Tag: 3BL

For the second year in a row, Wesco has been named among America’s Most Responsible Companies for 2024, presented by Newsweek and Statista.

The partnership between the global research data firm Statista and Newsweek includes 500 of the U.S.’s largest public corporations. Read more about this honor here.

At Wesco, we are on a mission to build, connect, power and protect the world. To achieve this mission and have the largest impact, we must embrace the vast diversity of our team, our suppliers and our customers by creating inclusive products and environments. So, we are doing what it takes to infuse inclusion and diversity into every aspect of our business and won’t stop until the impact is felt across the globe.

With over 100 years of operational excellence, Wesco’s mission to build, connect, power, and protect is the foundation for why Wesco is recognized as the premier distributor and supply chain services company. We continuously evolve to address the needs and challenges of our customers, suppliers, and the communities we serve.

Our approach to sustainability is two-fold: we reduce the environmental impacts of our own operations, and assist our customers and suppliers with achieving their sustainability goals through the products and services we provide. To learn more about Wesco’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) accomplishments, read our latest interactive report.

Environmental and social responsibility is integral to how we build, connect, power and protect our world. Learn more about Wesco’s corporate sustainability initiatives here. 
 

WASHINGTON, December 12, 2023 /3BL/ – Shatterproof along with a coalition of law enforcement and national nonprofit and community-based organizations devoted to fighting against the fentanyl crisis plaguing our nation sent a letter to the leaders of the House and Senate urging them to take immediate action to close the de minimis loophole. This loophole is contributing to the current drug crisis, including the importation of deadly fentanyl, that is plaguing American families and communities. This Wednesday, U.S. Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) is leading House Ways and Means Committee Democrats in a roundtable on the de minimis loophole.

Signatories of the letter besides Shatterproof include the Coalition for a Prosperous America, Families Against Fentanyl, Kelsie’s Cause, Lost Voices of Fentanyl, National Association of Police Organizations, National Sheriff’s Association, Voice for Awareness, and VOID.

Section 321 of the Tariff Act of 1930, known commonly as “de minimis,” allows individual packages to be shipped directly to American consumers with virtually no inspection or documentation and free of duty if the contents are valued beneath the de minimis threshold of $800. These packages can be shipped to the U.S. via cargo, international mail and express consignment, and are often low-weight shipments. According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), imports using the de minimis loophole include “high-risk shipments that may contain narcotics, merchandise that pose a risk to public safety, counterfeits, or other contraband.”

The letter requests that Congressional leaders immediately advance legislation to close the de minimis provision in U.S. trade law that is helping to fuel the current drug crisis devastating American families and communities and exhausting the resources of U.S. law enforcement. Closing the de minimis provision by decoupling all e-commerce transactions for qualifying for de minimis treatment is the only way to comprehensively address these issues. Additionally, the coalition is asking that the Administration use its existing authorities to close the loophole.

“With more than 112,000 overdose deaths in the United States during the 12-month period ending in May 2023, we have an obligation to identify policies that can quickly and effectively reduce this tragic and unnecessary loss of life,” said Kevin Roy, chief public policy officer for Shatterproof. “Increasing surveillance of shipments into the country has been a bipartisan policy priority for decades, including the latest supplemental budget request. Continuing this policy for smaller, international shipments is one small, but common-sense step to reducing the number of fentanyl-related deaths.”

Currently, nearly 49 million people struggle with a substance use disorder. Additionally, fentanyl is involved in 84 percent of drug overdoses for people between the ages of 15 and 19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 

Tune into the roundtable on Wednesday at 3 p.m. Eastern.

CONTACT: 
Lauren Lawson-Zilai 
Shatterproof PR 
press@shatterproof.org

Nasdaq

Many promises have been made about the potential of artificial intelligence (AI)—and one more can be added to the list. In the domain of sustainability, especially when it comes to disclosures, applying AI may help make us better leaders.

By leveraging AI for today’s manual environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and sustainability activities, humans can shift their focus to be strategic leaders in areas such as the net zero transition. So, why not harness the potential of AI in ESG and sustainability today? At a time when the stakes are only going up, ESG working groups can leverage AI to drive credible, data-driven answers to questions when they need them most.

These are some of the learnings I uncovered in conversation with Natasha Tuck, Director of Sustainability & ESG at Dolby, during Nasdaq’s NY Climate Week Conference. We discussed how AI may help create more impact, a view into what’s to come for companies that add ESG disclosures to their financial filings, and how companies can scale their ESG programs using technology.

