Month: September 2023

The financial system can use its outsized influence to manage the systemic risk of racial inequity–and shift the focus from risk management to value creation. This was the premise of the WELL Summit MainStage session, “Using Investor Influence to Change the World: How to Move Capital Toward Racial Justice.”

In the investment world, equity doesn’t add up. But it should actually be a force multiplier for change. The financial system can use its outsized influence to manage the systemic risk of racial inequity–and shift the focus from risk management to value creation. Investors have incredible amounts of power. What will they do with it?

This was the premise of the WELL Summit MainStage session, “Using Investor Influence to Change the World: How to Move Capital Toward Racial Justice.”

As Minjia Yang, vice president of Investing for Health at the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), noted in her introduction of the session, “Capital can and should serve as the catalyst for change. A people-first economy is necessary to achieve this vision.”

Monique Aiken, managing director of The Investment Integration Project (TIIP), shared historical perspective and a strong business case for focusing on and investing in efforts that will drive racial equity.

By the numbers:

People of color will make up the majority of the U.S. population by 2050.Research suggests that racial inequity between Black people and white people alone cost the United States an estimated $16 trillion in GDP between 2000 and 2020.If there were fair and equitable lending practices for entrepreneurs of color, the U.S. economy could have created more than an estimated $13 trillion in business revenue and more than six million jobs in that same 20-year period.Citi GPS and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation calculate that improving equity between white Americans and Black Americans alone could grow the economy by $8 trillion by 2050.

“You could easily imagine that there would be even more substantial gains if we add the effects of full participation of Indigenous people and other people of color to this mix. And that has not been well studied, which is also problematic in itself,” Aiken noted.

The key takeaways:

Racial inequity is a major threat to the U.S. economy and financial system. “It’s a feature not a bug,” Aiken noted. This is why investors should care and why everyone should care. It’s not only the right thing to do morally, but it threatens economic growth and racial inequity leads to social unrest.Conversely, racially diverse teams make better decisions and can help companies make more money.Aiken advises, “Go short on the past, long on the future. We must invest differently and in new things because what got us here, got us here.”“Look closely at the present you are constructing; it should look like the future you are dreaming.” – Alice Walker, American novelist and poet

*Read more about how investing in health, well-being and equity pays back through our comprehensive research review and on our website.

Stay tuned for more highlights from the WELL Summit in Washington, D.C. For today’s schedule, please visit https://www.wellcertified.com/well-summit.*

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LONDON, September 27, 2023 /3BL/ – Kimberly-Clark, the owner of household brands Andrex®, Kleenex®, Huggies®, WypAll® and Scott®, is celebrating a major milestone in its ambitious drive toward green energy with the official opening of a new onshore wind farm by Màiri McAllan, Member of the Scottish Parliament for the Clydesdale constituency and Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition, that will supply around 80% of its UK electrical power needs.

The £75 million wind farm, which was built in just 18 months in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, is the largest wind asset owned by Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust (ORIT), a company managed by Octopus Energy Generation. Kimberly-Clark has a Power Purchase Agreement for the energy generated.

As the global personal care giant’s first wind farm project outside of North America, the 50 MW 12-turbine Cumberhead facility will supply the company with approximately 160,000 megawatt hours (MWh) of renewable energy every year. This will result in a total emissions reduction of 55,625 MTCO2e per year – the equivalent of taking 38,628 passenger vehicles off the road every year.

Dan Howell, Vice President and Managing Director at Kimberly-Clark UK & Ireland said: “Energy transformation is a key priority for us if we are going to deliver on our ambition to be using 100% renewable energy by 2030 in the UK and Ireland. When people ask what ‘fully decarbonising our operations’ looks like in practice, showing them a brand new 12-turbine wind farm is a pretty powerful answer.”

Craig Bowman, General Manager, Kimberly-Clark Professional UK & Ireland said, “It is through responsible and innovative business partnerships and investments in new technology like this agreement with ORIT that enables us to make significant changes in this decisive decade and reach our decarbonisation goals.”

