Month: May 2023

One of the most significant business challenges we face is hiring the next generation of workers and retaining our top talent. The manufacturing industry in the United States now relies on a mature workforce from the baby boomer generation, and a significant number of employees will be retiring in the next few years. During 2022, the loss of these skilled workers coincided with one of the tightest US job markets in decades.

Compounding the labor shortage was the “Great Resignation” that followed the onset of the COVID pandemic, together with fierce competition for a smaller pool of candidates. All these factors have made it increasingly difficult for employers in our industry to find and hire good workers. Sappi is therefore being more creative and aggressive in our efforts to recruit employees, elevate our brand awareness, increase our visibility on social media, and educate the public on the premium and sustainable products we create.

To improve our recruiting efforts, we have added a number of new recruiting tools to our toolbox, including hiring a dedicated internal recruiter from Gen Z who can speak the language of that younger age group.

We have also increased our participation in job fairs and enhanced our presence on recruiting sites such as LinkedIn, Glassdoor and Indeed. We have increased the financial incentives for employees to better identify successful candidates for open positions. Sappi employees across the company are recruiting at high schools, trade schools, colleges and universities, using newly printed collateral targeted to both the hourly and salaried workforce. We have significantly expanded our presence on social media to showcase the Sappi culture and the benefits of working at Sappi, spotlighting employees and demonstrating the advantages of sustainability in our industry, including our ability to provide renewable, recyclable, woodfiber-based products that can replace plastics.

We have invested in radio and television ad campaigns, and we continue to advertise in the specials sections of daily papers that highlight the forest products industry and careers in engineering. To promote employee retention and pride, we have revamped our employee newsletter, which we will publish at least three times a year, distribute throughout our facilities and mail to every employee at their homes.

By far the most significant investment we have made is creating an extensive video campaign that highlights our people in various positions throughout the company. These videos showcase our world-class manufacturing and research-and-development facilities and demonstrate the impact of the sustainable and environmentally friendly work we do at Sappi. Our career-specific videos are used for recruiting in positions for research and development, forestry, sales and engineering.

This is a new world for recruiting. We are taking our message to potential employees wherever they are, whether it is online, in print, or on social media or TV and radio. As the labor market continues to shrink, these efforts will become even more vital.

Griffith Foods Global Director of Sustainable Sourcing, Juliana Meneses, recently presented at EcoVadis’ Annual Sustain Conference, a 2-day event created to connect sustainable supply chains. There were over 450 in-person attendees at the Trianon theatre in Paris in addition to 3,000 virtual participants across 82 countries.

Juliana joined representatives from Coca-Cola Europacific Partners and Amazon, speaking about cross collaboration for success in sustainable procurement. The group explored why a procurement strategy never resides in one team and requires strong internal collaboration to ensure successful implementation. Juliana also presented the Griffith Foods EcoVadis program, highlighting our performance metrics and progress since joining EcoVadis in 2019. Watch the session here.

Together, EcoVadis and Griffith Foods are working to drive improvement and accelerate positive impact on our planet and society. The EcoVadis assessment evaluates how well a company has integrated sustainability and corporate social responsibility principles into its business management system. It thoroughly reviews ethics, labor & human rights, sustainable procurement, and environmental practices. In addition to these assessments, EcoVadis continues to provide improvement areas that are taken into consideration as we continue to develop new solutions and continuously improve sustainability management across the business.

Griffith Foods is the caring, creative product development partner helping food companies meet the evolving needs of consumers while sustaining the planet. As a family business for more than 100 years, Griffith Foods is known for true, collaborative innovation. Our relationships with farmers, customers and others allow us to create delicious, nutritious foods that are better for people and better for the planet. Our people are united in advancing our purpose: “We blend care and creativity to nourish the world.” For more information, visit GriffithFoods.com.