Making an Impact

Much of the early sustainability and ESG community landed where they are today because they wanted something more—they wanted to make an impact, have purpose, and drive value for their companies. 

Tuck is a prime example. “I wanted to do work that aligned with my values and have a bigger impact in the world,” she shared. Departing from her 15-year career in commercial real estate, Tuck pursued a master’s degree in sustainable management (Sustainable or Green MBA) at Presidio Graduate School and kicked off her career in sustainable packaging, organic produce, and green building. She eventually landed an opportunity at VMware as the company’s first full-time sustainability hire and her first corporate sustainability role.

Whether you’re here for impact or tasked with leading ESG and sustainability from another corporate function, many quickly realize the level of manual tasks performed around ESG and sustainability disclosures. These manual tasks are only set to increase in response to new demands placed on companies off the back of global regulations, an early discovery Tuck made during her time at VMware. 

Lessons Learned as an Early ESG Leader

Today, VMware has positioned itself as a leader in ESG and sustainability. The company’s commitment is demonstrated through its investment, dedicated sustainability team, and buy-in from its board and executive leadership team. Starting in 2015, when VMware published its first Global Impact Report, Tuck observed the company’s ESG journey unfold in real time.

Reflecting on the company’s first Global Impact Report, Tuck shared, “We went from no disclosures to really starting to integrate sustainability and ESG into our public-facing documents.”

“I also remember the first time we included the words’ sustainability’ and ‘ESG’ in our 2020 10K. We had a small section in that 10K on ESG, but the internal eyes on that were incredible. I really got to experience the level of scrutiny placed on regulatory filings.” She shared that the finance and legal teams were asking: Who else does these types of 10K disclosures? How are they talking about it? What language are they using? Tuck and her team were tasked with this “very manual, time-consuming research, finding examples to bring back to the finance and legal teams to support their recommendations.”

The VMware experience in 2020 provides a playbook for what companies should expect in 2023 and beyond. As the global regulatory environment pushes ESG and sustainability disclosures into financial filings, Tuck provided some guidance. Companies need to think critically about implementing a rigorous research process and backing up claims with data. Activities like peer benchmarking, knowing what peers are disclosing, and going beyond a core set of peers to a broader set of leading companies for best practices will provide companies with the confidence and credibility to engage internal audiences (i.e., legal, accounting, and executives) and external audiences (i.e., regulators, investors, and customers).

How to Scale Under Pressure

Companies do not always have the luxury of sizable budgets to scale a sophisticated ESG and sustainability program. With recent challenges, like the economic headwinds of elevated interest rates and political forces, companies are feeling the pressure to do more with less when it comes to their ESG and sustainability efforts.

Tuck confirms this by explaining, “I left VMware at the end of 2022 and am now with Dolby. Dolby is a purpose-driven company and has bought into ESG and sustainability, but the company does not have the same resources as VMware. But we are on our own journey, doing great work, and I’m excited about the opportunities that lay ahead.” Dolby recently released its third Sustainability Report and received validation of their science-based targets from the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi).

Despite feeling the pressure to do more with less, smaller companies, like Dolby, are also feeling some of the same pressures faced by larger companies, driven primarily by global regulations kicking in. Tuck suggested that instituting a data-driven research process will be paramount for all companies.

Operating with a smaller team requires companies to scale in different ways. Tuck shared, “Consultants can be a great option, but they are expensive, and by relying too heavily on them, you lose the ability to deepen your in-house expertise.” Therefore, companies like Dolby have looked for other ways to perform research activities. “We want to do more on our own and have tools and best practices at our fingertips to conduct peer benchmarking and identify emerging trends,” according to Tuck. That’s when AI comes into the picture.

ESG and sustainability disclosure is an ideal AI and language model use case. These disclosures are largely qualitative, unstructured, and dispersed across several documents. Combine that with the fact that humans are reading thousands of pages to identify a best practice sentence or single data point, benchmarking their company disclosures against peer disclosures, and scanning the news to stay ahead in a competitive landscape. All tasks that are better suited for software and AI to handle, freeing up time for humans to focus on more strategic and impactful work.