David Bird, Investment Director for Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust (ORIT) said: “Officially inaugurating this wind farm is an absolutely fantastic milestone. Onshore wind farms like these are generating much-needed clean green power for the UK. It’s brilliant to be supplying this renewable power from this wind farm to Kimberly-Clark to help decarbonise their business. The more businesses that follow their lead, the quicker we can accelerate the push to net zero.”     

The green power will be used by Kimberly-Clark’s manufacturing facilities across the UK, making up almost 80% of the electricity needs for its Barrow, Flint and Northfleet manufacturing facilities. Between them, these sites produce nearly 1 billion Andrex toilet rolls, over 150,000,000 boxes of Kleenex tissues, and almost 136 million packs of Huggies baby wipes per year, alongside other personal care products for the UK market and B2B products such as WypAll® and Scott®.  

Oriol Margo, Sustainability Leader, Kimberly-Clark EMEA said: “We are feeling an immense amount of pride cutting the ribbon on this project today with Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust. Together, as we close in on our ambitious goal to move solely to renewable energy, we continue to invest in the future of the planet, our business and the FMCG industry as a whole, and hope to encourage other organisations, big and small, to do the same along the way.”

This project is part of Kimberly-Clark UK & Ireland’s wider sustainability strategy and its ambition to move to 100% renewable energy by 2030. To deliver this, the company is also working with Octopus on developing on-site solar power as well as green hydrogen. The company’s green hydrogen projects are being developed in partnership with HYRO, RES and Octopus Energy Generation’s green hydrogen adventure, and another with Carlton Power. The projects have been placed on the UK Government’s Hydrogen Business Model Strategy shortlist, and would reduce the company’s natural gas consumption once operational at the end of 2026.

By 2026, Kimberly-Clark’s UK and Ireland (scope 1 and 2) operational emissions are expected to be reduced by up to 85% from the 2015 baseline, ensuring the company is on track to meet its sustainability targets by 2030.

About Kimberly Clark’s ongoing sustainability projects
This partnership is just one of Kimberly-Clark’s ongoing sustainability projects to facilitate the roll out of renewable electricity across Europe, Middle East and Africa, and the continued exploration and development of decarbonisation solutions.

Kimberly-Clark’s global 2030 sustainability strategy aims to address the key social and environmental challenges of the next decade, improving the lives and wellbeing of one billion people in underserved communities around the world. The transition to renewable energy will form a vital part of the company’s global effort to halve its total environmental footprint by 2030.

About Kimberly-Clark
Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB) and its trusted brands are an indispensable part of life for people in more than 175 countries. Fueled by ingenuity, creativity, and an understanding of people’s most essential needs, we create products that help individuals experience more of what’s important to them. Our portfolio of brands, including Huggies, Kleenex, Scott, Kotex, Cottonelle, Poise, Depend, Andrex, Pull-Ups, GoodNites, Intimus, Neve, Plenitud, Sweety, Softex, Viva and WypAll, hold No. 1 or No. 2 share positions in approximately 80 countries. We use sustainable practices that support a healthy planet, build strong communities, and ensure our business thrives for decades to come. To keep up with the latest news and to learn more about the company’s nearly 150-year history of innovation, visit kimberly-clark.com.

About Kimberly-Clark Professional™
Kimberly-Clark Professional™ partners with businesses to create Exceptional Workplaces, helping to make them healthier, safer, and more productive. Key brands in this segment include Kleenex, Scott, WypAll, KleenGuard, and Kimtech. To see how Kimberly-Clark Professional™ is helping people around the world to work better, please visit www.kcprofessional.co.uk.

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HOUSTON, September 27, 2023 /3BL/ -The Baker Hughes Foundation announced Wednesday two grants focused on supplier diversity around the world: a $75,000 grant to Houston Minority Supplier Development Council (HMSDC), and a $100,000 grant to WEConnect International. Both organizations share Baker Hughes’ vision of promoting inclusive and sustainable economic growth, as well as reducing inequality within and among countries.

