Tag: 3BL

NEW HAVEN, Conn. and AMSTERDAM and HONG KONG and OAKLAND, Calif., September 25, 2026 /3BL/ – Cascale and Worldly will collaborate directly with a Yale instructor to bring the Higg Index and real-world case studies to a fashion value chain course at the Yale School of the Environment.

The collaboration centers on three industry-informed case studies for the semester commencing in September 2026, as part of a broader curriculum, and brings interdisciplinary real-world examples to the classroom across subject areas for more in-depth learning. The course is titled “Transforming Global Value Chains for Sustainability: The Case of Fashion and Textiles’” at the Yale School of the Environment. Yale will also be joining Cascale’s membership base.

“Yale is where I learned how to analyze complex systems where there were no clear answers. In the years since, mentoring students who want to work at the intersection of business and sustainability, I’ve seen how a lack of access to the tools and data the industry actually runs on holds back brilliant students’ abilities to understand the whole picture,” said J.R. Siegel, vice president of sustainability at Worldly, who is also a Yale alumni and mentor. “This course closes that gap. Last year alone, facilities shared verified data with brands through Worldly more than 100,000 times. Students who work with the same platform and data will start their careers understanding how the work gets done, not just in theory but in practice.”

“Students want real industry experience in sustainability fields, but they rarely get access to the leaders, frameworks, and real-world context shaping global value chains,” said Lee Green, vice president of marketing, communications, and public affairs at Cascale. “Convening that expertise is what Cascale does. Bringing it into a Yale classroom is simply how we put it to work preparing the next generation. ”

Students will dive deeper into how environmental factors such as water use, chemical management, greenhouse gases, land use, waste, and more influence sustainability progress. They will also examine the social impact of the industry and how it addresses human rights. Uniquely, the course is open to Yale students across disciplines.

“Complex industries like consumer goods and fashion offer an incredibly rare opportunity for multi-disciplinary engagement and discoveries,” said Michelle Gabriel, lecturer at Yale School of the Environment (YSE) and resident fellow at the Yale Center for Business and the Environment (CBEY) . “Known for its significant environmental footprint, deeply entwined social implications, and historic underregulation, the subject matter is prime for students across Yale to engage in real-world problem solving. There is immense value that emerges when academia mingles with industry. In collaborating directly with reputable organizations like Cascale and Worldly, I’m confident that we will lay the groundwork for closer collaboration between academia and industry.”

Brands, retailers, and manufacturers came together 15 years ago to develop the Higg Index and continue to shape its impact today. It is one of the most widely adopted impact measurement frameworks in consumer goods. Organizations worldwide rely on the Higg Index to identify, understand, measure, and act to improve social and environmental performance. It is exclusively available on the Worldly platform, with methodology shaped by Cascale and its members. Consumer goods companies and their suppliers use Worldly to prove how their products are made so they can report, comply, and act.

The contributed case studies will explore the role and value of multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs) and unique stakeholder perspectives and the value of responsible purchasing practices using Cascale Better Buying survey insights.

Academia is a valued part of Cascale membership and Worldly’s platform user base. For more information on Cascale membership, explore membership. Learn about the Higg Index and explore Worldly’s current offerings.

This partnership signals a broader shift in how the industry develops talent. By embedding real tools and real data into academia, Worldly and Cascale are raising the bar for the next generation of sustainability professionals.

Media Contact: Forster Communications, cascaleforster@forster.co.uk

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ABOUT CASCALE

Cascale is the global nonprofit industry alliance where consumer goods organizations turn shared sustainability ambitions into measurable progress at scale to combat climate change and support decent work for all. We unite 300 Corporate and Affiliate members in pre-competitive collaboration, turning shared measurement and collective action into reduced risk, stronger credibility, and long-term resilience. Our work is anchored by Cascale’s stewardship of the Higg Index frameworks (accessed through the Worldly compliance and sustainability platform), along with the Better Buying and Sustainable Furnishings Council tools.

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ABOUT WORLDLY

Worldly is the compliance and sustainability platform where consumer goods companies and their suppliers prove how their products are made, so they can report, comply, and act. Suppliers save time by reporting through one industry framework, sharing their assessments over 100,000 times annually on Worldly. Retailers and consumer goods brands get environmental, social, and chemical data together in one place, at the facility and product level. AI built on verified facility data, not estimates, turns that data into answers, showing companies where risk sits in their supply chains and where to act first.

AKRON, Ohio, September 25, 2026 /3BL/ – KeyBank and the KeyBank Foundation announced a $200,000 investment in the Stark State College Foundation to provide financial assistance and student support services that will help students complete their education and pursue careers in high-demand fields throughout Northeast Ohio.

As part of the four-year investment, 40 qualifying students will receive $1,000 KeyBank Presidential Scholarships annually. The scholarships will help offset the cost of tuition, fees, books, transportation and other expenses associated with attending college. Funding will also support essential basic needs and student support services, ensuring students have access to resources that help them stay enrolled and succeed.

“Stark State College and KeyBank share a fundamental belief that when individuals succeed, communities thrive,” said Mattie Jones Hollowell, KeyBank Corporate Responsibility Officer. “Through the KeyBank Presidential Scholarship Program, we are helping remove financial barriers that can stand in the way of a student achieving their goals. We are proud to partner with Stark State College and the Stark State College Foundation to have a lasting impact on students, local employers and Northeast Ohio as a whole.”

During the grant period, the scholarship program is expected to impact up to 160 students. To qualify, students must achieve and maintain a 3.0 grade point average. Scholarship recipients will be tracked throughout their academic journey, with outcomes including retention, completion, transfer and employment measured to evaluate the program’s success.