While there are concerns around the environmental footprint of training and running AI models, I am optimistic that we will find solutions to solve these near-term headwinds. By using AI to complete more manual tasks, humans can focus on leading efforts around the energy transition and decarbonization.

According to Tuck, “Software and AI really should be doing a lot of the work that our teams are doing. It gives us more comprehensive and data-driven answers to questions that come from executives, colleagues, and external audiences like investors and customers. We can get answers instantly rather than waiting weeks and spending a lot of time and energy, getting us back to the strategic and impactful work of why I got into this space.”

Meet Nasdaq Sustainable Lens

In response to these trends and technology advancements, Nasdaq has developed Sustainable Lens, an AI-powered ESG intelligence platform. Shaped by experts and powered by AI, Nasdaq Sustainable Lens helps companies expedite better decisions, boost productivity, and enhance credibility.

Tuck shared her experience using Nasdaq Sustainable Lens, expressing that “It is more important than ever to understand what is being disclosed and, as my experience at VMware showed, these disclosures are going to become more scrutinized. Having a tool like Sustainable Lens at your fingertips is huge. It helps me quickly respond to executive questions and instantly understand what is being disclosed by my peers and sector, on-demand.”

Nasdaq Sustainable Lens eliminates the need for manual research and equips ESG working groups with on-demand, data-driven insights from over 9,000 companies globally. Moreover, Nasdaq’s AI-driven workflows lead ESG working groups to discover best practices, benchmark against competitors, and monitor trends to focus their ESG programs and ensure they can address growing pressures.

To learn more about Nasdaq Sustainable Lens, visit our website.

The Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) joined forces with Fair Wear Foundation (FW) and the Social and Labour Convergence Program (SLCP) to present on “Leveraging Collective Action for Human Rights” at ISPO Munich, an annual conference for the global sports business community featuring 2,400 exhibitors.

The presentation took place on the program stage for the European Outdoor Group (EOG), a member and partner of all three organizations. The conversation was grounded in the collaborative work that FW, SLCP, and the SAC have pursued in tandem to leverage complementary tools, data, insights, and thought leadership, igniting social and societal change within the apparel and footwear supply chains.

Representatives from the three multi-stakeholder initiatives presented on why leaders must act collaboratively on human rights injustices and shared strategies on how to promote, improve, and scale meaningful impact and engagement for workers.

Speakers included Erlinda Lee, global membership development director at the SAC, who shared information about the organization’s Higg Index suite of tools, used by businesses to measure, evaluate, and improve social and environmental impact; Lee’s presentation centered on the Higg Facility Social & Labor Module (FSLM).

Mariette van Amstel, head of membership at FW, explored the overarching vision that the three organizations share on goals related to worker rights, social, and labor — following the same Human Rights Due Diligence protocol (HRDD). Lottie Watkinson, business development manager at SLCP, shared details of the high-quality comparable data that the organization brings to the collaborative process.

The presenters also acknowledged the challenges — lengthy supply chain processes, power dynamics, and the absence of a common language — faced by many businesses and organizations. They stressed the relevance of this work to the outdoor industry as a whole, emphasizing how the organizations can support companies with tools and solutions at each stage of their journey. Finally, they emphasized that businesses must take action now if they haven’t already, and be prepared for emerging legislation that will mandate compliance.

Nearly 190,000 students. 885 events. 605 communities. Since 2017, the Curiosity Cube—a retrofitted shipping container turned mobile science lab from MilliporeSigma, the U.S. and Canada Life Science business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, has made a big impact traveling across North America and Europe. 

At each stop, a Curiosity Cube Coordinator makes it possible. The Curiosity Cube Coordinator handles logistics, manages employee volunteers and, most importantly, shares a passion for science with young students who might not otherwise have access to interactive, hands-on science learning.

Curiosity in science all starts with a spark, and the Curiosity Cube has the power to ignite it. That feeling is not only within the young students who visit the Curiosity Cube, but also within every volunteer and employee who makes the program’s mission possible.

Curiosity Cube Coordinator Audra DeMariano felt her own spark at a very young age with her father as she shared his love for star gazing. “He used to bring the telescope outside on our back porch during clear nights and show my siblings and me beautiful closeups of planets, flickering stars, and the moon.” As she gazed at the night sky, she was mesmerized by the natural world around her and appreciated the awe you can discover in your backyard.