HMSDC provides training on sustainable business practices and connects minority entrepreneurs with corporations that value diversity and inclusion. WEConnect International helps women-owned businesses succeed in global markets by certifying their ownership and offering them access to a network of corporate buyers.

Baker Hughes is committed to becoming an industry leader with a diverse and inclusive supply chain that creates value for its customers and reflects the communities in which it operates. Ensuring a diverse supply chain results in better communities and stronger business solutions. This grant will assist the HMSDC in developing and implementing a tailored training program that equips minority entrepreneurs with essential knowledge and implementation skills in sustainable business practices. Acknowledging that women are often at the forefront of gender inequality, WEConnect International’s grant will help develop nationwide marketing campaigns and learnings systems to help drive revenue and grow the number of registered women-owned businesses in the WEConnect network.

Both donations support Baker Hughes’ commitment to advancing the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – specifically SDG 8 to promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all. Also, SDG 10 to reduce inequality within and among countries.

“At Baker Hughes, supplier diversity is integral to our success, and it is our duty to support organizations that fuel building a more inclusive supply base and take the steps necessary to ensure business practices mirror our diverse landscape,” said Lynn Buckley, Supplier Diversity and Business Development Sourcing leader.

“We are thrilled to receive this generous grant from the Baker Hughes Foundation, which will enable us to expand our network of women-owned businesses and promote gender-inclusive procurement practices globally. We share Baker Hughes’ vision of advancing sustainable economic growth and reducing inequality, and we look forward to working together to create more opportunities for women entrepreneurs in the energy sector and beyond,” said Elizabeth A. Vazquez, CEO and co-founder of WEConnect International.

“The HMSDC is excited and honored to be a recipient of a grant from the Baker Hughes Foundation. We believe to close the equity gap in communities of color, we must ensure that diverse businesses understand and meet the business sustainability requirements of today’s corporate and government supply chains,” said Ingrid M. Robinson, president of HMSDC. “This grant allows us to share sustainability best practices with minority-owned businesses and help them develop and integrate sustainability focused policies and processes that will allow them to grow their businesses.”

To learn more about Baker Hughes’ work in supporting its communities, visit our Corporate Responsibility website.

About the Baker Hughes Foundation:

For 25 years, the Baker Hughes Foundation has been a steward of charitable resources for meaningful community impact. The Foundation seeks to advance environmental quality, education, health, safety, and wellness around the world by supporting organizations with shared values, demonstrated leadership, evidence of impact, financial soundness, and the capacity to implement initiatives and evaluate their success. The Baker Hughes Foundation makes strategic philanthropic contributions, matches Baker Hughes employee contributions, and awards volunteer recognition grants for outstanding employee community service.

About Baker Hughes

Baker Hughes (NASDAQ: BKR) is an energy technology company that provides solutions to energy and industrial customers worldwide. Built on a century of experience and conducting business in over 120 countries, our innovative technologies and services are taking energy forward – making it safer, cleaner and more efficient for people and the planet. Visit us at bakerhughes.com.

For more information, please contact:

Media Relations

Adrienne M. Lynch 
+1 713-906-8407 
adrienne.lynch@bakerhughes.com

SWORDS, Ireland, September 27, 2023 /3BL/ – Trane® – by Trane Technologies (NYSE: TT), a global climate innovator, is introducing its latest Artificial Intelligence (AI) and cloud-based service offering – Trane® Autonomous Control Powered by BrainBox AI® – providing building owners and facility managers an additional tool to accelerate decarbonization and reduce energy consumption.

Using AI to automatically identify and implement optimization actions 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Trane Autonomous Control enhances existing connected Tracer® SC+ building control systems– incorporating variables like predictive weather data and occupancy trends for improved building performance and sustainability.

