Category: Green business

H&M Group wants all of its clothing to be made using recycled, sustainable components

Read the full story at Environment + Energy Leader.

The H&M Group is a multinational clothing company. The Swedish retailer is known for “fast fashion,” which is clothing that is made and sold cheaply. The company has shops in 75 locations worldwide with 4,702 stores, although they are marketed under different brands. The company positions itself as a leader in the area of sustainability. Its goal is to be carbon positive by 2040. In the nearer term, it wants to reduce its emissions by 56% by 2030, using 2019 as a baseline, and to make its clothing using sustainable components.

Beyond the Plastic Bag: Sparking a Seachange for Reuse

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While we know the greenest bag is the one a customer already owns, and the Consortium to Reinvent the Retail Bag is advancing research and testing to increase instances of customers bringing their own bags, the focus of this report is specific to the testing of reusable bag systems undertaken in summer 2021. We share our learnings from conducting first-of-a-kind reusable bag pilots across select CVS Health, Target and Walmart stores, where customers could “borrow” a bag and use it multiple times before returning it at the same or a different brand’s store to be washed, redistributed and reused by other customers.

Request for Comment: AASHE STARS 3.0: Procurement & Waste

As part of the development process for the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS) 3.0, AASHE is seeking public comment on a Procurement and Waste section slated for inclusion in the new version (projected release is currently fourth quarter of 2023). AASHE encourages feedback from stakeholders who may have relevant expertise or interest in participating. Public comment is open through Oct. 31.

Webinar: Beyond Corporate Net Zero: Investment & Innovation to Accelerate the Global Transition

Oct 20, 2022, noon-1 pm CT
Register here.

Companies are stepping up to establish science-aligned net zero commitments. Yet it is increasingly clear that to fully meet the moment of the climate crisis, companies must look beyond their ‘four walls’ to ensure that they are maximizing contributions to our ultimate goal: global net zero. Leaders in the private sector are thinking about how to leverage their creativity, ambition, and capital to speed the clean energy transition and protect nature – both within and beyond their value chains. But while the concept of ‘beyond value chain mitigation’ is gaining traction in corporate sustainability, paths to maximize climate impact remain murky. This webcast will focus on two key levers for companies to contribute to global net zero: technological innovation and climate finance through carbon markets.

Topics will include:

  • How leading companies are approaching beyond value chain mitigation strategies and building the business case
  • Tips for navigating quality and maximizing impact in the voluntary carbon market
  • Key opportunities for corporate support of climate innovation

Moderator

  • John Davies, Senior Vice President & Analyst, GreenBiz Group

Speakers

  • Elizabeth Sturcken, Managing Director, EDF+Business
  • More speakers TBD

If you can’t tune in live, please register and GreenBiz will email you a link to access the webcast recording and resources, available to you on-demand after the live webcast.

Webinar: Embedding Sustainability Across the Organization Using Data

Oct 13, 2022, 2-3 pm CT
Register here.

Organizations are committed to turning sustainability targets into measurable outcomes, to moving from ambition to action.  Envizi, an IBM company recently commissioned a research study to take a pulse on how organizations are embedding sustainability at the operational level, and the results highlight the many hurdles organizations face.  Join us on this webcast as we share the results of the study, highlight real life examples from an organization successfully turning sustainability ambition into action, and outline how software can help support the process.

Sustainability executives should attend this webcast to:

  • Gain practical insights into how to activate their sustainability strategy by learning from the experiences of Downer Group
  • Benchmark their own progress towards operationalizing sustainability by comparing their own experiences against the participants in the recent Verdantix study. 
  • Learn about cutting edge software from IBM that can assist on the journey

Moderator

  • John Davies, Vice President & Senior Analyst, GreenBiz Group

Speakers

  • Ricky Bridge,  Group General Manager Environment, Sustainability and Reporting, Downer Group
  • David Solsky, VP Sustainability Software Solutions at Envizi, and IBM Company
  • Alice Saunders, ESG and Sustainability Analyst, Verdantix

If you can’t tune in live, please register and GreenBiz will email you a link to access the webcast recording and resources, available to you on-demand after the live webcast.

Webinar: Siloed or Central? How to Activate Entire Organizations on Sustainability Goals

Oct 11, 2022, noon-1 pm CT
Register here.

Over the past few years, sustainability and ESG functions have evolved from siloed departments to core functions that are integrated across all aspects of a business. Success requires making sustainability part of everyone’s job. That is why it’s so important to educate and empower employees to bring their company’s purpose and commitments to life – and inspire others in the broader stakeholder community to join them in driving meaningful progress.

