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Read the full MetLife 2022 Sustainability Report

MetLife 2030 DEI Commitments

Across MetLife, we’re guided by our purpose: Always with you, building a more confident future. This includes building a more inclusive and equitable workplace and society. 

Our broad set of 2030 diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) commitments is designed to address the needs of the underserved and underrepresented through a mix of investments, products and services, supply chain, volunteering and community efforts. Each commitment is anchored to our business strategy and informed by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The financial components of these commitments total more than $2.5 billion by 2030.

As we continue to transform our commitments into meaningful actions, we look forward to sharing our progress along the way.

MetLife’s purpose calls on us to build a more inclusive and equitable world for all our stakeholders. The breadth of these commitments demonstrates that we are significantly advancing our DEI efforts on every front. Setting clear expectations for our progress will hold us accountable and sustain our momentum.

Michel Khalaf
President and CEO

MetLife has pledged to deliver on the following commitments by 2030:

To invest in firms owned by women, minorities and disabled persons

MetLife will originate $1 billion in investments that advance firms owned by women, minorities and disabled persons. MetLife made a down payment on this commitment with nearly $100 million deployed in 2021.

To direct spending to diverse suppliers

MetLife will reach $5 billion in spend with diverse suppliers – an increase of $1.6 billion from the amount MetLife’s Supplier Inclusion and Development Program has committed since its inception through year-end 2020. MetLife will also annually report the economic impact of this spend.

To positively impact underserved and underrepresented communities through funding from MetLife Foundation

MetLife Foundation has committed $150 million in funding to support underserved and underrepresented communities.

To engage our employees in volunteer opportunities

MetLife will commit 800,000 employee volunteer hours with a focus on DEI/underserved communities.

To offer solutions and insights focused on underserved communities 

MetLife will provide solutions and insights to address the needs of the underserved. For example, MetLife will build partnerships with experts to provide educational content in Upwise™ – the company’s new digital financial wellness app – to tackle the financial challenges disproportionately impacting diverse communities.

To support DEI-focused research

MetLife will support research that advances understanding of DEI issues. For example, MetLife will share insights from the company’s annual Employee Benefit Trends Study and other research initiatives to help employers as they support their increasingly diverse workforces.

To advance workforce diversity

MetLife will continue to advance workforce diversity by consistently achieving top quartile positioning across each ethnically and racially diverse category in the U.S. and of female officers globally. MetLife also will enhance transparency of the link between top quartile positioning and executive leadership performance.

Our Approach to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

By cultivating a purpose-driven and inclusive culture, we’re able to better meet the diverse needs of the customers and communities we serve. Here are some ways we’re approaching that work.

Establishing a Global Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Leadership Council to drive DEI strategy and execution across businesses, functions and regionsIntegrating inclusive leadership into our Leading the Future program so people leaders create an inclusive environmentLaunching Inclusion Begins with Me, a global comprehensive set of resources and curated learning, including inclusion dialogues, mandatory courses and the Inclusion Begins with Me: Conversations that Matter podcastPiloting INDEAVOR Team Experience, an interactive experiment to apply inclusive behaviors and habits to build greater trust and collaborationActivating Inclusion Action Teams to champion inclusion by giving voice and encouraging actions that engender a more diverse and inclusive MetLife culture

Originally published on Black & Veatch Insights

This is the third in a series of insights called “Moving from Sustainability Talk to Action.” As the market moves toward net-zero, carbon-free and low-carbon fuels infrastructure projects (fueled by the promise of tax credits) are key for realizing decarbonization goals. These semi-large infrastructure projects will need to navigate through the air permitting waters prior to the start of construction. This insight addresses the management of air quality and permitting risks on these projects.

Ajay Kasarabada, P.E, AVP and Director – Environmental Solutions, Black & Veatch

Mike Rinkol, P.E., Subject Matter Lead – Air Regulations & Sciences, Black & Veatch

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) was designed to animate the market to rapidly deploy infrastructure on the ground to meet ambitious decarbonization goals. While technological advancements are happening to electrify the ecosystem with green electrons, vast chunks of the economy still rely on conventional fossil fuels. During this transitionary period, owners, operators, and developers, as well as interested financial institutions, increasingly are considering investment in alternative fuels such as renewable hydrocarbon fuels from biomass feedstocks – and blue fuels sourced from hydrocarbon feedstocks with carbon capture and sequestration – to provide carbon-free or low-carbon energy sources to fuel the economic engine. The manufacturing processes that produce these alternate fuels use complex unit operations and are typically classified as chemical plants, which emit air emissions in addition to carbon dioxide (CO2).

Examples of carbon-free and low-carbon fuels manufacturing projects:

Renewable gasoline 
 Renewable alcohols (ethanol, butanol, methanol, mixed alcohols) 
 Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) 
 Blue hydrogen and ammonia from methane with carbon capture and sequestration 
 Syngas and renewable natural gas from biomass feedstocks

These proposed fuel-manufacturing plants (fuels projects) are being evaluated for risk factors such as economics, reliability, operational flexibility and stability as part of initial conceptual studies and Project Definition Rating Index (PDRI) reviews. However, the environmental considerations – specifically the impact of air quality permitting requirements on project economics, design and schedule – are typically not considered until later in the project planning process. If we want to see these fuels projects implemented and operational to achieve further decarbonization, it is important that air quality and permitting metrics are not ignored.

Clearing the Air on Permitting Requirements

The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (CAAA) define stationary sources of air emissions as “any building, structure, facility or installation which emits any air pollutant.” Air construction permits are required prior to construction and operation of stationary sources and modification to existing stationary sources. The CAAA also defines modification as “any physical change in, or change in the method of operation of, a stationary source which increases the amount of air pollution emitted by such source or which results in the emissions of any air pollutant not previously emitted.” Fuels manufacturing operations have several stationary sources with air emissions. Consequently, air construction permits are required prior to construction and operation of these facilities.