“With the heating and cooling of buildings representing about 15% of all global greenhouse gas emissions, the demand for more sustainable building solutions grows each day,” said Donny Simmons, president, Commercial HVAC Americas, Trane Technologies. “Leveraging innovative AI-enabled solutions is one of many ways we are helping customers dramatically reduce their carbon footprints, while meeting business goals and doing the right thing for the planet.”

For large, multi-site retailers, Trane Autonomous Control offers a compelling and proven use case. For more than a year, Trane rigorously tested the Autonomous Control solution in multiple sites with an industry-leading customer in the collection and processing of life-saving biological material in the United States. Resulting in significant energy performance improvements, the program also cut carbon emissions by more than 30% across a national portfolio of more than 100 facilities – directly contributing to the customer’s aggressive greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goals.

Trane Autonomous Control expands the company’s industry-leading, digitally connected building technology and insights, including through its network of more than one million connected devices. The launch also builds on the company’s collaboration with BrainBox AI to provide customers additional ways to reduce GHG emissions while maintaining comfortable, productive spaces.

The offering directly supports Trane Technologies’ 2030 Sustainability Commitments, including the Gigaton Challenge – a pledge to reduce customers’ GHG emissions by 1 billion metric tons (or, one gigaton) – and its pledge to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The company’s emissions reductions targets have been externally validated by the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi).

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About Trane Technologies 
Trane Technologies is a global climate innovator. Through our strategic brands Trane® and Thermo King®, and our portfolio of environmentally responsible products and services, we bring efficient and sustainable climate solutions to buildings, homes, and transportation. Learn more at tranetechologies.com.

About Trane 
Trane – by Trane Technologies (NYSE: TT), a global climate innovator – creates comfortable, energy-efficient indoor environments for commercial and residential applications. For more information, please visit www.trane.com.

Forward Looking Statements 
This news release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of securities laws, which are statements that are not historical facts, including statements that relate to innovations to develop decarbonization solutions, and our sustainability commitments and the impact of these commitments. These forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual results to differ materially from our current expectations. Factors that could cause such differences can be found in our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, as well as our subsequent reports on Form 10-Q and other SEC filings. New risks and uncertainties arise from time to time, and it is impossible for us to predict these events or how they may affect the Company. We assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

At Boston Scientific, we strive to advance science for life, which includes inspiring the next generation of STEM professionals who will help shape the future of health care. Using a combination of hands-on experiences and classroom education, our employee STEM councils helped more than 70,000 young people explore careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math in 2022.

Hear from three employees whose devotion to STEM education and helping others discover their fullest potential is making a difference around the globe.

An investment in the future

Marcelo Gonzalez has always wanted to know how things work. While this curiosity eventually led to a rewarding career, Marcelo didn’t always know how to channel it. “It was my fourth birthday and I’d gotten a pedal go-kart. I wanted to know what made it move, so I followed the chain underneath with my finger and — let’s just say it didn’t end well,” says Marcelo, chuckling. Thankfully, his dad rushed him to the hospital and saved his finger, though he still has the scar today.

Influenced by his older cousins who were engineers, Marcelo pursued an industrial engineering degree and today, he’s a senior quality manager and an active member of his local STEM council in Argentina. His team helps students hear career advice firsthand from Boston Scientific employees and engages them in interactive activities — like seeing what a doctor sees when a stent is placed — using augmented reality and other technologies.

For Marcelo, the most rewarding part is working with a passionate and dedicated team to help kids connect their curiosity with the potential to create meaningful innovation. “To me, investing in these kids is investing in the future,” he says. “I’m not going to change the planet much more — but they will.”

Stoking the passion early

Like Marcelo, Ronan Emmett, a talent development manager based in Cork, Ireland, enjoyed taking his toys apart as a child. Ronan’s penchant for questioning the world around him led him to pursue a career in information technology before transitioning to teaching, and then human resources and talent development.

