Tag: 3BL

MetLife Sustainability Report

Our Approach

As stakeholder expectations rise, MetLife made the concept of care a core tenet of differentiation. Our products, services and support help employers to successfully demonstrate care for their workforce, thus improving overall business outcomes. As the needs of individuals and workforces evolve, we continue to develop new products and services to deliver for them, often when they need us most.

MetLife’s diverse solutions prioritize care and satisfaction. We continue to innovate through the lens of sustainability, including diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Affordability, simplicity, flexibility and access combine to support our customers’ physical, mental and financial well-being.

Highlights

Enhanced benefits offerings in institutional customers and increased utilization by their U.S. employees through several new collaborations and initiatives.Helped over 1M digital users in Asia access expert medical support via our app, MetLife 360Health.Expanded 360 Future in China and Korea to help customers prepare for retirement.Launched MetLife Xcelerator in Latin America (LatAm) to enable our partners to offer their customers access to a simple, fully digital insurance experience.Improved financial inclusion and customer experience globally through new apps and digital services.

MetLife Products and Services

MetLife offers a diverse range of products and services to align with institutional and individual customer needs.

Team Springs into Action to Deliver Customer Care

Working on MetLife’s Global Customer Service and Operations team can mean fielding routine customer calls, answering questions, replying to claim inquiries and showing empathy as a customer talks about the loss of a loved one. It can also mean being on the line when a customer calls in extreme emotional distress. In such situations, our teams are trained to lead with empathy and great care, while following protocol.

In Australia, the team’s Crisis Call Pathway Tool supports frontline staff in responding early and proactively to signs of distress. One of our case managers, along with strategy and recovery specialists, activated the tool after they noted a change in a customer’s behavior and her comments that she was having trouble finding access to a psychologist and a psychiatrist to support her. The tool helped the team identify that the customer was at risk and prompted them to put a support plan in place. Through two crisis management calls and a welfare check, the MetLife colleagues provided the customer with details for a 24-hour suicide prevention helpline and worked with her to download the 360Health app to make sure she could find a service provider.

Following our team’s intervention, the customer later noted that she was feeling better and was grateful for the care and support of the MetLife Australia team.

MetLife Pet Insurance Supports Pup’s Long‑Term Shelter Stay

Ginny, a five-year-old pit bull mix was at the Lexington Humane Society’s (LHS) shelter in Lexington, Kentucky, for 1,000 days, as LHS struggled to find someone to adopt her. She was harder to place than other shelter dogs, requiring a family without children or other animals. But fortunately, Ginny was finally adopted.

Ginny’s long stay at the shelter was made possible by MetLife Pet Insurance’s collaboration with shelters, through which we provide support, including sponsoring walks, adoption events and long-stay residents. LHS was one of the first shelters we teamed up with, and we’ve been working together for 11 years. Ginny’s successful adoption is one of many happy stories from our shelter partners.

Download the full MetLife 2023 Sustainability Report

Marking one month to go before the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on 26 July, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) launches “Sport. And More than Sport.” – a new Olympic brand platform. It will debut with an uplifting short film that encapsulates the unique spirit and feeling of the Olympic Games, which will air globally across the Olympic Media Rights-Holder (MRH) network and Olympic digital platforms and will run throughout Paris 2024 and beyond.

“Sport. And More Than Sport.” is a new brand platform for the Olympics that expresses the multi-dimensionality of the Olympic experience and everything sport and the Olympic Games bring to people both on and off the field of play. It embraces the magic of sport, but also sport’s meaning beyond performance – belonging and human connection, personal empowerment and growth, and opportunities and dreams. It aims to bring the Olympics close to the hearts and lives of people everywhere by celebrating the joy and entertainment of sport and the fan experience.

Sport is at the heart of the Olympic Games. But they are about so much more than that. They go beyond competition. They are about living the Olympic values, about feeling the emotions, about enjoying the opportunities, about sharing wonderful memories. This is the unique and enduring spirit of the Olympic Games that we are about to witness at Paris 2024, and beyond.