Her spark stayed with her throughout the years. She majored in biology in college and then worked at MilliporeSigma in quality control and production at its St. Louis site. During her third year, her manager encouraged her to sign up as the lead teacher for a Curiosity Labs™ event, a program that connects classrooms with MilliporeSigma employees who volunteer to lead interactive, hands-on science lessons for students. 

“My experience volunteering at the event inspired me so much that I left the company to pursue a career teaching middle school science at a school nearby,” Audra recalls. “After two years of teaching, I saw a job posting for a Curiosity Cube Coordinator on the Employee & Community Engagement team and knew this was my next step.” 

As a Curiosity Cube Coordinator, Audra and her team are responsible for shepherding the Curiosity Cube through 24 MilliporeSigma sites in the U.S. and Canada, teaching science to students through interactive, hands-on experiments. 

Audra knew she had found her calling during her first event, when a student ran up to her and handed her a letter. “He said he was thankful the Curiosity Cube visited because since he was six years old, he always wanted to look into a microscope,”  Audra recollected. “That day, he finally got the chance. That student had waited half his life to explore a microscope, and our program and volunteers made his dream come true!”  

By instilling a love for science at a young age, students are far more likely to explore a career in the field, just like Audra did. As a global science and technology company, MilliporeSigma must do as much as possible to allow access to science education and curiosity to support the global scientific community now and in the future. Enabling access to education for those who are underrepresented can level the playing field to advance society, while responding to the individual needs of each community. With equal access to education, the company can help reduce inequalities across the globe and solve the problems of tomorrow.

Learn more about how the company sparks curiosity by visiting its employee and community engagement webpage.

Last week, at the European Business Summit, I had the opportunity to speak on a panel addressing “How to create both a competitive and sustainable industrial policy.” It was a unique moment for me to engage with EU stakeholders in a public forum about a critical challenge – how can Europe “go green,” but also stay competitive on a global level. My key takeaway is that there is clearly a shared desire from both industry and government to build this more competitive, innovative, and sustainable Europe, but we’ve got to work closer together and communicate more in order to find the right path forward.

Chemours is committed to a green and digital Europe.

Chemours is a global chemical company with a strong presence in Europe. As president of Thermal and Specialized Solutions at Chemours, building a strong EU industrial policy is important to me because my business is dedicated to delivering clean, safe, and efficient solutions necessary to realize Europe’s green ambitions. This includes technologies used in heat pumps, refrigeration, electric vehicles, data centers, and air conditioning. Innovative chemistries known as fluorinated gases (F-gases) and specialty fluids are fundamental to driving Europe’s green and digital transitions, but policy inconsistency and uncertainty is slowing progress, especially in the residential heating and cooling space, which is where we need to decarbonize at the fastest pace possible.

I firmly believe that sustainability and business competitiveness are not mutually exclusive – but we need policy initiatives and regulations to complement one another, and not work against each other. The number one thing that businesses need from regulators is certainty and predictability in policy, and more and more we see lack of coherence in Europe between the “sustainable industry goals” and the legislations that should support the industry transition.

EU policy and regulation on chemicals are not consistent.

Over the past 15-years, Chemours and the industry have been asked and encouraged to invest in low Global Warming Potential (GWP) refrigerants, given they are critical to food security, electric vehicles, heat pumps, data centers, and many other sectors. However, now the EU’s most recent F-Gas regulation is banning these refrigerants, despite long-term investments by industry, broad industry reliance, superior energy efficiency, and performance across applications. There are many other examples, in the hydrogen sector, batteries, and semiconductors…. all these sectors can be at risk without regulatory consistency. When it comes to regulation, we need the right hand to speak to the left, and this was a key message I shared during my panel, echoed by several of the other panelists representing different companies.

Data center immersion cooling could be a game changer.

Another example of an innovation that I’m excited about, but which could risk being banned due to inconsistent regulation, is our game-changing immersion cooling technology for data centers. As many of you may be aware, data centers – or the facilities that store the computing infrastructure and data on which modern society relies – are the invisible backbone of the tech industry and our economy more broadly. Yet the exponential growth in data traffic, coupled with a demand for increased computing speeds, has created a new challenge for these centers – increased heat generation that can’t be remedied by traditional cooling methods.