In 2016, Ronan was part of a team that helped develop the GROW program, a chance for college-level engineering, science and biotechnology students and BSC product builders to spend a summer gaining hands-on experience working on a real production line while receiving mentoring and formal education. Employees and the college students learn together and from one another in this program. Since its establishment in Cork, GROW has expanded to become a global development program for product builders and technicians at the company.

GROW’s success was the catalyst for the TeenGROW program, geared toward young people aged 15–17. Though originally developed for employees’ children, TeenGROW has expanded to include children from underrepresented areas in the community through partnerships with local schools. The program introduces students to robotics, involves them in experiments that apply the scientific method, and allows them to hear from engineers about their career experiences.

“The purpose of TeenGROW is to stoke that passion for STEM early,” says Ronan. “Being at the company for nine years, I’ve seen kids go from TeenGROW in the classroom, to GROW gaining real-world experience on our production lines, to becoming a qualified engineer with us,” Ronan says. “It’s inspiring to see, and it’s truly a privilege to be part of such an incredible team that is so invested.”

Helping students see real-world applications 

Years before she became an R&D engineer at Boston Scientific, Tess Davis was motivated to pursue a science degree in high school. “I had a teacher — a woman — who had degrees in both biomedical and mechanical engineering. I thought that was so cool,” says Tess. “I knew then that I wanted to pursue the same path, and through a program called Project Lead the Way, I was able to gain first-hand experience in the engineering field.”

Today, she’s the co-lead of the STEM Council in Marlborough, Massachusetts, which brings educational experiences to kids at local schools and organizations like the Boys & Girls Club. A student favorite is Procedure Pal, an interactive table-top product model. “We show them how an esophageal stent is placed in the body, or how a deep brain stimulation device interrupts brain signals in patients with Parkinson’s disease,” says Tess. “It helps students see how these technologies are actually used to help people.”

Tess and the team hold multiple events each year, like the recent panel discussion with members of the Society of Women Engineers, who talked about their paths to becoming STEM professionals. “It’s important to see representation of women in the field,” says Tess, recalling the indelible mark her high school teacher had on her professional journey. “Kids don’t always have those role models. I’ve heard many of our volunteers say, ‘I didn’t have these opportunities growing up. I want them to know what’s possible.’”

Learn more about the ways Boston Scientific supports STEM education in communities around the world. 

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Finding the cause of a rare disease is often like looking for a needle in a haystack. More than 80 percent of rare diseases are genetic in origin[i], and dedicated medical researchers can spend their careers looking for just one tiny defect in one gene that could explain hugely complex conditions.

The World Health Organization tells us that between one and two percent of children are born with this kind of rare disease, but more than 90 percent of such conditions have no approved therapy[ii]—despite huge and ongoing advancements in medicine and the technology that supports it.

The research is not easy. A disease is considered rare if less than 1 in 2,000 people are affected[iii]. There is, naturally, little literature available. And, although they collectively affect millions of people worldwide, these kinds of diseases rarely get public attention and consequently suffer from a lack of funding. That inevitably slows down the research process and hinders the development of potential new treatments.

Of course, finding that all-important needle and making thousands of lives better is much easier when significant computational power is directed towards the search. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already changing the timescales involved in medical research, and its potential is hugely important for understanding, preventing and treating all kinds of medical conditions.

So, when Germany’s Care-For-Rare Foundation, a non-profit committed to the rapid diagnosis and treatment of rare diseases in children, received a decommissioned server from the University Hospital in Munich as a donation, its team was delighted. It had a real chance to create an innovative project that would bring the power of AI to its own work.

There was only one problem. The University Hospital IT team would manage the server, but only if it the foundation would provide a VMware license key as this is the virtualization technology they are using in the hospital. As a non-profit, Care-for-Rare had limited resources to spend, which meant that the cost of licensing the necessary software threatened to halt valuable progress.

