Tag: 3BL

Sakheni Francois, a Fulbright scholar who holds an MBA, joined Sappi in 2020 as a Market Analyst. She has worked in corporate, nonprofit and rural development settings in Eswatini and the United States. She is also the producer of an animated documentary, Liyana, which has won over 35 awards at international festivals.

Sakheni used her 2022 Employee Ideas that Matter grant to help fund the renovations of the Boston Building Resources (BBR) Reuse Center, an organization that provides affordable building materials to low- and moderate-income homeowners and nonprofit organizations—materials that would otherwise be headed for the landfill.

“BBR is addressing homeownership issues and primarily targeting historically disadvantaged groups to equip them with tools and materials to rehab and renovate their homes,” Sakheni says.

The renovations allow more efficient use of the space, which had been limited by size and configuration, and is now designed to produce all the energy it consumes on an annual basis through 114 rooftop solar panels, a carbon-free renewable source.

“In the short term, BBR is reducing building-material waste that enters the waste stream, and homeowners can use the materials to renovate and maintain their homes,” Sakheni says. “The long-term impact is that homeowners are more likely to create generational homeownership and generational wealth. This stabilizes our communities and addresses one piece of social and economic justice issues.”

Since 1993, the Reuse Center at BBR has diverted reusable materials, such as cabinet sets, doors, windows, appliances and other donated materials from local landfills, giving them a second life and improving the homes of local neighborhoods.

“The EITM grant and BBR’s mission will have far-reaching impacts in historically disadvantaged communities, which makes me even more proud to work at Sappi,” Sakheni says.

Content created and originally published by America’s Plastic Makers

Meet Ron Cotterman, Vice President of Global Corporate Affairs at SEE® (formerly Sealed Air).

Ron is an innovator and a motivator. And throughout his 37-year career, two things have never changed for him.

“If I had to give advice to a young person starting out, I probably would say, ‘Stay true to your objectives. Set a goal for yourself and be passionate about what you do.’ Because having that purpose and that passion to follow through is key to everything that we do.”

Purpose and passion. Ron has been applying these two attributes for decades at a company known for an iconic product — Bubble Wrap® — that protects our valuables.

“Bubble Wrap’s first application was as a wallpaper. But its better application was protection. And one of the first products that it protected was something called a computer made by IBM.”

He and his company kept innovating to create similar packaging to protect our food supply.

“We all value the ability to go to a grocery store and select a wide variety of food items that are designed to be nutritious, safe and fresh and delivered in a very efficient manner. The innovation of plastic packaging enabled whole new categories of foods to be available to people as part of their diets in a very convenient and efficient way.”

His company, SEE, is now applying that innovation in a new area: sustainability.

In his role as vice president of global corporate affairs at SEE, Ron is bringing awareness to the circularity of packaging materials and the benefits it brings to society.

“How can we take packaging materials that extend the shelf-life of food, that help protect things through e-commerce, and get those materials back so they can be recycled and put back into new products?”

And in that role, he’s inspiring a new generation to bring purpose and passion to helping protect our food. Our products. Our lives.

And our planet.

Meet Ron. One of America’s Change Makers.

Sustainability is key to decisions at SEE, a packaging solutions provider, and for today’s plastic makers.

“Up until about 15 years ago, we never even used the term sustainability. But now we try to bring sustainability to life, to really understand what it means.”

“Sustainability is defined in three parts: the economy, the environment, and the social impact. We have to remember that packaging doesn’t exist for its own sake. It exists to move products to meet consumer demand, to allow people to have the quality of life in terms of the choice for their food. And today in e-commerce to buy goods and services.”

SEE’s R&D teams are focused on the environmental aspect of sustainability, including “designing for recyclability.”

“We are a packaging manufacturer, so sustainability means creating the packaging in a form that can actually be recycled, helping ensure it is collected and can be made back into new packaging. We use design for recyclability in our everyday processes.”

The concept of designing for recycling is expanding due to innovative technologies.

“A few years ago, we were talking about design for recyclability as being specifically restricted to what we call mechanical recycling, what most of our municipal recycling facilities utilize. But today advanced recycling adds a new dimension to the way we can envision the use of materials, their recovery, and their reuse into new packaging.”

Advanced recycling technologies allow us to dramatically expand the types and amount of plastic that can be recycled.