The CAAA regulates six criteria air pollutants and 188 hazardous air pollutants (HAPs). The six criteria air pollutants are nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO), particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), ozone (volatile organic compounds or VOCs are considered surrogates for ozone and are regulated), and lead (Pb). In addition to these pollutants, some states also regulate state specific air toxics.

Affected parties and facilities must acquire an air construction permit with minimal requirements and overcome the least number of permitting risks. Air construction permits are classified as minor and major source construction permits depending upon the amount of emissions change from either a new installation or modification to an existing installation. In general, minor source air construction permits have the fewest permitting hurdles to overcome and regulatory requirements to meet. Major source permits are implemented under the federal CAAA New Source Review (NSR) provisions under two programs: the Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) program outlined in 40 CFR 52.21, and the Nonattainment NSR (NNSR) program outlined in 40 CFR 51 and 52. PSD regulations apply to major stationary sources and major modifications at major existing sources undergoing construction in areas designated as attainment or unclassifiable. The PSD regulations are designed to ensure that the air quality in attainment areas does not significantly deteriorate or exceed the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) while providing a margin for future industrial and commercial growth. NNSR applies in regions that are classified as nonattainment for a particular pollutant(s).

The PSD program sets forth specific threshold levels, referred to as significant emission rates (SER) that are used to determine if an emissions increase constitutes a significant emissions increase for each PSD pollutant. The SERs for PSD pollutants that are typically of concern for facilities with combustion units are summarized in Table 1.

Table 1: PSD Significant Emission Rates

PollutantSignificant Emission Rate (tpy)PM25NOx40SO240PM1015CO100VOC (surrogate for ozone)40Sulfuric Acid Mist7Lead0.6Fluorides3

 

At existing major PSD sources, PSD is applicable if the emissions change results in a significant emissions increase and a significant net emissions increase (details about PSD netting is beyond the scope of this insights article).

The primary provisions of the PSD regulations necessitate a thorough review of major modifications and new major stationary sources before construction can begin, ensuring compliance with the NAAQS, the applicable PSD air quality increments, other air quality-related values and the requirements to apply Best Available Control Technology (BACT) to minimize the emissions of air pollutants from these sources. For nonattainment areas, as mentioned earlier, major source review falls under NNSR provisions. Major source thresholds for nonattainment areas are dependent on the severity of nonattainment classification and are lower than the PSD major source thresholds. NNSR major source review mandates the implementation of Lowest Achievable Emission Rate (LAER), which is more stringent than BACT, and the purchase of offsets or emission reduction credits for the nonattainment pollutant exceeding the major source threshold. Additionally, an Ambient Air Quality Impact Analysis (AAQIA) may be required.

How does air permitting impact fuels projects?

There is a strong interdependence between air permitting and process design for fuels projects. Several iterative steps may be needed to ensure development of an optimal process and an installation which can smoothly sail through the air permitting waters. As mentioned earlier, the goal for most interested parties is to minimize the air permitting hurdles that need to be overcome prior to obtaining an air construction permit – or in other words qualify for permitting as a minor source. Given the IRA’s tax credit triggers related to life-cycle carbon (studied using the GREET model), it’s also important to consider how this may influence conceptual design to minimize life cycle carbon and maximize production tax credits. Let’s take a deeper look at the ways in which air permitting nuances may impact project characterization, economics and permitting schedules.

Project Characterization

Facility location, size and layout must be considered, including:

Feasibility of locating a source in an attainment or nonattainment area, proximity of the source to sensitive receptors (i.e., schools, nursing homes, environmental justice communities, etc.), locating at a greenfield site or co-locating at an existing plant or adjacent to a downstream fuel client facility. Colocation can trigger additional reviews associated with contractual and operational relationship between the two collocated parties, including common ownership and control, “but-for” relationships, etc. 
 How big of an emissions unit based on product output can be permitted without tripping major source thresholds or violating ambient air impact thresholds. 
 How many units can be built, finding room to install additional units or equipment or leaving space for future process trains. 
 Negotiating guaranteed emission rates from vendors (i.e., catalyst manufactures, air quality control equipment OEMs, etc.) to meet potential permit limits.

Project Economics

Project economics for a typical fuels plant may include costs for raw materials, transportation, carbon capture and sequestration, electricity rates, heat rates and annual operational costs, as well as potential fuel savings in their economic models to determine project viability. It’s also important that along with the process design team, the air permitting staff or permitting consultants interact closely with the project economists to include other capital and operating costs associated with add-on emissions control equipment, fuel pre-treatment equipment, and costs for buying emission offsets (in nonattainment areas only) into the economic model. Costs for obtaining offsets could be very high depending on the type of nonattainment pollutant for which the offsets are required and the prevailing market rates for such offsets. Similarly, add-on emissions control capital and operational costs can be high, and a detailed economic analysis may be necessary to justify inclusion or exclusion of such technologies as part of the project design.

Project Schedule

Having established that obtaining an air construction permit is necessary prior to beginning construction and operation of fuels projects, it is imperative to allocate sufficient time in the project schedule and planning. This includes time for conducting iterations during the conceptual design phase when the project is being optimally characterized, time for preparing air construction permit application documents, and time for the agency review process.

Minor source permit reviews typically take three to six months for approval after a complete application has been submitted. Major source review can take from 12 to 24 months for agency review and approval. The time budgeted for air permitting can be used to develop a sound air permitting strategy, including time to engage the air permitting agencies early with the nature of the project being planned, time to engage the public with the benefits of the project and time for the air permitting staff or consultant to conduct all relevant and required analyses and assemble the permit application for submittal to the state agencies for their review and approval.

