Month: September 2023

Originally Published by TriplePundit

Companies around the world are looking to meet 100 percent of their energy needs with renewable sources in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the fight against climate change. But what are the next steps once the commitments are down on paper, and how do companies move from good intentions to implementation of their renewable energy goals?

Henkel, which owns well-known consumer and industrial brands including Dial personal care products, All laundry care, Schwarzkopf hair products, Loctite adhesives and more, is making progress on its own target, and can serve as an example to other companies looking to bridge the gap between ambition and action.

Renewable energy and corporate decarbonization: How the real work happens. 

Henkel aims to source 100 percent of purchased electricity from renewables by 2030 and is well on its way to meeting that goal. Dirk Ullrich, senior global expert on climate change for Henkel, is one of the many employees responsible for ensuring operational sustainability at the company’s 166 global production sites. “We have an ambition to be climate-positive in our operations by 2030,” Ullrich said. “We are confident that we will outpace our target, and parts of it early.”

“We have a strict hierarchy for our energy programs,” Ullrich continued. “First, we look into energy efficiency and renewable power generation on-site. We also look for regional energy sourcing solutions like virtual power purchase agreements, or direct energy contracts to create additionality in the markets.”

Virtual power purchase agreements (VPPAs) are long-term renewable energy contracts that feed power from specific renewable energy plants into the supply grid, in an amount that is equal to the amount consumed. Henkel is using an off-site VPPA with a wind farm in Bee County, Texas.

“Increasing Henkel’s investment in climate-positivity in our worldwide production is at the heart of our sustainability transformation, and we’re glad to be contributing to this important effort here in North America,” said Pernille Lind Olsen, president of Henkel North America, corporate senior vice president for adhesive technologies, packaging and consumer goods, and regional head of adhesive technologies in North America. “This VPPA agreement covers a capacity equivalent to 100 percent of the electricity demand for our operations in the U.S. That’s more than 30 production sites, which represents a significant reduction in our carbon footprint.”

The wind farm was developed by energy provider Ørsted and generates renewable energy that has fed into the public grid since June 2022. The entire wind park area is 15,000 acres and is expected to generate over 850 gigawatts of electricity on average each year. This equals the energy needed to power approximately 90,000 U.S. households.

“We’re pleased to work with Henkel to deliver renewable energy from Helena Wind Farm,” said Monica Testa, head of origination at Ørsted. “Henkel’s commitment to this project directly contributes to increasing renewable energy supply to the Texas electric grid and meeting our global decarbonization goals.”

A recent solar VPPA in Spain covers Henkel’s electricity demand of more than 40 sites in Europe, and the company is also investing in energy generation at its own production sites globally. In Australia, among other countries, two of Henkel’s factories installed rooftop solar panels. Together with the utilization of new energy-saving equipment and sourcing contracts for renewable energy, the plants have successfully transitioned to 100 percent renewable electricity usage.

Still, Ullrich noted that it is more difficult to source renewable energy in some countries than others, and this has been a challenge for the company in some places where it has operations.

Real action on renewables builds trust with stakeholders — and engages them as partners in the fight against climate change.

“Climate change is a global problem, but the solutions are local,” Ulrich said. Beyond decarbonizing its own operations, Henkel aims to provide consumers with as many opportunities as possible to lower their own household energy use. For example, the company has developed technologies for its laundry detergents that allow consumers to wash clothes at very low temperatures and with combined colors.

Henkel’s ambition has helped the company keep solid marks from climate rating agencies. “Henkel has been included in the CDP Supplier Engagement Leaders Board for 2022, belonging to the top 8 percent of companies assessed for supply chain engagement on climate change,” Ullrich said. “We take this seriously. We do not play the game to get the best possible score, but we work instead for the highest level of credibility.”

The bottom line: We all have a role to play in a low-carbon future. 

For Ullrich, his work at Henkel is personal. “When it comes to a sustainable future, there is hope, but we have to act,” he said. “Individuals, communities, and corporations all have the opportunity to make meaningful changes that contribute to sustainability efforts. Current trends show that that within five to six years, we will likely use up the global 1.5-degree carbon budget, so by 2025, there will be no carbon budget left. The more we do today to act on this creates less of a burden for generations to come.”