“KeyBank has long been a valued partner of our college and its students,” said Para M. Jones, Ph.D., Stark State College President. “This grant is a strategic investment that will empower students from all backgrounds to discover rewarding career paths, helping build a stronger future for them and a more skilled workforce for our region.”

Stark State serves more than 13,000 students annually, offering more than 200 associate degree, bachelor’s degree, certificate and credential programs. To help meet critical workforce needs, the college partners with over 95 employers across industries including healthcare, manufacturing, public safety, business and information technology. Around 76% of Stark State students attend college part time, and more than 70% hold jobs while in school.

ABOUT KEYCORP

KeyCorp’s roots trace back more than 200 years to Albany, New York. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Key is one of the nation’s largest bank-based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $191 billion at June 30, 2026.

Key provides deposit, lending, cash management, and investment services to individuals and businesses in 15 states under the name KeyBank National Association through a network of approximately 950 branches and approximately 1,100 ATMs. Key also provides a broad range of sophisticated corporate and investment banking products, such as merger and acquisition advice, public and private debt and equity, syndications and derivatives to middle market companies in selected industries throughout the United States under the KeyBanc Capital Markets trade name. For more information, visit https://www.key.com/. KeyBank Member FDIC.

Originally published on CVS Health Company Newsroom

The demand for reliable energy continues to grow, and for CVS Health, dependable operations are essential to serving millions of patients and customers across the country. That’s why we’re expanding our use of renewable electricity and investing in energy solutions that help reduce emissions, strengthen business resilience and support uninterrupted care. These efforts are part of our goal to source 50% of our energy from renewable electricity by 2040 while building a healthier, more sustainable future for the communities we serve.

Through new and expanded power purchase agreements (PPAs), we’re increasing our use of clean electricity to support our operations. These efforts are part of our broader approach to sustainability, one that’s rooted in improving health outcomes over time.

“As a health solutions company, we recognize that the health of our communities is closely connected to the health of our environment,” said Jenny McColloch, Chief Sustainability Officer of CVS Health. “By investing in renewable energy, we’re reducing emissions, strengthening the resilience of our operations and ensuring continuity of care for the patients and customers we serve in communities across the country.”

Why renewable energy agreements matter

The need for reliable, affordable energy is growing, especially as industries expand and power demand increases. Across sectors, organizations are turning to renewable energy sources to strengthen long-term energy stability and manage costs.

For CVS Health, renewable energy agreements help support the stores, pharmacies, clinics and facilities that patients and customers rely on every day. They also help strengthen the energy system and support a cleaner future for the communities we serve.

What’s happening

Since 2022, we’ve made seven large-scale investments in renewable energy. Most recently in Maryland and putting energy-saving solutions into practice across our operations to reduce energy use and improve efficiency.

So far, we’ve secured agreements to source more than 969,000 megawatt hours (MWh) of clean energy as these projects come online. These efforts are helping move us closer to our goal of sourcing 50% renewable electricity by 2040. In 2025, renewable electricity represented approximately 33% of our total electricity use.

How a renewable energy power purchase agreement works

A power purchase agreement is a long-term contract that supports the development of renewable energy projects, such as solar and wind farms, while allowing CVS Health to purchase renewable electricity without building or operating the projects ourselves.

Here’s how it works in practice:

• Renewable energy is generated offsite from projects across the U.S.
• That energy is delivered to the grid and helps increase the overall supply of clean electricity
• CVS Health receives the environmental benefits, which are credited against our electricity use

These agreements typically span multiple years, providing predictable access to clean energy sources while supporting the development of new renewable capacity.

What clean energy means for CVS Health’s carbon footprint

Our renewable energy investments are a key part of reducing our Scope 2 GHG emissions – the emissions associated with the electricity we use to operate our stores, clinics and facilities.

By increasing the amount of clean electricity in our energy mix, we’re making steady progress toward lowering our overall carbon footprint.

These efforts help us:

• Improve the efficiency of how we operate
• Support long-term energy reliability
• Contribute to a more sustainable energy system 

All of which ultimately support the communities and patients we serve. They also help improve air quality by reducing reliance on fossil fuels, which can contribute to respiratory and cardiovascular health issues. At the same time, investing in a more resilient energy system helps us continue serving patients and communities during periods of increased demand and extreme weather.

The bottom line

Investing in renewable energy is one way we’re helping build a healthier future. By reducing emissions, supporting cleaner air and strengthening the resilience of our operations, we’re helping ensure we can continue caring for patients and serving communities today and in the years ahead.

In 2017, I was a young student nurse in Kenya, grappling with the stark realities of our national healthcare system. I saw families drained financially and emotionally by long-term hospital stays for their loved ones. The pain was not just in the illness but in the struggle for dignity and care. This is where Bena Care began—from a deep conviction that healthcare could be more compassionate, more accessible.

A perspective by Naom Monari, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Bena Care

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Bena Care builds a network of healthcare workers, primarily made up of nurses, physiotherapists and caregivers to deliver affordable home-nursing services and in-home therapy for chronically ill patients. Today, Bena Care has served over 16,000 patients, bringing care into homes where it’s needed most. Many of them report that this service has the potential to save them up to half of their healthcare costs. But behind these numbers are stories—a mother relieved that her son can receive dialysis closer to home, a daughter able to provide care for her mother because she was trained by our team. These are the stories that keep me going, even when the road ahead looks incredibly difficult to navigate.

• Bena Care has served over 16,000 patients, bringing care into homes where it’s needed most.

A lifeline in Boehringer Ingelheim: expanding health coverage options

In 2021, Bena Care reached a critical juncture. Running a social enterprise in healthcare is not for the faint-hearted. The financial pressures, the systemic challenges, the endless need—it can feel insurmountable. That’s when Boehringer Ingelheim’s Making More Health (MMH) entrepreneur support program came into our lives. It was more than just an opportunity, it was validation. Someone saw the potential in what we were doing and said: “Let’s make this bigger.”

