Month: July 2023

Each year, Covia sites participate in a company-wide Safety Day. Held annually in September, this program supports our aspirational goal of achieving zero harm and increases awareness and knowledge of safety practices among our employees. Each site chooses the activities that are most relevant to their operation with an additional focus on key risks known across the company.

In 2022, the theme was “Hazard Recognition,” and we provided educational sessions and additional resources to empower our Team Members to reduce the risk of hazard-related injuries and illnesses. All Covia locations were required to participate, and we worked with our operations facilities to extend their Safety Day activities over multiple days to ensure maximum participation. According to VP of Safety & Health, Andy O’Brien “Safety Day provides an opportunity for all Covia operations to suspend operations and refocus Team Member attention on our key safety principles.”

In conjunction with World Health Day on April 7th, our Monterrey, Nuevo León, location held an office-wide health fair, providing guidance and support on key health topics such as nutrition, eyecare, and mental health. Additionally, Team Members were given the opportunity to complete a variety of health assessments and receive select vaccines, underscoring the importance of Team Member safety and health, as well as safeguarding overall well-being.

Protecting the safety, health, and well-being of our Team Members around the world is of utmost importance. Click for more information about how Covia ensures the Safety and Health of our Team Members.

The Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) opened the doors to Planet Textiles at the Fiera Milano Rho exhibition center from June 12 – 13, welcoming attendees to the 2023 edition of the event, which was being hosted at this year’s Textile & Garment Technology Exhibition (ITMA 2023), the world’s largest international textile and garment technology exhibition. Under the theme, Future-Proofing Global Supply Chains, the event took place over two days and brought together over 200 delegates to network with industry peers and share learnings and best practices on how collective action can help accelerate industry transformation and future-proof global supply chains.

SAC CEO, Amina Razvi, began her welcome address by asserting the importance of collaboration in creating transformational change within the textile and apparel industry. Reflecting on the recent reports by climate scientists, warning that our world’s temperature could surpass the critical threshold of 1.5°C degrees for the very first time this year, Razvi highlighted the importance of future-proofing as the key to the well-being of millions of workers, their communities, consumers, and, above all, the planet we all rely on.

“Each and every one of us here today understands the complex and interlinked challenges before us. We share a steadfast commitment to fostering collective action, instigating change, and driving progress. So let’s seize the opportunity before us to create a more responsible, equitable, and just industry. By harnessing our collective vision, problem-solving abilities, and collaborative spirit, I am confident in our capacity to have a significant impact. I believe we can because I witness it every day within the SAC community,” Razvi said.

Razvi closed off her address with a call to action to attendees to join the SAC and support its initiatives and partners working to drive positive change and create a global industry that gives more than it takes – to people and the planet.

Zubeida Zwavel, Executive Director, Centre for African Resource Efficiency and Sustainability delivered the keynote addresses for day one of the conference. Andrea Rosso, Diesel Sustainability Ambassador, Diesel SPA and Kim van der Weerd, freelance consultant and host of the podcast Manufactured, delivered the keynote addresses for day two of the conference, respectively.

Zwavel shared how her experience growing up in Cape Malay, South Africa, working in her family-owned factory, influenced her journey into the field of sustainability. She highlighted the various projects she has been involved in, including working with the municipality in Hammarsdale on resource efficiency and waste minimization projects to reduce wastewater pollution from textile industries, and an eco-labeling project with the United Nations Environmental Programme among others. She highlighted the importance of building real partnerships and how, if we are to achieve the targets we’ve set, we must ensure key knowledge transfer, empowerment and, most importantly, compassion.

Rosso shared key aspects of Diesel’s responsible living strategy, lower impact material and circularity. On circularity, he highlighted the criteria established for each product, supplier and technology that the company follows in order to label their products with the responsible living tag. He stressed the importance of having standards across different stages of production – trim, fabric, fiber, treatment, etc – to empowering an organization’s requirement of the same of its suppliers before a final product comes in. He shared Diesel’s various innovative approaches to creating its products and projects such as Rehab Denim, as well as a pilot project with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).

Van der Weerd’s keynote focused on the need to establish common ground to drive effective decarbonization efforts. She called for all stakeholders to collaborate deeply and with empathy to drive change across the industry.

Navigating the Legislation Landscape

Addressing legislation and its impact on the footwear and apparel sector, Baptiste Carriere-Pradal opened the panel discussion by providing an overview of the current landscape, upcoming regulations and potential impacts for companies and how they can prepare for them.

Maxine Bédat, Director, New Standard Institute weighed in on upcoming legislation from the USA, specifically the New York Fashion Act, stating that feedback from various stakeholders has been instrumental in ensuring the policy developed is implementable. She highlighted how the Act has taken into consideration the fact that companies need time to make the necessary investments in readiness for its implementation. She went on to add that legislators are keeping track of developments in the EU to ensure it aligns as needed, avoiding a patchwork approach in its development.

