Tag: 3BL

Originally published in GoDaddy’s 2023 Sustainability Report

Honest and Ethical Conduct

We uphold the highest level of professional and ethical standards.

Our company is built on transparency, integrity, and trust. We earn the trust of our customers, employees, and business partners because we have high ethical standards that we expect everyone at GoDaddy to uphold. We proactively review and evolve our ethical standards to help ensure we are equipped to comply with and respond to a continuously changing global regulatory environment.

GoDaddy’s Code of Business Conduct and Ethics

Our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics guides our day-to-day operations and sets forth principles which enable us to do the right thing. The Code applies to every GoDaddy employee, contractor, officer, and director. Our Audit and Finance Committee of the Board of Directors monitors ethics issues raised through our reporting processes and the resulting actions. Our Chief Strategy & Legal Officer, who reports directly to the Chief Executive Officer, is responsible for overseeing and monitoring compliance with the Code. The Code covers a range of topics, including anti-bribery and anti-corruption, anti-discrimination and harassment, confidentiality and security, data privacy, conflicts of interest, and political contributions, among others.

Education and Training 

Our commitment to ethical behavior starts with our employees. From day one, new GoDaddy employees are taught about this commitment. The onboarding process for all new GoDaddy employees includes our DTRT training, which enforces awareness of and compliance with the Code. It also teaches critical ethics topics, such as anti-harassment and discrimination, data protection, social engineering, and security awareness. To support information retention and continued compliance, existing employees must complete DTRT refresher courses yearly. Employees may also receive more targeted training based on their roles and responsibilities in areas like anti-trust, anti-bribery, and anti-corruption.

When vendors and contractors begin working with us, we require them to complete ethics trainings on our Code, data protection, security awareness, and other topics, where relevant. Refresher ethics trainings are also required annually.

Holding Ourselves Accountable 

Acting with integrity means speaking up and holding ourselves accountable. We encourage our employees to report ethics concerns or questions to their supervisor, local management, local People Operations representatives, or the Legal Department. Reports may also be made online or by phone through GoDaddy’s third-party Ethics Helpline, which is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and accommodates multiple languages. Reports can be made anonymously, unless prohibited under local law. The helpline can be used by our entire workforce and those outside GoDaddy, including contractors and vendors.

87/100: In 2023, through our annual GoDaddy Voice survey, we achieved an average score of 87 out of 100 on the question, “Do you feel comfortable reporting ethics and compliance issues?”86/100: We achieved an average score of 86 out of 100 on the question, “Does your management maintain high ethical and compliance standards?”

Be a Guardian 

Launched in 2023, GoDaddy’s ‘Be a Guardian’ program recognizes and incentivizes employees who model good compliance practices. By learning how to identify threats, Guardians protect GoDaddy, our customers, and our employees from decisions that can lead to unwanted outcomes. Guardians then apply that knowledge to our daily decisions and interactions and do what’s right to protect what we all work so hard to build.

Building an Ethical and Equitable Supply Chain 

Our contractors and suppliers help us fulfill our mission while following high standards of ethical conduct. To help advance responsible and ethical practices outside of our own operations, we publish a Modern Slavery Act Statement outlining our commitment to managing potential human rights risks and opportunities across our company and supply chain.

As a part of our work to integrate DEIB principles into our business and across our operations, in 2023, we launched a Supplier Diversity Program. This program is focused on realizing the value of diversification within our supply chain by including diverse and small businesses in our sourcing processes. This program helps GoDaddy to develop inclusive products and services for our customers while also supporting our local communities.

We formalized our approach in a Supplier Diversity Policy and intend to facilitate and maintain diverse and small supplier inclusion by:

Actively and consistently expanding our network of diverse and small business vendors.Sourcing and including diverse and small business vendors in the bidding process.Measuring the effectiveness of our Supplier Diversity program on an ongoing basis and evaluating potential areas of opportunity and impact.

Ambitions for 2024 

We continue to strive to uphold standards of excellence and ethics that underpin every part of GoDaddy’s business. We’re focused on emerging and ever-evolving topics such as using GenAI ethically and responsibly, protecting customer data, and mitigating forthcoming risks.

To learn more, read our 2023 Sustainability Report.

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About this Report 

The GoDaddy 2023 Sustainability Report details our progress toward our corporate sustainability goals, strategies, and initiatives in support of our overarching corporate mission and values. Unless otherwise noted, this report reflects our corporate sustainability performance across our global operations covering the fiscal year period from January 1 to December 31, 2023. To demonstrate our commitment to transparent communication regarding our sustainability progress, we routinely share updates through our website and our annual Sustainability Report. We welcome your questions, comments, and feedback on this report by contacting ESG@GoDaddy.com.

