Tag: 3BL

Fifth Third Express Banking® provides a simple way for customers to manage their funds. Fifth Third Express Banking provides customers with immediate access to their money and the convenience and security of a banking relationship.

Express Banking is Bank On certified by the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund. To be certified, an account must meet or exceed the Bank On National Account Standards, which were developed to ensure expanded access to safe and appropriate financial products and services to the nearly 36 million people in the United States outside of the mainstream financial system. National Bank On standards require that accounts be low cost and have no overdraft features.

Features include:

No monthly service or overdraft fees.No balance requirement.Debit card.Free check cashing and direct deposit.Immediate access to funds.Free money orders.Free and unrestricted branch access and telephone banking.Free online and mobile banking, and banking alerts.Free electronic and paper statements.24/7 banking support.FDIC insured.

For more information on Fifth Third’s innovative and inclusive products, read the 2022 Sustainability Report.

AUSTIN, Minn., August 1, 2023 /3BL/ – Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE: HRL), a Fortune 500 global branded food company, has been named one of America’s greatest workplaces by Newsweek.

Hormel Foods team of 20,000 are employed throughout the world, with its global headquarters in Austin, Minn., its home for more than 130 years. The company is well known for its commitment to its team members and the communities where they live and work.

“Being named one of America’s greatest workplaces is a tremendous accomplishment,” said Katie Larson, senior vice president of human resources at Hormel Foods. “We’ve worked hard to create an uncommon culture for our 20,000 inspired team members. Our success stems from these remarkable team members, who foster a culture of respect, collaboration and dedication. This recognition is a testament to these efforts.”

Hormel Foods has a long-standing reputation as one of the most successful food companies in the world and has received numerous honors and accolades. The company has recently been named one of the best companies to work for by U.S. News & World Report, one of the world’s most admired companies by Fortune, one of America’s most responsible companies for a fourth consecutive year by Newsweek, one of the world’s top female-friendly companies by Forbes, and one of America’s most trustworthy companies by Newsweek for two years in a row.

To view the full list of Newsweek’s America’s greatest workplaces, visit newsweek.com/rankings/americas-greatest-workplaces-2023.

August 1, 2023 /3BL/ – The Chemours Company (“Chemours”), a global chemistry company, recently announced important achievements in the development and manufacture of Opteon™ 2P50, a new heat-transfer fluid for two-phase immersion cooling (2-PIC). The proprietary fluid is currently in the final testing stages for manufacturing capability, with initial commercialization targeted for 2025, pending appropriate regulatory approvals. Chemours’ Opteon™ 2P50 is a proprietary hydrofluoroolefin (HFO) dielectric fluid designed to meet the growing demand for high-performing products that reduce environmental impact while enabling circularity. Opteon™ 2P50 offers zero ozone depletion potential (ODP) and substantially lower global warming potential (GWP) compared to incumbent fluids.

Chemours’ introduction of Opteon™ 2P50 represents a critical step in positioning the company to meet a growing challenge brought on by a new era of data transmission driving a dramatic increase in demands for faster computing, AI capabilities, and other cutting-edge applications—all of which are based in technologies requiring elevated cooling capacities. Chemours’ new 2-PIC fluid enables high-performance computing and energy-efficient cooling across a broad range of thermal management applications.

“Two-phase immersion cooling represents a tremendous unmet market need and Chemours is excited to be entering this space and investing in the present and future needs in such a significant way,” said Natalia Duchini, Senior Director, Global Technology at Chemours. “We’ve innovated a next-generation fluid that meets or exceeds our customers’ most critical criteria for performance and efficiency. Moreover, by putting the power of our chemistry to work, it also ensures sustainability in an evolving environmental landscape.”

Worldwide, data centers currently account for approximately 1% of carbon emissions and approximately 1 to 1.5% of electricity consumption. More than 95% of data centers use traditional air- and water-cooling technologies. 2-PIC is the most sustainable, cost effective, and efficient alternative to traditional air-cooled data centers in terms of energy and water consumption. By submerging electronic equipment directly in a dielectric fluid, they can be cooled efficiently and safely, without the risk of hardware damage. Customer trials of Chemours Opteon™ 2P50 have confirmed outstanding performance.

