of the oldest minority-owned US banks; they play a unique role in increasing access to
financial services for underserved populations.
ORGANIZATIONAL GOVERNANCE -
In India, CSR is approached with a rigor not found anywhere else in the world. Here, we see how businesses around the world can learn from the Indian approach to CSR — to ensure that every dollar spent has the best societal impact, while improving your brand value.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
As we look back on 25 years of the sustainability movement and focus on the critical decade ahead, we challenge business leaders to embrace three vital
perspectives in order to drive deep transformation of the way we live and work in unsettled times.
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS -
New platform from Break Free from Plastic explores the hardest-hit frontline communities in the world, from India to Ohio. After hearing each story, viewers can choose to view another location, or take actions designed to make local and global impact.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
Far from simply the latest buzzword, regenerative agriculture is an opportunity for brands to invest in a fundamentally different system that drives numerous
benefits for people and the planet — from boosting climate resilience and reversing biodiversity loss to prioritizing justice, equity and sustainable livelihoods.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
At Auburn University’s architectural-training program, “housing is health.” Associate Director Rusty Smith asserts: “As architects, we have a professional responsibility. It's not only an ethical or moral responsibility; it's a professional responsibility, as well, to act when we see people in crisis.”
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
The startups and NGOs have won the inaugural Seeding the Future Global Food System Challenge, from the Institute of Food Technologists, aimed at scaling innovations that will help transform the food system.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
It seems human rights abuses aren’t the only labor issues companies need to watch out for in their supply chains. Here, Thailand-based Theppadungporn Coconut Company details how it partnered to create the first audit scheme specifically designed to uncover monkey labor.
COLLABORATION & CO-CREATION -
It’s 2022, and 1 in 3 homes on the Navajo Nation Reservation still do not have a tap or toilet. In 2021, human rights nonprofit DigDeep collaborated with
Kohler to launch the Water Is Life microgrant program — which is working to make safe water a reality for all residents of the Navajo Nation.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
Paying living wages throughout supply chains can mean changing business models, which can seem insurmountable. But a series of case studies from IDH shows how companies and coalitions are making real progress on their commitments.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
To provide experiences that enrich destination communities and travelers alike, the new initiatives span 16 countries and include activities such as meals at local establishments supporting women, migrants and seniors; and immersive tours preserving Indigenous and ethnic minority legacies.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
Consumer insights demonstrate need for brands to make good on their sustainability and human rights claims, and make it even easier for shoppers to shop their values.
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS -
The ethical chocolate maker has released three ‘Conversation Bars’ — available exclusively online and at Waitrose through January 25 — designed to provoke
discussion around systemic issues in the chocolate supply chain.
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS -
Public Inc’s latest social-justice outcry, in collaboration with First Peoples Group, shines light on lack of government action to address insufficient access to clean water in nearly 70 Indigenous communities across Canada.
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS -
“Tony’s has done a great job of raising awareness of an important issue; and there is a real risk that the overriding message that will be left, once the dust settles, is one of a brand getting it wrong — and that could undermine all of the important messaging that Tony’s tries to share through its purpose.”
SUPPLY CHAIN -
China’s importance to global supply chains as a key source of raw materials and labor puts brands at high risk of inadvertently supporting forced labor. Right now, the focus is on the garment industry; but other industries should pay close attention and ensure they are closely monitoring their entire supply chains.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
What happens when a company empowers its associates to think creatively and innovate with a social purpose? You find yourself with a potent strategic framework for solving for some of the world’s most pressing social and environmental challenges.