Fortunately, thanks to innovations in F-gases, two-phase immersion cooling (2PIC) has emerged as a solution. Rather than using air or water to cool servers, 2PIC submerges electronic components into a bath of dielectric heat transfer fluid that is based on fluorinated chemistry. The heat from the servers boils the liquid, transforming it into gas and creating vapor which removes heat – all within a closed system. This process expends no extra energy. In fact, the heat can be recovered for other uses, enhancing energy efficiency and slashing emissions in the process. And the liquid is fully recyclable. It’s a truly circular solution!

Chemistry is part of the solution.

There are many other examples I could mention where our chemistries will be vital to the future. Chemours has innovative solutions that deliver on both technological progress and climate ambitions – top priorities in Europe. Yet emerging regulation—and resulting uncertainty—puts this innovation at risk. In the race to decarbonize mobility, access to advanced fluorinated chemistries will be critical for everything from EV battery production, faster charging, increased range, and heating and cooling, to sourcing, supply chains, distribution, and logistics. If these technologies are banned or severely restricted in Europe, the cost to the EU economy would be significant, with negligible benefit to climate or health.

It’s commonly said that “chemistry is the mother of all industries.” The more the chemicals industry innovates, the better it will be for safety and the environment because our materials are at the backbone of Europe’s green and digital transitions. However, industry and government must collaborate more closely to create a realistic, proportionate, and consistent regulatory and policy landscape that allows such solutions to work, and that fosters this innovation.

I left the summit with renewed, but cautious, optimism that this is possible, and policymakers are willing to lay the groundwork for a coherent, science-based, actionable policy framework to unlock a more sustainable future for us all – and I look forward to continued dialogue on how we can achieve this in Europe and around the world thanks to the power of chemistry, together.

View original content here.

By Didier Bergeret

While environmental and social sustainability challenges are often viewed separately, they are inherently connected. For Indigenous Peoples, this is especially true. Both their personal safety and conservation efforts are threatened by a lack of formal land titles and legal protection when they try to defend their homes.

In a milestone for Indigenous Peoples’ rights, Brazil’s Supreme Court recently ruled in their favour in a case known as “Marco Temporal” – meaning their rights to ancestral lands were endorsed by the state. This decision follows the landmark summit in Brazil in August, when President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva brought the leaders of eight nations – including Colombia, Peru and Venezuela – together with thousands of Indigenous activists to hear their hopes and fears concerning the rainforest’s future.

These events provide hopeful opportunities to catalyse action around protecting the world’s forests – the extraordinary biosphere that is home to many Indigenous Peoples. As a UN report highlights, Indigenous Peoples are the ultimate experts when it comes to forest conservation. They have practised it for millennia.

Yet despite this integral role in managing and safeguarding the Amazon rainforest throughout most of the course of human history, Indigenous Peoples are often excluded from talks on how we protect it.

The descendants of these societies are now the communities most severely affected by deforestation and the climate emergency. They are living on the front line of our ecosystems – with their unique insights into how to turn the situation around often going unheard. It is crucial that we respect their knowledge, culture and rights – especially considering that they own, occupy or use about a quarter of the world’s land.

The corporate world has a key role to play in raising Indigenous voices and creating a forest-positive world. A large proportion of consumer brands and retailers rely on forest ecosystems to provide essential commodities – like paper, pulp and packaging – while millions of the people employed in the global supply chains of consumer goods companies live and work in forests.

Companies should be integrating social obligations into their forest commitments, particularly in terms of any potential changes of land use that would affect Indigenous Peoples and local communities. Respect for their ancestral lands must go hand in hand with an open and inclusive approach that aims to protect their culture and improve their livelihoods.

Every business in global supply chains should make the same commitment. Companies should ensure not only that the products they source from suppliers are forest positive, but that all the products the suppliers create are forest positive too.

That means putting Indigenous Peoples at the heart of all forest-based products and commodities. We must put in place policies and actions that advance respect for Indigenous Peoples and local communities’ rights.

At The Consumer Goods Forum, we are striving to ensure that all businesses prioritise the rights of Indigenous Peoples and work closely with them to protect the world’s forests – through our Forest Positive and Human Rights Coalitions of Action.

As some of the world’s largest consumer goods retailers and manufacturers, our members are committed to collaborating with Indigenous communities, peers, supply chain partners, government bodies and civil society organizations to stop the collapse of the world’s forests.

There is no more time to waste. New scientific research from Rutgers University adds to the growing number of studies outlining that the escalating climate crisis risks turning vast tracts of the Amazon rainforest into dry grassland.