2-PIC can reduce data center cooling energy consumption by more than 90% and nearly eliminate water use, reducing operating expenses. In addition, 2-PIC simplified cooling structure supports reduced capital expenditures by enabling up to a 60% reduction in the physical data center footprint, while ensuring optimum cooling capabilities to support next-generation high-performance computing applications. The ability to reclaim and reuse the two-phase immersion fluid also creates a clear path to a circular economy.

“We’re working to create more than just an incremental improvement,” said Duchini. “Our vision is to set a new industry standard with the performance and thermal stability of Opteon™ 2P50. In addition to playing a critical role in enabling 2-PIC technologies through enhanced thermal management performance, this new solution from Chemours will enable businesses and entire industries to reduce their physical footprint and environmental impact.”

Chemours Opteon™ 2P50 fluid for 2-PIC is aligned with the transition to lower global warming potential (GWP) products. Whether being used in immersion cooling applications, industrial cooling, or throughout the entire cold chain, Chemours Opteon™ products offer a strong sustainability profile, and excellent performance properties across a broad range of applications.

For more information visit Opteon.com.

View the original announcement at, Chemours.com.

Keysight has released Vital Signs, a new survey that reveals that the healthcare industry lags other industries in deploying test automation practices to ensure the quality of the software that physicians use to provide patient care.

The survey found that 82% of U.S.-based healthcare executives, decision influencers, and IT professionals polled in collaboration with the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) said their organization relied on manual or do-it-yourself (DIY) software testing methods.

“The healthcare industry’s current software testing practices remain deeply tied to workflows born of a paper-based world that favored manual and homegrown solutions,” said Gareth Smith, General Manager of Software Test Automation at Keysight. “Having this legacy mentality comes with real costs, whether it’s maintaining a complicated custom-built testing solution or having QA teams burdened with repetitive manual testing tasks.”

With 38% of respondents relying on manual testing and 44% on DIY testing approaches, there is an opportunity for the healthcare industry to improve overall software quality for physicians, nurses, and support staff through automation. This is reflected in the longer-term software testing goals of respondents, with 75% stating they plan to move to primarily automated testing during the next five years.

Other key findings from Vital Signs, include:

Poor software testing presents risks to patients – While software-based electronic medical records (EMR) are designed to enable quality patient care, poorly designed user interfaces or system glitches can lead to medical errors. The study finds this to be a real danger, with only 6% of primary decision makers in software testing feeling confident that software test coverage is sufficient to minimize patient risks.Organizations lack resources needed to scale testing – Nearly two-thirds of respondents said their team lacked the time, budget, or talent to scale future software testing. Among respondents using DIY approaches, only 38% reported satisfaction with their organization’s ability to meet all test requirements prior to software releases, 10 percentage points lower than manual approaches.Healthcare industry eager to embrace automation – Respondents see real benefits to deploying automation, with 71% saying automated software testing could free up staff time and resources. In addition, 58% anticipate automation would lead to fewer software defects, while 49% said automation would reduce time to release, and 44% said it would enhance data security.

“The results of our joint survey with Keysight highlight gaps in software testing across healthcare providers,” said Nicole Ramage, Sr. Market Insights Manager, HIMSS. “It is clear that the industry understands the value of implementing automation technologies to ensure software quality, which in turn can improve patient care.”

To help IT professionals in the healthcare industry address these challenges, Keysight offers an AI-powered suite of software test automation solutions tailored to healthcare. This includes non-invasive EMR testing at DevOps speeds, end-to-end medical device software testing, and HIPAA-compliant testing solutions.

“We see that the industry is poised to take advantage of modern test automation tools,” said Smith. “Powered by AI, Keysight can automate the entire EMR testing process to effectively address any gaps in providers’ current testing practices. This can enable QA teams to perform their existing tests more consistently across platforms and test more extensively than with manual or DIY approaches.”

Companies that invest in green buildings not only save money, improve efficiency, and lower carbon emissions, they also create healthier places for people.

According to a study by the American Journal of Public Health investigating the effects of green buildings on employee health and productivity, employees who moved from conventional offices to buildings rated for Leadership Energy Environmental Design (LEED) reported a reduction in absenteeism, depression, and stress levels as well as an increase in their sense of happiness.

Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) in the late 1990s, LEED certification is a globally recognized symbol of sustainability, providing third-party verification that a building was built to address energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, and indoor environmental quality. LEED is a holistic rating system that looks at the big picture, factoring in all critical elements that work together to create the best building possible for the people who work there and their visitors.