Companies must act quickly to make that burden smaller, he continued. “I see a lot of targets, goals and pledges, but we need action.”

To move from target-setting to real impact, companies and other stakeholders must also recognize the nuance of the challenges they face and act accordingly. “Sustainability topics are linked and intertwined,” Ullrich said. “You can’t discuss climate in a silo. Climate can only be tackled when you have a good understanding of other issues like water and the circular economy, because we need to think circularly to look into climate protection.”

This article series is sponsored by Henkel North America and produced by the TriplePundit editorial team.

Image courtesy of Henkel North America

ESG (environment, social and governance) investing has been making headlines lately, having become both a target for anti-woke initiatives and a topic of discussion in sustainability circles.

Social impact communicator Michael Maslansky and his firm recently concluded an extensive research study on ESG and its future. Join the Impact Relations Institute, in partnership with 3BL Media, for our next Impact Council on Wednesday, October 4 at 12pm ET / 9am PT to discuss the findings and explore:

Why some insist the language of ESG is divisiveThe factors that impact investors’ attitudes toward ESGWhether ESG delves deep enough into the negative impacts of its investments, and why many progressives opt for B Corps, Public Good companies or Benefit Corps instead

Meet your speaker:

Michael Maslansky is the CEO and author of The Language of Trust. He and his team have long operated with the philosophy that it isn’t what you say, but what your audience hears. M+P, essentially, is a language agency.

Since publishing his book, Michael has become one of the leading experts on reputation and crisis communication in the world. He has served as a senior advisor to Wells Fargo, Kaiser Permanente, Procter & Gamble, Toyota, Bank of America, PepsiCo, Johnson & Johnson, and Pfizer, among others, and has helped industry associations in financial services, energy, and personal care navigate major industry transformations and crises.

What else would you like to learn in this session? Email your request to hello@impactrelations.org.

September 12, 2023 /3BL/ – Today Bath & Body Works announces its inclusion on Newsweek’s list of the World’s Most Trustworthy Companies.

In collaboration with global data research firm Statista, the publication completed an extensive survey of over 70,000 participants, gathering 269,000 evaluations of companies that people trust as a customer, as an investor and as an employee. This is Newsweek’s first listing of the World’s Most Trustworthy Companies, and it includes 1,000 companies in 21 countries and 23 industries. Bath & Body Works ranks 6th in the category of Consumer Goods and is the top U.S.-based company in the category.

“We’re honored to be recognized as one of the World’s Most Trustworthy Companies by Newsweek,” says Bath & Body Works CEO Gina Boswell. “For more than 30 years, we’ve been a global leader in our industry with our customers at the center of everything we do. We continue to build on that strong foundation of connecting with the customer through fragrance by offering outstanding products and a terrific shopping experience whether online or in store.”

In addition to making Newsweek’s list of the World’s Most Trustworthy Companies, Bath & Body Works recently has been recognized in several other ways including:

America’s Greatest Workplaces by NewsweekAmerica’s Best Workplaces for Women by NewsweekAmerica’s Greatest Workplaces for LGBTQ+ individuals by NewsweekMost Trustworthy Companies in America by NewsweekDiversity in Business Award by Columbus Business FirstForbes List of America’s Best Large EmployersForbes List of America’s Best Employers for WomenA Diversity First Top 50 Company by the Diversity Research Institute

For more information about Bath & Body Works, visit bbwinc.com.

ABOUT BATH & BODY WORKS

Home of America’s Favorite Fragrances®, Bath & Body Works is a global leader in personal care and home fragrance, including top-selling collections for fine fragrance mist, body lotion and body cream, 3-wick candles, home fragrance diffusers and liquid hand soap. Powered by agility and innovation, the company’s predominantly U.S.-based supply chain enables the company to deliver quality, on-trend luxuries at affordable prices. Bath & Body Works serves and delights customers however and wherever they want to shop, from welcoming, in-store experiences at more than 1,820 company-operated Bath & Body Works locations in the U.S. and Canada and more than 440 international franchised locations to an online storefront at BathandBodyWorks.com.