Finally, in order to accommodate project schedules, a sequence of projects (for example, phased installation of process trains) all planned within a phased schedule cannot be broken down into segments so that each segment would be below the major source thresholds, when the project as a whole could exceed them. This concept is called segmentation for avoidance of major source review and is not allowed.

The Path Ahead

Air quality regulations can add complexity, costs and increased permitting time to a fuels project and should be addressed upfront in the project planning process. Air quality permitting requirements that include BACT and/or AAQIA may require additional pollution control equipment and fine-tuning of the project conceptual design, which can impact project cost and complexity in the permit application preparation and processing. Considerations such as colocation, common ownership and control, PSD avoidance via phasing projects and segmentation also add complexities and can increase the time to obtain an air construction permit, which must be obtained before a facility can commence construction.

Successful deployment of carbon-free and low-carbon fuels manufacturing projects requires air quality be integrated as a significant component of the overall fuels project planning phase. Navigating these waters can be complicated, especially as development and investment is spurred by tax incentives, which is why it’s vital to plan for air permitting prior to the start of construction.

References:

CAAA §111(a)(3) 
 CAAA §111(a)(4) 
 The air quality in a given area is designated as being in attainment for a pollutant if the monitored concentrations of that pollutant in the ambient air are less than the applicable National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) or is designated as unclassifiable if sufficient monitoring data are not available to make an attainment decision. A given area is classified as non-attainment for a pollutant if the monitored concentrations of that pollutant in the ambient air in the area are above the NAAQS. 
 A given area is classified as nonattainment for a pollutant if the monitored concentrations of that pollutant in the ambient air in the area are above the NAAQS. 
 

CLEVELAND, July 11, 2023 /3BL/ — KeyBank (NYSE:KEY) announced that the Spring 2023 graduating class of the Secured Credit Card program comprises nearly 5,000 clients who have been empowered to improve their credit scores and establish financial stability. This latest announcement brings the total number of graduates to more than 20,000 since the program’s first graduation in 2019.

The Key Secured Credit Card® improves financial wellness by providing eligible clients with opportunities to establish or improve their credit history, bolster savings while building credit, and create better money habits and a foundation of knowledge for other credit cards and products. Cardholder accounts are reviewed twice each year to determine if the client meets the criteria to graduate to an unsecured credit card, supporting financial mobility for clients on their unique journeys.

In today’s economic landscape, 55% of Americans say they are in a difficult financial position — a substantial increase from the year prior (37%) — with a majority (85%) expressing a strong desire to become more aware of their financial picture, according to the KeyBank 2023 Financial Mobility Survey.

Through the Secured Credit Card program, this year’s graduates have made major steps to improve their financial wellbeing, such as:

46% received a KeyBank Secured Credit Card with no FICO® score at origination.54% were designated as having low FICO scores at origination, a majority of which were designated as a low score.The average improvement in credit score for those in the low category was 95 points.

“This year’s graduates find themselves in a uniquely challenging economic environment,” said Daniel Brown, Director of Consumer Product Management at KeyBank. “Using lessons learned throughout the KeyBank Secured Credit Card program, as well as their improved credit standing, graduates are well positioned for the next chapter of their financial journeys — whether that includes buying a home, planning for life milestones, or simply continuing to build strong credit.”

The longevity of the KeyBank Secured Credit Card program has begun to show its impact. More than 42,000 clients have started or completed their journey through the program with 41% of the clients who graduated having done so within 12 months and 95% within 24 months.

As more graduates come out of the program, we have seen the true positive impact on FICO scores. For those who entered the program with no FICO score, the average score they show at graduation is 728. Throughout the program’s history, those with a FICO score at origination have shown an average increase of 63 points when they graduate.

Additional Key Secured Credit Card features include:

While clients build their credit, their Secured Credit Card deposit must be kept in a Key Active Saver account, allowing users to build their credit and savings in tandem1 — all with a $0 annual fee2.Unlike prepaid or debit cards, the Secured Credit Card reports clients’ history to credit bureaus, allowing them to show progress.Cardholders can opt in to check their FICO score for free anytime in online and mobile banking. It’s quick, easy and does not impact their credit score.With Key’s temporary lock security feature, cardholders can easily use online or mobile banking to lock and unlock a misplaced credit card, thus avoiding having to cancel it and open a new one—potentially harming their credit score.

For more information on Secured Credit Card, visit https://www.key.com/personal/credit-cards/key-secured-credit-card.jsp

About KeyCorp

KeyCorp’s roots trace back nearly 200 years to Albany, New York. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Key is one of the nation’s largest bank-based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $198 billion at March 31, 2023. Key provides deposit, lending, cash management, and investment services to individuals and businesses in 15 states under the name KeyBank National Association through a network of approximately 1,000 branches and approximately 1,300 ATMs. Key also provides a broad range of sophisticated corporate and investment banking products, such as merger and acquisition advice, public and private debt and equity, syndications and derivatives to middle market companies in selected industries throughout the United States under the KeyBanc Capital Markets trade name. For more information, visit https://www.key.com/. CFMA# 230623-2138528

1 Use of the Key Secured Credit Card can help build your credit when the minimum payment is made by the due date, each month.

2 The monthly maintenance service charge on the Key Active Saver account will be waived for Key Secured Credit Card clients. The monthly maintenance service charge waiver is only valid as long as the Key Secured Credit Card remains open. If you are graduated to an unsecured card or close your Key Secured Credit Card account, the Key Active Saver monthly maintenance service charge of $4.00 may apply, unless you are the owner on a KeyBank consumer checking account (including KeyBank Hassle-Free Account®).