Hybrid Air Conditioning, Rooftop Greenery

SAP understood this concept from the early days of its global expansion. As the company grew and acquired facilities, it committed to creating workspaces that combined efficiency with employee well-being. Designed with sustainability in mind, SAP Americas headquarters in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, for example, was awarded LEED Platinum level in 2011, receiving high points for energy efficiency, water management, and innovative design.

The building is one-third more energy efficient compared to conventional buildings by using intelligent design features. The building’s sensor system is integrated with exterior shading devices that automatically adjust the lighting and help control the temperature level in the facility. A hybrid air conditioning system produces ice to cool the building during the overnight hours when energy demands and electric rates are the lowest.

The building saves 2 million gallons of water and 2 million kilowatt hours of power per year and reduces SAP carbon footprint by 85,000 tons. Floor-to-ceiling glass exteriors and a green roof, planted with native and regional vegetation, integrate the office with the natural environment surrounding it.

Lush Forests, Natural Beauty

Another SAP building that received LEED certification early on is the SAP Labs Latin America location. The Gold certified location is surrounded by lush, subtropical forests in the south of Brazil, embodying the idea of an exceptional workplace. Every single workstation in the building has an external view, giving employees a sense of communing with nature, a feeling intensified by the natural light and the swathes of local vegetation and running water in the internal courtyards. Built solely from sustainable materials, including wood, metal and glass, the building uses recycled water and its temperature is regulated by the building automation system.

“We even made sure to position the staircase centrally and keep the elevators off to the side, so people automatically take the stairs,” quips Dennison John, managing directors of the location. Built in three stages, between 2006 to the present, SAP Labs Latin America is not only one of the greenest buildings operated by SAP worldwide, it is one of the greenest on the entire continent.

“At SAP, we are enablers and exemplars of sustainability,” says John. “Besides providing employees with a healthy environment, our goal is to show customers how we as a company are reducing our carbon footprint. With over 200 customer visits per year, we have ample opportunity to demonstrate the environmental advantages of a green building and showcase the natural beauty around us.”

Nap Zones, Neighborhoods

Another LEED Gold certified building is the SAP Labs India location in Bangalore. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, it became increasingly important to provide a workspace suitable for flexible working, prompting a complete overhaul fully focused on sustainability.

During the two-year transformation period, traditional workspaces with dedicated desks were transformed into activity-based work areas and free seating to maximize team collaboration and social interaction. Dedicated home zones for teams, known as neighborhoods, were created based on SAP’s 4C design principles to enable collaboration, communication, concentration, and community.

One of the objectives of the renovation was to reflect the vast diversity characterizing India. The campus environment highlights the architecture and culture of India in many aspects. The building is designed around three primary courtyards, which connect all elements and people both vertically and horizontally. The workspaces intercept with social spaces and discussion pockets, all with easy access to the courtyards.

The entrance of the building leads to a colossal solarium that connects all floors to a large-scale digital wall used for demos, coffee corner sessions, customer engagements, and employee all-hands meetings. The solarium offers a view of the beautifully manicured landscape surrounding the building. Like their Brazilian colleagues, instead of using the elevators, people prefer to use the iconic staircases to move between floors.

Almost 95% of SAP Labs India campus operations run on green energy sources. seventy percent of the car fleet runs on electric vehicles, and charging stations on campus for employees aim to help them make responsible choices and create a cleaner environment.

According to SAP Chief Sustainability Officer Daniel Schmid, SAP is aiming for a minimum of LEED Silver standard for new buildings worldwide.

“The buildings in Newtown Square, Bangalore, and Brazil are among the pioneers in green building design worldwide. Besides reducing energy costs and emissions, we create a truly welcoming environment for our employees. This is one of the ways that we role model our strategies on our journey to net zero,” he says.

In the meantime, with many LEED certified buildings worldwide, SAP has become a true enabler and exemplar of sustainability for people, planet, and profit.

For more information on how SAP helps companies record, report, and act on their sustainability goals, visit sap.com/sustainability.

Originally published on 3M News Center

Command™ Brand announced its first official Director of Dorm Design, Bobby Berk, who will provide style inspiration for students and young adults to help transform their space to match their current aesthetic “era” this Back to College season and fearlessly express themselves with ease. Bobby Berk is a design expert, Emmy-nominated host of Queer Eye and author of “Right at Home: How Good Design is Good for The Mind,” publishing September 12, 2023.