For more information, please contact:

Bath & Body Works, Inc.: 
Media Relations 
Emmy Beach 
Communications@bbw.com

The number of Chief Sustainability Officers (CSOs) have tripled in the past two years. Many are relatively new and are tasked to lead the development of sustainability plans and interact with various departments across the enterprise. Recently, retailers have made more significant commitments to sustainability goals, aligned them to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and enlisted board and management support to finalize and socialize these plans. CSOs and their sustainability teams will soon realize that data must be a more prominent consideration in their plan. They’ll need a more defined data strategy and governance approach, which may sit outside their skillset.

Sustainability Data and Governance

CSOs have the expertise in understanding the governmental regulations, environmental science, understanding stakeholder interests and developing plans and systems to lead organizational success in sustainability. CSOs must also build trust – trust that the plans are appropriate and that the various sustainability reports are accurate, which ultimately means trust in data.

Data is central to the sustainability plans in any organization. Retailers need to collect data from various sources, such as suppliers, store locations, warehouse sites and product data and bring it together as a single trustworthy source. They must use strong data governance practices continuously to ensure the data is accurate and up to date.

Closer Collaboration Between Technology, Business and Sustainability Roles

Fortunately, many companies have undergone some type of digital transformation in the past several years, which can help the adoption and use of new data. Understanding that data is a valuable resource, and that it’s everyone’s role to maximize the value of data and use it appropriately, is now part of many companies’ data culture.

Data of all types are assets that need to be governed, enriched and maximized internally and shared with confidence with consumers. With the introduction of new sustainability plans, CSOs and their teams will be introducing novel processes and varieties of data to business teams. CSOs need to work with data and marketing teams to strategically tie sustainability goals to corporate, marketing and business goals. Furthermore, business data embedded into marketing and operational activities now needs to ensure sustainability information is integrated into existing processes and decision points.

Chief Marketing Officer

Marketing and merchandising leaders and their teams have traditionally owned consumer messaging, product content and promotional communication. The commitments to sustainability have opened up new paradigms to marketing. Along with reaching consumers with the right product and encouraging new and repeat purchases, there is a rising need for sustainability messaging. Promotions are starting to involve sustainability, such as advertising high nutritional, environment-friendly products that claim fair-trading practices or other claims relevant to the category. The complexity of managing more voluminous data and a greater variety of data requires marketing teams to work more closely with the sustainability leaders in retail organizations.

Chief Data Officer

Along with CSOs, data leadership roles are growing in popularity at retailers. As data complexity rises and expectations of speed to market increase, data needs to flow to business teams in a governed way and feed business analytic applications. The CDO is the owner of the data and partners with the CIO to ensure the data framework is set up for the organization and flexible enough to bring in new data, such as sustainability data. Furthermore, the CDO must work with the Chief Sustainability Officer and CMO to build rules and workflow approvals to safeguard against greenwashing. Building a trustworthy and transparent data model inclusive of sustainability data ensures consistent ESG reporting over time.

Collaboration Strategies Among Key CSO Partners

While it may be easy for several retail leaders to align on the goals and agree that their teams will work together on a common goal, there is loads of work to do and processes to build to make it happen. Changing business activities and behaviors to reach the aggressive business and sustainability goals requires a technology platform where work activities can be visible, interdepartmental handoffs can be designed and tasks can be efficiently completed across teams.

Multidomain master data management is the platform where organizations can launch data projects to add sustainability attribution to products, provides additional environmental facts for store locations and other operational sites and add facts and documentation to provide evidence of the sustainable practices of the retail vendors.

Sustainability master data governed on the right platform not only reduces the gaps, limits miscommunication, reduces regulatory risk but also provides transparency for all these activities. A collaborative, data-driven approach gives greater confidence to organizations and CSOs to communicate progress on goals to all stakeholders and consumers.