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In Good Company: Singh on CSR

~ Connecting the dots between Business, Society & the Environment

Category Archives: ESG

Rationality is Ruining Us: Mayors, presidents and governors join major businesses in charting way forward on climate change

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Posted by Aman Singh in Capitalism 2.0, ESG, Stakeholder Engagement, Sustainability

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andrew winston, BT, climate change, climate week nyc, divestment, environment, felipe calderon, fordham, fossil fuels, hannah jones, human rights, hunter lovins, ikea, jo confino, mars, mayor bloomberg, Nike, peter shumlin, philips, pope francis, poverty, prakash javadekar, renewable energy, siemens, Sustainability, sustainable business, world bank


The rationality of business leaders is leading us to complete disaster.

Voicing concern for the continued lack of action on climate change, World Bank President Dr. Jim Yong Kim joined many others at the closing ceremony of Climate Week NYC (CWNYC) 2015 imploring the community to wake up and smell the air (no pun intended).

Referring to the ever maddening chase of the business case across corporate America, Dr. Kim emphasized that we now have enough facts and figures to address a global crisis unraveling in real time in places like California (see: drought and water shortage), island nations (land erosion) and across our depleting oceans and forests.aman 1

“My son will live through a 2, 3 or maybe even 4 degree Celsius warming. We cannot keep apologizing to our children for our lack of action. We must change course now,” he added, vocally seconded in frustration and urgency by many others who took the stage after him, including Former President of Mexico Felipe Calderon.

After more than ten days of events spread across New York City and covering a multitude of topics – from climate data and social justice to poverty, Rule of Law and women empowerment – CWNYC ended with several notable announcements this week, including commitments from Walmart, J&J, P&G and Nike to strive for sourcing 100 percent of their energy needs from renewable sources, six national banks coming together to ask for a climate treaty and divestment numbers reaching $2.6 trillion.

Mayors, Governors and Ministers Urge Urgent Attention

The week also saw the likes of NYC’s celebrated former mayor Michael Bloomberg and India’s Union Minister of Environment Prakash Javadekar taking the podium to ask policymakers globally to agree on a binding climate agreement at the upcoming Conference of the Parties (COP21) in Paris this December.

Aman 3While Mayor Bloomberg emphasized “you get what you pay for” and that “businesses invest where people live,” citing that New York City continued to be a mecca for business investment because of its early attention to the impact of climate change, the Indian Minister asked policymakers to frame climate change more broadly as a need to shift consumption patterns and lifestyles.

Referring to Pope Francis’ articulation of the “throwaway culture, the minister added, “India is a big country but it is also a poor country…this is about lifestyles and financing a global shift to cleaner sources of energy.”

Poverty is “the biggest pollutant” he said. “Human intentions have led us here and human intellect will help us lead the way out.”

For Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin, climate change is no longer up for debate. Emphasizing that his state’s residents were already living with the impact of climate change and were fully engaged on adaptation, he said:

“We don’t live in the land of denial…a whole generation of Vermonters are learning about climate change the hard way.”

Open for Business: Corporations Show Early Results from Climate Adaptation Efforts

Not too far behind was the corporate contingent including leaders from Ikea, Kellogg’s, Walmart, Nike, BT, DSM, Philips, Siemens and many others as well as the State of New York Comptroller’s Officer, who participated in a plethora of rapidfire discussions, many ably and enthusiastically moderated by UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres, on how they were accounting for climate change risks through various tactics and strategies. Here’s a sample:

  • Product innovation: Siemen’s is rolling out hundreds of windmills, estimated to power 7,000 – 8,000 homes each, Philips and Ikea are leading drive toward LED lighting
  • Advocacy: BT working across sectors on rolling out infrastructure to support the future of clean technology, automation and access for all, Mars joining hands with many other companies through investor advocacy group Ceres asking policymakers to agree on a climate treaty at COP21
  • Value chain mapping: According to Nike’s Chief Sustainability Officer Hannah Jones, the amount of polyester used in one year uses as much fossil fuels as it takes to operate 185 coal plants. Materials matter, she emphasized and therefore, Nike is evaluating its entire ingredient and value chain to understand all points of impact.
  • Circular thinking: IKEA looking ahead at leasing its products, extending their life and helping customers resell, recycle and reuse.
  • Scenario planning: NYS Comptroller’s office increasingly looking at “where we put our money. If companies don’t change their practices, we will move the money.”

None of His Business: Finding the Way Forward in Pope Francis’ Words

In an equally dramatic setting ahead of Pope Francis’ visit to the U.S. – New York City’s Jesuit University, Fordham – Andrew Winston, author of The Big Pivot, Jo Confino, Executive Editor at The Huffington Post, L. Hunter Lovins, president of the Natural Capitalism Solutions and Michael Pirson, Associate Professor for Management Systems at Fordham took the stage to contextualize why a religious leader was cutting through religious and political clutter to issue an urgent call to action.

Aman 2

Before a packed auditorium of students, professors and others, the three distilled the 80 page Papal encyclical for what this meant for business, for consumers, students and perhaps more overwhelmingly, for humanity. The conversation was variously electric, sarcastic, alarming and deeply touching.

Winston cracked open the discussion by urging the audience to pay attention to what the Pope is saying. “If the Pope is signaling that the end might be nigh, we better sit up and listen. We have serious equity problems and we better start connecting it with environmental challenges quickly.”