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Bread Financial (NYSE: BFH), a tech-forward financial services company providing simple, personalized payment, lending and saving solutions, today released its 2022 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Performance Report, highlighting the significant progress made against Bread Financial’s recently enhanced ESG strategy and framework. In its 10th year of public ESG reporting, the Company’s 2022 report represents a significant milestone for Bread Financial, marking a decade of increased transparency and accountability regarding its responsible business practices.

The report showcases Bread Financial’s ESG performance across five key areas: managing business responsibly, empowering customers, engaging associates, protecting the planet and creating possibilities for communities. Building on its strong foundation, in 2022 the Company made advancements by deepening cross-functional internal engagement and further embedding environmental and social criteria throughout its business model.

“I am extremely proud of the progress Bread Financial has made to advance our ESG initiatives, as illustrated in our 2022 report,” said Ralph Andretta, president and chief executive officer, Bread Financial. “By integrating environmental stewardship, social responsibility and good governance practices into our business strategy, we are not only driving financial performance, but also creating a more resilient, competitive organization that benefits all of our stakeholders. As we continue to evolve as a purpose-driven financial services company, our well-established ESG practices enable us to reduce risks, deliver responsible growth, and ensures we hold ourselves accountable to the ever-changing needs of our society and planet.”

In 2022, Bread Financial made notable progress to align ESG principles with its business goals and governance strategy through actions such as:

Placing significant focus on the integration of environmental and social criteria into its enterprise risk management program and developing an ESG risk framework.Fulfilling all objectives in its 2022 Climate Action Roadmap, including a comprehensive energy audit of company facilities, a climate risk assessment and scenario analysis.Holding an education session for its Board of Directors on ESG best practices for reporting, frameworks and expectations from investors.Redefining the Company’s community investment strategy in alignment with its brand transformation.

“Together with our Board of Directors, the Bread Financial leadership team and all associates, we are accelerating our ESG ambitions and deepening our commitment to responsible business practices,” said Dana Beckman, head of sustainability, Bread Financial. “2022 was a year about solidifying the integration of ESG into our key business imperatives, governance and operations. As we look forward to communicating our continued progress, we will shift our focus to creating even more long-term value and opportunity for our many stakeholders.”

The 2022 report also details the company’s actions and impacts during the year across critical focus areas, including:

Engaging in responsible business practices through an enhanced supplier diversity program to ensure minority-owned and small businesses are considered in every vendor request for proposal, with diverse and minority owned supplier spend totaling 6% in 2022.Promoting consumer financial wellness by establishing an internal cross-functional taskforce and partnering with industry expert Financial Health Network to inform and develop a holistic consumer-focused financial health strategy.Creating frictionless customer experiences by incrementally investing more than $125 million in innovation, tech modernization and product development to create a more seamless customer experience.Engaging associates by launching a mental wellness resource that includes free therapy, 24/7 crisis support, coaching and personalized support.Protecting the planet through a third-party partnership to evaluate low carbon solutions aimed at reducing GHG emissions and completing a comprehensive energy audit to quantify energy consumption across sites.Creating possibilities for our communities by investing more than $9 million in the community, matching nearly $950,000 in associate community investment gifts and logging over 3,700 volunteer hours.

Of particular note, the 2022 report is also the inaugural year for the Company to align its ESG disclosures in accordance with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) for improved and increased reporting on its climate-related risks and exposures. In addition to the TCFD, Bread Financial also referenced other established ESG reporting frameworks and standards including, Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) Consumer Finance Standard and Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) in developing its reporting and disclosures framework.

Media Contact
Rachel Stultz

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Event to take place under the High Patronage of Mr. Emmanuel Macron, 
President of the French Republic

Campaign calls for strong presence and commitments from incoming World Bank President Ajay Banga, the US’ Janet Yellen, and G20 Nations at the Summit for a New Financial Pact, hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on June 22 and 23

‘Power Our Planet: Live in Paris’ is hosted in partnership with the City of Paris, and produced by Live Nation 

PARIS and NEW YORK, May 23, 2023 /3BL Media/ – Today Global Citizen, the world’s leading international advocacy organization on a mission to end extreme poverty NOW, announced its return to the iconic Champ de Mars in Paris on Thursday, June 22 with ‘Power Our Planet: Live in Paris’. A free, ticketed event, ‘Power Our Planet: Live in Paris’ will feature performances from Lenny Kravitz, Billie Eilish, H.E.R., Jon Batiste and special guests Ben Harper, FINNEAS, and Mosimann to drive commitments from world leaders and the private sector to confront the climate crisis head on.