Through MMH, we piloted programs that had long been part of my vision. We trained family caregivers, empowering them to provide supportive care. We launched free screenings in communities heavily burdened by diabetes and hypertension, focusing on early detection and intervention. These initiatives didn’t just work—they transformed us. Even after the program ended, these programs remained at the heart of Bena Care’s mission.

Read the whole piece on Imagine – Boehringer Ingelheim’s sustainability story hub.

We went to Athens with a question instead of a position. Who Pays, Who Profits, and What Changes? We chose this theme for Annual Meeting 2026 because it is the question members keep raising privately and the industry keeps deferring publicly. Over three days in September, 600 attendees and 75 speakers took it on across the Main Stage, the Impact Stage, the Worldly Stage, the Collaboration Stage, and a full slate of closed-door rooms.

What came back was more useful than consensus. It was a diagnosis.

Event emcee Isabelle Kumar put it plainly as she opened the meeting: “The question is no longer whether transformation happens. The question is how — how responsibility is shared, how investment is aligned, how value is created across the chain.” Nothing in the following three days contradicted her. The goals the industry set itself have not changed. Decarbonization, decent work, resilient supply chains; nobody in Athens argued for retreat from any of them. What has changed is the environment in which they have to be delivered: tariffs, trade fragmentation, thinner consumer wallets, regulation arriving faster than the systems built to answer it, and a macro climate that has made capital cautious.

The instinct in that environment is to assume the barrier is money. Athens suggested otherwise. On the finance panel, Kurt Kipka of the Apparel Impact Institute (Aii) framed the constraint as coordination rather than capital: projects stall when the business case is solid for a brand’s CFO but not yet a win for the manufacturer or at the scale a bank needs. Clair Smith of HSBC was direct about what banks actually require — a plain business case, cash-flow visibility, workable risk-sharing. Manufacturers spend now and see returns later, and buyer signals matter because banks assess cash flow. Asif Khan of Mondetta made the same point from the other end of the chain: “If you have season-to-season buying, that doesn’t build confidence. If you have a long-term partnership, that gives you confidence to invest.”

That is not a financing problem. It is a misalignment between how long transformation takes to pay back and how short our commercial relationships are.

The heat-stress sessions took the argument further, and for me they were the sharpest hours of the meeting. Dr. Vidhura Ralapanawe of Epic Group showed how far the technical foundations have fallen behind: the meteorological data underpinning factory design in India dates from 2007 to 2011, and the standard assumed a peak of 39°C where 2024 reached 45°C. We are designing buildings for a climate that no longer exists. The commercial bind is just as real — heat now peaks in the same months that back-to-school and holiday orders do, and as Brian La Plante of YKK put it, manufacturers are rated on on-time supply while the breaks that protect workers can cut output by as much as a quarter.

Priydarshini Gouthi of Shahi Exports then dismantled the assumption underneath most of our climate adaptation conversations happening on the factory floor. Alleged productivity “gains” from heat remediation only recover output already lost to heat. “That’s why the premise that there’s a business case for addressing heat stress doesn’t inherently exist. That’s why we need shared responsibility,” she said.

Adaptation is a shared cost to carry. Treating it as a return-on-investment play sets manufacturers up to fail. That is an uncomfortable finding, and it is the most honest thing the meeting produced.

Underneath all of this sat a question about our own work: what the data is actually for. Logan Duran, who leads ESG and sustainability at Tapestry, gave the most concrete answer I heard. Tapestry uses the Higg Facility Environmental Module (Higg FEM) as the foundation for performance conversations with its manufacturing partners, and has put social and environmental metrics into the manufacturer scorecard. The weighting is small, but it moves allocation decisions. And weak environmental and social scores, he said, tend to track with weak delivery and quality. That is the Higg Index doing what it was built for: informing a commercial decision rather than filling a report. The next step in that work was on the Impact Stage, where the team set out the Foundational Environmental Performance Module — a question set drawn entirely from existing Higg FEM Level 1 questions, shaped with 80 stakeholders across more than 30 organizations, with a technical paper and member dashboard now available. As Ying put it on the Main Stage, the next chapter is about “turning measurement into insights, insights into investment, action, and measurable results.”

Honesty was something of a through-line. John Morrison, in conversation with Cascale’s Rachel Lincoln Sarnoff, argued that the backlash against sustainability is partly self-inflicted — a movement that overextended, worked in silos, and leaned on awareness over delivery, opening a gap between claim and reality that opponents have been happy to exploit. Sandrine Dixson-Declève, whose keynote opened this year’s Annual Meeting, held the tension without resolving it too neatly: “There is too much bad news to justify complacency, but there’s too much good news to justify despair.”

And Greece’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Harry Theoharis, gave the policy version of the same thought. “Competitiveness and sustainability can no longer be treated as separate agendas,” he told the room. The work, as he put it, is making sustainability investable, measurable, and economically viable.

If there is a single organizing idea to take from Athens, it came from Rick Ridgeway in his closing plenary, borrowing Morrison’s line: what our organizations need is not a chief sustainability officer but a chief systems officer. Sean Cady of VF supplied the discipline that goes with it — if you cannot articulate the value an activity creates, reconsider whether it belongs on your list at all, and expect that the biggest wins will cost money rather than save it.

This was also Ying McGuire’s first Annual Meeting as our CEO, and she chose not to arrive with a finished strategy. Members were instead invited into a systems-mapping process — a revisit of the map this industry first drew in 2014 — that will inform Cascale’s ten-year vision and 2027 priorities, with the work concluding in December. “Cascale does not belong to a few,” she told the Main Stage. “It belongs to the community.”