“Advanced recycling to us is a natural extension of the mechanical recycling processes that are widely used today. Advanced recycling uses heat or energy to take plastic products and break them down into their building blocks to be reused. It allows us a broader selection of materials that we can use to provide even better packaging performance for things such as fresh cheese, meat, or other perishable goods in the grocery store.”

Sustainability is a natural passion for Ron. As father to three adult sons, he’s been motivated to make the world a better place.

“I think my kids are probably saying, ‘Well, Dad is out there trying to save the world, one package at a time.’ I’ve always tried to embed in my kids what can they do to help make the world a better place.”

And as a senior leader at his company, Ron spends a lot of time motivating and mentoring younger professionals who will someday take his place.

“My passion has always been to bring technology into a space that I can apply it to develop new things to make people see things in new ways. To kind of see the impact that they can have based on technical training, based on their personal interests, based on many aspects of their life. How do you motivate people to rise to a higher level of contribution to society?”

To Ron, it all comes down to the two things that can inspire people to innovate and solve real world problems.

“If you can bring purpose and passion together and motivate someone to drive towards greater goals and outcomes… My feeling is that person can contribute not only to their own personal satisfaction but to great contributions to society overall.”

______________________________________________

Meet Timi Fadiran, another Change Maker from SEE. ____________________________________________

 The story of plastic is evolving. And it’s being written by our scientists, engineers, designers, technicians, innovators, and others—America’s Change Makers—who are leading sustainable change for America’s Plastic Makers. Read about more of America’s Change Makers here.

 

Originally published on TriplePundit

For many people, when they think about shipping, what might come to mind is taking a package to the post office or receiving something from Amazon.

For CNH Industrial, a manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment, shipping might mean moving a 24-ton tractor out of wintry Fargo, North Dakota, or a bulky combine harvester from Nebraska to the easternmost parts of Europe.

The sheer size of these pieces of equipment, long lead times, and often months-long journeys from factory to final customer means that pretty much every shipment is meticulously and uniquely planned. A single shipment might involve transportation across road, rail, ocean and river as the machine progresses toward the end customer.

Due to physical constraints, the choice of options is often limited when moving a heavy object like a combine harvester to its final destination. Logistics planners must negotiate seasonality requirements and assess the routes and modes of transport that are even capable of handling such outsize equipment, while still meeting customer requirements and expectations.

As tough as this job can be, CNH Industrial strives to be mindful about doing things in as environmentally beneficial a way as possible.

Alberto Mela, transport logistics director at CNH Industrial, explained the approach the company takes in moving these massive pieces of equipment, and the challenges and opportunities to mitigate emissions as his team goes about their daily business.

Sustainability in logistics: Making sustainable choices on a journey from Nebraska to the Balkans

“We’re always focused on alternative ways of managing transport, because as a company we are focused on reducing emissions,” Mela says. “We always have, as our target, ways to develop initiatives that can reduce emissions. It also has to be operationally beneficial.”

Generally speaking, achieving environmental improvements means keeping shipments of these huge pieces of equipment off the roads. To that end, Mela says, “we don’t see the road as the future,” citing pollution, traffic volumes and increasing regulatory constraints in Europe as examples of the problems encountered with this transportation mode.

That doesn’t mean the road can always be avoided, but the company can still try to limit it wherever possible.

Take shipments of combine harvesters that the company has to plan. These originate in Grand Island, Nebraska, and on one of their supply routes, they have to make their way to Ruse in Bulgaria.

Total end-to-end shipping from Nebraska to Bulgaria can take anywhere from two to three months to execute. However you break down the journey, logistics managers like those at CNH Industrial are stuck with only one transportation-mode option for certain legs of the journey. Crossing the Atlantic, for example, has to be by ocean, and some of the journey in Western Europe has to be over the road.

However, with optimal planning, other parts of the journey can be arranged to dovetail environmentally advantageous objectives with desired operational benefits. For example, the U.S. leg from Nebraska to the Atlantic Ocean port in Baltimore can sometimes be shifted to rail.

This is by no means the easiest option. Shipping by road is both faster and more flexible than rail. It takes five days to move product to Baltimore by road and 15 days by rail, Lauren Ehleiter, CNH Industrial’s North America outbound manager says. The company would also have to ship multiple combines together on this leg of the journey to even make rail viable.

But if CNH Industrial analyzes when customers need the equipment in Europe, it can spot opportunities to consolidate different orders together to make this leg of the journey by train. And there is a benefit in switching even part of this leg to rail.