This report references the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards and includes select Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) metrics for the Internet Media and Services sector. We also disclose our contributions and progress toward priority UN SDGs. For additional information on how we align with these frameworks and key indicators demonstrating our sustainability performance, please review the Frameworks and Metrics section.

The Albertsons Companies team at our Boise Corporate Office had a fantastic time participating in the Inclusion Diversity Equity Awareness (IDEA) Council’s Third Annual Diversity Day Celebration! We want to express our gratitude to the IDEA Council, our Associate Resource Groups, and our wonderful community partners including American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Faces of Hope, Idaho Black Community Alliance, Idaho Hispanic Foundation, Idaho Office For Refugees, United Way of Treasure Valley, Wassmuth Center for Human Rights and Women’s & Children’s Alliance, for making this event possible. Participants also gained insights on civic engagement and human rights from Christina Bruce-Bennion, Executive Director of the Wassmuth Center for Human Rights, while enjoying an excellent meal provided by Horsewood Catering. We would like to give a special thanks to Smithfield Foods for supporting this incredible celebration. 

Diversity Day was more than an event; it was a reaffirmation of our core values of building belonging and celebrating diverse perspectives and a day that brought us together as a team to enjoy good food, great company, and shared values.

See original post on LinkedIn and read more about Albertsons Companies and our Recipe for Change on our website.

Originally published by Innovation Forum

Eastman’s circular policy director, Christopher Layton, discusses current progress and trends in developing circular economy models for plastic and packaging with Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh. They provide guidance on taking a regional approach for greater circularity, useful regulatory approaches, and progress indicators.

Learn more here

Originally published by Innovation Forum

Eastman’s circular policy director, Christopher Layton, discusses current progress and trends in developing circular economy models for plastic and packaging with Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh. They provide guidance on taking a regional approach for greater circularity, useful regulatory approaches, and progress indicators.

Learn more here

Forests play a crucial role in collecting and filtering the water that countless organisms depend on — including humans. In our planting, harvesting, and road building, we take comprehensive measures to minimize sedimentation and runoff, with the goal of protecting the water quality and aquatic ecosystems. We follow each state’s prescribed “best management practices” as well as our own procedures that have been refined and improved over decades of research and science-based forestry. Following passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972, many states adopted forest management guidelines intended to reduce forestry’s negative effects on waters. At the time, there was little research showing whether these new guidelines worked.

That’s why PotlatchDeltic undertook a landmark study that was the first of its kind among U.S. forest products companies and remains one of the most comprehensive in length, scope and findings.

In 1990, with help from the U.S. Forest Service and the Idaho Department of Lands, we established the Mica Creek Experimental Watershed — an area southeast of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, comprising the 6,672-acre catchments of Mica Creek, a tributary of the St. Joe River. While the watershed has been the site of numerous research projects over the years, we created this “living laboratory” for one main reason: to conduct a multi-decade study of the effects of modern forest best management practices on stream water quality and aquatic life.

Over the course of the study, we have worked with scientists from the University of Idaho and other academic institutions to collect data on the effects of tree harvesting, road building, and other practices. The results of that research are published in independent, peer-reviewed academic journals such as Forest Science and presented at scientific conferences. In our leadership roles serving on the Idaho Forest Practices Act Committee, we work to incorporate the results of the Mica Creek research into effective and efficient Forest Practices Act rules. The conclusions to date are encouraging. They show that forest management that adheres to contemporary best management practices has little to no adverse effect on streams’ aquatic life.

Key Findings of Mica Creek Research

Stream flows generally increase modestly following tree harvests.Stream temperature in fish-bearing streams within harvest sites increases slightly in the spring and decreases slightly in the summer.Measurable suspended sediment increases in the first spring following thinning or harvesting, and quickly returns to pre-harvest levels.Forest management that adheres to contemporary best practices has no detrimental effect on fish, amphibians, or aquatic insect communities.

The findings from the first 25 years of research comparing treated versus control stands have been summarized and published in numerous scientific journals. In collaboration with the University of Idaho, we continue to collect data on water flow, sedimentation, fish, and other key environmental conditions in the Mica Creek watershed. The watershed is now being managed as a working forest – the forestlands that we harvest, replant, and manage for sustainable production of timber. The research and monitoring that are being conducted now provide an ongoing evaluation of the effectiveness of contemporary best management practices.