Thomas Bach IOC President

“Sport. And More Than Sport.” launches with a short film, starting on the streets of Paris, where the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad will begin next month. It follows the Olympic spirit – represented by a magical, invisible force travelling around the world, connecting with people of all ages and backgrounds, and inspiring in them a wide range of emotions. It features Olympic legend Nadia Comaneci – the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score at an Olympic Games – together with everyday athletes, highlighting the universality of the Olympic spirit and its ability to touch the lives of all people.

The short film is available to watch on Olympics.com and social media handles @olympics #morethansport. It will air globally across the Olympic MRH network, and will be showcased at the pre show of the Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony on 26 July.

“Sport. And More Than Sport.” will run through Paris 2024 and beyond.

###

The International Olympic Committee is a not-for-profit, civil, non-governmental, international organisation made up of volunteers which is committed to building a better world through sport. It redistributes more than 90 per cent of its income to the wider sporting movement, which means that every day the equivalent of USD 4.2 million goes to help athletes and sports organisations at all levels around the world.

###

For more information, please contact the IOC Media Relations Team:
Tel: +41 21 621 6000, email: pressoffice@olympic.org, or visit our web site at www.ioc.org.

Broadcast quality footage

The IOC Newsroom: https://newsroom.olympics.com/

Videos

YouTube: www.youtube.com/iocmedia

Photos

For an extensive selection of photos available shortly after each event, please follow us on Flickr.

To request archive photos and footage, please contact our Images team at: images@olympic.org.

Social media

For up-to-the-minute information on the IOC and regular updates, please follow us on X and YouTube.

In this latest blog written by Andrew Martin, Executive Vice President at Cascale, reflects on his visit to Hong Kong-based manufacturer Epic Group’s CIPL facility in Bangladesh. With a commitment to the “Relentless Pursuit of Better,” Epic Group has made major technological investments as part of its efforts to continue pushing its standards in delivering value-added, world-class manufacturing in apparel that favors quality, value, and sustainable innovation.

The blog further discusses how important collaborations with organizations such as Epic Group are crucial to Cascale’s work to raise sustainability standards across the apparel industry through collective action with brands, manufacturers, and other stakeholders. Read the full blog here.

COLUMBUS, Ind., July 12, 2024 /3BL/ – Columbus, Indiana – Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI) has published its latest annual Sustainability Progress Report, announcing key advancements in the company’s efforts to fulfill its mission of making people’s lives better by powering a more prosperous world. 

“This report clearly illustrates how our business and environmental strategies are intentionally and intricately aligned – how we are innovating for our customers to power their success, positively impacting our communities and protecting the planet for future generations,” said Cummins Chair and CEO Jennifer Rumsey. “The work we are doing is our mission in action; what we’ve always done and will continue to do.” 

Significant progress was made against the company’s environmental, social, and governance goals and aspirational targets in 2023 and early 2024. In addition, Cummins achieved record revenues of $31.4 billion and record operating cash flow of $4.0 billion in 2023, reflecting the successful execution of its product decarbonization and growth strategy, which it calls Destination Zero. 

“Our customer-driven, multi-solution approach with Destination Zero is reflective of our commitment to sustainability and helping our customers navigate the energy transition while growing our business,” Rumsey continued. “It is rooted in the understanding that a variety of technologies are required to achieve industry-wide decarbonization across the diverse applications we power. By advancing our core businesses as well as developing new, zero-emissions solutions through Accelera ™ by Cummins, we meet our customers’ needs today, deliver for our stakeholders and reduce our impact on the environment.” 

To that end, the company furthered its efforts to decrease greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from it facilities and operations, achieving a 31% reduction of its Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions in 2023. Key projects that contributed to the progress include: completing 24 onsite solar projects (66 in total) that increase use of renewable energy and reduce over 14,486 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) annually; and implementing 89 facility energy efficiency projects that will save over 5,433 metrics tons of CO₂ each year. 