For example, the company can ship via road to Chicago and by rail the rest of the way, which takes 10 days. Since that five-day difference might be critical in allowing the necessary consolidation of shipments to Baltimore, the road/rail combination can still offer a sweet spot to achieve efficiencies.

Once they leave the port of Baltimore, the combines are shipped by sea to Zeebrugge in Belgium. Ocean is the only mode of transportation available for this leg of course, but still, with limited sailings, the timing of arrival in Baltimore from Nebraska is critical to meet vessel departures. It’s all part of the planning!

From Zeebrugge to Duggendorf in Germany, European rail constraints force shipments back onto the road. But in Duggendorf, instead of continuing by road, the combines can be shipped the rest of the way to Bulgaria by river barge.

Going by barge from Duggendorf again allows CNH Industrial to plan for the environmentally favorable option while enjoying an operational benefit. In this case, the operational benefit is being able to dock in Ruse, Bulgaria, on the south side of the Danube River. Happily, that means avoiding an otherwise problematic bridge crossing that would be necessary if coming from the north side of the river by road.

When putting these supply chains together, “the key is planning,” Mela explains, adding that while you cannot always optimize for the most sustainable solution, his team at CNH Industrial always looks for ways to do it when they can.

Making sustainable shifts on shipping within Europe

Another example of CNH Industrial trying to leave the road behind is the intra-European transportation of tractors manufactured in Turkey.

Historically, these would all ship by ocean vessel to the port of Livorno on the west coast of Tuscany, and move by road to the company’s distribution facility in the northern Italian city of Parma. The tractors were then distributed from Parma by road to their end customers throughout Europe.

But now, “we are looking to change this paradigm,” Mela says. Again, this involves moving freight more often by sea. Already, the company is reaching markets in Spain and Portugal by shipping to seaports in Barcelona and Valencia.

Building further on the concept, as of May this year, CNH Industrial has also swapped road freight for sea freight to reach customers in France. By shipping to the port of Sète in southern France, the company can bypass the Parma distribution center altogether and avoid road transportation all the way from Italy to the French border.

Next, CNH Industrial hopes to ship directly by ocean to the U.K. market, too.

It’s not easy, but it can work

While out of sight for many people, logistics is a huge, multi-trillion-dollar industry, with a consequently huge carbon footprint. While it’s not an easy fix to make logistics more environmentally sustainable, CNH Industrial, by way of making changes to supply chains as described here, illustrates there are always opportunities to do better.

“It’s complex,” says Mela, talking about new systems being put in place for transporting tractors manufactured in Turkey. “When renegotiating these flows, we have to weigh environmental considerations against a combination of drivers such as quality, time and cost.”

The main shipping carriers are also doing their part, said Selma Maia, transport logistics vice president at CNH Industrial. “We are starting to see that our shipping partners are making large investments in committing to zero net carbon emissions,” she said.” The main ocean shipping lines are looking at their flows, purchasing new vessels that run on greener fuels and seriously committing to rolling out their reduced carbon freight initiatives in the coming years.”

But when the overarching objective is to mitigate emissions, even when options are limited moving such large pieces of equipment, it’s worth the effort.

This article series is sponsored by CNH Industrial and produced by the TriplePundit editorial team.

Image courtesy of CNH Industrial 

By Webster Bank

STAMFORD, Conn., July 10, 2023 /3BL Media/ — Webster Bank today announced its next Finance Lab collaborations with three partners that will provide financial empowerment programs to hundreds of students in low- to moderate-income (LMI) areas. The Hispanic Coalition of Greater Waterbury Inc. and the YWCA Hartford Region, both in Connecticut, and Taunton Area School to Career (TASC) in Massachusetts have each been granted $100,000 from Webster Bank.

The Finance Labs are part of Webster’s $6.5B Community Investment Strategy and are designed to help nonprofit partners in LMI communities create opportunities for youth to gain skills needed for economic empowerment and financial success. The initiative launched in June 2022, and has committed $600,000 to date, with partnerships extended to six nonprofit organizations.

“It’s exciting to see the expansion of our Finance Labs initiative, furthering our goal to broaden financial empowerment opportunities for youth,” said Chief Corporate Responsibility Officer Marissa Weidner. She added, “We’re incredibly proud to be able to partner with three local organizations that are aligned with our shared values of integrity, collaboration, accountability, agility, respect and excellence.”