Which brings me to Bangkok. The Cascale Annual Meeting 2027 will be held in Thailand, and from January at least half of the program will be shaped by members themselves through an open request-for-proposal process, with a host committee of senior leaders from companies operating in Thailand and the region. Taking the meeting to a major manufacturing region, with the agenda partly in the hands of members, is a reasonable test of the argument Athens made. If the costs and the decisions genuinely need to be shared, then the program should be too.

Ying’s closing line was the right one to leave with: “Between now and then we are going to execute. We’re not just going to talk about it.”

Thank you to everyone who made Athens what it was. We’ll see you in Bangkok.

Lee Green is vice president of marketing, communications and public affairs at Cascale.

What if measuring your pharmaceutical products’ environmental footprints could open doors that price alone never will? Clinical outcomes and cost have always decided whether a new pharmaceutical product — be it a vaccine, weight loss drug, or chemotherapy — reaches patients. That’s not going to change, nor should it. But lately, the institutions that decide which therapies make it to market are asking a new question: What impact does this therapy have on the environment? They want medicines built with raw materials that have a low environmental impact and that won’t become a regulatory liability in the future. They’re looking for therapies that leave less behind at end of life, and whose footprint a company can prove with data.

Including the environmental impact of therapies has never been a requirement, voluntary or mandatory, for market access bids, but this could be changing. For pharmaceutical companies ready to get ahead of that shift, a new standard for Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) and Product Carbon Footprints (PCFs) is fast becoming one of the most powerful tools for winning market access.

Long considered the touchstone for measuring the environmental impacts of products as varied as food, furniture, concrete, and glass, LCAs give companies and their suppliers a clear, data-driven understanding of environmental hotspots across manufacturing and supply chains, while PCFs — an LCA focused solely on a product’s climate change impact — help companies drill down into their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Yet despite their proven value elsewhere, the use of LCAs and PCFs in the pharmaceutical industry has never been standardized until now.

Introducing PAS 2090:2025, Pharmaceutical products – Product category rules for environmental life cycle assessments, the first internationally applicable framework for conducting both LCA and PCF assessments of pharmaceutical products. Here, we explore how PAS 2090-aligned LCAs and PCFs help pharma companies make sustainable decisions, reduce risk, and lead within a climate-conscious market.

Introduction of PAS 2090:2025

Released in November 2025, PAS 2090 reflects considerable cross-sector collaboration. The standard was developed by the British Standards Institution (BSI) with co-sponsorship from NHS England, the Office for Life Sciences (UK), and the Pharmaceutical LCA Consortium, using extensive global stakeholder input with insights from academia and healthcare. Over 475 stakeholders from 35 countries participated via a digital engagement hub, with more than 400 public comments submitted during the public consultation period.

In terms of functional specifications, PAS 2090 covers “pharmaceutical products intended for human use and the pharmaceutical product life cycle, including the drug substance, formulation, device (if applicable), packaging, distribution, patient use and end of product life.” It guides the process of assessing the environmental impact of pharmaceutical products from “cradle,” as in the sourcing of raw materials, up until the product’s final disposal, or “grave,” at end of life.

Though still in a nascent stage, the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations recognizes PAS 2090 as the “first publicly available specification to establish harmonized Product Category Rules (PCR) for conducting LCAs and PCFs of pharmaceutical products.” By adopting one unified standard, companies can generate aligned assessments without producing different analyses for each healthcare payer, thus reducing workload and improving trust in the data for payers and health tech evaluators. We’re looking at a new era of transparency and comparability ushered in by this new, publicly available specification.

Growing Importance in Market Access

The details of LCA standardization across the global pharmaceutical industry will need more time to be carved out completely. But already major health systems including NHS England, The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, and the Norwegian Hospital Procurement Trust are increasingly looking at integrating environmental criteria into therapy evaluation and purchasing. As a result, therapies supported by credible LCA and PCF data can gain a competitive advantage in market access and tendering. (Tender, or tendering, refers to a formal process by which pharmaceutical therapies and healthcare technologies are procured.)

Consider the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), which sits at the gateway to the UK public healthcare market. Its rigorous assessments of a health technology’s safety, clinical effectiveness, and affordability directly shape what the National Health Service (NHS) will fund. Now, NICE is exploring whether environmental impact evidence could join that submission, and whether it would be structured much like the clinical and cost-effectiveness data producers must submit as part of their market access bids. Their Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Innovation Laboratory is assessing what the evidence might look like, and looks to PAS 2090 as the standard that can provide a credible, consistent framework.

Healthcare payers are beginning to evaluate the environmental footprint of the therapies they buy. In crowded therapeutic categories, that creates an opening. Early adopters that showcase credible LCA and PCF data can differentiate their products and demonstrate the exact kind of leadership that resonates in a climate-conscious world. This is especially powerful for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that can’t always win on price. Environmental performance gives them a different way to compete — one built on integrity and innovation rather than a race to the bottom on cost. And there’s now evidence that it works.

In a case study conducted with the Norwegian Hospital Procurement Trust (Sykehusinnkjøp), researchers found that prioritizing environmental criteria paid off in the long run through a more secure supply chain and a shift away from non-renewable materials. Rewarding environmental performance over price raised public spending in the short term, but it kept suppliers in the market and reduced medicine shortages over time. Most tellingly, in the Trust’s anti-infectives tender, environmental criteria brought suppliers back into contention — 8 of 21 contracts went to bids that were not the lowest priced. In other words, by showcasing their products’ reduced environmental impact along with assessments of supply chain risks and hotspots, some companies are returning with competitive bids that not too long ago may have had little hope of winning.