3 Clients with newly opened credit card accounts may not see their first FICO® Score in online and mobile banking for up to 90 days after enrollment. In certain circumstances, a FICO® Score may not be available for various reasons, e.g., having a limited credit history. FICO is a registered trademark of Fair Isaac Corporation in the United States and other countries.

To achieve a step-change in business performance, organizations are combining technology modernization and sustainability into their core business processes. To do this requires improving user support tools that can help business leaders with the increasingly complex decisions needed to optimize across cost, service level, working capital and sustainability.

Generative AI is a catalyst for transforming business, and the technology is capturing the attention of business leaders around the world. As CEOs respond and embrace generative AI, they are faced with the Herculean task of both moving at pace—responsibly—while maintaining business, employee and shareholder trust.

What CEOs are saying about generative AI

The annual CEO study*, CEO decision-making in the age of AI, Act with intention, found that 75% of CEOs surveyed believe that competitive advantage will depend on who has the most advanced generative AI.

CEOs identify productivity or profitability as their highest business priority—up from sixth place in 2022, according to the IBM Institute for Business Value’s new CEO study. These leaders also recognize technology modernization is key to achieving their productivity goals, ranking it as their second highest priority. Yet CEOs face key barriers as they race to modernize and adopt new technologies like generative AI.

CEOs firmly believe in the benefits of generative AI across their organization but, when it comes to AI readiness, there appears to be a disconnect with their executive teams. While 69% of CEO respondents see broad benefits of generative AI across their organization, just 29% of their executive teams agree they have the in-house expertise to adopt generative AI.

What does a struggle with AI mean for sustainability?

Despite a shift in their priorities, sustainability remains a key challenge for business leaders. CEOs cite environmental sustainability as their top challenge over the next three years. What is preventing executives from moving the needle towards their larger goals? Leaders point to factors such as struggling to manage manual data, unclear ROI and economic benefits, lack of insights from data, and regulatory barriers as the top three biggest challenges in achieving sustainability objectives.

The fact is, sustainability and profitability can go hand-in-hand. Forward-thinking organizations are leveraging sustainability as an opportunity to drive their business forward and establish greater transparency around their sustainability commitments.

Creating a balanced sustainability/profitability roadmap is a powerful first step to driving organizations forward during the age of AI. This roadmap can help leaders identify opportunities and gaps in the current IT environment, which will help with more informed decision-making. Applying data and AI against sustainability goals is one way leaders can help drive productivity.

It appears that corporate boardrooms are taking note of the connection between sustainability and profitability and are holding CEOs accountable for their company’s sustainability efforts. In fact, the percentage of CEOs with compensation linked to specific sustainability measures has more than tripled from 2022 to more than 50% this year.

Modernizing IT environments can help organizations make sense of their data and progress towards their sustainability goals in several ways, including:

AI implementation that automates manual data and transforms it into usable outputs without compromising the data’s security or reliabilityGreen IT solutions that can help reduce an enterprise’s IT carbon footprint and even reduce up to 30% of computing costsAdvanced analytics platforms that provide transparent sustainability data management across value chains with a single point of truth for sustainability analysis data and create greater transparency

Learn more about sustainability, CEOs and the role of AI

Sustainability is still a team sport, and it takes leadership across the enterprise to bring real, sustainable change. It is imperative that CEOs and other decision-makers consider sustainability as an imperative and business driver. 

Learn how CEOs leverage technology to meet business demands

Learn more about IBM Consulting Sustainability Services

*Methodology
The IBM Institute for Business Value, in cooperation with Oxford Economics, interviewed 3,000 CEOs from over 30 countries and 24 industries as part of the 28th edition of the IBM C-Suite Study series. These conversations focused on executives’ perspectives on leadership and business; their changing roles and responsibilities; and CEO decision making today, including key challenges and opportunities, their use of technology, data and metrics, and their visions for the future. The IBM Institute for Business Value also conducted a survey of 200 CEOs in the United States on their responses to generative AI.

For the sixth consecutive year, Medtronic is recognized as a “Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion” by Disability:IN and the American Association of People with Disabilities. This honor is the result of Medtronic earning a top score of 100 on the 2023 Disability Equality Index®, which is the world’s most comprehensive benchmarking tool for measuring disability workplace inclusion.

Medtronic is committed to employees with disabilities and their allies, and to ensuring they have the tools and resources they need to thrive in the workplace, and in life. Today’s recognition — along with ranking among DiversityInc’s 2023 Top Companies for People with Disabilities — validates our work and provides momentum to keep advancing our efforts.

The company’s unwavering commitment to inclusion, diversity, and equity (ID&E) means zero barriers to opportunity within Medtronic and a culture where all employees belong, are respected, and feel valued for who they are and the life experiences they contribute. Anchored in our Mission, we continue to drive ID&E forward both to enhance the well-being of Medtronic employees and to accelerate innovation that brings our lifesaving technologies to more people in more places around the world.

Learn more about Medtronic’s commitment to inclusion, diversity, and equity here.

The 2022/2023 edition of the initiative led schools, students, and families to discover small daily actions that are good for the environment and can contribute to the responsible use of water and to avoid its waste. It drew to a successful close with widespread participation.

PORCARI (LUCCA), Italy /3BL/ – More than 5,300 classes and 117,500 students, with the support of 7,800 parents, friends, and relatives, joined – together with teachers and instructors – in the 2022/2023 edition of “Mi Curo di Te” (I’ll Take Care of You), the environmental education program promoted by WWF Italy and Regina (Sofidel Group) to discover, understand and love our planet. The project is part of RiGenerazione Scuola, the national plan of Italy’s Ministry of Education and Merit for the ecological and cultural transition of Italian schools.

