Month: September 2023

Originally published on 3M News Center

3M will highlight a collaborative pilot program for water-stressed basins and a direct air capture technology this week during Climate Week NYC. In a series of engagements, the company will share how its science is driving climate innovation and advancing improvements in its own operational footprint.   

“At 3M, we recognize the urgency for delivering scalable climate solutions across various industries,” said Dr. Gayle Schueller, 3M senior vice president and chief sustainability officer. “Climate Week NYC provides us with the platform to ideate and strategize alongside fellow climate champions, prioritizing how we can expedite implementation of science-based solutions for this pressing global issue.” 

At the CEO Water Mandate UNGA Corporate Water Stewardship Half-Day Event on Wednesday, Sept. 20, Dr. Schueller discussed 3M’s participation in the first net positive water impact (NPWI) pilot program for the Water Resilience Coalition (WRC). The company will be collaborating to reduce water stress in target basins on three dimensions: availability (quantity), quality, and access—applying takeaways from the NPWI Piloting Workshop it hosted at World Water Week in August. The WRC program will also assess how NPWI is best evaluated, informing a guidance document that will be published in January 2024 and made available for companies around the world to operationalize. 

“The Water Resilience Coalition’s net positive water impact program will provide critical insight for our work across 100 priority water-stressed basins around the world, and the resulting guidance materials will help scale global adoption of our ambitions,” said André Villaça Ramalho, Water Resilience Coalition Coordinator. “As a leadership member, 3M provides vital support and expertise to the coalition—accelerating measurable watershed outcomes and building long-term water resiliency.” 

Accelerating the global reduction of water use by 3M 

The NPWI pilot program builds on work within 3M to reduce overall water use—targeting a 25% reduction by 2030—and return higher quality water to the environment after use in operations. 3M is accelerating progress toward these goals through process improvements and the installation of new technologies, and reached a 16.8% reduction in water use at the close of 2022 (benchmarked to 2019 levels). 

“3M prides itself on our global leadership in innovating new ways to apply science to accelerate our environmental commitments,” said Schueller. “With the expertise of 3M scientists and continued corporate investment, we will maintain momentum toward our water goals in our facilities and empower others to do the same, including collaborative efforts with global partners like WRC.” 

Showcasing climate innovation at Climate Week NYC 

In addition to the CEO Water Mandate event, 3M will spend Climate Week NYC highlighting new developments in key areas of climate innovation, including direct air capture (DAC) technology, and convening stakeholders from across industries to discuss how materials science can accelerate climate solutions. 

On Wednesday, Sept. 20, 3M presented with Svante Technologies, Inc. (Svante) at The Nest Climate Campus. Cory Sauer, 3M’s global carbon capture lead, shared the stage with Claude Letourneau, Svante’s president and chief executive officer, to discuss how the two companies are accelerating the development and scalability of DAC solutions, which can trap carbon dioxide found in the atmosphere and sequester it. In collaboration with Svante, the world leader in the solid sorbent method of carbon capture and removal, 3M is developing a proprietary material called Sorbents-on-a-Roll—or SOAR. Sheets of this nanoengineered material are to be stacked in parallel layers in Svante’s carbon removal filters.  

3M is currently scaling up production of SOAR material, allowing the material to be built into filters for DAC field trials in 2024. By leveraging each company’s capabilities—including 3M’s ability to produce advanced filtration technology at-scale—3M and Svante believe it will be feasible to capture millions of tons of CO2 from diverse DAC facilities around the world. 

In its own facilities, 3M is building momentum toward its commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. 3M’s greenhouse gas emissions are down 79% from 2002 levels, including a 38% decrease from levels in 2019. One of the driving forces behind this progress is the company’s accelerated transition toward renewable energy. The company is committed to using 100% renewable electricity in its operations by 2050 and reached 51.9% at the end of 2022—tracking well ahead of initial forecasts.  

On Thursday, Sept. 21, 3M hosted a dialogue at the Fast Company Innovation Festival on the opportunity to scale climate solutions across industries. The session will focus on technologies that are required for climate mitigation and adaptation—but are currently overlooked—and where and how to achieve meaningful implementation of these technologies globally. Understanding that achieving net zero will require profound economic transformation and global collaboration, 3M is convening a panel of influential leaders on the topic, including: 

Dr. Gayle Schueller, 3M senior vice president and chief sustainability officer Dr. Jonathan Foley, executive director of Project Drawdown Kani Keita, principal at TPG Rise Climate Kathi Vidal, undersecretary of commerce for Intellectual Property and director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office 

To learn more about 3M’s commitments to climate innovation and how 3M solutions are improving lives around the world, visit www.3M.com/ESG.  

EIT Climate-KIC and FedEx announced the launch of the second edition of the Sustainable Cities Mobility Challenge (formerly called the Climate Impact Challenge) for European cities. Applicants are invited to request funding to implement solutions that accelerate the transition towards cleaner, sustainable, and inclusive mobility.

City councils, municipalities or local authorities in the EU Member States, Horizon Europe associated countries, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, are all eligible to submit proposals that align with Europe’s climate agenda, including the EU Mission 100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030. Grants of up to €90,000 will support pilot projects or programmes evaluated based on their potential for positive environmental and social benefits, learning and replicability.

As more European cities pledge to rapidly cut carbon emissions, sustainable transport plays a crucial role in the transition to a net-zero carbon society. EIT Climate-KIC will select up to five impactful projects that integrate and implement sustainable transport solutions to help drive the green transition at a local level.