Bringing a politically charged topic to life, Lovins alluded to the millions of refugees making their way west from Syria in the hopes of a happier life.

“Are we prepared for what that means for our cities, our local economies?” she asked. “I’ve always said climate change is not a moral issue; it is a business opportunity. But the Pope is starting to make me change my mind… This [climate change, poverty, economics] is not a religious issue. This is a global issue for humanity to confront and address as humans.”

Confino, who recently left The Guardian to lead Huffington Post’s foray into purpose and impact reporting, chose to take a more philosophical point of view advocating that “we need to re-convince ourselves that we need each other; that we don’t have control over everything whether we like it or not.”

On the other hand, Pirson implored education institutions to sit up and take note of what this meant for them.

“Every institution has to ask themselves why they exist and how they are helping the world move forward sustainably. This is a crisis and we need all hands on deck. Everywhere. If we’re not demanding that, we’re wasting our time,” he said.

So where to from here?

When do we shift from call to actions to simply action? While many more companies are stepping up their efforts – General Mills and Kellogg’s serving as great examples as they begin their path toward net zero – on the various threads of climate change, many, many more remain in the shadows waiting and watching.

Regardless of what gets agreed to in December, climate change is already changing our summers and winters (check out WXshift to see for yourself). Changing weather patterns are already impacting farmers’ harvesting timelines and forcing millions to relocate for better proximity to clean water and air. And as this impact spreads beyond the immediate areas under threat, our notions of ordinary and luxury stand to be tested.

We’re going to have to respond. We’re going to have to adapt. Our bottom lines will change.

And we’re going to have to continue to push the leaders and pull the stragglers along. After all, if the future of our children is not worth it, what is?

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2015: the year businesses recognize that climate change is real – and 4 other themes

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Posted by Aman Singh in CSR, ESG, Stakeholder Engagement, Sustainability

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aman singh, cdp, climate change, corporate social responsibility, CSR, cvs health, environment, guardian, paul polman, rule of law, supply chain, Sustainability, tim cook, un sustainable development goals, unilever


I recently participated in The Guardian‘s year-end predictions and analysis series. While there were lots of themes and issues to pick from, I decided to focus on five. Here’s an excerpt:

The next phase of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals, fittingly termed the Sustainable Development Goals, shift priorities from insular goals like reducing poverty and increasing hygiene to more inclusive and integrated ones that push for systemic change like the rule of law, dignity and prosperity for all. The implications are significant.

And business is being called on to provide active support for the first time. This presents an unprecedented opportunity to tie businesses’ growth to their communities and the environment. For the first time, capitalists are welcome and actively needed at the table. This marks a key acknowledgement that determining our path forward as an interconnected economy will require the tensile strength of every single sector.

UN Sustainable Development Goals

So how do you make sure your business is syncing its growth plan with the new UN goals? How do you get past the loftiness and map the real changes that are needed against the trajectory of your business plan?

You’ll want to start by investing in some scenario planning.

You can read the full article on The Guardian.

And while I wasn’t able to respond to the comments that flew in before the commenting period ended – yes, I really did shut down my electronics this holiday! – I’d like to continue the conversations here. So if you agree or don’t, have a question or a solution, please do respond. As I promised in the piece, my mantra is clear:

Tell the whole story, help our executives and leaders connect the dots, identify the context, and empower stakeholders through knowledge. When I started writing about these issues, I committed to connecting the dots. Always.

A decade later, that hasn’t changed.

And remember, joy is contagious. But so is skepticism. Stay clear. Steer carefully – and lead gracefully – onwards.

Wishing you a happy and productive 2015.

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Brewing a Better Future [#BaBF] with Heineken: Examining the Many Flavors of Local Sourcing

18 Monday Aug 2014

Posted by Aman Singh in CSR, ESG, Stakeholder Engagement, Sustainability

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#babf, aman singh, brand management, corporate social responsibility, CSR, CSR communications, Disclosure & Transparency, heineken, nick aster, Social Impact, Social Media, Stakeholder Engagement, supply chain, supply chain management, Sustainability, triplepundit, Twitter, Twitter chat


Earlier this year, TriplePundit‘s Nick Aster and I chatted with the Heineken team to discuss what “Brewing a Better Future” meant for the company. It coincided with the Heineken's sustainability teamrelease of its latest CSR Report and the chat, which began with a selfie of the Heineken team, was both engaging and active.

It also revealed an area that deserved more digging than we could get to in the allotted hour: the company’s sourcing practices.

So we decided to team up with the experts for Round 2! This time we’ll chat with Heineken’s sustainability leadership team including:

  • Michael Dickstein (MD) – Director, Global Sustainable Development
  • Paul Stanger (PS) – Local Sourcing Director, Africa & Middle East Region
  • Edwin Zuidema (EZ) – Global Category Director, Raw Materials

Here’s what you need to know:

Date: August 27, 2014

Time: 11am ET

Hashtag: #BaBF

Speakers: @HEINEKENCorp

Moderators: @AmanSinghCSR @NickAster @TriplePundit

To RSVP, send out the following tweet:

I will join @HEINEKENCorp @AmanSinghCSR @NickAster & @TriplePundit to discuss local #sourcing on 08/27 http://bit.ly/BaBFchat #BaBF

Got a question? Include it in the comments section below or send it to contact@triplepundit.com. Talk soon!