Forests play a crucial role in collecting and filtering the water that countless organisms depend on — including humans. In our planting, harvesting, and road building, we take comprehensive measures to minimize sedimentation and runoff, with the goal of protecting the water quality and aquatic ecosystems. We follow each state’s prescribed “best management practices” as well as our own procedures that have been refined and improved over decades of research and science-based forestry. Following passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972, many states adopted forest management guidelines intended to reduce forestry’s negative effects on waters. At the time, there was little research showing whether these new guidelines worked.

That’s why PotlatchDeltic undertook a landmark study that was the first of its kind among U.S. forest products companies and remains one of the most comprehensive in length, scope and findings.

In 1990, with help from the U.S. Forest Service and the Idaho Department of Lands, we established the Mica Creek Experimental Watershed — an area southeast of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, comprising the 6,672-acre catchments of Mica Creek, a tributary of the St. Joe River. While the watershed has been the site of numerous research projects over the years, we created this “living laboratory” for one main reason: to conduct a multi-decade study of the effects of modern forest best management practices on stream water quality and aquatic life.

Over the course of the study, we have worked with scientists from the University of Idaho and other academic institutions to collect data on the effects of tree harvesting, road building, and other practices. The results of that research are published in independent, peer-reviewed academic journals such as Forest Science and presented at scientific conferences. In our leadership roles serving on the Idaho Forest Practices Act Committee, we work to incorporate the results of the Mica Creek research into effective and efficient Forest Practices Act rules. The conclusions to date are encouraging. They show that forest management that adheres to contemporary best management practices has little to no adverse effect on streams’ aquatic life.

Key Findings of Mica Creek Research

Stream flows generally increase modestly following tree harvests.Stream temperature in fish-bearing streams within harvest sites increases slightly in the spring and decreases slightly in the summer.Measurable suspended sediment increases in the first spring following thinning or harvesting, and quickly returns to pre-harvest levels.Forest management that adheres to contemporary best practices has no detrimental effect on fish, amphibians, or aquatic insect communities.

The findings from the first 25 years of research comparing treated versus control stands have been summarized and published in numerous scientific journals. In collaboration with the University of Idaho, we continue to collect data on water flow, sedimentation, fish, and other key environmental conditions in the Mica Creek watershed. The watershed is now being managed as a working forest – the forestlands that we harvest, replant, and manage for sustainable production of timber. The research and monitoring that are being conducted now provide an ongoing evaluation of the effectiveness of contemporary best management practices.

At Cisco, we believe the growth of our company is inextricably linked to the growth of our people. That’s why we are proud to host Cisco Illuminate, our employee development series that shines a light on continuous learning and development. This company-wide event helps employees uplevel their skills throughout the year to compete in an ever-changing business landscape.

Exciting Speakers on a Range of Subjects 

Cisco Illuminate lets participants tap into engaging sessions led by industry experts and cultural thought leaders from Cisco and beyond. Past events have included speakers like Oprah Winfrey, Andrew Ng, and Michelle Obama, covering topics that support attendees’ personal and professional growth. With sessions on a variety of subjects such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Cybersecurity, Well-being, and Leadership Development, this event is designed to create a growth mindset and prepare our employees for the future of work. 

Interactive and Engaging Formats 

Learning comes in many forms, and we know everyone learns differently, so Cisco Illuminate features a mix of keynote presentations, panel discussions, and interactive workshops. Attendees can choose to livestream the event from home, gather at a watch party on campus, or peruse the recordings library. By embracing various learning modalities, we empower our employees to thrive. For us, it’s not just a moral necessity but a strategic advantage, helping us shape an inclusive future for all. Employees can continue to expand their skills on their own schedule with access to on-demand platforms like Masterclass, LinkedIn Learning, and Coursera.

Next Illuminate is Approaching

We are gearing up for our next Cisco Illuminate on June 25-26 that will enable Cisconians to enhance their skills in topics like AI, innovation, and well-being. In addition to Cisco and Splunk leaders and experts, employees will hear from James Clear, the New York Times bestselling author of Atomic Habits, on how to boost productivity and foster personal growth.

By fostering an inclusive environment that empowers our team to learn and tackle the world’s greatest challenges, we create a more inclusive future for all. Our employees are the heart and soul of Cisco Illuminate, and their experiences speak volumes. But don’t just take our word for it—read their stories and see the impact firsthand!

“Grateful for Cisco Illuminate – our program dedicated to global employee development. Last quarter’s self-paced learning option promoted inclusivity and flexibility, accommodating the diverse schedules of Cisconians worldwide. This approach supports our commitment to an inclusive workplace by respecting our team’s varied work hours and their customer-centric problem-solving.”