Let’s not forget that the world’s greatest forest stabilizes the global climate. Its loss would result in unprecedented volumes of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere and prove catastrophic for us all.

The way forward is to listen to Indigenous Peoples, the original guardians of the forest.

This content is was originally published with Corporate Knights under the same title. You can view the article online at corporateknights.com/category-climate/forest-positive-planet-prioritize-rights-of-indigenous-peoples/

By Didier Bergeret

While environmental and social sustainability challenges are often viewed separately, they are inherently connected. For Indigenous Peoples, this is especially true. Both their personal safety and conservation efforts are threatened by a lack of formal land titles and legal protection when they try to defend their homes.

In a milestone for Indigenous Peoples’ rights, Brazil’s Supreme Court recently ruled in their favour in a case known as “Marco Temporal” – meaning their rights to ancestral lands were endorsed by the state. This decision follows the landmark summit in Brazil in August, when President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva brought the leaders of eight nations – including Colombia, Peru and Venezuela – together with thousands of Indigenous activists to hear their hopes and fears concerning the rainforest’s future.

These events provide hopeful opportunities to catalyse action around protecting the world’s forests – the extraordinary biosphere that is home to many Indigenous Peoples. As a UN report highlights, Indigenous Peoples are the ultimate experts when it comes to forest conservation. They have practised it for millennia.

Yet despite this integral role in managing and safeguarding the Amazon rainforest throughout most of the course of human history, Indigenous Peoples are often excluded from talks on how we protect it.

The descendants of these societies are now the communities most severely affected by deforestation and the climate emergency. They are living on the front line of our ecosystems – with their unique insights into how to turn the situation around often going unheard. It is crucial that we respect their knowledge, culture and rights – especially considering that they own, occupy or use about a quarter of the world’s land.

The corporate world has a key role to play in raising Indigenous voices and creating a forest-positive world. A large proportion of consumer brands and retailers rely on forest ecosystems to provide essential commodities – like paper, pulp and packaging – while millions of the people employed in the global supply chains of consumer goods companies live and work in forests.

Companies should be integrating social obligations into their forest commitments, particularly in terms of any potential changes of land use that would affect Indigenous Peoples and local communities. Respect for their ancestral lands must go hand in hand with an open and inclusive approach that aims to protect their culture and improve their livelihoods.

Every business in global supply chains should make the same commitment. Companies should ensure not only that the products they source from suppliers are forest positive, but that all the products the suppliers create are forest positive too.

That means putting Indigenous Peoples at the heart of all forest-based products and commodities. We must put in place policies and actions that advance respect for Indigenous Peoples and local communities’ rights.

At The Consumer Goods Forum, we are striving to ensure that all businesses prioritise the rights of Indigenous Peoples and work closely with them to protect the world’s forests – through our Forest Positive and Human Rights Coalitions of Action.

As some of the world’s largest consumer goods retailers and manufacturers, our members are committed to collaborating with Indigenous communities, peers, supply chain partners, government bodies and civil society organizations to stop the collapse of the world’s forests.

There is no more time to waste. New scientific research from Rutgers University adds to the growing number of studies outlining that the escalating climate crisis risks turning vast tracts of the Amazon rainforest into dry grassland.

Let’s not forget that the world’s greatest forest stabilizes the global climate. Its loss would result in unprecedented volumes of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere and prove catastrophic for us all.

The way forward is to listen to Indigenous Peoples, the original guardians of the forest.

This content is was originally published with Corporate Knights under the same title. You can view the article online at corporateknights.com/category-climate/forest-positive-planet-prioritize-rights-of-indigenous-peoples/

Originally published in Crown Holding’s 2022 Corporate Responsibility Report

Built around 20 aggressive—but measurable—sustainability goals to be completed by or before the end of 2030, the Twentyby30™ program zeroes in on five key pillars of action that represent topics of urgent global concern and reflect the priorities of our internal and external stakeholders. Each pillar contains stated goals that are set against a 2019 baseline and focuses on initiatives where we can make notable impact. Together, they create a compelling framework for achieving long-term change. 

But equal to setting goals that can make a difference is being accountable to achieving them. While we have made meaningful progress against our goals, our sustainability journey is by no means complete. Every day, we apply our learnings, whether from triumphs or setbacks, to improve and refine our approach as we work to become a more sustainable Company.