In the communities in which company employees live and work, Cummins Water Works produced additional water benefits of one billion gallons, resulting in over 6.9 billion gallons of water benefits annually in Cummins communities. This far surpasses the company’s global water consumption of 972.3 million gallons. 

And Cummins’ strategic community initiatives have positively impacted the people in its global communities, including:

1.2 million people through Cummins Water Works since the program launched in 20214,000 graduates from Cummins TEC: Technical Education for Communities since the program launched in 2012625,122 women and girls (in 2023 alone) through its Cummins Powers Women program864 financial or technical services provided to Black-owned enterprises through Cummins Advocating for Racial Equity (CARE) since the program launched in 2020

That impact is amplified by employee-led community engagement. The company intentionally identifies opportunities it can uniquely address through the connections and skills of its global employees. In 2023, 79% of eligible employees (61,000 total) participated in the company’s Every Employee Every Community program, contributing 343,000 hours and serving more than 3.2 million people. 

“We recognize that the health of our communities affects the health of our people and business,” Rumsey added. “A constant amidst this dynamic time in our industry is Cummins’ commitment to advancing our impactful community engagement model and creating an inclusive work environment in which people and innovation thrive. Embedding diversity, equity and inclusion into the fabric of our company continues to be central to this focus.” 
As Cummins’ diversity has increased, so too have its innovation, community impact and business results. It is how the company truly wins with the power of difference. Notably, in 2023, four out of five of Cummins’ business segments were led by women and nearly 40% of the company’s workforce in the U.S. were People of Color. 
The emphasis on DE&I starts at the very top of the company. Cummins currently has the most diverse leadership team in its history, and the company’s Board of Directors were awarded the National Association of Corporate Directors 2023 DE&I Diversity, Equity & Inclusion award for exemplary board practices related to DE&I. 
“Our company is at its best when we serve within a world and workplace where everyone is safe, included, involved and connected to our purpose and one another,” Rumsey concluded. “Cummins has a long history of leveraging the capability of our leaders and the diverse perspectives of our teams to deliver superior solutions to our customers and communities around the world.” 

The report is available on Cummins’ Sustainability Progress Report site. Past reports can be found there, along with the company’s 2024 Human Capital Management Report, and assurance statements on key environmental, social and governance data in the company’s 2023-24 report.

This story first appeared on Baker Hughes’ Energy Forward Stories

When Niharika hears the word “challenge,” her response is, “show me where!” 

Niharika is one of the lead field engineers with Baker Hughes in India and grew up in the country’s far northern city of Shimla. “It’s the Himalayan part of India where it’s very cold and even snowy,” she says. “In my five years with Baker Hughes, I have traveled across India and wherever I go it is mostly hot. In the initial period of my career, when I was an intern, I was working in 40 to 45-degree Celsius temperatures and that was a huge challenge for me.”

That’s not a complaint. “My mother and my grandmothers are very strong women and always encouraged me to push myself and never let me doubt myself,” says Niharika. “They have been role models. My grandmother was the principal of one of the big schools in our area, at a time when a woman being a principal was not conventional. They always told me ‘You’ll never know if you don’t try – even if it is risky’. It has made me somebody who likes to take up challenges and go out of my comfort zone.”

It’s one of the reasons that she wanted to get into the energy industry. “I always liked science and math and wanted to be an engineer, but I didn’t want to go down the traditional engineering path, which in India is computer science or civil or mechanical engineering. I wanted to study petroleum engineering.”

Plunging in the deep end

As she neared the completion of her Bachelor of Technology at the University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (UPES) in 2018, she joined Baker Hughes for a two-month internship in completions and well intervention where she was eager to put her major in Applied Petroleum Engineering to work. “I didn’t want to be pushing paper – I wanted to apply what I had learned.”