Operational and Supply Chain Benefits

LCAs also offer a number of benefits for improved business operations and overall supply chain efficiency. By pinpointing energy intensive steps and materials with disproportionate environmental impacts, LCAs provide companies with a better understanding of their critical supply chain vulnerabilities. And by tending to these hotspots strategically, organizations can reduce environmental risk, optimize performance, and lower long-term operational costs.

A few highlighted benefits coming from the use of LCA in support of pharmaceutical product development include:

• Process optimization, spotting materials and supply chain areas with outsized environmental impact.
• Minimizing waste and harmful emissions across the product’s life cycle for environmental and regulatory gains.
• Resource-efficient product design, resulting in lower material and energy use and decreased production costs.
• Enhanced supply chain resilience, as LCA insights help address process and supply chain vulnerabilities before they disrupt operations.

Future-proofing for 2030 and Beyond

A decade from now, environmental data won’t be a differentiator — it will be an expectation. Climate pressures and resource scarcity are already reshaping operational risk and cost, and global health systems are steadily raising the bar for the environmental evidence they require from suppliers.

Companies that adopt PAS 2090-aligned LCAs today are doing more than reducing impact. They’re future-proofing, building the transparency and market credibility that tomorrow’s industry will demand. The head start starts now.

Ready to Strengthen Your Environmental Strategy?

Our LCA experts help pharmaceutical companies and suppliers generate high quality, PAS 2090 aligned assessments that unlock strategic, operational, and market access advantages.

Contact us to get started with an LCA or PCF that elevates your sustainability and competitive position.

About the Author

Millicent Gabriel is a Life Cycle Associate and sustainability consultant with SCS Consulting Services, bridging life sciences and environmental stewardship. She holds an MS from Northeastern University in Cell and Tissue Engineering and a BS in Chemical Engineering. With a five-year background in the pharmaceutical sector, she combines expertise in Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) and Product Carbon Footprints (PCF) to help empower clients to make smart decisions for emission reductions. She also focuses on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and end-of-life management of products and packaging.

 

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Imagine learning that your home has been sold without your knowledge.

That is the potential consequence of home title theft, a form of fraud that can expose property owners to foreclosure, financial losses and legal disputes. KeyBank is providing tips to help you understand how the scheme works, recognize its warning signs and monitor property records so you can respond quickly to suspicious activity.

What is home title theft?

Home title theft, also called title fraud or deed fraud, occurs when a criminal uses forged documents to fraudulently transfer ownership of a property. Because property documents are filed in public records, the fraudulent transfer may go unnoticed until the legitimate owner receives an unexpected notice or discovers another problem.

After appearing as the owner on paper, a fraudster may attempt to:

• Sell the property to an unsuspecting buyer.
• Obtain a mortgage or home equity loan using the property.
• Rent the property and collect income.
• Take the proceeds and leave the legitimate owner to address the resulting financial and legal issues.

How does home title theft happen?

Home title theft commonly follows three stages:

1. A criminal obtains the homeowner’s personal information

Fraudsters may acquire personal information through data breaches, phishing emails, stolen mail, malware or purchases on the dark web.

2. The criminal creates forged property documents

Using the stolen information, the fraudster creates fraudulent property records, sometimes including a quitclaim deed, and forges the owner’s signature.

3. The documents are filed with a county office

The fraudulent documents are submitted to the county recorder’s office. Once recorded, public records may incorrectly show the fraudster as the property’s legal owner.

Who may face greater risk of title fraud?

Some properties and homeowners may warrant closer monitoring. These include:

• Seniors who may overlook early warning signs.
• Owners of vacation homes or rental properties.
• Estates belonging to recently deceased homeowners.
• Longtime homeowners with substantial equity and little or no remaining mortgage debt.
• People who have previously experienced identity theft or a data breach.

What are the warning signs of home title theft?

Homeowners should investigate unusual financial, legal or property-related activity. Potential warning signs include:

• Bills, loan statements or foreclosure notices that were not expected.
• Mail referencing a property sale or transfer the owner did not authorize.
• Property tax or utility bills issued in another person’s name.
• Unknown tenants or prospective buyers arriving at the property.
• Mortgages or credit inquiries the homeowner does not recognize.
• County notifications concerning documents the homeowner did not file.

No single sign necessarily establishes that title fraud has occurred, but unfamiliar activity should be verified promptly through the appropriate financial institution, credit bureau or county office.

How can homeowners help protect themselves?

Protect personal information and important documents

Homeowners can reduce exposure by shredding sensitive documents before disposal and storing original deeds in a fireproof safe. They should not provide one-time passcodes, PINs, passwords, Social Security numbers, birth dates, driver’s license numbers or other confidential information to unverified contacts.

Unexpected messages or requests should be verified by contacting the person or organization through a known phone number or trusted communication channel. KeyBank also recommends passwords containing at least 15 characters, with upper- and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols, as well as multifactor authentication whenever it is available.

Monitor credit reports and property records

Homeowners should review their credit reports for unfamiliar mortgages or home equity lines of credit. A credit-monitoring service can also provide alerts about changes to a credit report.

Some counties provide free property-fraud alerts. Homeowners can search for their county’s property fraud alert program and enroll if one is available. KeyBank also recommends checking the county recorder’s website for unauthorized filings and reviewing property records at least quarterly.

Review owner’s title insurance options

Owner’s title insurance is generally purchased once and is intended to protect the owner’s legal property rights. Depending on the terms and conditions of a specific policy, coverage may include legal expenses arising from a fraudulent ownership claim, financial losses connected to forgery or identity theft, and defense against invalid liens or claims.

Homeowners should consult their title insurance provider to understand the protections, exclusions and claim requirements in their own policy.

What should you do if you suspect home title theft?