Building on the knowledge of the UN 2030 Agenda, the ninth edition of the project steered children and young people towards discussing the topic of water scarcity and pollution and the impact of these phenomena on the state of health of the oceans, seas, rivers, and lakes. Teachers of the participating classes downloaded the teaching kit with interactive games, teaching sheets, and digital quizzes from the dedicated website to introduce the topic addressed in the classroom and organize workshops and hands-on activities.

Finally, the students gave free rein to their creativity in a class product that was the result of their reflections on the topic: a poster for elementary schools that described the details, curiosities, and emotions aroused by the course they took; a class slogan for middle schools, aimed at raising awareness of the responsible use of water resources and the daily actions that each person can adopt to help limit water waste.

Of the 1,130 elementary and middle schools in Italy that took part in the initiative, 20 won awards. Below are the rankings:

Elementary School “S. D. Savio – T. Fiore” in Gravina in Puglia (Bari); Middle School “A. Balzico” in Cava de’ Tirreni (Salerno).Award: 1,000 Euro worth of vouchers for teaching materials;Elementary School “G. Modugno” in Barletta (Barletta-Andria-Trani); Middle School “Angri Galvani-Opromolla” in Angri (Salerno).Award: 600 Euro worth of vouchers;Elementary School “L. Settembrini” in Maddaloni (Caserta); Middle School “Piana – Capo d’Orlando (Messina). Award: 400 Euro worth of vouchers.

All schools ranked up to 6th place– along with four elementary and four middle schools drawn at random (among those not awarded prizes) – also received a supply of Regina products and teacher access to the WWF Italy’s platform OnePlanetSchool.

Elena Faccio, Sofidel Group Creative & Communication Director comments: “Each edition of ‘Mi Curo di Te’, for nine years, has shown us that children and young people are very attentive to issues related to sustainability and environmental protection. The large participation in the project also confirms the awareness that the new generations have of the urgency of having to do something useful, starting with everyday gestures, and their ability to raise awareness and involve adults in virtuous practices.”

Martina Alemanno, WWF Italy Education Office Manager adds: “The educational project ‘Mi Curo di Te’ allows classes to get to know and deepen the topics of the UN 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, learning how to take care of our planet starting from daily actions. Through courses like these, which involve the younger generations, teachers and families, we can encourage changes in behavior and lifestyle choices capable of creating a better, healthy, and equitable future for all. Education is the first tool to produce the cultural change necessary for a sustainable future, so that tomorrow’s citizens become real agents of change, equipping themselves with knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes that enable them to make informed decisions and act responsibly.”

The project is ready to restart at the beginning of the 2023/2024 school year: the topic of the new edition will be linked to the 12th Sustainable Development Goal of the UN 2030 Agenda: “Responsible consumption and production” (SDG 12).

To learn more, visit the website (in Italian): www.micurodite.it

About The Sofidel Group     

The Sofidel Group, a privately held company owned by the Stefani and Lazzareschi families, is a world leader in the manufacture of paper for hygienic and domestic use. Founded in 1966, the Group has subsidiaries in 12 countries – Italy, Spain, the UK, France, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Poland, Hungary, Greece, Romania, and the USA – with more than 6,400 employees. A member of the UN Global Compact and the international WWF Climate Savers program, the Sofidel Group considers sustainability a strategic imperative and is committed to promoting sustainable development.  For more information, visit  www.sofidel.com.         

Media Contact:     

Brianna Fitzpatrick 

Mulberry Marketing Communications 

bfitzpatrick@mulberrymc.com 

Patrick O’Connell, CFA| Director—Fixed Income Responsible Investing Research 

Tiffanie Wong, CFA| Director—Fixed Income Responsible Investing Portfolio Management; Director—US Investment-Grade Credit 

Markus Peters| Senior Investment Strategist—Fixed Income

Corporate bonds that fund environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives continue to capture investor hearts and minds. But ESG-labeled bonds come in different stripes, so investors need to discern among the good, the bad and the occasional ugly ones merely posing as ESG bonds.

Two types in particular offer bookend examples of why extra scrutiny is important: use-of-proceeds bonds (UOPs) and sustainability-linked bonds (SLBs).

Project-Based vs. Target-Based: ESG Bond Goals Have Expanded

ESG-labeled bonds have come a long way quickly, and innovation shows no signs of slowing. Two primary segments now drive the universe: project-based and target-based. UOPs, which are project-based, include green bonds and social bonds that firms issue to finance their environmental or social programs. The nearly $1 trillion UOP bond market has a longer history and is relatively price efficient.

SLBs are a more nascent submarket that still suffers from growing pains, in our view. One reason is that SLBs are target-based, more flexible in their intent and therefore subject to broader interpretation of whether they’re working as advertised.

For instance, rather than using bond proceeds for a specific initiative, SLBs are designed to incentivize issuers to raise ESG standards across their business. Issuers set key performance indicators (KPIs) to help gauge progress toward the goals, and nearly all SLBs provision a potential coupon step-up if the goals aren’t met. But since KPIs are self-determined, ensuring consistent and ambitious results can be challenging, and step-ups may not occur even if ESG targets are seemingly missed.

Further, when issuers miss relevant KPIs, we view the step-up much like compensation for a credit quality downgrade, in which the higher coupon helps insulate investors from bond price deterioration. Missing KPIs also means that investors aren’t meeting their ESG goals—a key reason they invested—which we believe warrants further investigation.

Thus, SLBs—more than most other ESG-labeled bonds—need close watching for potential greenwashing, the practice of a company misleading investors about its commitments to environmental improvement. And until these challenges work themselves out, the SLB market is subject to disparate spreads and other idiosyncrasies, our research shows.