“College is such a pivotal time for personal growth and expression in a young person’s life. I’m thrilled to be working with Command™ Brand to provide dorm design inspiration that allows them to express who they are,” said Bobby Berk. “Tying in current design trends and Command’s damage-free/tool-free products, I designed these four unique rooms to spark creativity and encourage students to boldly live out their current era.”

A recent Command™ Brand survey found that 63% of current and former college students agree that having an organized and decorated room helps set them up for a successful school year and 79% of Gen Z like their home décor to reflect their identity. That is why Command™ Brand teamed up with Bobby Berk to encourage students and young adults to fearlessly express whatever era they are in by designing their space to reflect exactly who they are.

“At Command™ Brand, we believe life is more joyful when your space reflects you,” said Tate Galvin, global vice president, Home Improvement, for 3M™. “Which is why we deployed Bobby as our Director of Dorm Design to share on-trend inspiration for whatever era someone may find themselves in. Command™ Brand products empower you to personalize and have fun with your space without tools and remove cleanly so you can change your mind anytime without consequence.”

Berk worked hand-in-hand with the brand to design four unique rooms representing a few of his personal favorite trends for the season using a variety of Command™ Brand products. These four rooms are:

“Boho Plant Parent”: A neutral-toned palette with pops of greenery and playful textures for the plant lovers.“Retro Music”: For the inner rockers, this room takes a modern approach on the eighties with colorful vintage pieces and a string light/record display wall.“World Traveler”: Hues of blue and vintage maps wrap this travel-inspired room for the wanderlust.“Super Glam”: For those who love fashion and want to show off their personal style, this room includes disco balls, magazine clippings and shades of pink.

Command™ Brand provides a wide range of useful products that can help consumers represent and embrace who they are and fully serve it to the world. College students and young adults can easily add their touch to their space by hanging décor without the use of tools and without fear or concern of damaging walls and surfaces. The best part is Command™ Brand understands style preferences can change so their products remove cleanly so consumers can explore different sides of their design and décor interests without consequence. Command™ Brand products and decorating solutions minimize chaos and maximize comfort to easily transform any space.

Check out these helpful products to help transform your space to match your personal era this Back to College season and always:

Command™ Poster Strips – Decorate how you want, when you want, without damaging walls or surfaces – no holes, marks or sticky residue. Use these wall adhesive strips to hang your favorite posters, banners and signs.Command™ 20 lb Picture Hanging Strips – Hang heavy picture frames (up to 20lbs!), large wall art, big mirrors, wall clocks, signs, dry erase boards, and more.Command™ 15 lb X-Large Hook  – Organize your heavy items – like backpacks or equipment bags – on the wall without the hassle of tools and nails.Command™ Medium Designer Hooks – Perfect for displaying one-of-a-kind accessories, hats or scarves that double as décor.Command™ Clear Decorating Clips – Hang plant vines, photos or string lights to make your space uniquely yours. Perfect for use on smooth indoor surfaces including painted walls, finished wood, glass, tile and metal. 

Students can share how they are embracing their current era using Command™ Brand Products by sharing photos on their social media channels using #CommandYourEra to help inspire others during this Back to College season.

To experience Bobby’s dorm designs and more, follow Instagram.com/Command for inspiration. To learn more about the Command™ Brand, visit Command.com.

By Demarcus Reaves, Analytics Developer, Koch Global Services

I was struggling my first year of college, unsure what I wanted to do, but confident that it wasn’t sitting in an anthropology class. That’s when I learned about a technology training program called Year Up. To me, it was an opportunity to improve myself and learn in a way better suited to my needs. So, I took the untraditional, scary step to leave college and enroll in the program.

Year Up totally changed my trajectory and reframed how I viewed myself and my potential. Over the next 12 months, I acquired technology skills that are in high demand, invaluable soft skills (like dressing for the part), networking and how to present my work and ideas. Any doubt I had in my ability to contribute at work, to my community and the wider world diminished with each step forward.

The program connected me with a mentor at Georgia-Pacific in Atlanta. He encouraged me to apply for an internship at Georgia-Pacific So, I did. And I got it.

Year Up helped me gain confidence in myself and my abilities. At Georgia-Pacific, a Koch company, my personal growth was accelerated by a culture and vision that promotes lifelong learning, identifying your interests and talents and pursuing them, as well as challenging yourself to keep growing.