A homeowner who discovers suspicious property activity should take the following steps:

1. Contact the county recorder or registrar of deeds. Verify recent filings and request copies of documents that appear suspicious.
2. Contact relevant banks or financial institutions. KeyBank clients can report suspected fraud through the online banking Security Center, call the Fraud Client Service Center at 1-800-433-0124, dial 711 for TTY/TRS, or visit a KeyBank branch.
3. File a police report. A report establishes a legal record of the suspected fraud.
4. Contact the three major credit bureaus. Obtain a credit report and consider placing fraud alerts and a credit freeze. The numbers listed by KeyBank are Equifax: 1-800-685-1111, Experian: 1-888-397-3742 and TransUnion: 1-800-909-9972.
5. Report the identity theft to the Federal Trade Commission. Reports can be submitted at IdentityTheft.gov or by calling 1-877-438-4338.
6. Contact a real estate attorney. Legal assistance may be needed to resolve a disputed property title.
7. Notify the title insurance company. Homeowners with applicable coverage should contact the insurer about filing a claim.

Frequently asked questions about home title theft

Is home title theft the same as deed fraud?

Yes. The terms home title theft, title fraud and deed fraud are commonly used to describe schemes in which forged documents are used to fraudulently transfer property ownership.

Can someone take out a loan using a stolen property title?

A fraudster who appears as the owner in property records may attempt to obtain a mortgage or home equity loan against the property.

How can I check whether my property title has changed?

Review records through the county recorder’s website or office and request copies of any unfamiliar filings. If the county offers a property-fraud alert program, homeowners can enroll to receive notifications.

Does title insurance cover home title theft?

Coverage depends on the specific policy. Some owner’s title insurance policies may cover legal fees, losses related to forgery or identity theft, or defense against invalid claims and liens.

Where can KeyBank clients report suspected fraud?

KeyBank clients can use the online banking Security Center, call 1-800-433-0124, dial 711 for TTY/TRS, or visit a KeyBank branch.

Staying informed about fraud

KeyBank provides educational information about fraud, emerging scams and preventive strategies. Additional resources are available through KeyBank’s fraud information center at key.com/fraud.
 

^{This material is provided as general information only; the information contained herein may not apply to all situations. Nothing in this material shall be regarded as an offer or solicitation by KeyBank or its affiliates. This is not intended to be a recommendation or advice for your specific situation (including financial, accounting, legal, or tax advice). Consult appropriate professionals for your specific circumstances.}

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by Subho Mukherjee

As the effects of climate change become more pronounced, extreme weather events such as hurricanes and droughts are happening more often and becoming increasingly severe. Failures across power, communications, transportation, healthcare, and emergency networks deepen the adverse impacts on communities and hinder their recovery, which is why protecting critical systems during crises is essential. 

With extreme weather events expected to intensify in the coming decades, emergency responders and decision-makers must plan in advance to mitigate weather-related disruptions to the systems that keep people and communities safe. 

As a provider of advanced connectivity infrastructure, Nokia operates at the intersection of society’s most essential services — from power to transportation, healthcare to emergency response, and more. Resilient connectivity is the glue that holds critical systems together and allows them to operate in tandem when crisis strikes.

Connectivity ensures resilient ecosystems

Resilient communities that can withstand crisis require four core infrastructure components functioning together: 

1. Weather intelligence to provide early warning signs of risk.
2. Critical infrastructure such as telecommunications and utilities that maintain essential services.
3. Emergency response coordination through public safety agencies, healthcare providers, and local authorities. 
4. Community resilience to support recovery through governments, NGOs, schools, shelters, and more.

If one part of the ecosystem breaks down, the ripple effects often cause cascading and worsening community impact. For example, a power outage may cause wastewater system failures that worsen flooding or a communications blackout that leaves residents and first responders in the dark.

Historic U.S. storms show how infrastructure failures can cascade. In 2012, Hurricane Sandy caused power outages across 18 states and disabled wastewater systems, worsening flooding and health risks. During Hurricane Helene in 2024, an alternative statewide radio network enabled Tennessee responders to coordinate a helicopter rescue after traditional radios failed.

The essential nature of network connectivity is putting pressure on telecoms to keep communities connected when crisis strikes, with five forces driving change:

1. Financial risk
2. Government pressure
3. Social impact targets and community responsibility
4. Ecosystem opportunities
5. Brand and competitive positioning

Telecom providers faced public pushback following recent connection failures, including the 2025 Iberian Peninsula electricity blackout, which left more than 50 million people in Spain and Portugal without electricity for up to 16 hours and disrupted critical infrastructure just when it was needed most. The telecom industry was among the most affected. Internet traffic dropped roughly 90% in Portugal and 80% in Spain, and citizens lost access to mobile networks due to depleted backup power systems. Following the blackout, many telecom operators received criticism for their lack of preparedness and over-reliance on traditional power grids. 

Storms Claudia and Kristin battered the peninsula months later, further exposing the vulnerabilities of the region’s telecom networks. Storm Claudia brought flooding and power outages to Portugal and Spain, while Kristin left over a million people without electricity and toppled thousands of telecom and electricity poles in Portugal. Since then, Spain has announced it will require telecoms to provide a four-hour minimum of mobile coverage during power outages, while Portugal’s telecom regulator recommended new network autonomy requirements.

Telecoms around the world are facing similar challenges. In addition to the communication challenges experienced during Hurricane Helene in the United States, the 2024 wildfires in Canada exposed the gaps in telecom infrastructure across North America’s remote areas. Through our own research with CGI, looking at disasters recorded 2015-25, we have seen that those US states with a Nokia footprint that have seen the highest number of disasters include Texas with 87 disasters in that period, followed by Missouri with 61, and Oklahoma with 58. These compounding events challenge telecoms to invest in preparedness and build resilience early.