Under the high patronage of Mr. Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic, ‘Power Our Planet: Live in Paris’ will rally global leaders attending the New Financial Pact Summit, chaired by President Macron. The Power Our Planet campaign, which is co-chaired by Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados, is calling for a seismic shift in the way the world’s financial systems work to give the world’s poor and developing nations access to the financing they urgently need to quicken their transition to clean energy, strengthen their resilience against natural disasters, and address their most urgent needs.

Global Citizen’s Power Our Planet campaign is galvanizing millions of people around the world to take action, raise their voices and demand urgent changes from governments, Multilateral Development Banks, and major corporations, including:

Keep Promises Already Made: Deliver the outstanding $16.7 billion of the committed $100 billion in climate financing for lower-income countries; transfer $100 billion in IMF Special Drawing Rights from wealthy countries to poor countries; increase foreign aid budgets; and enact global carbon emissions taxes.Free Up Funding: Make up to $1 trillion in financing available to countries in need through policy reforms at the World Bank and other multilateral development banks; and include natural disaster and pandemic clauses in loans to poorer nations.Transition to Clean Energy: Corporations should commit to join the United Nations’ Race-to-Zero by setting science-based targets; publish time-bound action plans for climate transitions; and make transformative investments for a lower-carbon transition in emerging economies.

Increased access to financing would help bolster governments’ ability to resist climate change by, for example: helping 1.5 million farmers in Zambia withstand climate disasters like droughts and floods; protecting 1.8 million hectares of land in Ghana by 2030; ending deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon by 2030; and strengthening the resilience of national electric grids in island nations like Antigua and Barbuda to withstand Category 5 hurricanes.

‘Power Our Planet: Live in Paris’ will pave the way for this urgent funding to be delivered throughout the year, including at the G20 summit in New Delhi, India in September; the Global Citizen Festival held during the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, USA in September; the IMF and World Bank meetings in October; and culminating at COP28 in Dubai, UAE in November.

“Our world needs urgent change. Outdated global financial systems are perpetuating the conditions that keep vulnerable countries and their citizens trapped in the cycle of extreme poverty,” said Hugh Evans, Co-founder and CEO, Global Citizen. “We congratulate Ajay Banga on his appointment as President of the World Bank, and there is an urgent and immediate opportunity for him to show leadership the world truly needs.”

“We need a world with more solidarity. Crises are multiplying and the number of those who place their hope in peace and multilateralism will only grow if we, as a global community, demonstrate that we are there to help the most vulnerable,” said Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic. “Because inequality and poverty are the grounds of today’s and tomorrow’s wars. Because there will be no climate transition worldwide if we don’t fight for more justice and equity. Halfway to the sustainable development objectives, we need a new financial pact between all countries, so that the world of tomorrow is more united.”

“This year – and this summit – are critical for the restoration of justice and equity within the global financial systems that continue to abandon and overlook poor and climate-vulnerable countries,” said Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados. “We need the presence and commitments of world leaders at the New Financial Pact Summit in Paris. I call on leaders of the G7, G20 and wealthy nations across the globe to step up, and let us act together in the interest of our planet and humanity. Join us in Paris.”

“The next generation are inheriting a planet that’s being devastated by climate change,” said Lenny Kravitz. “We have the power to change things with our voices and our actions. Join me on June 22, from wherever you are, and act today to save tomorrow.”