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From Conflict to Collaboration: Kimberly-Clark and Greenpeace Participate in LIVE Twitter Chat

06 Wednesday Aug 2014

Posted by Aman Singh in CSR, ESG, Stakeholder Engagement, Sustainability

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Accountability, activism, aman singh, aman singh das, brand management, corporate social responsibility, Disclosure & Transparency, forestsolutions, greenpeace, kimberly-clark, kleenex, kleercut, peggy ward, reforestation, richard brooks, rolf skar, Social Media, Stakeholder Engagement, supply chain, Sustainability, triplepundit


When two adversaries decide to cut across their divides to work together toward a bigger cause, Kleercutchances are there’s a story – or two – to be told, learned from and examined for replicable tips.

Five years ago, Greenpeace launched a nationwide campaign aptly titled #Kleercut to invoke consumer products giant Kimberly-Clark to reexamine its fiber sourcing standards. K-C responded by inviting Greenpeace to a meeting.

What emerged from a series of meetings that followed that initial, tense meet up was a collaborative framework that has shifted K-C’s sourcing standards and helped offer both greenpeace and kimberly clarkorganizations a tangible way to move forward on protecting and conserving forests worldwide.

Today, K-C reports a significant increase in its FSC-certified fiber use and notes higher sales across its Kleenex and Scott tissue brands.

Marking their “wood” anniversary, K-C’s Sustainability Strategy Leader Peggy Ward along with Greenpeace’s Richard Brooks and Rolf Skar, decided to participate in a live Twitter chat facilitated by TriplePundit’s Nick Aster and me on August 5, 2014.

The questions were flying in even before we started keeping the panelists busy through the hour and more: from a behind-the-scenes story about how the two began collaborating five years ago to the future of alternative fibers and how the organizations are working on connecting consumers with sustainability, we covered a lot of ground.

Tweetbinder KC-GP tweets stats

Here are the stats: http://www.tweetbinder.com/rs/db6u3eRDv67

For highlights, grab the #Storify version. And to also grab our audience’s perspectives, search for #ForestSolutions on Twitter!

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Chatting LIVE with Mars’ Sustainability Chief: Integrating Sustainability, Driving Responsibility

28 Monday Jul 2014

Posted by Aman Singh in CSR, CSR reporting, ESG

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@marsglobal, agriculture, barry parkin, climate change, cocoa, CSR, CSR reporting, Disclosure & Transparency, employee engagement, environment, ESG, fish, mars, palm oil, renewable energy, Social Media, social media, Stakeholder Engagement, supply chain, Sustainability, sustainability, sustainable sourcing, triplepundit, Twitter chat


On July 24, 2014, I facilitated a live Twitter chat with Barry Parkin, Chief Sustainability Officer at Mars, Inc. and TriplePundit to offer an opportunity to learn more about sustainability at the food manufacturer.

As a lead up to the chat, Mars published its fourth annual Principles in Action Summary, which details the company’s approach to business, its progress, and the shared challenges facing both its Marsbusiness and society.

As one of the world’s leading food manufacturers with more than 130 manufacturing sites and an expansive supply chain, how does the company contextualize sustainability, set goals that encompass its social and environmental footprint, grow its supply chain and do it all responsibly?

For an hour we chatted – with 104 attendees generating almost 600 tweets, over 3.5 million impressions and 27 questions. Here’s the Storify summary.

And here are Parkin’s responses to the questions that we couldn’t get to in the hour:

  • @cmehallow: Does @MarsGlobal use @CDP Water Disclosure to manage/measure its #water impacts?

We have just completed our second CDP Carbon response and are evaluating the Water and Forest programs.

  • @csrdispatch: This might be a cheeky question, but do you feel a conflict between commitment to sustainability and selling junk food?

Our consumers, both people and their pets, get nutrition and pleasure from our products.  We are continuing to look at the role of our portfolio in addressing nutrition and obesity.

  • @dgardinera @dataeco: What have been your experiences with large #renewableenergy procurement?#MarsSusty

Our most recent large scale project was Mesquite Creek, but we have on-site projects or 100% renewable contracts at more than a dozen globally. We also just announced another project in Australia last week: http://www.premier.vic.gov.au/media-centre/media-releases/10219-the-sun-won-t-melt-this-mars-bar.html

  • @kellyfmill: Specific ways #sustainability goals are integreated w/ other departments? 

We believe it’s everybody’s responsibility, therefore we have goals in all functions/departments in the business. 

  • @jsonenshine: Can you share how you are driving farmer productivity? [A3b: Driving farmer productivity is our way to do both.]

Yes, as an example in cocoa, we are providing training, latest planting material and access to fertilizer for farmers.

  • @wssocialimpact: How does @MarsGlobal address sustainability goals in the short term?

We have a range of Sourcing Targets for 2015 and 2020 and Operations Targets (SiG) for 2015. More info at:

http://www.mars.com/global/about-mars/mars-pia/our-operations/sustainable-in-a-generation.aspx

http://www.mars.com/global/about-mars/mars-pia/our-supply-chain.aspx

  • @gurumug: How do you cross-verify #sustainability reporting standards/systems ?

We have a third party audit of our data and an assurance by Corporate Citizenship.