“Celebrating the achievements of the past year, we’re excited to announce the launch of the second Sustainable Cities Mobility Challenge, made possible by FedEx,” said Kirsten Dunlop, CEO of EIT Climate-KIC. “We are driven by the ambition to accelerate the transition to cleaner, more inclusive mobility solutions in European cities. With the dedication of city leaders, the support of our partners, and the urgent need for action on climate change, we are confident this year’s projects will make significant strides in enabling reduction of transport emissions and improvements in the quality of urban life.”

Transport emissions represent around 25 percent of the EU’s total greenhouse gas emissions, according to the European Environment Agency. Leading the EU-funded NetZeroCities project, EIT Climate-KIC is uniquely positioned to help cities develop and implement innovative projects shaping the sustainable design of future urban centres.

The first edition of the Challenge awarded the cities of Hackney (UK), Espoo (Finland), Olot (Spain) and Karasu (Türkiye) with charitable grants of up to $70,000 (€65,000) to implement their projects. These ranged from expanding cargo bike use, installing safe cycling storage, cycling courses for marginalised groups, and creating safer corridors for walking, wheeling, and cycling.

“Transport remains a key contributor to carbon emissions, so the transformative projects implemented by cities like Hackney, Espoo, Olot, and Karasu in the first edition of the Challenge serve as inspirations for what can be achieved when we unite in pursuit of a common goal. Together, we’re committed to creating greener, more equitable cities that define our future,” added Dunlop.

Funding for the Sustainable Cities Mobility Challenge is provided by Charities Aid Foundation, made possible by a grant from FedEx. The transport provider announced its goal to achieve global carbon-neutral operations by 2040, with a roadmap including electrification of its FedEx Express pickup and delivery fleet, upscaling use of renewable energy, and advancing scientific research leading to solutions that can sequester hard-to-abate carbon emissions – such as those generated by aviation.

“While we remain focused operationally on reducing emissions in our network, our charitable giving platform, FedEx Cares, allows us to collaborate with charity organisations and cities seeking to promote sustainable mobility more broadly,” said Wouter Roels, SVP Marketing and Customer Experience, FedEx Express Europe. “This contribution will help to implement projects that will improve the liveability of European cities and allow us to support transport decarbonisation beyond our own business.”

The call for applications remains open until 10 November 2023 via EIT Climate-KIC.

About EIT Climate-KIC 
EIT Climate-KIC is Europe’s leading climate innovation agency and community, using a systems approach to shape innovation to support cities, regions, countries and industries meet their climate ambitions.

Together with partners across the globe, EIT Climate-KIC acts to bridge the gap climate commitments and current reality by enabling decision makers to investors to act. They find and implement solutions in integrated ways and moblise finance. They build skills to accelerate learning and explore innovation, opening pathways to shift mindsets and behaviours. Through radical collaboration, EIT Climate-KIC orchestrates large-scale demonstrations that show what is possible when cycles of innovation and learning are deliberately designed to trigger exponential decarbonisation and build resilient communities.

About FedEx Corp. 
FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) provides customers and businesses worldwide with a broad portfolio of transportation, e-commerce, and business services. With annual revenue of $90 billion, the company offers integrated business solutions through operating companies competing collectively, operating collaboratively, and innovating digitally as one FedEx. Consistently ranked among the world’s most admired and trusted employers, FedEx inspires its 530,000 employees to remain focused on safety, the highest ethical and professional standards and the needs of their customers and communities. FedEx is committed to connecting people and possibilities around the world responsibly and resourcefully, with a goal to achieve carbon-neutral operations by 2040. To learn more, please visit about.fedex.com.

Fiduciary Trust International created this series to explore the diverse array of clean-energy-oriented business models and technologies that we anticipate will attract investors. We believe that as capital is deployed, new markets will be created, new technologies will be invented, and investors that position their portfolios appropriately will be rewarded.

To read more, visit Fiduciary Trust Insights website. 

About Fiduciary Trust International

Fiduciary Trust International, a global wealth management firm headquartered in New York, NY, has served individuals, families, endowments and foundations since 1931. With over $94 billion in assets under management and administration as of June 30, 2023, the firm specializes in strategic wealth planning, investment management and trust and estate services, as well as tax and custody services. The New York-based firm and its subsidiaries maintain offices in Coral Gables, FL, Boca Raton, FL, St. Petersburg, FL, Radnor, PA, Lincoln, MA, Los Angeles, CA, San Mateo, CA, San Francisco, CA, Washington, DC, Wilmington, DE, Reston, VA, and Atlanta, GA. For more information, please visit fiduciarytrust.com, and for the latest updates, follow Fiduciary Trust International on LinkedIn and Twitter: @FiduciaryTrust.

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 over $1.4 trillion in assets under management as of August 31, 2023. For more information, please visit franklintempleton.com and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

The views expressed are those of the investment manager, and the comments, opinions and analyses are rendered as at publication date and may change without notice. These views may differ from other investment management teams of Franklin Templeton which operate with independent investment discretion. 

Rayonier has measured our impact on the environment by calculating the emissions associated with our corporate, forestry, and real estate-related operations during 2022.

We have estimated and broken down our emissions into Scope 1 (direct emissions from company-owned and controlled resources), Scope 2 (indirect emissions from electricity purchased), and Scope 3 (indirect emissions in the value chain—i.e., harvest and transport of our logs, forest management, and business travel). Approximately 25% of our Scope 3 emissions are associated with ocean freight, which reflects our participation in the log export market, particularly in New Zealand. As compared to 2021, the nearly 40% reduction in ocean freight emissions was primarily driven by a significant reduction in log exports from the U.S. South due to phytosanitary restrictions in China.

Moving forward, we are taking steps to improve our measurement of Scope 1 and Scope 3 emissions and are in the early stages of collaborating with our contractors to collect primary data from them to better measure our Scope 3 footprint.

For a complete analysis of our carbon footprint in the U.S. and New Zealand, visit our Carbon Report.