An alliance of world leaders representing both Global North and Global South countries has joined the Power Our Planet campaign alongside Global Citizen and Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley, including supporters Emmanuel Macron, President of France; Julius Maada Bio, President of Sierra Leone; Pedro Sánchez, Prime Minister of Spain; José Ramos-Horta, President of Timor Leste; Biman Prasad, Deputy Prime Minister of Fiji, the Government of Ghana, the Government of Namibia, the Government of Zambia, and the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS).

Power Our Planet’s coalition of supporters also includes leading activists, philanthropic foundations, nonprofit organizations, and private sector leaders, including Dr. Rajiv Shah, President, Rockefeller Foundation; Mark Malloch Brown, President, Open Society Foundations; Benedict Oramah, President of AfreximBank; Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization; Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi; Kate Higgins, CEO, Cooperation Canada; Jennifer Jones, President of Rotary International; Ban Ki-Moon, Former Secretary-General of the United Nations; Eloise Todd, Executive Director & Co-Founder, Pandemic Action Network; and Ineza Umuhoza Grace, Co-Founder of the Loss and Damage Youth Coalition and 2023 Global Citizen Prize winner. 

The Power Our Planet campaign is supported by: Aspire Artemis Foundation Inc.; Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens; BASICS International; Beyond Bretton Woods; the Center for Environmental Peacebuilding; Climate Finance Group for Latin America and the Caribbean; Common Good Marketplace; Connected Development; Don’t Gas Africa; E3G; Education Cannot Wait: Focus 2030; Germanwatch; Glasgow Actions Team; Global Alliance for a Green New Deal; The Global Fund; The UN Global Fund for Education in Emergencies; Green Republic Farms; Hungry for Action; International Climate Change Development Initiative; International Climate Financing WG; International Fund for Agricultural Development; Jane Goodall Institute France; Malala Fund; The ONE Campaign; OWIT Brussels – Organization of Women in Trade; Oxfam; Plastic Punch; Power to Girls Foundation; Primavera Zur; Project Everyone; Re:Wild, SDG2 Advocacy Hub; Sustainable Development Solutions Network; Shamba Centre for Food and Climate; She Leads Climate Action; Stage For Change; Strategic Youth Network for Development; Sungulo Comm NPC; Support Humanity Cameroon (SUHUCAM); United Nations Foundation.

The Power Our Planet campaign and the ‘Power Our Planet: Live in Paris’ event is hosted in partnership with the City of Paris, is produced by Live Nation, and supported by Cisco and Citi as well as Afrexim Bank, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Open Society Foundations, The Rockefeller Foundation, and the Seadream Family Foundation. ​​A series of thought leadership events focused on driving action from the private sector is being supported by Cisco and Citi. The ‘Power Our Planet: Live in Paris’ broadcast will be produced by Done and Dusted.

‘Power Our Planet: Live in Paris’ will be livestreamed globally across Global Citizen’s platforms on Thursday, June 22. Global Citizen is grateful for the support of leading media companies across the world including: AIM Group, Arena Holdings, Bella Naija, Brut. Media, EIB Network, Vanguard Media, Zikoko, and Amazon Music who will host the livestream on their Twitch channel “Amazon Music on Twitch,” with more streaming and broadcast platforms to be announced.

For more information visit globalcitizen.org/powerourplanet, download the Global Citizen app, and follow Global Citizen on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

– Ends –

About Global Citizen 
Global Citizen is the world’s leading international advocacy organization on a mission to end extreme poverty NOW. Powered by a worldwide community of everyday activists raising their voices and taking action, the movement is amplified by campaigns and events that convene leaders in music, entertainment, public policy, media, philanthropy and the corporate sector. Over the past 10 years, $43.6 billion in commitments announced on Global Citizen platforms has been deployed, impacting nearly 1.3 billion lives. Established in Australia in 2008, Global Citizen’s team operates from New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Berlin, Melbourne, Toronto, Johannesburg, Lagos and beyond. Join the movement at globalcitizen.org, download the Global Citizen app, and follow Global Citizen on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok and Twitter.

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Applications are now open for media credentials to attend and cover ‘Power Our Planet: Live in Paris’. Please complete the application form here.

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