  • @greenguyboston: Glad to see your sustainable sourcing goals, but what is your progress to date against them?

Check out our 2013 Principles in Action Summary to learn more on our progress to date: http://mars.com/pia.

  • @jreneemorin: What are @MarsGlobal biggest challenges working with suppliers on #MarsSusty?

One of the challenges is that we work with 100k+ suppliers and often many tiers of them back to the farmer. 

  • @cmehallow: When @MarsGlobal needs to access capital markets, does its strong #susty program provide advantage?

We are a private, family-owned business, but we do believe that boosting our reputation through sustainability is crucial to attracting great people to work for us

  • @rohitms4: Is there any specific standard to measure your success in #sustainability?

Yes, measurement of impact and not just activity. 

  • @earthshare: How is @MarsGlobal investing in associates and their communities? #MarsSusty

In 2013 we did more than 500K hours of Associate training, and through the Mars Volunteer Program, 19K Associates devoted 70K hours to their communities.

  • In response to A15: @darrylv asked: That is promising. How about elsewhere in your supply chain? #MarsSusty

Because there are more farmers in cocoa than any other crop we purchase, we started there first and we’re looking to learn from our experiences in cocoa.

  • @beth_rcarnac: As a Mars Associate, I’d love to ask where have you seen our Associates best come together to collaborate on this #MarsSusty

There are Associates at every factory around the world and collaborating across our sites to achieving our SiG goals. 


Want to chat with us? Email me for more details.

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When Sustainability Ambitions Become a Living Plan: Unilever Expands, Deepens Commitments

11 Friday Jul 2014

Posted by Aman Singh in Capitalism 2.0, CSR reporting, CSRwire, ESG

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#iwashmyhands, #sustliving, #toilets4all, agriculture, aman singh, Business, Capitalism 2.0, CEO Network, children, climate change, CSR, CSR reporting, CSRwire, deforestation, Disclosure & Transparency, entrepreneurship, Environment, ESG, food security, keith weed, Leadership, lifebuoy, marketing, project sunlight, Social Enterprise, Social Media, Stakeholder Engagement, stakeholder engagement, supply chain, Supply chain management, Sustainability, sustainability, sustainable living plan, Twitter, unilever, women


Yesterday, Unilever released the latest refresh to its Sustainable Living Plan with yet another subtle headline [don’t blame them for being European]: Unilever Expands Sustainable Living Ambition.

And once again it is seeking to set a mindset shift.

Besides a metrics update that started at the beginning of the month with the announcement that the company had successfully reduced the rate of diarrhea among children from 36 percent to five percent through its Lifebuoy branded handwashing campaign ‘Help A Child Reach 5,’ the company announced its decision to step away from calling the Plan, well, a Report.

A Plan That Is Meant to Evolve

As Chief Marketing Officer Keith Weed told me:

“The Living Plan is meant to evolve. Today, we’re engaging more, we’re collaborating more. We’re not writing a separate report any longer. And I’m proud to say that we’re moving toward an integrated report in our effort show how this is now integrated in our overall plan…why we closed down our CSR department. Sustainability [for us is] integrated, truly embedded across our value chain.”

The company also hosted a live by-invitation-only event in London with 100 senior sustainability influencers to discuss the next iteration of the Plan: an expansion to include three specific social targets:

  • Fairness in the workplace [“We have been working with Oxfam on the condition of factory workers in our extended supply chain in Vietnam – and the lessons we have learned we’re taking global, including a new sourcing policy, which makes clear basic levels of human rights that suppliers must adhere to.“]
  • Opportunities for women [“By 2020, we want to help empower five million women. They’re a key part of our international supply chain.”]
  • Developing inclusive business [“Like our Shakti model in India“]

unilever sustainable living planAnd a re-emphasis of what it considers its most critical challenges:

And a re-emphasis of what it considers its most critical challenges:

  • Helping combat climate change by working to eliminate deforestation, which accounts for up to 15 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions
  • Improving food security by championing sustainable agriculture, and improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers who produce 80 percent of the food in Asia and Sub Saharan Africa
  • Improving health and well-being by helping more than a billion people gain access to safe drinking water, proper sanitation and good hygiene habits.

The Rarity of Receiving Honest Feedback

I was catching up with Weed – who was among the initial creators of the USLP and continues to lead it across the organization today – right after the live event. And he was in a good mood. “In its early days, everyone was genuinely impressed [with the USLP] and were always polite in giving us feedback. They were probably also scared of scaring us off. But now, three years in, they’re more open with their feedback,” he told me.

The company is making good progress.

Besides good results from its #Iwashmyhands and #toilets4all campaigns, for example, some of the reported highlights include:

  • Over 75 percent of its factories have achieved zero non-hazardous waste to landfill
  • A new technology would reduce plastic in its Dove body wash packaging by 15 percent
  • Forty eight percent of agricultural raw materials are now from sustainable sources, up from 14 percent in 2010,
  • It completed training over 570,000 smallholder farmers and increased the number of Shakti women micro-entrepreneurs in India from 48,000 in 2012 to 65,000 in 2013
  • Avoided costs of €350million since 2008 in reducing raw materials and implementing eco-efficiency measures in factories on energy, water and waste
  • Launched compressed versions of its Sure, Dove, Vaseline deodorants across the U.K., which equal to 25 percent of CO2 savings per can.