Ilishio Lovejoy, General Manager, ESG, Simple Approach, shared the important role legislation has to play and the opportunity it offers to level the playing field. Speaking on the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, she highlighted some of the challenges the industry is facing in implementing it because of a lack of clear understanding of the requirements and how to meet them as a new law and the various ways it can be interpreted.

SAC’s Senior Director of Public Affairs Elisabeth von Reitzenstein took to the stage moderating a panel that sought to take a deeper dive into the European Union (EU) proposed directive on substantiating green claims. Starting off by highlighting the purpose of the directive, she shared how it is intertwined with existing pieces of legislation and ongoing discussions around it in the European Union parliament and Council of the European Union, particularly on the need for a common methodology to ensure harmonization of legislation in the EU, and the opportunity to complete it before the European elections, slated for next year.

Jia Liu, Global Sustainability Director, TÜV Rheinland Group shared her perspective on the proposed directive as a certification testing company, highlighting one of the requirements of the directive will be that all claims be backed by a methodology based on scientific evidence and to ensure that everything claimed is based on a life cycle approach.

Jeremy Lardeau, Vice President, Higg Index, Sustainable Apparel Coalition called for companies to get ready for upcoming legislation and take the initiative to engage with relevant stakeholders and to understand the requirements such as preparing to understand and have better product and style level data. He also called for more recognition for companies taking the lead in investing in better sustainability performance practices.

Accelerating Action on Greenhouse Gas Reduction

This year’s Planet Textiles conference also featured a number of sessions focused on collective action towards tackling climate change. Jeremy Levin, Senior Energy Specialist, Global Thematic Lead, IFC Global Manufacturing; Kurt Kipka, Chief Impact Officer, Apparel Impact Institute; and Shuvajit Mandal, Advisor and Country Manager, GIZ joined Joyce Tsoi, SAC’s Director, Collective Action Programs, to discuss the industry’s progress towards decarbonization, challenges and opportunities to accelerate action.

Kipka highlighted the importance of accelerating action in a concerted and focused way and of ensuring engagement with the right stakeholder partners to minimize redundancy. He also spoke about the importance of collecting and sharing data points across the board.

Mandal shared insight on GIZ’s programs, highlighting three perspectives working to incentivize factories to shift to renewable energy: cost-advantage, where by a clear business case for factories will encourage the shift to renewable energy; energy security, where by factories are looking to tackle the energy crisis, by insuring the security and quality of their energy; and the commitment to climate protection goals by brands, in order to maintain good relationships with them.

Levin shared his perspective on how the industry can accelerate efforts towards decarbonization, stating that brands and stakeholders need to do more to accelerate and unlock existing financing to improve bankability of projects.

Role of Data in Sustainability

Begoña Garcia, Senior Product Manager, Jeanologia S.L.; Brooke Roberts-Islam, Founder, Techstyler & Senior Contributor, Forbes; Cerian Atwell, Senior Sustainability Manager, Marks & Spencer; and Michela Gioacchini, Fashion & Sporting Goods Lead Quantis Italy, Quantis joined Joël Mertens, SAC’s Director of Product Tools, to share the different perspectives on the importance of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) data in the supply chain and what it means for manufacturers.

Atwell shared how Marks & Spencer is using LCAs to inform their business decisions in light of upcoming legislation, highlighting how it guides their raw material choices and conversion of their materials into more sustainable versions of the same. She asserted a key need within LCA tools was for a way to reflect the impacts of dyeing and finishing, which account for 52% of the impact according to the roadmap report by Apparel Impact Institute.

Gioacchini shared insight on the evolution of the LCA space stating that more companies requesting LCAs have matured and now understand the kind of data they are looking for, resulting in more specific questions to guide the primary data collection. She highlighted the EU Green Claims Directive driving the increased demand from companies for LCAs and corporate product footprinting to guide their external communications.

SAC Executive Vice President Andrew Martin and Global Fashion Agenda CEO Federica Marchionni, delivered closing remarks for day one of the conference, while SAC Vice President of the Higg Index Jeremy Lardeau and ZDHC Implementation Director Klass Nuttbohm delivered closing remarks on day two of the conference.

The Planet Textiles conference concluded with the announcement of a partnership between the SAC and Apparel Impact Institute on an initiative geared towards supporting efforts to accelerate and scale decarbonization programs to accelerate the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions across the entire industry. The announcement was a testament to the SAC’s commitment to collaborating with stakeholders to co-create and scale solutions that drive systemic change.

Purchase Planet Textiles 2023 session recordings to watch the various panel discussions that took place. We also invite you to share your feedback on Planet Textiles 2023 using this survey link.