Program Progress Report

Our Twentyby30™ program includes 20 measurable ESG goals to be completed by or before 2030. All goals and progress are measured against a 2019 baseline.

Climate Action

Acknowledges how climate change can have financial impacts on our global business – however, we can create opportunities for growth by proactively mitigating risks throughout our value chain and particularly through partnerships with our suppliers. We will aim to achieve the goals tied to this pillar by focusing on production efficiency, product and process innovation, strategic material procurement and utilization of renewable electricity.

Resource Efficiency

Supports our aim to protect water sources – one of our world’s most valuable resources and a critical input for the beverage can manufacturing process. We are committed to monitoring our water quality and usage, establishing best practices for water use efficiency and investing in innovative equipment that allows for water reuse.

Optimum Circularity

Implements Crown’s Circularity Strategy throughout our value chain by eliminating wasteful resource use, utilizing design and innovation to decrease the footprint of our products and by working to extend our products’ lifecycle via increased recycled content and recycling rates.

Working Together

Emphasizes the importance of the safety, health and welfare of our team members being woven into every aspect of our business. This pillar also focuses on Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) and active engagement with our workforce.

Never Compromise

Enacts Crown’s Product Stewardship Strategy. We are committed to working throughout our product lifecycle to ensure that our materials are sourced responsibly. Our products are designed to minimize risks to people and the environment, and the products we manufacture meet the highest safety standards.

Reducing Global Electricity

Use Every plant in our network has a role to play in reaching our goals to reduce overall energy usage and source 100% renewable electricity by 2040. 

In 2022, our Transit Packaging facilities in Rudrapur and Dahej, India installed solar generation facilities to help power the plants’ operations. In Rudrapur, the addition will typically meet 23% of the plant’s annual electricity requirements, considerably reducing its dependence on non-renewable electricity. The solar panels will help the Dahej plant reduce the amount of non-renewable energy by approximately 28% each year. The Rudrapur and Dahej facilities are estimated to reduce their carbon footprints by 400 and 1,082 metric tons per year, respectively.

Our food facility in Hatyai, Thailand reduced electricity usage by upgrading two eddy current motors to inverter drive motors on one of their lines, saving over 214,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year. Our beverage can plant in Suryacipta Industrial City, Karawang, Indonesia installed an optimized variable frequency drive on the main vacuum to reduce frequency while running the line, which saves the plant 2-4% electricity usage annually.

Energy & Carbon Footprint 

Metal packaging is inherently sustainable in its circular lifecycle and ability to save resources during its manufacturing stages. We are continuously working to streamline our processes and curtail our resource consumption as we create our products. We strive to find new efficiencies and minimize our carbon footprint as our Company evolves and continues to grow. We understand that this is not only the right thing to do for the sake of respecting and preserving our environment, but that our future success as a business also depends on our ability to manage our impact due to changing industry requirements, as well as the associated needs of our customers and other stakeholders. With this in mind, we utilize an environmental management system to help us manage compliance, reduce costs and increase efficiencies. 

“Our future success as a business also depends on our ability to manage our impact”

Scope 1, Scope 2 & Scope 3 GHG Emissions 

We surpassed our first formal GHG emissions reduction goal (baselined against 2015 performance and aimed at reducing emissions by 10% per billion standard units of production by the end of 2020) ahead of schedule through practical changes in operations, equipment and energy efficiency. In 2019, we received validation from the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) on more aggressive goals, which included committing to reduce absolute Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions by 50% by 2030 to the 1.5 degree target, as well as decrease absolute Scope 3 GHG emissions by 16% over the same target period (using a 2019 baseline).

As of 2022, we have reduced our Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 31%. Scope 3 emissions have shifted by 25% since 2019 due to global supply chain market forces, including the expansion in our beverage can business. We are committed to working with our suppliers on decarbonization strategies to align with our Scope 3 goals.

To learn more about Crown Holding’s commitment to corporate responsibility, visit our sustainability webpage.

For full details about Crown Holding’s 2022 Sustainability Report, visit here.

Originally published in Crown Holding’s 2022 Corporate Responsibility Report

Built around 20 aggressive—but measurable—sustainability goals to be completed by or before the end of 2030, the Twentyby30™ program zeroes in on five key pillars of action that represent topics of urgent global concern and reflect the priorities of our internal and external stakeholders. Each pillar contains stated goals that are set against a 2019 baseline and focuses on initiatives where we can make notable impact. Together, they create a compelling framework for achieving long-term change. 