Aurelia Takacs – Program Manager, Strategy and Planning, Belgium

“I loved participating in Cisco Illuminate Your Team! The transformative workshops provided invaluable opportunity to connect with our teams, fostering collaboration, connection, and trust – the very core elements that make teams thrive. We explored how open communication, mutual support, and shared goals drive exceptional business results”

Elena Lewis – Leader, Customer Delivery, North Carolina

“It’s not a surprise to many of my peers that I always look forward to Illuminate – in actuality, I’m sure I cause a couple of headaches talking about Lumi and the amazing team behind the event all year round. As an attendee of the Illuminate events in the past, I have always admired how every session showcases the power of creativity and collaboration.”

Brinda Thangada – Communications Manager, Customer Experience, Chicago

Explore more ways that Cisco supports its employees’ learning and development in our latest FY23 Purpose Report.

View original content here.

July 3, 2024 /3BL/ – With increasing attention from policymakers and regulators on the responsible supply of minerals, and multiple stakeholders demanding higher transparency, GRI has launched an implementation guide and new translations of the GRI Sector Standard for Mining.

Launched in February, GRI 14: Mining Sector 2024 supports companies involved with mining to produce consistent and comparable reports, contributing to more transparent and accountable mining practices globally. The Standard sheds light on the dual nature of the sector – providing essential minerals and metals that society relies on, while having significant impacts on the environment, communities and workers.

The new GRI 14: Mining Sector 2024 Implementation Guide for Report Preparers helps practitioners to produce effective reports using the GRI 14. Moreover, it includes guidance and examples for determining material topics and reporting disclosures.

This guide helps companies of any size, type or geography operating in the mining sector to streamline reporting and communicate on their most pressing sustainability issues. Using GRI 14 allows organizations from the sector to contribute to more transparent and accountable mining practices globally.

In addition to English, GRI 14 is now also available in other three languages with a further seven translations still to come. As part of GRI’s commitment to make the standards accessible to a diverse global audience, the Mining Standard can now also be downloaded free of charge in French, Japanese and Bahasa Indonesian.

GRI thanks the peer reviewers who contributed to ensure the accuracy of the translations, expanding the global reach of the world’s most widely used sustainability reporting standards.

Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is the independent, international organization that helps businesses and other organizations take responsibility for their impacts, by providing the global common language to report those impacts. The GRI Standards are the world’s most widely used sustainability reporting standards, which are developed through a multi-stakeholder process and provided as a free public good.

National Grid announced plans to invest an estimated $75 billion* across the company’s service territory in the UK and US over the next five years, with nearly half of the funding dedicated to US energy system improvements in Massachusetts and New York. This significant step up to approximately $35 billion* of investment represents an increase of more than 60% on National Grid’s investment in the region in the last five years. Today’s announcement makes National Grid one of the biggest investors in the energy transition in the Northeast and demonstrates the company’s commitment to help both states achieve their climate goals and deliver economic growth.

Group CEO of National Grid John Pettigrew said: “Today’s announcement is a clear illustration that National Grid is committed to playing our part in achieving the ambitious decarbonization targets that New York and Massachusetts governments have set. The increased investment we’re announcing today follows positive engagement with our regulators in these states, reflecting a willingness to upgrade electricity networks to provide long term affordable energy to all, and reduce emissions across our gas networks.”

According to the US Department of Energy (DOE), lack of transmission infrastructure can directly contribute to higher electric bills, and more frequent and longer power outages. Preliminary findings from DOE’s National Transmission Needs Study also found that developing new transmission in the New York-New England corridor would not only improve reliability, but also support the increasing electric demand in the region. The federal analysis found the region needs a 255% increase in transmission development to support the clean energy growth expected under New York and Massachusetts policies.

As a result of the investment announced today, National Grid will unlock economic growth across New York and Massachusetts. By the end of the decade, National Grid will support 127,000 jobs.

In New York, National Grid is investing around $21 billion* between now and 2029. Among those investments is the Upstate Upgrade which comprises more than 70 transmission enhancement projects across Upstate New York. The portfolio of projects will transform the grid, improve reliability and resilience, and enable National Grid to deliver renewable energy to homes and businesses across the state. This investment will also generate thousands of new jobs and create additional economic growth, all while ensuring the grid is able to meet the growing demand for electricity.

“This landmark investment will transform the energy grid to meet growing energy needs and is a much-needed piece of the puzzle to support the clean energy transition,” said National Grid New York President Rudy Wynter. “The money we are spending to make these upgrades is necessary to deliver renewable energy to homes and businesses across New York.”