Despite still being in college, she says she was encouraged to contribute. “My seniors told me they wanted to see what I have to bring to the table and to learn from my fresh eyes,” she recalls. “I really liked that culture of promoting our views even though I was a junior.”

Fast forward to 2023, when Niharika was lead field engineer in the deployment of Proxima™ advanced logging services for one of our key customers in India, which led to two important gas discoveries in Mahanadi Basin in the Bay of Bengal.

What does well logging do?

Well logging allows a detailed record of the geologic formations penetrated by a borehole. The log is based on physical measurements made by geophysical tools lowered into the hole. With Proxima services, you’re assured no wasted runs. The logging assembly, with the application-specific Baker Hughes drill bit, gets you to total depth (TD) quickly. Log at up to 60 feet per minute while getting full-resolution, high-quality log data. The Proxima hardware platform uses on-the-fly data processing so that your data is complete and ready immediately after the logging run—letting you make critical operational and production decisions quickly.

Niharika was one of the very few engineers trained on the Proxima system in India, and she became the only female engineer to work offshore on the customer’s deep water offshore rig. “Proxima is a new technology with more applications than existing tools, so the customer wanted to use it offshore for the first time,” she says. “I had already executed the service for another client onshore in India – I jumped for this opportunity and was willing to execute it in offshore and broaden my experience.”

It was the first time the full suite of Proxima services had been deployed for this customer in deepwater segment.

Taking new technologies offshore

Niharika had the dual challenge of being the lead engineer launching the Proxima platform in deepwater for this customer and the only female to work on the rig. The operator ensured that the deepwater offshore rig was “female friendly” in terms of facilities (most rigs don’t even have dedicated washrooms for women).

Even so, taking the 45-minute helicopter flight out to the rig knowing she was there for 20 days on her first stint, would have been daunting for many people. Not for Niharika. “When I went there, I really liked the environment, I really enjoyed my job, and the entire experience was amazing,” says Niharika. “People had told me how difficult everything is out there, such as times when the internet is not working and there is no connectivity to the client or anyone else back on land. But all the people on the rig were very cooperative knowing it was my first experience offshore.”

Success in deepwater for the operator in India

While launching Proxima on the drillship, Niharika returned for one month following her first 20-day stint. “Because Proxima is an advanced logging tool, it enables us to save a lot of rig time for that deepwater rig, where operational costs are higher than shallow water rigs,” says Niharika. “By saving significant rig time we were able to save a lot of cost to the client.”

Niharika and her team were also able to use the Proxima technology to acquire the required data on the first pass on each of the three phases of logging. The wireline logging work meant significant savings for the customer. “They were very happy with that – we did not waste any time and they told us it was executed flawlessly.”

In January 2024, the customer wrote to Baker Hughes, thanking the team for the seamless deployment of Proxima and saying, “We would like to congratulate and express our sincere appreciation to the Baker Hughes wireline team for commendable job execution.”

Niharika says, “I am proud that I am able to contribute to wireline logging in India and bring more jobs to the team and to Baker Hughes.”

Challenge accepted and completed.

Originally published in MaMagazine. 

My name is Aisha. I am 27 years old. On October 7, 2023, my life changed forever. That morning, as the first bombs fell on my city, I discovered that I was pregnant with my first baby. Joy and fear intertwined in my heart, and every heartbeat since then has been marked by uncertainty and hope.

In the first days of the conflict, the chaos was absolute: explosions, death, airstrikes leveling cafes, houses, schools, and a mass exodus of people seeking an impossible refuge. My family and I were forced to leave our home in Gaza City, taking only the clothes on our backs. We headed south to Rafah, where we found temporary shelter in an overcrowded school. We were living in conditions unfit for life, with no toilets and no place for privacy.

Read more in MaMagazine. 

About Action Against Hunger

Action Against Hunger is a nonprofit leader in the global movement to end hunger, innovating solutions, advocating for change, and reaching 28 million people every year with proven hunger prevention and treatment programs spanning 55 countries. We strive to create a world free from hunger, for everyone, for good.