“Our innovative partnership to establish a Webster Finance Lab will provide our children a community-guided and life-altering opportunity to learn that future financial success starts today,” said Victor Lopez Jr., Executive Director of The Hispanic Coalition of Greater Waterbury Inc. He added, “We thank Webster Bank for their continued commitment to placing the community first and leading efforts to genuinely be responsive to their needs.” The Hispanic Coalition of Greater Waterbury is working with Webster to reach its goal of delivering programming to support its clients with financial education on topics including financing small businesses, how to manage a bank account, and how to increase credit scores.

“We are grateful to be selected as Webster Bank’s Finance Lab Partner,” said Adrienne Cochrane, CEO of YWCA Hartford Region. She added, “The Webster Bank/YWCA Hartford Region partnership allows us to expand our financial empowerment programs to help address economic inequities experienced by women and girls in our community.

This Finance Lab will emphasize the importance of financial management, as well as saving and investing money.” The YWCA Hartford Region, will create its program to specifically support its goal to empower women on their path to achieve job and career goals. The YWCA is dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all its community members.

“We, at Associates for Human Services’ Taunton Area School To Career (TASC), want to extend our deepest appreciation to Webster Bank for providing us with this invaluable grant award. This support will empower TASC to expand and strengthen our services by lifting the lives of our youth,” said Zulmira Allcock, President and CEO of TASC, adding, “Together, we create a brighter future, which enables us to make a positive and lasting impact in our community, one young life at a time.” Taunton Area School To Career (TASC) is a subsidiary of Associates for Human Services, Inc. and runs their Business and Education Partnership, connecting Taunton-area employers and local school systems. Each year, TASC’s programs serve 350-550 youth focusing on the emerging workforce.

Learn more about Webster Bank’s Finance Labs and the impact of our work and about our Office of Corporate Responsibility.

View original content here.

About Webster

Webster Bank (“Webster”) is a leading commercial bank in the Northeast that provides a wide range of digital and traditional financial solutions across three differentiated lines of business: Commercial Banking, Consumer Banking and its HSA Bank division, one of the country’s largest providers of employee benefits solutions. Headquartered in Stamford, CT, Webster is a values-driven organization with $75 billion in assets. Its core footprint spans the northeastern U.S. from New York to Massachusetts, with certain businesses operating in extended geographies. Webster Bank is a member of the FDIC and an equal housing lender. For more information about Webster, including our latest annual report, please visit our About page. To find our latest press releases, visit the Webster Newsroom.

Contact Information

Media Contact:
Elaine K. Ficarra
eficarra@websterbank.com
203.913.2716

Investor Contact:
Emlen Harmon
harmon@websterbank.com
212.309.7646

In early 2023, Chemours named Amber Wellman, Ph.D., as Chief Sustainability Officer with brings 15 years of experience innovating in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries. She has been with Chemours since its founding in 2015, where she most recently led sustainability for the Advanced Performance Materials segment. Read more from Amber and Chemours’ sustainability progress in their latest Sustainability Report.

What inspired you to pursue a Ph.D. in chemistry? 

I’ve always been curious—wanting to know how things worked. I wanted my first microscope set as early as I can remember. Growing up in rural Virginia, I did not have many role models in advanced STEM education, but I was blessed with encouraging parents and teachers. My high school chemistry teacher inspired me to pursue chemistry, and I began to realize the role that chemistry played in everything around me and how it could be used to answer questions and solve problems. I benefited from professors and advisors who kept me going and growing from there.

What does sustainability mean to you? 

When I think about what makes this personal to me, it’s simple. I want to leave the world a better place, for my son and all future generations, and I know that means there will have to be meaningful collaboration among business, governments, and communities to find solutions to the challenges we face. It will take courage, and it will take chemistry! We can, and should, all be sustainability leaders!

How does Chemours remain committed to making chemistry as responsible as it is essential? 

We put science first, and we’re driven by our commitment to responsible manufacturing. To us, that means setting ambitious corporate responsibility goals and applying investment, creativity, and energy to achieve them. Our products are essential components in everything from electrified transport and smartphones to medical devices and clean energy technologies, and we are very mindful of the manufacturing process and end-of-life management. Chemistry is the foundation of the world. Responsibility is the foundation of our chemistry.

What current project excites you most? 