Originally published on HARMAN Newsroom

Autonomous vehicles have been in headlines for decades,  and we at HARMAN want to reflect on all the advancements in technology that have led us to entering a new era in travel; one where vehicles can go from one place to another without anyone touching the wheel. Cellular-vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) technologies will enable autonomous vehicles, along with improved road safety, traffic efficiency, smart mobility, and driver convenience.

The recent Federal Communications Commission (FCC) waiver approval permitting a select group of U.S. state agencies, automakers, universities and others to operate C-V2X technologies within the 5.9 GHz band in the United States is a significant moment. Now we can finally start to piece together not what the far-off future looks like, but the specific experiences and opportunities drivers can expect in the near future.

C-V2X technology connects vehicles to the world, sharing vital pieces of information and alerting drivers and other road users to potential hazards. C-V2X is a game-changing technology for preventing vehicle crashes, especially at intersections, and improving the efficiency of roads. In addition to the clear safety benefits, C-V2X is an essential enabler that will help boost autonomous and connected driving to its full potential. 

Why C-V2X technology is the safety solution

Traffic fatalities reached a 16-year high in 2021 with an estimate of more than 42,000 fatalities caused by vehicle traffic crashes. Many of these accidents could have been prevented. The vast majority of these accidents are due to preventable mistakes by drivers. Nine out of the top ten most common causes of vehicle accidents are related to human error, which is why we need an unprecedented collaboration between automotive OEMs, state and local transportation agencies, the federal government and other stakeholders to deploy C-V2X technology nationally and work toward a fully automated transportation utopia.

If deployed correctly, C-V2X can have an immediate impact on road safety, while also helping HARMAN to achieve its pledge to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2040. The technology allows vehicles to communicate directly with each other, sharing vital pieces of information and alerting drivers and other road users to potential hazards. Today, this is experienced through simple C-V2X applications like “Left Turn Assist” which helps the driver safely navigate a turn at an intersection in the presence of oncoming traffic. Intelligent intersections can also reduce emissions by avoiding that vehicles have to stop; they can smoothly pass the intersection without colliding to other vehicles when an optimal speed trajectory

is used by all vehicles. And by scaling this technology, drivers can be alerted to even more hazards, such as pedestrians crossing around the corner, or ambulances about to enter an intersection from miles away.

The joint waiver approval could not have come soon enough, and together with Samsung, HARMAN brings a high degree of product maturity, readiness, and scale to address this tragic and preventable roadway epidemic.

Connected and Livable Smart Cities

It is estimated that there are 330,000 signalized intersections in the United States and, according to the latest call to action from ITS America, these intersections are ripe for modernization. ITS America’s recommendation to boost connectivity by equipping a substantial portion of intersections with C-V2X Roadside Units would enable a new era of powerful capabilities that support real-time communication for vehicle-to-pedestrian, vehicle-to-vehicle, and vehicle-to-infrastructure scenarios by leveraging edge-based nodes and networks. This is a crucial shift from cloud-based solutions where communication bandwidth and latency are critically important. ​

The C-V2X waiver approval is a significant step forward for American road users, city planners, and highway administrators, who can now experience the enhanced roadway safety and efficiency benefits only possible in a smart city. HARMAN’s robust portfolio of Smart City and Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) infrastructure products can instantly turn any city into a smart city, opening a vast array of services and applications that mobility users and pedestrians can benefit from by making their daily lives and commute safer and more efficient.​

Paving Autonomous

Advancements in the autonomous vehicle industry to overcome the faults of human error are changing how we think about safety not only on the road, but also in the other sectors. The goal is for in-vehicle C-V2X technologies to serve as the foundation for vehicles to communicate with each other and everything around them—providing 360º non-line-of-sight awareness and a higher level of predictability for enhanced road safety and autonomous driving.

To be truly successful, connected experiences must be thoughtfully translated and engineered for safety, security, durability, and general effectiveness within an automotive environment. Additionally, enabling consumer trust in the fully autonomous vehicles of tomorrow is an incremental process, and it starts by building incredible connected, technology-enabled vehicle experiences today.

Delivering the Future with Heightened Collaboration

Even with all this momentum, there is still more that can be done. The FCC should finalize C-V2X rulemaking and provide a clear path forward for the industry. These critical safety solutions will benefit drivers and vulnerable roadway users of all types across the U.S. A national policy on C-V2X deployment will provide certainty and foster continued public-private and cross-industry collaboration, accelerated 5G network deployment, the scaling of “smart” infrastructure investment, and increased regional trials and pilot projects. As a leader in the intelligent mobility area, we at HARMAN look forward to continuing to foster public-private and cross-industry collaboration, accelerated 5G network deployment, the scaling of “smart” infrastructure investment, and increased regional trials and pilot projects.