Georgia-Pacific and other Koch companies create an environment where it’s OK not to know something or even to mess up — as long as you learn from it. After some mistakes and trial and error, I was so proud when I figured out how to automate processes to make a tool more effective in my first role. Now that my skills are more advanced, it’s funny looking back. I see what I did as so basic, and it’s motivating to see how much I’ve learned.

When my first supervisor at Georgia-Pacific offered me a full-time job, she saw my potential and my value. And every time I’m offered a new opportunity, it reinforces the fact that people who come through nontraditional pipelines, with nontraditional backgrounds and credentials, are valuable to the organization. I often tell my colleagues to be confident in themselves and their abilities, and not to waste time worrying about whether they have the “right” credentials.

To those who are starting careers through a similar path as mine, it’s important you know: You can do the job. You deserve your spot. You are worthy.

My goal is to emulate the examples set by my mentor and my supervisors. I’ve felt encouragement from every one of my supervisors, who have helped me be successful by caring about me as a person, allowing me to explore my interests and having confidence in me to take on challenges, even when I didn’t feel ready. I tell people all the time that support from my mentors and supervisors, combined with having a growth mindset, helped me break down walls and find a fulfilling career.

In February, I began a new role for Koch Global Services, a different Koch company, as an analytics developer, creating tools to make work life easier and more efficient. This is just the type of rewarding position I imagined having one day, and I can’t wait to see where my skills and Koch’s culture will take me.

This Paramount Community Day 2023 marks the 10th anniversary of the partnership between Paramount and Second Chance Toys. Second Chance Toys (SCT) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization established in 2006 working to protect the world’s two greatest assets: our children and the environment. SCT operations focus on matching donated gently-used toys across the United States with partnering recipient organizations that serve children and families in need. Since the inception, SCT has recirculated over 425,000 good-as-new toys, therefore diverting 1.7 million pounds of plastic from landfills, and serving millions of children along the way with each round of shared play.

Since the beginning of our collaborations, the Paramount community has given immense support behind the scenes as well as on the front lines, where they have saved thousands of toys from landfills and kept them in circulation and where they belong, in the hands of deserving children.

In celebration of Community Day 2023, and in conjunction with the earlier Earth Month, Paramount hosted two far reaching, yet close-to-home impactful initiatives with Second Chance Toys.

Firstly, as spring approached and the yearly cleaning season began, Paramount families were invited to clear out their own outplayed toys sustainably with SCT. Led by the Social Responsibility Team, this initiative allowed families to make an impact from their own homes, by packing up and shipping outplayed toys directly to one of the Second Chance Toys recipient organizations. SCT hosted a short information session over video conference and prepared a simple set of instructions for donors on which toys are acceptable to donate. Since Paramount underwrote shipping, and the community was eager to make an impact in another area, this batch of toys was matched with one of SCT’s newest partners, New Beginnings 4 U Inc. of Raleigh, NC.

“We rely on our relationships to community partners like Second Chance Toys to create long-standing impact initiatives at Paramount like Community Day” said by Harold Anderson, a coordinator on the Social Responsibility team. “As this relationship progress, our employees begin to build a strong connection to Second Chance Toys as an organization that support social causes we care deeply about and it drives them to want to volunteer more with SCT!”

A couple of months later in June, though Spring Cleaning was finished out, the demand for toys continued to grow among Second Chance Toys recipient organizations. Luckily Paramount was geared up and eager to continue to work to fill that need! For Community Day on June 14, Paramount sent a delegation of volunteers to SCT satellite toy drop-off location, Fair Lawn, NJ Recycling and Public Works. The crew spent the morning working tirelessly to screen donations in preparation to be re-circulated in the surrounding communities. This comprehensive screening included unpacking, cleaning, refurbishing, and reuniting small parts, all culminating in packing the toys up for pick-up. In total, 500 toys were inspected and cleared for donation, therefore averaging about 2,000 pounds of unnecessary plastic waste diverted from landfills.

Team co-captain Danielle Rowe-Jackson reflects on the experience: “It was truly a pleasure to work with the team at Second Chance Toys. I think we all loved the idea of giving a toy another opportunity to make a child happy.”

These items have been matched with the New Jersey Community Development Corporation of Paterson, NJ, where they will be distributed to children and families they serve in the Great Falls area of Paterson.

“It is such an honor to be included in the Paramount Community Day lineup once again. SCT is especially proud and excited this year to have the Paramount team back out in-person with us screening toys for the first time since 2019! Feels great to be back outside, making an impact and having a great time!” said Zoe Cook-Nadel, Director of Second Chance Toys.“We can’t wait to see what the future holds and continue to make innovative impacts for children and the environment together with Paramount.”