It is so hard to pick just one, but I’m really excited about our involvement in the ARCH2. The ARCH2 brings together producers, end-users, technology experts, and the necessary infrastructure to advance the production, use, and delivery of hydrogen energy in Appalachia. As the United States continues to transition toward cleaner energy sources, clean hydrogen energy can be a real game-changer.

How is sustainability embedded across the Chemours organization? 

I think about sustainability as creating harmony between economic growth, social inclusion, and environmental protection. It’s about meeting the needs of today without compromising the future. It’s about resilience! While we are very proud of our Corporate Responsibility Commitment (CRC) goals, we recognize that our responsibility to all stakeholders goes well beyond those specific goals, and our commitment to sustainability cannot be separated from our growth strategy or our vision. In reality, our Chemours vision is a sustainability vision. We are committed to creating a better world through the power of our chemistry—and doing that—together. That is why this year in our Sustainability Report, we are aligning our focus and actions to the four key areas that support our Chemours vision: Innovation and Sustainable Solutions, Environmental Leadership, Community Impact and Greatest Place to Work for All.

How is Chemours helping to solve some of the world’s greatest challenges? 

As a female scientist, it begins with diversity of thought and fostering a more inclusive and diverse workforce to discover the next game-changing innovations. How can we expect to solve the world’s most pressing problems doing the same things we have always done? From decarbonizing our economy to preserving our natural resources, Chemours will not be able to address these challenges without sustainable innovation and transformative partnerships. Together, we all have an important role to play.

Chemours continues to build on its progress and make a meaningful impact on the planet and communities in which we operate. That information is detailed in the recently published 2022 Chemours Sustainability which is available here.

July 10, 2023 /3BL/ – For the second year in a row, Lowe’s asked people from across the country to nominate community revitalization projects close to their hearts for a Lowe’s Hometowns grant.

After reviewing the nominations, 100 were chosen as part of the company’s largest-ever community impact program – a five-year, $100 million commitment to rebuild and revitalize community spaces nationwide and give back to the communities where we live and work.

Lowe’s Hometowns projects were selected from 94 communities across 41 states and Washington, D.C., and will tackle community-specific needs ranging from housing to parks and from cultural preservation to veterans’ services. The funding will benefit 34 community centers, 23 housing organizations, seven community gardens, four food pantries and much more.

Watch Lowe’s Hometowns grant recipients react to the news.

Marvin Ellison, Lowe’s chairman and CEO, called it “an honor to support the Lowe’s Hometowns projects.” Each one will receive funding to support their specific needs, along with hands-on support from Lowe’s red vest associates. Together with staff from each grant recipient, we’ll make physical improvements that help each organization improve their facilities, which helps enhance the services they offer.

One parks project was nominated by none other than Lionel Richie, pop music icon and American Idol judge. The Tuskegee, Alabama native who’s won four Grammy Awards proposed converting an undeveloped plot of land in his hometown into a vibrant outdoor community space. Directly across from the historic Tuskegee University, “Hello Park” – named after Richie’s 1984 hit that reached number one on three Billboard charts – will encourage residents and visitors to gather, connect with nature and embrace Tuskegee’s history.

“My hometown of Tuskegee has inspired and impacted me all my life,” said Richie. “I love the people, culture and natural beauty of our little town, so my hope is that Hello Park will become a special venue for our community to share in honoring our history and heritage. Thanks to the generosity and commitment of Lowe’s Hometowns to uplift communities nationwide, this dream will soon become a reality.”

A few of the 100 projects to receive funding this year include:

Renovations to support homeless services at Room In The Inn in NashvilleBuilding an inclusive space for deaf and hard-of-hearing children at Aid the Silent in San AntonioCreating a grocery store-style space for the Community Food Basket in Idaho FallsInstalling new garage doors and flooring at the Wedington Volunteer Fire Department in Fayetteville, Arkansas

Lowe’s impact partner in this work is Points of Light, a national nonprofit organization that partners with Lowe’s to support each project from beginning to end.

Points of Light Interim President and CEO Diane Quest said, “We know nonprofits in the U.S. rely on varying sources of funds to sustain and grow their services, and large grants like Lowe’s Hometowns can be transformational. Last year’s Lowe’s Hometowns projects tremendously impacted more than a million people in communities throughout the U.S., providing direct services to individuals and creating multi-year capacity and infrastructure for nonprofits. These investments … have a ripple effect and create long-term, positive change that enriches the lives of residents, families and the community for generations.”