What does it take? Join MetLife for a one-hour webcast to explore how the 154-year-old financial services company is embedding sustainability into its business priorities, policies and products across 40+ global markets to meet evolving needs and achieve ambitious goals.

Among the things you’ll learn:

  • Strategies for engaging and empowering teams to achieve meaningful progress on sustainability commitments
  • Benefits of tailoring global goals to department and regional levels, including broader ownership and new learning opportunities
  • How to tap natural interests and collaborate cross-functionally to leverage diverse perspectives and approaches

Moderator

  • Joel Makower, Co-Founder & Chairman, GreenBiz Group

Speakers

  • Jon Richter, Chief Sustainability Officer, MetLife
  • Calvin Loke, Director, HR, Chief of Staff Office, MetLife
  • Tia Hodges, Head of Corporate Giving & Employee Volunteerism, MetLife

If you can’t tune in live, please register and GreenBiz will email you a link to access the webcast recording and resources, available to you on-demand after the live webcast.

Minneapolis is the latest US city to demand emissions-free shipping

Read the full story from Grist.

Minneapolis, Minnesota, became the third U.S. city to endorse a carbon neutrality goal for shipping last week, joining the California cities of Los Angeles and Long Beach in unanimously passing a so-called “Ship It Zero” resolution.

Walmart allocates over $1 billion to renewable energy, sustainable buildings, circular economy

Read the full story at ESG Today.

Walmart announced the release of its first Green Bond Impact Report, indicating that the company has allocated $1.1 billion in green bond proceeds, with top investment areas including renewable energy, sustainable buildings, and waste reduction and circular economy initiatives.

Webinar: Sustainability, Growth and Resilience: A Guide for Business

Oct 6, 2022, noon-1 pm CT
Register here.

Just as companies are upping their game when it comes to addressing their sustainability and climate impacts, so, too, are cities, transit districts and other public agencies. They are taking a fresh look at their infrastructure — everything from water, power and transit systems to mobility hubs — through the lens of improving lives and livelihoods while making their communities more prosperous and climate-resilient.

The critical infrastructure that keeps cities running also can help companies better meet their sustainability goals. It’s not just about technology. There’s a significant people-centered approach at the heart of planning and designing decisions.

In this hour-long webcast, hear from experts and engineers at Black & Veatch, who have been helping keep cities’ lights on and clean water flowing for over 100 years, and from Tranzito, an urban smart mobility operator, about the StreetsLA program in Los Angeles, California. The program, which is re-imagining public transportation in the city, could forever alter U.S. perceptions about public transit and shared mobility, and also serves as a model for systems from a people-first perspective.

Join this session to hear from the experts, listen in on the discussion, ask your questions, and learn:

  • What to consider now to mitigate business disruptions due to climate-change factors
  • How the people, planet, profit framework can align with designing infrastructure for growth and resilience
  • What people-first design looks like, and how it can spur economic development and environmental justice
  • How StreetsLA is helping the City of Los Angeles prepare for an influx of visitors for the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympics

Moderator

  • Joel Makower, Co-Founder & Chairman, GreenBiz Group

Speakers

  • Steph Stoppenhagen, Director, Business Development, Black & Veatch
  • Ajay Kasarabada, Associate Vice President & Director, Environmental Solutions, Black & Veatch
  • Gene Oh, CEO, Tranzito

If you can’t tune in live, please register and GreenBiz will email you a link to access the webcast recording and resources, available to you on-demand after the live webcast.

For Shein and other fast fashion offenders, ESG-washing is not the answer

Read the full story at GreenBiz.

If reports are to be believed, Chinese fast-fashion behemoth Shein is trying to make amends, shifting its image to justify a steadily dropping $100 billion valuation ahead of an ambitious IPO in 2024. It’s got a lot of work to do. While the company controls most of the category at 28 percent, racking in $15.7 billion in sales 2021, it’s also among the worst in environmental sustainability, social justice and corporate governance (ESG). To keep prices low, and to stay relatively free of regulation, it relies on suppliers in China, where the Uyghur populations suffer forced labor and dangerous working conditions. Also, with wasteful environmental practices ingrained in its model, fast fashion is so harmful that most regulators believe it is irredeemable. As the king of fast fashion, Shein has a lot to answer for.

Still, as the company hires new sustainability-focused leaders and promises a new conscious approach, its efforts to market an enthusiastic ambition to jump on the ESG bandwagon should put it on the path to redemption, right? Not quite.