As Weed counted off, “We’ve integrated USLP into our core business, brands like Lifebuoy are experiencing double-digit growth signifying that integrating sustainability in the core of your brand works, we’re creating less waste, saving money, creating eco efficiencies across our value chain, and if positioned right, can have everyone involved engaged.”

Unilever on TwitterDemonstrating the [Sustainability] Case Internally

“But perhaps the most important highlight is that we are starting to show progress against our commitments and core belief [about integrated sustainability into our business] internally,” he added.

But other challenges emerged.

“Although water usage across our manufacturing facilities was down, when you take into account our entire value chain, it actually went up as did our greenhouse gas emissions. Also scale is tough.”

And the need for good partners.

“We’re stepping up working with others on transformational change. We’ve learned a lot in the last three years. We need to work with others. For example, deforestation contributes 15 percent of GHG – we’ve been doing a lot of work on palm oil by ourselves. Now [we want to] expand the efforts to government and civil society so that we can get to zero net deforestation by 2020,” he added.

Challenges: Finding Partners, Changing Habits

For a brand as diversified and exposed as Unilever, finding partners that share ideologies are critical as is changing consumer behavior.

Last year, we collaborated with the Unilever team on a communication strategy that told the USLP story as well as helped the company engage in critical dialogue with its diverse audience. Besides a detailed blog series penned by Sustainability Chief Gail Klintworth that took us behind the scenes and on the ground with the USLP goals – and a live Twitter chat that generated hundreds of questions – one of the toughest challenges that emerged was influencing consumer behavior.

And some things are finally starting to shift.

Like the 180 million people who now know how to wash their hands properly. Or the 55 million who now have access to safe drinking water.  Or the 70 million people who have already watched/engaged with Unilever’s innovative Project Sunlight.

“The point is to make sustainable living commonplace. We’re an optimistic company – if you get engaged, let’s work together,” said Weed. “Stakeholders are telling us they felt this was very much a part of our business. People are sitting up and talking.”

Numbers aside, changing habits is hard – and it remains the company’s toughest challenge. “We’re using everything we can from celebrities to local partners and rewards. They say it takes 30 days to change a habit. Initiatives like Project Sunlight are important because of this,” he said.

Or the decision to replace current deodorants with compressed versions. “People see smaller cans and think it’s not value for money,” Weed offered. “But if there is any company that has the resolve to take on these challenges, it’s us. We know markets, scale, know how.”

So what’s next?

Engagement, engagement and more engagement. As the marketing chief put it, “We need to engage more people to think beyond their own communities and families. It will happen.”

More about the USLP Refresh here.

Originally written for and published on CSRwire’s Commentary section Talkback on April 29, 2014.

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Integrated Thinking: SAP Refocuses Sustainability Targets to Maximize Impact

11 Friday Jul 2014

Posted by Aman Singh in CSR, CSR reporting, CSRwire, ESG

≈ 1 Comment

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aman singh, Brand Management, BSR, cdp, cloud computing, CSR, CSR reporting, CSRwire, data, Disclosure & Transparency, employee engagement, ESG, green cloud, impact, Innovation, integrated reporting, nigel topping, peter graf, renewable energy, sap, Social Media, social media, Stakeholder Engagement, strategy, Sustainability, sustainability, sustybiz, technology, Twitter


How do you continually increase your positive social and environmental impact while growing your economic bottom line?

It’s a question that has many sustainability professionals preoccupied as global business returns to some sense of stability amid a rising urgency to curtail its footprint and address critical issues like climate change.

For technology companies, which are targeting emerging markets for growth and increasingly touting the efficacy of the cloud as a solution, this is a particularly precarious question. Peter Graf, chief sustainability officer at SAP, believes integrated thinking can help.

We chatted live with Graf and sustainability heavyweights BSR CEO Aron Cramer and CDP Executive Director Nigel Topping on April 11, 2014, at #SustyBiz.

But before you grab the recap, here’s some context.

Green Consumption: SAP Shifts to Cloud

In its second Integrated Report, SAP offered more context regarding its decision to shift to a cloud business model. The technology giant also announced it has started to power all its data centers and facilities globally with 100 percent renewable electricity as of January 1, 2014, which it predicts will help “eliminate carbon emissions caused by its customers’ systems by moving them into SAP’s green cloud.”

SAP_integratedreport_2013

Ambitious or not, the new goals indicate a significant shift for the company as it figures out how to involve its consumers in its sustainability targets without compromising on its growth ambitions. And according to Graf, switching to Integrated Reporting was important to help move the company closer to thinking in a more integrated manner about its business model, its impact and its long-term future.

As he stated in an interview last year, they didn’t have to change tracks. But it was time.

“We have been reporting on our sustainability performance since 2008. The report has grown in sophistication over the years and we even won several awards in the last two years for our report’s interactive nature, etc. So technically, we could have continued on that road.”

Creating Value

So how has Integrated Reporting helped SAP integrate its sustainability goals with its business strategy?

“One, it has brought business strategy closer to how we create value – our green cloud is a perfect example of that. Second, we have aligned the structure of our report with the IIRC framework, including new navigation that allows people to filter content according to different types of capital (ESG). We’re also continuing to support the G4 framework and have become better at explaining the short-, mid- and long-term impact of integrated reporting than last year,” said Graf.