That was when the foundation contacted VMware’s Healthcare and Life Sciences EMEA team. The value and importance of the work that the foundation does was clear, so the team stepped in to ensure Care-For-Rare had access to the vSphere licenses needed. Organizations like Care-for-Rare already have enough challenges. Technology shouldn’t be one of them—especially when it comes to helping sick children and their families.

It was exactly the kind of program that the VMware Academic Software Licensing Program is designed to support—the use of virtualization applications in teaching and research for non-profit projects. Through this program, part of VMware IT Academy, we can provide desktop or infrastructure software to be used in a number of ways, including in certain research projects, at no cost to end users. It also comes under one of the equity goals of the VMware 2030 Agenda, a program for building a more sustainable, equitable and secure future. This includes our commitment to co-innovation with non-profits.

Once the VMware solution was in place, Care-for-Rare’s researchers could start constructing an AI platform and open channels of communication between doctors and scientists around the world to enhance the diagnosis of rare diseases and foster the development of new treatments.

One example of Care-for-Rare’s use of AI is the Scivias project at the Dr. von Hauner Children’s Hospital in Munich. Doctors use an eye scanner to capture an image of the back of the eyes of young volunteer patients. Then thousands of images and data sets are examined by an AI algorithm to find patterns in the eye that could give conclusions about different diseases, an impossible task for humans.

At VMware, we believe that technology is a force for good and the work at the Children’s hospital is a great example of what AI can potentially achieve. This will pave the way for clinical studies aimed at preventing severe, complex and rare diseases, and we’re delighted to have played a small part in making it happen.

Find out more here.

[i] https://health.ec.europa.eu/non-communicable-diseases/expert-group-public-health/rare-diseases_en#:~:text=There%20are%20more%20than%206000,70%25%20already%20start%20in%20childhood.

[ii] https://www.vmware.com/content/dam/digitalmarketing/vmware/en/pdf/company/vnware-enabling-medical-research-into-rare-childhood-diseases.pdf

[iii] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-rare-diseases-framework/the-uk-rare-diseases-framework#:~:text=A%20rare%20disease%20is%20defined,being%20identified%20as%20research%20advances.

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ATLANTA, September 27, 2023 /3BL/ – In June, Georgia-Pacific announced it produced its 1 billionth EarthKraft™ recyclable padded mailer at our facility in Tolleson, Arizona. This was a monumental achievement just three short years after the product was introduced.

Georgia-Pacific recently announced it has expanded its EarthKraft™ line of curbside recyclable mailers to include an unpadded version. The new unpadded mailer for e-commerce shipments is designed to ship apparel and other items that do not need padded packaging during transport. Amazon is a key GP EarthKraft™ customer and has been using the new mailer since July. EarthKraft™ unpadded mailers are produced at GP’s facilities in Jonestown, Pennsylvania, McDonough, Georgia, and suburban Phoenix, Arizona. Printing options for the mailers include up to six colors utilizing flexo or digital print, and are available in two sizes with external, flap-closed dimensions ranging from 12 by 15 inches to 14 by 18 inches.

The unpadded mailers, much like the recyclable padded mailers, offer protection in a lightweight and flexible design, which can reduce freight costs. The mailers are also designed to be easy to pack, which can improve warehouse efficiency.

“An ever-growing percentage of consumers expect their online purchases to arrive in sustainable, easy-to-recycle packaging,” said Adam Ganz, vice president of eCommerce Packaging. “The plastic mailers that have been the standard shipping option for apparel aren’t meeting the majority of consumer expectations, and brands are missing an opportunity to build loyal, repeat customers. GP’s EarthKraft™ unpadded mailer gives apparel brands and other e-commerce companies a cost-effective option to meet those expectations.”

The EarthKraft padded and unpadded mailers have been issued a Widely Recyclable label by the How2Recycle® program. This allows the mailers to be deposited in any paper or corrugated recycling collection point, which for most consumers is their curbside recycling bin.

Click here to learn more about Georgia-Pacific’s Packaging business.

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