CLEANTECH - 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.
LEADERSHIP - 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.
THE NEXT 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.
MARKETING AND COMMS - Unilever study uncovers barriers influencers face around creating sustainability content. The company is partnering with climate-focused nonprofits and launching a Creator Council to help address these barriers.
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.
WASTE NOT - As part of Nestlé’s bid to source 50% of its key ingredients from regenerative-ag methods by 2030, the three are turning the waste steam into a win-win, circular solution for food companies and farmers alike.
NEW METRICS - The NPI will clarify and standardize the term ‘nature positive;’ and drive synergies across the many actors supporting and implementing changes towards the goal of halting and reversing nature loss by 2030.
THE NEXT ECONOMY - 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.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION - Nike’s ISPA (Improvise, Scavenge, Protect, Adapt) design philosophy challenges creators to experiment, break molds and reimagine products. The ISPA Link Axis uses interlocking components, as few materials as possible and zero glue.
SUPPLY CHAIN - Partnerships with brands including Madewell and Vibram will help adapt bluesign’s existing standards and guidelines for two untapped industries.
THE NEXT ECONOMY - 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.
WASTE NOT - Last year, we set the record for World’s Largest College Recycling Event; but we didn’t want this to be a one-time win. So this year, we’ve recruited new partners to heighten the competition and increase the impact.
COLLABORATION - Forging strategic partnerships can unlock immediate win-win solutions while also creating a roadmap for future success across the supply network.
FROM PURPOSE TO ACTION: BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE TOGETHER - In this conversation with ‘the Conservation Kid,’ Cash Daniels, we learn more about what drives his passion to clean up the Tennessee River and lead his generation toward a brighter future.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE - Retailers continue to refine what packaging they find acceptable to answer consumer demand for more sustainable solutions — and consumer goods companies must keep innovating to keep pace.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING - The paints, developed by Stanford researchers, can reduce the need for both heating and air conditioning in buildings, as well as refrigerated cargo spaces such as trains and trucks.
BUSINESS CASE - 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.
THE NEXT ECONOMY - Applied to food supply chains, ambient IoT allows farmers, distributors, grocers, regulators and consumers to know where food came from, how far it traveled, how it was transported and stored, and what condition it’s in — in real time.