The need for system-level action 

The next generation of connectivity must therefore see resilience embedded from the start, taking into account how networks are designed, deployed, operated, and restored.

By prioritizing network resilience, telecoms safeguard themselves from future risks, ensure essential infrastructure services remain connected, and protect their communities in the process.

How Nokia’s AI-driven resilient connectivity approach enables ecosystem coordination

As an advanced connectivity technology provider, Nokia, working closely with Telco as well as other mission critical service providers, fosters ecosystem resilience in communities by providing the backbone infrastructure that ensures essential services — such as emergency response teams, hospitals, and government agencies — can communicate with one another. This covers everything from the foundational network technology through to sensing and detection, power continuity and edge resilience. 

• Foundational networks. Nokia’s high-capacity fiber strengthens critical services, while satellite-integrated Non-Terrestrial Networks architecture helps maintain connectivity when terrestrial networks are disrupted.
   
• Sensing and detection. With customers and partners, Nokia is turning existing fiberoptic and 5G infrastructure into real-time sensing systems for disaster awareness and weather forecasting. Work with Skyfora, A1 and Telia Finland uses existing GNSS infrastructure, telecom cell towers, combining into a real-time, high-resolution weather-sensing network.
   
• Power continuity. Nokia is a trusted connectivity provider for utilities and power generation plants, enabling the critical stakeholders behind the global power grid to modernize their operations and respond more effectively to extreme weather. In New Zealand, Nokia is supporting an upgrade of the national grid operator Transpower’s central control network with the aim of improving energy resilience.
   
• Edge resilience. Nokia edge solutions keep mission-critical services connected during outages and cyberattacks. The Cognitive Operations platform and on-device Cognitive Edge Node turn emergency vehicles into distributed communications hubs, maintaining 5G, Wi-Fi and satellite links while sharing live field updates.

AI acts as a crucial enabling factor within Nokia, among network users, and across ecosystems, with potential applications from climate risk modelling to automated network restoration and resource prioritization during emergencies. Systems like the Nokia AI-RAN platform and MantaRay SON can predict and fix issues before they impact users, while AI-based digital twins enable communities to plan in advance, identify vulnerabilities, and take steps to fix them.

Systems-level partnerships to strengthen community resilience

On that last point, Nokia will be attending New York City Climate Week from 20-24 September, prioritizing resilience conversations with ecosystem players and so we’ll share actions and next steps in an upcoming blog. This will include a CGI Climate Working Session on Digital Resilience on Wednesday September 23rd. Check back for updates.

CNH Thailand and Farm Chokchai, hosted New Holland Day 2026, with live field demonstrations for some of the most advanced field-to-feed precision farming products in the market.

New Holland Day brought together farmers, agricultural entrepreneurs, and industry experts from across Northeast Thailand to showcase a connected, full-cycle farming system that included soil preparation, planting, harvesting, to stubble management and livestock feed production.

Tailored to the region’s corn and livestock sectors, the event underscored how precision technology and mechanization can improve productivity, forage production, farm profitability, and prioritise sustainability.

“Thai farmers need solutions that are reliable in the field and can create value across the entire production cycle,” said Mark Brinn, Managing Director – Southeast Asia and Japan at CNH. “New Holland combines dependable machinery and practical precision technology. Our aim is to show how these integrated farming solutions work under real conditions and foster healthier, stronger and more productive businesses for the Northeast’s farming community.”

Read the full article here.

Consumers are looking backward to move forward in their nutrition. In an era flooded with health claims, ultra-processed foods, and ingredient lists longer than a novel, a growing number of shoppers and diners are gravitating toward something that feels both familiar and honest: the healthy foods their grandparents and other ancestors grew up eating.

The World Health Organization defines a healthy diet as one rich in vegetables, legumes, whole grains, and fruits. This description maps almost perfectly onto traditional cuisines that have sustained populations for centuries.

For food processors, foodservice operators, food manufacturers, and retailers, this shift is an invitation to develop more nutritious portfolios and minimally processed foods that connect with where consumers already are. It’s also central to Griffith Foods’ 2030 aspiration: developing a nutritious and sustainable portfolio.

Why Consumers Are Turning to Traditional Foods

The numbers tell a clear story about where consumer priorities have shifted.

Consumers Are Paying Closer Attention to Ingredients and Claims

Around 58% of consumers¹ are now paying closer attention to ingredient lists than they were just a year ago. They’re scanning for things they recognize, questioning what they don’t, and growing more skeptical of health halos built on marketing rather than substance.

Jackie Schulz, Sr. Director of Global Nutrition at Griffith Foods, is direct about what earns longterm trust:

Claims that have evidence to support their efficacy are those that carry the most weight. Including meaningful amounts of ingredients with scientific evidence that they can have an impact on health, through demonstrated mechanisms, will help build trust much more than including ingredients that imply health without it.

Consumers Are More Interested in Vegetable-Based Entrées

FMCG Gurus data shows that 55% of consumers¹ actively want to maximize their intake of “good” ingredients. Meanwhile, about 54% of global consumers² want a wider variety of vegetable-based entrées on menus.

This echoes what we see in traditional diets around the world—many of the world’s longestlived, healthiest populations, like those eating along the Mediterranean, in parts of Latin America, and across Asia, have frequently centered on vegetables and plant-based foods.

Emily Schlag, Corporate Executive Chef at Griffith Foods, points to social media as an accelerant for this trend:

“We see an increased desire to learn about other cultural foods, especially those from countries that are known to have healthy populations.”

How Traditional Foods Deliver Nutrient Density

Nutritional performance is a primary appeal of traditional foods. At Griffith Foods, nutrient density is defined rigorously, using the Nutrient-Rich Foods Index. This framework measures the quantity of beneficial nutrients relative to those we should limit, like sodium, saturated fat, and sugar.