Side by Side, ESG-Labeled Bond Differences Jump Out

A comparison of greeniums—the negative yield premium of a green bond relative to conventional bonds issued by the same company—illustrates the SLB market’s less mature and inconsistent nature.

Given the SLB market’s nascency, its sample size is significantly smaller. Still, we found that UOPs currently have an average greenium of 1.5 basis points (bps), higher than the negative premium, or discount, of -2 bps for SLBs, on average. But more strikingly, the distribution of greeniums in the UOP market is much more normal (Display, left) than in the SLB market, where greeniums seem sporadic (Display, right). We attribute this difference partially to the UOP market’s relatively greater depth and, in part, to disparate KPI ambition levels. As the SLB market matures and the number of SLBs grows, we expect this disparity to moderately shrink and its market to become more orderly.

ESG scoring also helps investors compare issuers—and better gauge potential success. We apply our proprietary ESG scores to firms based on multiple criteria, such as industry type, ESG goals and policies and pending legal actions, to name a few.

Today, UOPs’ ESG score averages 6 on a 10-point scale—1 point better than that of SLBs. But as with greeniums, the distribution of ESG scores for SLBs appears more erratic (Display). In our analysis, this suggests a greater risk for greenwashing among SLBs. Like greeniums, however, the distortion also reflects the current scarcity of SLBs in a newer market.

Three Sustainability-Linked Bonds in Practice

The SLB market’s Wild West characteristics call for investor vigilance and careful selection. Some issuers struggle, others recover after stumbling and still others do a fine job meeting their KPIs.

For example, Italian utility Enel was an early innovator of SLBs, with targets based on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, such as greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions and using more renewable energy sources. Enel met its ambitious sustainability goals in 2022, avoiding a coupon step-up or negative impact on spreads versus its conventional bonds.

Missed targets aren’t the end-all, but they should warrant closer review. Greece-based Public Power Corporation, for instance, missed its 2022 year-end decarbonization target, and as a result its coupon was stepped up 25 bps in March 2023. The company missed its ambitious target (a 40% reduction in GHGs from 2019 to 2022) mainly due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. PPC had planned to shutter its coal plants and replace them with natural gas, which it suddenly couldn’t procure from Russia. However, the firm has reiterated its plans to grow renewables and shut all coal facilities by 2028. The market seemed to look past this hiccup: PPC’s greenium had reached new highs by June 2023.

Not every challenging situation gets a pass. Brazil’s JBS, the world’s largest meat processor, was hit by a whistleblower complaint about alleged misrepresentations behind its $3.2 billion in SLBs. In January 2023, the global advocacy group Mighty Earth pointed to JBS’s rising GHG output—particularly Scope 3, or indirect, emissions—which contradicts its pledge to reduce GHGs annually toward net zero by 2040. As the Securities and Exchange Commission investigates, the bonds are being scrutinized by the market. The SLBs’ greenium tumbled once news broke in January 2023, and aside from a brief recovery, they continued to underperform the firm’s comparable unlabeled issues as of June 2023.

The SLB market is dotted with opportunity. But because SLBs are the newcomer to the ESG space, the market will take time to settle down, much like the breaking-in period we saw for UOPs. Meantime, the good SLBs can offer compelling yield and close alignment with investors’ ESG objectives, while the bad and the ugly ones should be approached with caution. To know the difference, it’s up to investors to do their homework, including fundamental credit research and closely monitoring each company’s progress toward its sustainability goals.

The views expressed herein do not constitute research, investment advice or trade recommendations and do not necessarily represent the views of all AB portfolio-management teams and are subject to revision over time.

Learn more about AB’s approach to responsibility here.

ALSIP, Ill., July 11, 2023 /3BL/ – Griffith Foods is proud to announce its near-term science-based emissions reduction targets have been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), a collaboration between CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)!

With its Purpose to Blend Care and Creativity to Nourish the World, Griffith Foods is honored to join the SBTi initiative. By collaborating with other forward-thinking organizations, Griffith Foods is taking swift action to align with the latest climate science recommendations and doing its part to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C. The company is leveraging the resources and guidance provided by SBTi to overcome obstacles and facilitate the widespread adoption of these targets. Moreover, Griffith Foods’ near-term carbon reduction targets are independently assessed and approved by the SBTi, helping to ensure the credibility and transparency of its efforts.

Kim Frankovich, Global Vice President, Sustainability shares “As a global food product development company, we, together with our growers, suppliers, customers, and industry partners must accelerate lowering emissions in the food supply system, where more than one third of global emissions reside.” TC Chatterjee, Chief Executive Officer added “With a regenerative mindset, we are on a journey to transform how and what we source. This includes incorporating sustainable system design thinking into our product development processes and helping our employees around the world acquire new capabilities to enable the transition to a world where global emissions are halved by 2030 and net zero emissions is achieved by 2050. Together we will help build sustainable food system networks that restore nature and improve livelihoods.”

Griffith Foods’ near-term science-based targets approved by the SBTi are:

Commitment to reduce absolute scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 50% by fiscal year 2030 from a fiscal year 2020 base year.Commitment to reduce scope 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 23% per tonne of product produced by fiscal year 2030 from a fiscal year 2020 base year.

Griffith Foods will soon report their 2022 climate progress, along with progress in Sustainable Sourcing, Health and Nutrition, and Wellbeing and Fulfillment.

For more information on Griffith Foods’ Sustainability, visit https://griffithfoods.com/sustainability.

To learn more about The Science Based Targets initiative, visit https://sciencebasedtargets.org.