But equal to setting goals that can make a difference is being accountable to achieving them. While we have made meaningful progress against our goals, our sustainability journey is by no means complete. Every day, we apply our learnings, whether from triumphs or setbacks, to improve and refine our approach as we work to become a more sustainable Company.

Program Progress Report

Our Twentyby30™ program includes 20 measurable ESG goals to be completed by or before 2030. All goals and progress are measured against a 2019 baseline.

Climate Action

Acknowledges how climate change can have financial impacts on our global business – however, we can create opportunities for growth by proactively mitigating risks throughout our value chain and particularly through partnerships with our suppliers. We will aim to achieve the goals tied to this pillar by focusing on production efficiency, product and process innovation, strategic material procurement and utilization of renewable electricity.

Resource Efficiency

Supports our aim to protect water sources – one of our world’s most valuable resources and a critical input for the beverage can manufacturing process. We are committed to monitoring our water quality and usage, establishing best practices for water use efficiency and investing in innovative equipment that allows for water reuse.

Optimum Circularity

Implements Crown’s Circularity Strategy throughout our value chain by eliminating wasteful resource use, utilizing design and innovation to decrease the footprint of our products and by working to extend our products’ lifecycle via increased recycled content and recycling rates.

Working Together

Emphasizes the importance of the safety, health and welfare of our team members being woven into every aspect of our business. This pillar also focuses on Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) and active engagement with our workforce.

Never Compromise

Enacts Crown’s Product Stewardship Strategy. We are committed to working throughout our product lifecycle to ensure that our materials are sourced responsibly. Our products are designed to minimize risks to people and the environment, and the products we manufacture meet the highest safety standards.

Reducing Global Electricity

Use Every plant in our network has a role to play in reaching our goals to reduce overall energy usage and source 100% renewable electricity by 2040. 

In 2022, our Transit Packaging facilities in Rudrapur and Dahej, India installed solar generation facilities to help power the plants’ operations. In Rudrapur, the addition will typically meet 23% of the plant’s annual electricity requirements, considerably reducing its dependence on non-renewable electricity. The solar panels will help the Dahej plant reduce the amount of non-renewable energy by approximately 28% each year. The Rudrapur and Dahej facilities are estimated to reduce their carbon footprints by 400 and 1,082 metric tons per year, respectively.

Our food facility in Hatyai, Thailand reduced electricity usage by upgrading two eddy current motors to inverter drive motors on one of their lines, saving over 214,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year. Our beverage can plant in Suryacipta Industrial City, Karawang, Indonesia installed an optimized variable frequency drive on the main vacuum to reduce frequency while running the line, which saves the plant 2-4% electricity usage annually.

Energy & Carbon Footprint 

Metal packaging is inherently sustainable in its circular lifecycle and ability to save resources during its manufacturing stages. We are continuously working to streamline our processes and curtail our resource consumption as we create our products. We strive to find new efficiencies and minimize our carbon footprint as our Company evolves and continues to grow. We understand that this is not only the right thing to do for the sake of respecting and preserving our environment, but that our future success as a business also depends on our ability to manage our impact due to changing industry requirements, as well as the associated needs of our customers and other stakeholders. With this in mind, we utilize an environmental management system to help us manage compliance, reduce costs and increase efficiencies. 

“Our future success as a business also depends on our ability to manage our impact”

Scope 1, Scope 2 & Scope 3 GHG Emissions 

We surpassed our first formal GHG emissions reduction goal (baselined against 2015 performance and aimed at reducing emissions by 10% per billion standard units of production by the end of 2020) ahead of schedule through practical changes in operations, equipment and energy efficiency. In 2019, we received validation from the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) on more aggressive goals, which included committing to reduce absolute Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions by 50% by 2030 to the 1.5 degree target, as well as decrease absolute Scope 3 GHG emissions by 16% over the same target period (using a 2019 baseline).

As of 2022, we have reduced our Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 31%. Scope 3 emissions have shifted by 25% since 2019 due to global supply chain market forces, including the expansion in our beverage can business. We are committed to working with our suppliers on decarbonization strategies to align with our Scope 3 goals.

To learn more about Crown Holding’s commitment to corporate responsibility, visit our sustainability webpage.

For full details about Crown Holding’s 2022 Sustainability Report, visit here.