And how does SAP’s performance stack up for 2013?

For one, as its business has grown so have its emissions and environmental footprint. “As a cloud company, we acquired Ariba and Success Factors but kept our budget stable to buy renewables, which is why renewables reduced [from] 51% in 2012 to 43 % 2013. It is clear that we want to put sustainability into the core of how we create value. So moving to 100% renewable electricity is a natural consequence of the shift of our business model into the cloud.”

Retention is marginally down as is employee engagement.

“While employee engagement was slightly down by 2%, our overall score of 77% continues to represent an industry leading performance. We believe the small reduction is due to our shift in strategy to the cloud. The good news is that we have already taken steps to drive employee engagement up toward our goal of 82% by 2015.”

Debating the Efficacy of Cloud

Which brought us back to the question of cloud computing. With mixed feedback from the media, how does the company explain the rationale? “The cloud has a variety of advantages. First of all, you achieve better economies of scale. The entire data center is shared between all customers using our servers, network, storage, etc. We have also been implementing a wide variety of energy efficiency measures, such as cold isle containment, more efficient hardware, and detailed energy consumption transparency,” he said.

And because SAP now has a green cloud, the carbon emissions of its customers get eliminated.

But it’s also key to put all of this against the lens of consumption. As Graf noted, while energy consumption of IT is growing at 3.8%, data centers usage is growing 7.1%. “Data centers are doubling in growth vs. IT as a whole when it comes to energy consumption. That’s why a green cloud is critical.”

How? By leveraging multiple routes to get to its goal of 100% renewable energy. “First of all, we are producing some of the renewable electricity ourselves in solar plants in the U.S. and Germany. Second, we are procuring renewable energy and renewable electricity certificates from a small, select group of providers.” SAP is working with CDP and the WWF to determine criteria that the production of renewables the company acquires will have to meet. “Finally, we are producing carbon offsets ourselves by investing into the Lifelihoods Fund, an investment fund that literally plants hundreds of millions of trees and returns carbon offsets rather than financial returns,” he added.

A Triple Bottom Line Conversation

From carbon credits to direct investment in renewables, SAP is implementing a comprehensive strategy aimed at taking advantage of all available avenues to reduce its negative impact. But Graf’s emphasis on influencing end-user impact also brings us full circle back to where we started: How can technology companies most demonstrably and positively influence consumption and development?

For Graf, it’s about going back to basics – and embedding sustainability into the core of your  tweet-jam-sap-sustybizbusiness strategy.

“Sustainability and growth are not contradicting. The problem is that most companies run a “sustainability strategy” in parallel to their corporate growth strategy. In such a setup, sustainability goals are often perceived to be in contradiction to growth aspirations. The trick is to evolve from having a sustainability strategy to a corporate strategy that is sustainable. It’s about taking a broader point of view, understanding the impact of decisions not only on financials, but also on the environmental or social capital of the company,” he said, adding, “Any conversation of growth needs to be a triple bottom line conversation. ”

So is the way forward for companies to decouple sustainability from growth? How can companies continue to grow and expand their business profiles—profitability—while reducing their negative impact? It was a compelling conversation – grab the details at #SustyBiz!

Originally written for and published on CSRwire’s Commentary section Talkback on April 10, 2014.

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#SodexoCR: A Conversation on Integrated Reporting, Responsible Supply Chain Management, Values, Ethics & More…

09 Wednesday Jul 2014

Posted by Aman Singh in CSR, CSR reporting, ESG

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aman singh, Brand Management, community development, CSR, CSR reporting, Disclosure & Transparency, diversity, employee engagement, Environment, ESG, ethics, integrated reporting, marketing, Social Media, social media, sodexo, stakeholder engagement, supply chain, Sustainability, sustainability, Sustainability Report, Twitter


https://storify.com/AmanSinghCSR/sodexocr-a-conversation-on-integrated-reporting

 

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Carbon Policy: Inside Microsoft’s Efforts to Integrate Sustainability into its Financial Model

09 Wednesday Jul 2014

Posted by Aman Singh in CSR, CSRwire, ESG

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Accountability, Business, carbon finance, carbon offsets, carbon offsetting, careers, climate change, CSR, CSRwire, Disclosure & Transparency, emissions, Environment, ESG, management, microsoft, renewable energy, Social Enterprise, social impact, Supply chain management, Sustainability, sustainability, technology, tj dicaprio, transparency


On July 1, 2012, Microsoft issued a new corporate policy across 14 business divisions in over 100 countries: Every division would now be accountable for its carbon emissions.

Under the Carbon Neutral and Carbon Free Policies, the company put an internal price on carbon, where the divisions pay an incremental price linked with the carbon emissions associated with energy consumption and business air travel. The funds are then used to invest internally in energy efficiency, renewable energy and carbon offset projects globally.

A tad ambitious?

Not at all, believes TJ DiCaprio, Senior Director of Environmental Sustainability at Microsoft.

“We’re following three pillars to achieve carbon neutrality: 1) Be lean through reducing our energy consumption by driving radical efficiency through use of technology, and reduce air travel to internal meetings. Our primary emissions, for example, come from our data centers’ energy consumption. We also monitor and reduce energy consumption from our offices and software development labs. That’s roughly 30 million square feet worldwide,” she explains.