In New England, our five-year investment will total roughly $14 billion*. As part of this investment, National Grid will implement innovative solutions, like smart meters, to help consumers manage energy use; build modernized energy infrastructure; construct and upgrade infrastructure to make it less susceptible to extreme weather events; and maintain and improve the quality of our existing gas and transmission assets.

One such proposed project, the Massachusetts Electric Sector Modernization Plan (ESMP) would create a path to upgrade and expand the electric grid, accelerate the connection of renewables to the grid, and introduce new customer programs to encourage energy efficiency, and the adoption of clean energy.

“National Grid is making it clear that we are a committed partner to help Massachusetts meet its climate and clean energy goals” said National Grid New England President Lisa Wieland. “The investment is essential to transform the energy ecosystem, build new and expanded infrastructure, and deliver an electric network that is fundamentally smarter, stronger, cleaner and more equitable than today.”

In addition to the transmission investments, National Grid has proposed a three-year investment plan to modernize the Downstate gas businesses, reducing emissions, and making them more resilient and reliable. This includes a focus on disadvantaged communities and accelerating gas main replacements to reduce emissions, with a target of 45 miles/year of replacements in New York City and 119 miles/year on Long Island. Since 2013 National Grid has replaced 1,500 miles of gas main, lowering system emissions by 102,385 metric tons of CO2e, the equivalent to removing 22,257 cars from the road.

*Based on £1: $1.25 exchange rate

About National Grid

National Grid (NYSE: NGG) is an electricity, natural gas, and clean energy delivery company serving more than 20 million people through our networks in New York and Massachusetts. National Grid is focused on building a smarter, stronger, cleaner energy future — transforming our networks with more reliable and resilient energy solutions to meet state climate goals and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

For more information, please visit our website, follow us on X (formerly Twitter), watch us on YouTube, like us on Facebook and find us on Instagram.

Media Contacts

Mary-Leah Messenger
Massachusetts
(781) 907-3980
Email
Emily Demarest
Massachusetts
(781) 907-3980
Email

A woman with money is a woman with options. We’re working to simultaneously improve her earning potential and address normative and systemic barriers to her economic exclusion ensure she has access to and control of her money. This is critical for her safety, and her ability to make decisions. Through savings groups, entrepreneurship programming, and supply chain policy advisory, we’re increasing women’s control, capability, confidence, and choice to earn, save, and invest in themselves, their businesses, families, and communities. These interventions also decrease GBV, improve education and access to healthcare, and increase engagement in collective action, and more.

What changed? 
CARE has helped 5.1 million women and girls achieve economic justice, since July 2021, through economic empowerment, shifting gender norms, access to market-based solutions, and more. For every $1 investment, interventions range from an estimated $8-$25 return for women, in terms of increased savings and incomes for participants

150K+ entrepreneurs have improved access to finance or skills375K+ people in supply chains have improved gender equality policies.19M savings group members and $690M+ savings mobilized since 2008.68% of people reached were women/girls (vs. CARE average of 61%).

How did we get there? 
The Women’s Economic Justice team is focused on making market systems work for women and delivering high ROI programs where women have control, capability, confidence, and choice to earn, save, and invest in themselves, their businesses, families, and communities.

Challenging social norms: 64% of projects worked to challenge social norms.Women and girls first: 69% of projects were gender transformative (43%) or responsive (26%).Working with local market systems and partners: 70% of projects worked with partners (vs. CARE average of 62%), including 3 national government partners who adopted our savings group model, and 35+ partners and financial service providers to support entrepreneurs.

What did we learn? 
The benefits of financial inclusion extend beyond money. When she has money, the lives of her and her family improve. She is 40% more food secure, 75% more resilient, 15% more politically active, 80% likely to invest in her children’s education, and more. Financial inclusion puts more than money in women’s hands: it equips them to make their own decisions, take entrepreneurial risks, and reshape the role of women in their families and communities. 

Everyone benefits when women are active, dynamic players in local economies and societies. 
Where do we go next? 
Investing in women’s economic power can help the global economy grow an additional $10 trillion by 2030 (Eurasia Group, Oct 2023). Yet, market systems have largely been designed by and for men. These systems exclude women from opportunities, resources, and markets, and prevent women from having access to and control of finances. To create sustainable change at scale, these systems must work for women too.

Cross-sector partnerships that close the gender gap and engage banks, governments, and corporations can enhance the effectiveness of donations by building women’s needs into policies, norms, and institutions.

Read more about ways cross-sector partnerships can enhance the effectiveness of donations by measuring and reporting the ROI of their programs, to deliver more economic growth that promotes equality in our latest oped in World Economic Forum.

Want to learn more? Visit https://www.care.org/our-work/womens-economic-justice/