More than 1.4 million people, including children, seniors, veterans, first responders and more, benefitted last year from the 100 inaugural Lowe’s Hometowns projects.

Visit Lowes.com/hometowns and follow #LowesHometowns on social media for more on this year’s projects. To learn more about Lowe’s commitment to communities, visit Lowes.com/OurCommunities.

BOWIE, Md., July 10, 2023 /3BL/ – Commercial furniture solutions company Installnet has earned a Top Product of the Year award from Environment + Energy Leader for Ecoserv, its rapidly growing circular decommission program for surplus commercial furniture, fixtures and equipment. The award recongnizes Installnet as a global leader in energy or environmental management.

Ecoserv provides the processes, standards and metrics needed to recirculate workspace assets in a way that delivers value to companies and the community, without harming the environment. As dramatic changes in workspaces and work styles prompted by the pandemic became more permanent and interest in sustainability grew, Ecoserv has grown rapidly.

Since the program began in 2012, it has diverted more than 42 million pounds of waste from landfills. Some of the items were sold for reuse or recycled. Others were donated to Ecoserv’s network of more than 2,500 non-profit and community groups ranging from domestic violence shelters to public safety organizations and veterans groups in all 50 states and Canada.

The achievements of Installnet’s Ecoserv program captured the attention of the program’s distinguished panel of judges. One judge said: “An innovative approach to excess waste, specifically in response to the change of office furniture needs during/post COVID-19. Has diverted a significant amount of waste from landfills, and returns them into the economy.” Another judge added, “The Ecoserv program is doing a great job upscaling its streamlined circular decommission program of surplus assets and landfill waste diversion.”

The Environment + Energy Leader Awards program aims to commend excellence in products and projects that deliver significant energy and environmental benefits.

“Our mission is helping businesses and communities prosper and that means finding sustainability solutions that scale globally, while also serving local communities,” said Dale Ewing, CEO of Installnet. “We are honored to receive this recognition in partnership with our customers and service providers. Getting zero done is an audacious, but achievable goal.”

Sarah Roberts, Co-President of E+E Leader, emphasized the rigorous selection process, stating, “This year’s entrants had to surpass an exceptionally high bar to qualify for an award, thanks to a seasoned and discerning judging panel as well as stringent judging criteria.”

About Installnet: 
Installnet provides professional project management services in the United States and Canada. Our network of over 350 highly-qualified independent furniture installation companies provide exceptional service in more than 100 major markets. Our custom solutions range from Ecoserv, an award-winning circular decommission program to Installhub, a self-serve platform of installers.

About the Environment + Energy Leader Awards: 
For over a decade, the Environment + Energy Leader Awards have celebrated excellence in the world of environmental, sustainability and energy management. Award recipients are acknowledged as industry leaders, and featuring a Top Project or Top Product of the Year Award badge signifies their outstanding contributions. Companies seeking sustainable and energy management solutions trust that E+E Product of the Year Award winners offer a comprehensive array of vetted products to guide their decision-making. Project of the Year Award winners exemplify how sustainability and energy management projects can successfully enhance the profitability of other companies. 

For media inquiries, please contact: 
Jessica Clark, Marketing Manager, jclark@installnet.com, 240.260.3458

GRI welcomes the launch of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB)’s inaugural set of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) S1 General and S2 Climate-Related Disclosures. This step represents a significant landmark in the pursuit of a global cohesive corporate reporting that consists of a two-pillar reporting system with two distinct perspectives and purposes.

One pillar is comprised of Impact reporting. This pillar speaks to how the organization impacts the world – an inside-out perspective. The GRI Standards provide the global common language for reporting on this perspective, aiding organizations to be transparent and accountable for their societal and environmental impacts in a comparable and standardized way. The resulting disclosures enable the organization, and their internal and external stakeholders, to make informed decisions in their interest and help them contribute to sustainable development.

The other pillar, with an outside-in perspective, focuses on strengthening financial reporting through the incorporation of the financial implications of sustainability issues on the business. This aspect emphasizes risks and opportunities for a company’s business model and value drivers. The ISSB’s work contributes to fulfilling the information needs of investors by enabling companies to provide comprehensive sustainability information to capital markets.

Eelco van der Enden, CEO of GRI, said:

“I congratulate the ISSB on reaching this significant milestone. I believe the new IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards will have an important role in ensuring that the risks and opportunities related to sustainability issues are firmly anchored in the decision-making of investors.