Tens of thousands of toys worth of impact later, Paramount is one of the longest running Valued Supporters of the Second Chance Toys environmental and social missions.

Originally published on bloomberg.com

This article is reproduced from Environmental Finance.

Bloomberg’s head of sustainable finance solutions Patricia Torres and ESG enterprise data content head Caroline Ward outline how they are working together to provide a comprehensive suite of ESG data solutions on and off the desktop.

Environmental Finance: What is your business goal when it comes to ESG data?

Patricia Torres: I oversee the ESG strategy for the Bloomberg Terminal. My goal is to ensure that we are exceeding our clients’ expectations about how they can use ESG data. My team’s first priority is ensuring our clients can access all the data and analytics they need for their business, including company-reported data, Bloomberg proprietary datasets, and third-party data.

Secondly, we provide seamless integration of these datasets across Bloomberg solutions so clients can efficiently build and execute their ESG investment strategies.

Manage sustainability-related risks and opportunities

Learn more

Caroline Ward: I look after Bloomberg’s Enterprise Data ESG business, which makes ESG datasets accessible for enterprise use via Bloomberg Data License. Patricia and I share a mutual goal to create consistency across every channel while offering our customers optionality. For example, customers want to share data across their entire enterprise in a scalable way, so I spend a lot of time ensuring consistency when it comes to historical data, metadata, and more. This enables our customers to take their Bloomberg ESG datasets and distribute them into data lakes or management systems so people across an organisation can readily access the same information.

EF: What sets Bloomberg’s ESG data offering apart?

PT: Hands down, it’s data quality and transparency. Our company reported ESG data on 15,000 companies representing more than 80% of company operations and at least 80% of the company workforce. Our ESG analysts run over 5,000 sophisticated, multilayer quality control systems to ensure all data conforms to the highest standards. Our customers can drill down to the source documents to validate any datapoint.

We provide visibility into factors that are applied to Bloomberg’s ESG scores and the weighting of those factors. Our scores are based on a quant model; they are not subject to conflicts of interest and are not judged by analysts. They are based on company reported data and we do not use proxies to supplement a lack of data governance.

It is clear to our users what data has been disclosed by the company, what hasn’t, and how well a company performs on disclosure.

EF: What enhancements have you recently made?

PT: Regulation is a big driver. There are 30 taxonomies in development as well as global frameworks. We are working with policy makers and industry associations to inform our development to support interoperability of ESG-based regulations worldwide.

CW: Another major challenge is incorporating ESG data from multiple sources. Bloomberg’s Data License Plus ESG Manager solution provides firms with the flexibility to satisfy multi-vendor ESG requirements, maintain consistent data across their organisation, and enrich it with Bloomberg Data License content.

EF: What are your priorities for the year ahead?

PT: Biodiversity and impact investing are emerging as big themes. Our customers are expected to set biodiversity policies, monitor investment impact/exposure to biodiversity loss, create biodiversity-themed investment products, align with TNFD, and report to their regulator. To help clients meet these requirements, we are enhancing our supply chain and commodity exposure data so users can understand the flow of commodities driving nature loss. We are also working on analytics that identify whether a company operates in locations of high impact or dependency risks, as well as capturing nature-related disclosures.

CW: A priority for my team is helping customers navigate the sustainable debt market. Bloomberg evaluates the credentials of active fixed income instruments across corporate bonds, loans, preferreds, munis and structured products, then offers timely and comprehensive sustainability data for investors seeking to direct capital to sustainable activities.

We are also focused on helping clients analyse fund investments according to specific ESG goals. We have recently launched a Funds Data Solution which combines Bloomberg’s holdings data with its premium security-level data to deliver objective, granular fund-level ESG Scores & Analytics so customers can determine if a fund truly meets sustainability criteria. ESG is getting more complex, especially as new taxonomies and frameworks emerge.

EF: What is one thing you want your customers to know?

PT: ESG is getting more complex, especially as new taxonomies and global frameworks emerge. We focus on data transparency and consistency so you can cut through the complexity and act with confidence.

This article was published in conjunction with Environmental Finance’s 2023 ESG Data Guide – view Bloomberg’s entry here.