**

Illustration by María Herreros.

Originally published in MaMagazine. 

My name is Aisha. I am 27 years old. On October 7, 2023, my life changed forever. That morning, as the first bombs fell on my city, I discovered that I was pregnant with my first baby. Joy and fear intertwined in my heart, and every heartbeat since then has been marked by uncertainty and hope.

In the first days of the conflict, the chaos was absolute: explosions, death, airstrikes leveling cafes, houses, schools, and a mass exodus of people seeking an impossible refuge. My family and I were forced to leave our home in Gaza City, taking only the clothes on our backs. We headed south to Rafah, where we found temporary shelter in an overcrowded school. We were living in conditions unfit for life, with no toilets and no place for privacy.

Read more in MaMagazine. 

About Action Against Hunger

Action Against Hunger is a nonprofit leader in the global movement to end hunger, innovating solutions, advocating for change, and reaching 28 million people every year with proven hunger prevention and treatment programs spanning 55 countries. We strive to create a world free from hunger, for everyone, for good.

**

Illustration by María Herreros.

ESG due diligence rising in priority

ESG due diligence remains a priority for dealmakers. In fact, respondents to the latest Global KPMG due diligence study report a rise in ESG priority in transactions over the last 12 to 18 months, despite challenges.

Many global M&A markets have decelerated in the face of higher interest rates. Geopolitical and economic uncertainty has taken its toll, shifting priorities for many businesses. And, in some countries, there is lively public debate about the merits and justifications to include ESG factors in investment decisions.

Despite these headwinds, the findings from our latest survey of more than 600 active dealmakers from 35 geographies confirms the results of the first-ever international study on ESG due diligence. In 2022, we set out to explore ESG sentiments among dealmakers across the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMA) region. A follow-up study in the US in 2023 found similar developments, albeit slight less pronounced than in the EMEA region.

ESG in deal is rapidly maturing. The ESG lens is becoming increasingly important to investors and customers. The difficulty lies in the breadth of the topic, making it critical to know how to look at it in a focused manner. That’s why we focus on value not values. 

Craig Mennie  
Global Head of Transaction Services  
KPMG Australia

Global insights at a glance

ESG due diligence continues to rise in importance, despite headwinds.  

Dealmakers report an increased importance of ESG due diligence over the past 12 to 18 months, and expect further increases soon. This counters initial expectations of a decline in the importance of ESG factors due to softer M&A activity, economic uncertainty and an ESG backlash in some countries.

Leading investors tie ESG to the investment thesis and drive financial value from it.  

They do this by combining a deep understanding of the commercial, operational, and financial risks and opportunities triggered by evolving ESG regulations and stakeholder expectations with a disciplined focus on financial returns during the holding period. They use tools like comprehensive baselining, integrated 100- day action plans, and a systemic scan for sources of financing to improve their investee’s performance. Such performance improvements can materialize in the form of increasing revenues, decreasing costs, or de-risking of an investment, across various environmental and social and governance areas — at this moment, typically in connection with themes such as decarbonization, recycling and circularity and supply chain management.

Challenges in conducting ESG due diligence persist, but solutions are emerging.  

Investors struggle with selecting a meaningful, yet actionable scope with receiving quality data from target companies, and with quantifying potential findings. However, for each of these challenges, there are emerging solutions. On scoping, it is becoming increasingly clear which topics should indeed be part of an ESG due diligence workstream, with the focus moving from values to value. On data quality, we see a great opportunity for sellers and sell-side advisors to drive value from divestments by commissioning higher-quality ESG vendor documentation. And on quantification, the synergies between ESG due diligence teams and commercial and operational due diligence teams are becoming clearer.

To learn more on KPMG’s findings and to view the full report, click here.

ESG due diligence rising in priority

ESG due diligence remains a priority for dealmakers. In fact, respondents to the latest Global KPMG due diligence study report a rise in ESG priority in transactions over the last 12 to 18 months, despite challenges.