Fifth Third’s approach to corporate sustainability is rooted in its purpose: to improve the lives of its customers and the well-being of communities. The Bank believes in the philosophy of doing well by doing good and focusing on generating long-term sustainable value for its stakeholders, including shareholders, customers, employees, communities and regulators. This continued focus drives Fifth Third toward achieving its vision to be the one bank people most value and trust, which is why it does what it does.

Fifth Third’s Corporate Responsibility Office 

Fifth Third’s commitment to sustainability is integrated across the Company and in its strategic planning. In March 2022, Fifth Third elevated Kala Gibson, executive vice president and chief corporate responsibility officer, with additional oversight of sustainability, as well as inclusion and diversity. A sustainability office was established within the Corporate Responsibility team to lead ESG reporting and governance that was previously managed by the investor relations team. The sustainability office is led by the chief sustainability officer, a new position, with support from the Corporate Responsibility team as well as partners across the Company.

Sustainability Committee 

In 2020, the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of the Board of Directors established the Sustainability Committee (previously named Environmental, Social and Governance Committee) with a charter to provide oversight and review of the Bank’s policies, programs, practices, strategies and approach to ESG topics.

In 2022, the Sustainability Committee’s membership was elevated to include the President and CEO, as well as other members of the senior executive leadership team. Updates on ESG topics are regularly given to the NCG Committee as well as to the Board of Directors through the year.

Members of the Sustainability Committee:

Chief Corporate Responsibility Officer (chair)Chief Community Impact Banking OfficerChief Credit OfficerChief Legal OfficerChief Risk OfficerChief Sustainability OfficerGroup Regional President and Head of Wealth & Asset ManagementHead of Commercial BankHead of Consumer BankingHead of Enterprise and Non-Financial RiskPresident and CEOSenior Deputy General CounselSenior Director, Investor RelationsChief Audit Executive (non-voting member)

To read the full 2022 Sustainability Report, visit www.53.com/sustainabilityreport.

July 11, 2023 /3BL/ – Franklin Templeton is pleased to announce its receipt of a top score of 100 in the 2023 Disability Equality Index® (DEI), a comprehensive benchmarking tool that helps companies build a roadmap of measurable, tangible actions they can take to achieve disability inclusion and equality. This is the fifth consecutive year that the firm has received the “Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion” designation.

Regina Curry, Chief Diversity Officer, Franklin Templeton, said, “We are committed to advancing a culture of inclusivity, in order to build strong teams that can deliver better outcomes for our employees, clients and shareholders. We are so honored to receive this important recognition of our efforts to promote disability inclusion in our workplace.”

The DEI is a joint initiative of the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), the nation’s largest disability rights organization, and Disability:IN, the global business disability inclusion network, to collectively advance the inclusion of people with disabilities.

“Businesses have the power to drive the global advancement of disability inclusion, and we’re thrilled to see more companies than ever leverage the Disability Equality Index to measure their progress. We recognize these top-scoring companies as a ‘Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion’ for their passion and efforts to lead the way in creating greater equity for people with disabilities in the workplace, marketplace, and supply chain,” said Jill Houghton, President and CEO of Disability:IN.

“These top-scoring companies understand deeply that people with disabilities represent a tremendous source of talent and innovation for their workforce and market share for their brands, and they are trailblazers in our journey towards full disability inclusion in business,” said Maria Town, President and CEO of AAPD.

The 2023 DEI measured efforts across categories including Culture & Leadership; Enterprise-Wide Access; Employment Practices (Benefits, Recruitment, Employment, Education, Retention & Advancement, Accommodations); Community Engagement; Supplier Diversity; Non-U.S. Operations (Non-Weighted). Each company receives a score, on a scale of zero (0) to 100, with those earning 80 and above recognized as a “Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion.” This year, 485 corporations utilized the DEI to benchmark their disability inclusion efforts, and 294 companies received a score of 100, 66 companies received a score of 90 and 45 companies received a score of 80.

Read more about Franklin Templeton’s commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at https://www.franklintempleton.com/about-us/diversity-and-inclusion.

About Franklin Templeton

Franklin Resources, Inc. [NYSE:BEN] is a global investment management organization with subsidiaries operating as Franklin Templeton and serving clients in over 150 countries. Franklin Templeton’s mission is to help clients achieve better outcomes through investment management expertise, wealth management and technology solutions. Through its specialist investment managers, the company offers specialization on a global scale, bringing extensive capabilities in fixed income, equity, alternatives and multi-asset solutions. With more than 1,300 investment professionals, and offices in major financial markets around the world, the California-based company has over 75 years of investment experience and approximately $1.4 trillion in assets under management as of May 31, 2023. For more information, please visit franklintempleton.com and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

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