Chain Yin, Regional Nutritionist at Griffith Foods, adds that this thinking extends beyond individual ingredients:

We carefully craft nutrient-dense foods and solutions at the level of the full eating experience, not just a single ingredient. We look at each component of a product to identify opportunities to reduce nutrients of concern while incorporating ingredients that enhance nutritional value.

Which Nutrient-Dense Foods Have Stood the Test of Time?

Three categories stand out for their nutritional credentials, culinary innovation and versatility.

1. Ancient Grains

Bulgur, sorghum, farro, barley, millet, quinoa, amaranth, and fonio have been foundational to diets across the Middle East, West Africa, and beyond for thousands of years. Today they’re earning renewed attention as fiber-rich foods that support digestive health, steady energy, and longer-lasting satiety.

Improved processing has also unlocked new applications for these grains. As Chef Emily puts it:

“In years past, major complaints were long cooking times and bitter flavors. With improvements in processing, we can have tender grains with pleasantly nutty and earthy flavors.”

The result? Ancient grains that slot naturally into modern menus—toasted millet as a crispy salad topping, popped sorghum seasoned like popcorn, creamy farro porridge as a morning staple, barley risotto as a weeknight centerpiece.

2. Legumes and Plant-Based Protein

Lentils, adzuki beans, and chickpeas sit at the crossroads of plant-based protein and fiber-rich foods. The American Heart Association champions legumes as a heart-healthy protein source.

Schulz notes that traditional diets across Latin America, Asia, and Africa tend to be higher in legume and vegetable content. They can be higher in fiber, as well as micronutrients such as potassium, magnesium, and phytonutrients—areas where Western diets tend to fall short.

3. Herbs and Spices

Turmeric and lemon verbena aren’t just garnishes. In traditional cuisines from South Asia to North Africa, herbs and spices have long served as both flavor carriers and functional ingredients.

Chain Yin highlights how this plays out in practice:

“In Chinese and Indian cuisine, herbs, spices, pulses, and whole grains are often paired with time-honoured cooking methods like fermentation and slow boiling, which help create depth of flavor while supporting overall nourishment.”

Nutritious Tradition from Around the World

When considering cultures that can inspire your menu development, four regions stand out.

Mediterranean

The Mediterranean diet remains the most rigorously studied traditional eating pattern in the world, with the strongest evidence for longevity and chronic disease prevention.

This diet is rooted in an abundance of vegetables, legumes, whole grains, olive oil, and herbs, with animal proteins playing a supporting role rather than leading. Fiber, potassium, magnesium, and phytonutrients flow naturally from the pattern as a whole.

China

In Chinese cuisine, nutrient density is built into technique as much as ingredient choice.

Fermentation, slow boiling, and careful spice layering preserve and enhance nutritional value while developing flavor.

Today, health-focused cafés in China are putting ancient grains front and center, such as pairing barley, lentils, and soba noodle bowls with pomegranate-marinated sea bass, demonstrating that the tradition already has a modern expression ready to scale.

West Africa

West African culinary traditions have long relied on legumes, whole grains, and vegetables as dietary staples. Fonio and sorghum, fiber-rich foods with strong micronutrient profiles, have sustained populations across the region for centuries.

Aboboi, a hearty bean and red pepper stew, is a representative example: plant-based protein and fiber at the center of a dish built entirely from whole, recognizable ingredients.

Korea

Korean cuisine offers one of the most compelling models for integrating plant-based protein and fermented foods into everyday eating. Adzuki bean bibimbap places legumes at the heart of a balanced, complete meal, while fermented staples like kimchi contribute beneficial cultures alongside vitamins and fiber.

Move Forward by Looking to the Past

Consumer appetite is clear, and the food innovation opportunity is now.

Anchoring product development in nutrient-dense and clean-label food ingredients from traditional foods can spark new opportunities.

To discover how these food and nutrition trends are shaping the next wave of product development, explore Griffith Foods’ 2026 Food & Flavor Outlook.

FAQs

Why are food developers turning to traditional foods now?

Consumer trust in heavily processed foods is eroding. With 58% of consumers paying closer attention to ingredient labels, traditional foods offer recognizable ingredients, proven nutritional profiles, and an authenticity that health claims alone can’t replicate.

What makes ancient grains, legumes, and herbs so relevant to modern menus?

These ingredients sit at the intersection of nutrient density and culinary versatility. Improvements in processing have made ancient grains easier to cook and more palatable. Ancient grains, legumes, and herbs also bring plant-based protein, fiber, and functional benefits that align with where consumer demand is heading.

Which traditional food cultures offer the most menu development inspiration?

The Mediterranean, China, West Africa, and Korea each offer well-documented, nutrientdense eating patterns that translate naturally into modern formats—from barley risotto and adzuki bean bibimbap to fonio-based dishes and fermented staples like kimchi.

View original content here.

About Griffith Foods

Griffith Foods is a global product development partner helping food companies meet the evolving needs of consumers with high-quality, culinary driven, customized products. Founded in 1919 and headquartered in Alsip, Illinois, USA, Griffith Foods is a family-owned business known for collaborative innovation guided by its purpose to “Blend Care and Creativity to Nourish the World.” Operating in over 40 countries across six continents, Griffith Foods employs more than 5,000 people, including over 40 chefs and 340 food scientists, who work together to create solutions that nourish people, planet, and communities. The company’s product capabilities include seasonings, sauces, dressings, coating systems, and alternative protein solutions. Griffith Foods’ primary areas of focus include Foodservice, Food Manufacturers, Protein Processors, and Retail.

¹ FMCG Gurus June 2025.

² Technomic, “Global Consumer Trends: Q2 2025 biannual update of shifting consumer usage and attitudes,” 2025.