The other two pillars: 2) Be green by investing in renewable energy and carbon offset projects; and 3) Be accountable through cascading an internal price on carbon globally.

The policies also help Microsoft employees band together beyond the usual. “By internalizing the otherwise external cost of pollution, the price of carbon is now part of the profit and loss statement across business divisions. We have now integrated this across the financial structure and engaged the TJ Dicaprio 2012executives and employees on our commitment to mitigating climate change and investing the funds  appropriately,” she says.

From Innovation & Efficiency to Sustainability

For a long time, the marketplace has associated the technology giant with innovation and efficiency. Now, the company is vying for a third accolade: sustainability.

Acknowledging the impact the company can have in swaying the entire marketplace, DiCaprio says: “We’re constantly asking how we can lean and green our operations. Where can we not only drive efficiency, but also increase the percentage of renewable energy we purchase. How can we support the supply and demand and how can we drive progress through long-term renewable energy purchase agreements.”

Of course, there are other ways Microsoft is becoming greener. For instance, how can the company that reaches over 100 countries support carbon sequestration in developing countries? “When there is sustainability, education, and jobs – all of these tie together when we’re discussing carbon offsets and supporting low-carbon economic development around the world. In fact, offsets are significantly important in extending our reach and value globally,” she emphasizes.

Carbon Offsets: The Allure for Microsoft

In the last two weeks, I had heard similar sentiments from Barclays and Allianz, both financial institutions with global footprints – and investing significantly in carbon offsets. Why then was offsetting not spreading across more organizations? DiCaprio believes there are multiple factors, not least, a challenge in transparency.

“The market is maturing and we are seeing a more professional approach to using technology to manage and store data as well as established standards. There is a growing confidence in the ability of these projects to meet stiff criteria and standards, and to continue to meet these standards over time as cloud services allows for data to be managed and stored, demonstrating lower leakage. We employ a rigorous approach to our investments,” she says.

And herein comes the alignment, i.e., how DiCaprio’s team is managing its carbon reduction policies as a lever to align its business priorities around how technology can enable transparency, education and sustainable economic development. One of the offset providers Microsoft works with is Wildlife Works – who run the Kasigau project in Kenya– with an emphasis on carbon sequestration, social enterprise, and wildlife preservation. “We have been working with them for a year now. We believe that climate change is a serious challenge, and supporting carbon sequestration through carbon finance supports local jobs and provides new educational opportunities for the youth – making a huge difference in improving lives.”

Scale: Impact Through Leadership

Her only worry: without more private sector involvement, Microsoft’s efforts will remain insular.

“This is an exciting time for the private sector to work across our stakeholders and create corporate policies that make sense for business and help support low-carbon economic development. One of the benefits of setting a carbon neutral policy and an internal carbon fee is to set an example for how a business can run more efficiently, reduce waste and carbon, and address its environmental footprint,” she says.

“The model we have designed is simple and repeatable. The more organizations that adopt a similar model, the better off we will all be. The model is built to align with an organization’s  priorities and business strategy while supporting the demand and supply of renewable energy and a low-carbon economy,” she added.

Having recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of the carbon fee implementation, DiCaprio believes it is fulfilling its purpose of bringing together the business mission and a priority of driving efficiency and developing low-carbon economies. While the first year was focused on building the necessary infrastructure to flow through a financial cycle and get the price associated with emissions charged to business units, now DiCaprio also sees the importance of communicating the benefits of the successful model.

“The more we can communicate that carbon finance is a very effective way to integrate the cost of pollution into our economic structure, the more we can help others integrate carbon pricing and the impact of climate change into long-term business planning,” she says.

After all, it’s about taking into account the true cost of doing business.

And DiCaprio’s aspiration speaks to a global sentiment awaiting global acceptance: “We must understand quickly how to tie managerial accounting and the real cost of doing business with traditional financial models. For example, Microsoft pays for energy consumption but it also pays for the cost of offsetting the pollution associated with it. This is the direction we need to follow.”

As the technology company continues its journey, DiCaprio hopes many more organizations will pivot and begin to leverage the “magic of creating and supporting new markets that support sustainability on a global basis.” Only time will tell if once again Microsoft can attract some followers.

Originally written for and published on CSRwire’s Commentary section Talkback on September 12, 2013.

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Insurance Giant Allianz Targets Climate Change Risk: Expending “Unavoidable Emissions”

09 Wednesday Jul 2014

Posted by Aman Singh in CSRwire, ESG

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allianz, barclays, biodiversity, carbon offsetting, climate change, CSRwire, deforestation, energy, Environment, ESG, greenhouse gas emissions, impact investing, insurance, Nonprofits, Philanthropy, redd, regulation, renewable energy, social enterprise, Social Enterprise, Social Entrepreneurship, Social Impact, Sustainability, sustainability, wildlife works


Picture_Martin_EwaldAfter chatting with Barclays’ Director of Citizenship Jillian Fransen on the financial institution’s allegiance to carbon offsetting and how she is leveraging the increasingly popular mechanism to not only offset its unavoidable carbon footprint, I turned to insurance giant Allianz who has also chosen to use carbon offsetting to target deforestation and reduce its environmental footprint.

Excerpts from my conversation with Martin Ewald, Head of Investment Strategy and Renewable Energy/Infrastructure Equity with Allianz Global Investors.