Griffith Foods is a family-owned global developer and manufacturer of customized food ingredient solutions guided by their Purpose of “We Blend Care and Creativity to Nourish the World”. The company’s product capabilities range from seasonings and breading, to marinades and sauces blended to exacting specification that are culturally authentic, taste great and are wholesome. Founded in 1919 and headquartered in Alsip, Illinois USA, Griffith Foods has grown and expanded globally to include a presence in over 30 countries. For more information, visit www.griffithfoods.com.

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Global Citizen Festival Returns on September 23 to Drive Critical Efforts to End Extreme Poverty NOW: For Equity, For The Planet, For Food and For Jobs

Proudly Presented by Citi and Cisco, and Supported by Global Partners Accenture, Delta Air Lines, P&G, TimesLIVE, and Verizon; Campaign Partner World Wide Technology; with Live Nation and iHeartMedia

Join the Global Movement Ending Extreme Poverty: Earn tickets to Global Citizen Festival by taking action on the Global Citizen app and at www.globalcitizen.org

NEW YORK, July 11, 2023 /3BL/ – International advocacy organization Global Citizen today announced the Global Citizen Festival will return to the iconic Great Lawn of Central Park in New York City on Saturday, September 23. The free, ticketed event will drive urgent action to End Extreme Poverty NOW, headlined by Red Hot Chili Peppers and Ms. Lauryn Hill. Megan Thee Stallion, Conan Gray and Stray Kids are also set to perform.

For the first time in a generation, the number of people living in extreme poverty is rising. The 2023 Global Citizen Festival campaign takes aim at the major issues perpetuating extreme poverty, including the impacts of climate change on the Global South, the inequities affecting women and girls around the world, and the global hunger crisis, and will call on governments to protect and defend advocates everywhere. The campaign will unite millions of voices, amplified by the world’s biggest artists, to demand urgent action from world leaders gathering in New York City for the United Nations General Assembly in September.

Tickets to the 2023 Global Citizen Festival are free and can be earned by joining the movement and taking action on the Global Citizen app or at www.globalcitizen.org on the following issues:

Women and adolescent girls around the world continue to face challenges including unequal access to education, access to quality healthcare, routine immunization, family planning support and menstrual products, impeding opportunities for economic empowerment and perpetuating the cycle of extreme poverty. According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), 257 million women globally want to avoid pregnancy but lack access to safe, modern contraceptives.

In order to meet this need, the UNFPA Supplies Partnership, which provides lifesaving sexual and reproductive health services, requires an additional $100 million from long standing gender equality champions including Norway, Canada, and Japan, which holds this year’s G7 Presidency, as well as businesses, and philanthropic foundations. Education Cannot Wait stands ready to provide quality education to 20 million children living through emergencies and protracted crises, but urgently needs another $670 million from governments such as France, Australia, Japan and Finland.

Climate change is ravaging the world’s most vulnerable countries, and the nations that contributed the least to the crisis are being impacted hardest. Continuing on the momentum generated at last month’s ‘Power Our Planet: Live in Paris’ event, this year’s Global Citizen Festival will pressure governments and Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) to urgently mobilize funding to enable climate-vulnerable countries to adapt and mitigate the effects of climate change.

Italy, the U.S., the U.K. and Australia must deliver on their climate finance promises and help close the $16.7 billion annual shortfall; Germany and all MDBs must add pause clauses into new loan agreements should a developing country be struck by a natural disaster or pandemic; and the U.K., Brazil and the U.S. should agree to a new maritime transport levy to fund the fight against climate change. Countries including the U.K., Australia and Japan need to follow through on their pledges to reallocate their IMF Special Drawing Rights, and rechannel them through the African Development Bank.

Leaders from the private sector are asked to join the Official UN Race To Zero, set science-based targets, and publish time-bound action plans. They should also commit to making sustainable, transformative investments in low income and climate-impacted countries to stimulate job growth and resilient economies.

The global food and malnutrition crisis continues to decimate communities around the world. According to the Global Report on Food Crises 2023, more than 250 million people are facing acute levels of hunger, with many on the verge of starvation. Africa has sufficient arable land to be the world’s bread basket; instead, rural communities are being devastated by the impacts of climate change and conflict, as smallholder farmers are unable to work or generate sufficient food for their populations.

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has the potential to improve the lives of up to 110 million small scale farmers and their communities now. Governments such as Norway, Australia or France need to step up their commitments to double adaptation financing and raise $2 billion for a successful IFAD replenishment at the end of 2023, so impacted communities can adapt to climate change and improve food security for themselves and the world.

“COP27, this year’s G7, the World Bank Spring Meetings and the Paris climate finance summit all failed to deliver tangible results, or disruption of the world’s unjust systems,” said Hugh Evans, Co-Founder & CEO of Global Citizen. “But complacency can’t win. If we want to see breakthroughs on development and climate change, we need the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, and all G7 nations to meet the urgency of the hour. Every single citizen has a vital role to play, and together, we must be laser-focused on driving results and impact in September.”

Global Citizen Festival is presented by Citi and Cisco. Global Partners are Accenture, Delta Air Lines, P&G, TimesLIVE and Verizon; Campaign Partner World Wide Technology; with Live Nation, iHeartMedia, and Location Partner New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. The Global Citizen Festival broadcast is produced by Done and Dusted.

Global Citizen is also grateful for the support of leading media companies across the world including: iHeartMedia, AIM Group, Arena Holdings, Atmosphere TV, Bandsintown, Bella Naija, Captivate, EIB Network, Grocery TV, GSTV, Interstate Outdoor, MX Location, New Tradition, Orange Barrel Media, OUTFRONT Media, Penske Media, Seen Media, Six Flags Theme Parks, Spotify, Trooh Media, Vanguard Media, Vox Media, The Wall Street Journal and Zikoko.