Many global M&A markets have decelerated in the face of higher interest rates. Geopolitical and economic uncertainty has taken its toll, shifting priorities for many businesses. And, in some countries, there is lively public debate about the merits and justifications to include ESG factors in investment decisions.

Despite these headwinds, the findings from our latest survey of more than 600 active dealmakers from 35 geographies confirms the results of the first-ever international study on ESG due diligence. In 2022, we set out to explore ESG sentiments among dealmakers across the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMA) region. A follow-up study in the US in 2023 found similar developments, albeit slight less pronounced than in the EMEA region.

ESG in deal is rapidly maturing. The ESG lens is becoming increasingly important to investors and customers. The difficulty lies in the breadth of the topic, making it critical to know how to look at it in a focused manner. That’s why we focus on value not values. 

Craig Mennie  
Global Head of Transaction Services  
KPMG Australia

Global insights at a glance

ESG due diligence continues to rise in importance, despite headwinds.  

Dealmakers report an increased importance of ESG due diligence over the past 12 to 18 months, and expect further increases soon. This counters initial expectations of a decline in the importance of ESG factors due to softer M&A activity, economic uncertainty and an ESG backlash in some countries.

Leading investors tie ESG to the investment thesis and drive financial value from it.  

They do this by combining a deep understanding of the commercial, operational, and financial risks and opportunities triggered by evolving ESG regulations and stakeholder expectations with a disciplined focus on financial returns during the holding period. They use tools like comprehensive baselining, integrated 100- day action plans, and a systemic scan for sources of financing to improve their investee’s performance. Such performance improvements can materialize in the form of increasing revenues, decreasing costs, or de-risking of an investment, across various environmental and social and governance areas — at this moment, typically in connection with themes such as decarbonization, recycling and circularity and supply chain management.

Challenges in conducting ESG due diligence persist, but solutions are emerging.  

Investors struggle with selecting a meaningful, yet actionable scope with receiving quality data from target companies, and with quantifying potential findings. However, for each of these challenges, there are emerging solutions. On scoping, it is becoming increasingly clear which topics should indeed be part of an ESG due diligence workstream, with the focus moving from values to value. On data quality, we see a great opportunity for sellers and sell-side advisors to drive value from divestments by commissioning higher-quality ESG vendor documentation. And on quantification, the synergies between ESG due diligence teams and commercial and operational due diligence teams are becoming clearer.

To learn more on KPMG’s findings and to view the full report, click here.

Sofidel

The Lucca Film Festival embraces the Clean Living spirit of Sofidel. The Group, one of the world leaders in the production of paper for hygienic and domestic use, known in particular in Italy and Europe for the Regina brand, is a sponsor of the 2024 edition of the Festival and in particular of the second edition of Lucca Film Festival for Future, the competition reserved for short films that deal with issues related to the protection of the future ( Clean Living ) from both an environmental and social point of view, as part of the Lucca Film Festival (LFF) scheduled in Lucca from 21 to 29 September.

Young Italian and international directors and filmmakers (up to 35 years old) can submit their work by Monday 15 July 2023 , by registering on the Filmfreeway  and  Festhome platforms . The short films must have a maximum duration of 29 minutes, be a preview for Italy and made no earlier than 2022. All the information for submitting your short film, together with the competition announcement, are available on the page: https://www.luccafilmfestival.it/aperti-i-concorsi-del-lucca-film-festival-2024/ .

About The Sofidel Group 

The Sofidel Group, a privately held company, is a world leader in the manufacture of paper for hygienic and domestic use. Founded in 1966, the Group has subsidiaries in 13 countries – Italy, Spain, the UK, France, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Poland, Hungary, Greece, Romania, and the USA – with more than 6,800 employees. A member of the UN Global Compact, the Sofidel Group considers sustainability a strategic imperative and is committed to promoting sustainable development. For more information, visit www.sofidel.com.