—————-

Describe your emissions reduction program and goals.

Allianz has set itself the target of avoiding, substituting and reducing its own CO2 emissions and is 100 percent climate-neutral since 2012. This means that all remaining emissions are being neutralized – in particular through direct investments in climate protection projects.

By 2015, Allianz aims to reduce its carbon footprint per employee by 35 percent compared to 2006.

What are “unavoidable emissions”?

Unavoidable emissions are CO2 emissions that are intrinsically linked to our business activity, like business travel, that we cannot always avoid or only avoid at very high expense. These emissions are still harmful to the climate. Corporates can take a leadership role in offsetting emissions related to their business activity by investing in responsible sustainability projects – this is not required by regulation in our sector.

But it is responsible behavior and makes good business sense. In fact, we have identified climate change as one of the three most critical sustainability challenges for Allianz (alongside demographic change and access to finance).

Where does offsetting fit into your sustainability strategy?

In addition to our carbon reduction target, being a carbon neutral business is the second pillar of our commitment and contribution to achieving a low-carbon economy.

In 2012, 175,000 credits, each accounting for one metric ton of carbon avoided, were sourced and retired from projects we support – retiring credits means that CO2 certificates, each representing one ton of avoided emissions, are taken off the market. Our remaining carbon footprint was neutralized by credits bought from the carbon market, which underwent a stringent sustainability screening to ensure they met the same high standards as the credits from projects we invest in.

The quality of the underlying projects determines the value of each and every credit in the voluntary sector, and REDD+ rate amongst the highest valued carbon credits.

Why did you choose REDD+ as one of the preferred offsets?

Our investment in REDD+ is consistent with our strategy of supporting effective climate projects in emerging and developing countries. We have invested in forest protection in Kenya with Wildlife Works, one of the leading developers of REDD+ projects. These projects don’t simply protect threatened forests; they also involve the local population and provide them with a source of livelihood.

REDD+ will also raise awareness of how to deal with resources in a responsible manner, besides helping preserve the habitat of the local population. Due to the considerable impact generated, we plan to continue investing in the REDD+ sector.

How has supporting REDD+ benefitted your company – and its stakeholders?

For the CO2 stored by the forests we receive certificates, which we can then use to offset business-related CO2 emissions. This way we ensure our climate neutrality and at the same time make a worthwhile investment. For us the yield also includes enhancing climate protection and biodiversity. We may also benefit from positive branding, but it is too early to tell since 2012 was the first year that we were carbon neutral.

As a financial institution, what is Allianz’s most challenging source of carbon emissions?

Ninety eight percent of our emissions stem from energy, travel and paper. So, the focus is on reducing CO2 emissions in these three areas.

In times of growing business, this is a challenge but we managed to reduce emissions across all three key areas in 2012, i.e. by sourcing lower-carbon energy or by making better use of video conferencing rather than traveling to business meetings.

How are these programs hallmarks of “responsible corporations”?

Since our business activity is not very carbon intensive, investing in REDD+ and similar projects today allow us to lock-in emission reductions over many years. We consider this to be responsible corporate practice: leveraging our capital base to build up the low-carbon infrastructure of tomorrow – be it forest protection or renewable energy, railways or electricity grids. This strategy also pays off, which is important to meet the expectations of our clients and shareholders. And this is a good basis to expand on our sustainable leadership agenda.

What role do you prescribe to Allianz in addressing climate change globally and locally?

We have introduced a group-wide strategy, which commits us to play a lead role in addressing climate change. For us it is about addressing the risks, e.g., the uptake in insurance loss from natural catastrophes, and making use of the opportunities. We have invested about EUR 1.7 billion in renewable energy projects, for instance, and set up a renewable energy fund, which has already attracted significant financial interest from our clients.

Moreover, we offer around 130 green products and services to our customers, including renewable energy home insurance, advisory services related to renewable energy and insurance premium discounts for drivers of electric/hybrid cars. The aim is to integrate climate change into our business  model, step by step building the business case for a climate friendly economy.

How can the private sector play an important role in reversing/addressing climate change? 

By understanding the climate issue as an investment case. Protecting forests is the cheapest way of saving carbon. To speak bluntly: if we first cut down the forest and then try to reduce the same amount of carbon we emitted, it would be much more expensive than just avoiding deforestation.

But as stated before, the most distinguishing factor about REDD+ is the opportunity to carry out investments that help improve social livelihoods and support local communities as well. Therefore supporting projects like the pioneering activities of Wildlife Works are appropriate activities that corporations need to support.

As long as there is no internationally binding climate protection agreement and as long as national regulation lacks teeth, the REDD+ market allows us to participate in voluntary projects around the world to address climate change. Consequently we have just carried out an additional REDD+ transaction in Indonesia.

What do you expect from policy makers to help expand your clean investments?

We stand at a critical juncture. We can continue business as usual with a small but dynamic niche of renewable energy projects and a reliance on fossil fuels for the big chunk of our economy. But this will not prevent dangerous levels of global warming.

Or we embark on a trend change, as we hopefully are seeing right now in Germany.

For this, we need a clear and reliable regulatory framework that gives investors appropriate incentives and the necessary regulatory certainty to finance clean technologies rather than coal or oil.

Originally written for and published on CSRwire’s Commentary section Talkback on September 5, 2013.

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