UN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015. At its core are the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), which represent a global partnership between developed and developing countries to end poverty, protect the planet, and improve the lives and prospects of people everywhere. There are 17 UN SDGs with 169 underlying targets. The private sector has been asked to partner towards the successful achievement of the UN SDGs by identifying opportunities to incorporate them into business strategies. While PotlatchDeltic supports all the UN SDGs, we focus on the six core UN SDGs where we have the greatest impact. We also include an additional five goals that closely align with our policies and initiatives. In our ESG report, we highlight some of our work that reflects these international goals.

OUR CORE UN SDGS

UN – SDG 6 
CLEAN WATER AND SANITATION

A significant portion of the nation’s drinking water originates from forests, and timberland owners play an important role in protecting water quality. PotlatchDeltic’s forests play a fundamental role in protecting water quality and providing aquatic habitat. Protecting and restoring water-related ecosystems is fundamental to our forest management efforts. Our wood products facilities seek to minimize use of water and promote water quality. We also seek conservation outcomes through rural land sales that protect water and aquatic habitats.

UN – SDG 8 
DECENT WORK AND ECONOMIC GROWTH

PotlatchDeltic invests in technological improvements at our wood products facilities to increase productivity and resource efficiency. We cultivate a workplace of excellence through our inclusive culture, fair compensation, and opportunities for development. We maintain partnerships with high schools, technical schools, and universities within our communities. We aim to prevent occupational illness and injuries by focusing on the health and safety of our employees without compromise. This is at the core of every decision we make.

UN – SDG 12 
RESPONSIBLE PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION 

Sustainability is a hallmark of effective forest management and wood products manufacturing. With over 100 years of experience, PotlatchDeltic embodies sustainable consumption and production. From pollution prevention programs to technology upgrades, we have many examples of reducing emissions, reducing waste generation, and maximizing the efficient use of natural resources. By combining these efforts with sustainable practices and integrated sustainability benchmarks, we provide a winning combination for our shareholders, our Team Members, and our communities.

UN – SDG 13 
CLIMATE ACTION

As a steward of Earth’s natural resources, PotlatchDeltic recognizes the need for climate action, and that timberlands play a powerful positive role in combating climate change through carbon sequestration. We continue to improve our climate change resilience and adaptive capacity across our organization, from specialized seedling selection for planting to increased resource utilization efficiency at our mills. This is an iterative process to integrate climate change measures into our policies, strategies, and planning cycles. In addition, wood products store naturally sequestered carbon as a climate solution. 

UN – SDG 15 
LIFE ON LAND

PotlatchDeltic has a vested interest in conservation and the sustainable use and management of our forests. We are a leader in the sustainable management of forests through best management practices, reforestation, and the protection of biodiversity and threatened species. As part of our sustainability commitment, we remain diligent in reducing the impacts of invasive and alien species through targeted control efforts.

UN – SDG 17 
PARTNERSHIPS FOR THE GOALS

Partnerships represent combined and often multiplicative efforts to improve the world in which we live. PotlatchDeltic maintains that cooperation and access to science, technology, and knowledge-sharing is foundational to sustainable development. Our work with research organizations, coalitions, cooperatives, and industry associations provides evidence of this philosophy, which helps make progress towards several of the UN SDGs.

Our Aligned SDGs 

UN SDG 3 
Good Health and Well-being 

UN SDG 10 
Reduced Inequalities 

UN SDG 4 
Quality Education 

UN SDG 5 
Gender Equality 

UN SDG 11 
Sustainable Cities and Communities

A positive human experience enables our employees to do their best work and our stakeholders to align with our mission. Our culture has health and safety as a core value and offers employees and their families comprehensive benefits and wellness initiatives. We value a culture of ethical, diverse, and inclusive teamwork and look to attract talent with diverse backgrounds and experience. Employee engagement, training, and development is promoted through a strategy of continuous performance improvement. We promote the use of wood products and innovations like mass timber in buildings as nature-based climate solutions. Our charitable giving focuses on supporting the communities where we operate.

View the full PotlatchDeltic 2022 ESG Report here. 

This release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Words such as “aim,” “commitment,” “continue,” “goal,” “look,” “maintain,” “promote,” “seek,” and similar expressions and references to achievement of objectives in the future are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These statements reflect management’s views of future events based on estimates and assumptions and are therefore subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, and are not guarantees of future conduct, results, or policies. Please view the Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information on page 134 of PotlatchDeltic’s 2022 ESG Report.