The 2023 Global Citizen Festival campaign and its policy goals are supported by: African Climate Reality Project; Aspire Artemis Foundation Inc.; Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens; BASICS International; Bays Planet Foundation; Beyond Bretton Woods; Blended Finance Taskforce; Brave Foundation; Center for Environmental Peacebuilding; Chanja Datti; Climate Finance Group for Latin America and the Caribbean; Common Good Marketplace; Connected Development; Don’t Gas Africa; E3G; Earth For All; ECB Sustainable Youth Foundation; Education Cannot Wait: The UN Global Fund for Education in Emergencies; Extinction Rebellion (XR) Nelson Mandela Bay (NMB); Focus 2030; Friends of the Global Fund Europe; GAIN; Gender and Economic Research Center; Germanwatch; Glasgow Actions Team; Global Alliance for a Green New Deal; Global Education and Leadership Foundation (Values 20 India); The Global Fund; Global Health Advocates; the Global Kid; Global Nation; Green Republic Farms; Hungry for Action; IEC Global Impact Fund; International Climate Change Development Initiative; International Climate Financing WG; International Fund for Agricultural Development; JA Africa; Jane Goodall Institute France; Jara; Lagos Food Bank; LEAP Africa; Loss and Damage Youth Coalition; Malala Fund; Marafiki United Green Youths Initiative; Millennials Movement; Moody’s; The ONE Campaign; ONG Jeunes Volontaires pour l’Environnement (JVE); Only One; OurCause; OWIT Brussels – Organization of Women in Trade;; Plastic Punch; Power to Girls Foundation; Primavera Zur; Project Everyone; Recycling Scheme for Women and Youth Empowerment (RESWAYE); Re:Wild; Save the Children; SDG2 Advocacy Hub; Shamba Centre for Food and Climate; Sharing Strategies; She Leads Climate Action; Stage For Change; Strategic Youth Network for Development; Sungulo Comm NPC; Support Humanity Cameroon (SUHUCAM); Sustainable Development Solutions Network; Sustainability and Climate Podcast; UN Joint SDG Fund; United Nations Foundation; Uniting To Combat NTDs; Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative (WPDI); and Women At Risk International Foundation.

For more information visit globalcitizenfestival.com, download the Global Citizen app, and follow Global Citizen on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

– Ends –

About Global Citizen Global Citizen is the world’s leading international advocacy organization on a mission to end extreme poverty NOW. Powered by a worldwide community of everyday activists raising their voices and taking action, the movement is amplified by campaigns and events that convene leaders in music, entertainment, public policy, media, philanthropy and the corporate sector. Over the past 10 years, $43.6 billion in commitments announced on Global Citizen platforms has been deployed, impacting nearly 1.3 billion lives. Established in Australia in 2008, Global Citizen’s team operates from New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Berlin, Melbourne, Toronto, Johannesburg, Lagos and beyond. Join the movement at globalcitizen.org, download the Global Citizen app, and follow Global Citizen on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Press Kit  
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Media Credentials  
Applications are now open for media credentials to attend and cover the 2023 Global Citizen Festival. Please complete the application form here

Contact  
Global Citizen media inquiries: media@globalcitizen.org

Entergy IT is excited to announce the first recipients of the new Entergy STEM college scholarship for the 2023-24 academic year. Channing Armour, Ayana Smith and Charlene Varnado, all of the New Orleans metro area, will receive a $4,000 scholarship toward their college degrees.

The scholarship program was created to support New Orleans-area current college students obtaining degrees in the fields of science, technology, engineering or math. Channing, a senior attending Dillard University, is majoring in computer science. Smith, a junior at Loyola University New Orleans, is majoring in physics and planning to obtain a master’s in mechanical engineering. Varnado, a senior at Grambling State University, is majoring in cloud computing.

“Before being awarded this scholarship, I didn’t know how I was going to afford the resources I needed for next semester or how I was going to pay for certifications and projects to verify my knowledge. I’ve always been interested in the field of cybersecurity but couldn’t afford to take any classes on the subject,” Varnado shared. “Since I was blessed with this amazing award, I have been able to take additional classes for my major and also add cybersecurity as a second major for the fall.”

“Entergy IT is proud to help these students fulfill their academic dreams,” said Michael Rhymes, Entergy vice president and chief information officer. “This scholarship program will also have a positive, lasting impact on our communities and help build the local technology workforce.”

Registration will open early this fall for students to apply for the 2024-25 school year scholarship. To receive the scholarship, students must be graduates of a high school located in greater New Orleans (Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, St. Tammany or Tangipahoa parishes). They must also plan to attend one of the following universities in the upcoming school year:

Dillard University

Grambling State University

Loyola University

Southern University

Entergy IT selected New Orleans as a pilot location for the new scholarship program, with hopes to expand to other communities in Texas, Mississippi and Arkansas in the future.

Visit the Entergy STEM Scholarship webpage to learn more about the scholarship or apply in the future. The Entergy STEM Scholarship is managed by Scholarship America, a leading scholarship facilitator and partner. Entergy did not participate in the selection process

The scholarship program supports the mission of the corporate social responsibility organization of Entergy to create sustainable value for our customers, employees, communities and owners. Aligning with our business objectives, the scholarship serves as a fundamental element in developing a pipeline of future talent in our workforce to expand economic development in the region and meet our customers’ needs.

‘Before being awarded this scholarship, I didn’t know how I was going to afford the resources I needed for next semester or how I was going to pay for certifications and projects to verify my knowledge. I’ve always been interested in the field of cybersecurity but couldn’t afford to take any classes on the subject. Since I was blessed with this amazing award, I have been able to take additional classes for my major and also add cybersecurity as a second major for the fall.’ – Charlene Vanardo, one of three recipients of the Entergy STEM college scholarship