Our respective standards have distinct yet complementary purposes; with GRI ensuring transparency on an organizations’ impacts on people and planet, while the ISSB is focused on supporting efficient and resilient capital markets. Taken together, I believe our standards can provide the complete picture on sustainability impacts and performance.”

The launch of ISSB’s Standards was prominently featured at the GreenFin event last week, where Matthew Rusk, representing GRI in North America, led a panel discussion on the complementary nature of Impact Materiality and Financial Materiality (together forming Double Materiality). Throughout the conversation it became evident that organizations’ impact on the environment and society become issues of financial relevance to the business over time. The session highlighted that the understanding of the interconnectivity of the materiality perspectives, and a global system for consistent disclosures to drive better performance, is critical.

Bob Massie, Co-Founder of GRI, said: 

“At GreenFin we saw hundreds of people eager to uncover more information about financial and impact materiality — and hundreds more who are eager to provide it. There was a near-universal desire to understand the relationship between the world’s leading sustainability standards — the GRI, ISSB, and EFRS — and to see them converge – something than will continue to accelerate the transformation of capitalism over the next decade.”

Through the GRI-IFRS MoU signed in March 2022, the two organizations recognized the two equal and interconnected sustainability reporting perspectives and committed to coordinating work programs and standard-setting activities. With over 11,000 organizations producing reports using the GRI Standards and over 2,800 organizations using Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) Standards, the IFRS S1 and S2 continue important progress in the creation and adoption of a consistent global corporate reporting system.

BROOKLYN, N.Y. and WALTHAM, Mass., July 7, 2023 /3BL/ – New York and Massachusetts are among the top five states ranked in the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy’s (ACEEE) 2023 State Transportation Electrification Scorecard.

The electrification of transport is vital to cutting greenhouse gas emissions and reaching critical net zero targets. National Grid has long been committed to helping its states drive the transition to electric vehicles in the Northeast, investing in customer programs and infrastructure to encourage adoption and support policy- and market-driven demand now and in the future.

“Reaching state goals and getting more EVs on the road starts with understanding the needs of our customers and communities,” said Helen Burt, Chief Customer Officer, National Grid. “With the transition to electric vehicles underway, National Grid recognizes that long-term investments, thoughtful planning, and close collaboration with policymakers are all key to ensuring the benefits of clean transportation are affordable and accessible to everyone.”

New York ranked number two in the country and was noted for heavily incentivizing the purchase of EVs and charging infrastructure, including from investor-owned utilities, and for taking steps to integrate EVs onto the grid. The state was also named a leader in equitable planning efforts toward low-income and environmental justice communities.

Massachusetts ranked fourth, moving up a spot from ACEEE’s last assessment, released in 2021. The Commonwealth was highlighted along with New York for its incentive programs for EV deployment, including “considerable utility investment” in infrastructure.

Delivering the EV Transition for Customers and Communities 

National Grid is set on building an EV charging network that’s fast, reliable, and fully equipped to handle increasing demand, from small passenger vehicles to heavy-duty fleets.

In early 2023, the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities approved National Grid’s Phase III Electric Vehicle proposal, the largest and most comprehensive EV program ever filed by the company, supporting the Commonwealth’s goals of accelerating transportation electrification and providing customers with more charging options. The company aims to enable up to 32,000 additional charging ports to support customer needs.

National Grid is also looking ahead to forecast future demand and advance the strategic buildout of the transmission system. In late 2022, the company partnered with industry leaders to release its Electric Highways Study, which examined fast-charging along highway corridors in New York and Massachusetts, providing a first-of-its-kind blueprint for powering the EV transition to 2045. National Grid was awarded grant funding this year from the U.S. Department of Energy to expand its analysis across the entire U.S. Northeast region.

To learn more about National Grid’s EV programs and incentives, please visit the company’s Electric Vehicle Hub.

About National Grid

National Grid (NYSE: NGG) is an electricity, natural gas, and clean energy delivery company serving more than 20 million people through our networks in New York and Massachusetts. National Grid is focused on building a path to a more affordable, reliable clean energy future through our fossil-free vision. National Grid is transforming our electricity and natural gas networks with smarter, cleaner, and more resilient energy solutions to meet the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

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

Media Contacts

Emily Demarest

Massachusetts

(781) 907-3980

Send an email

More than 10,000 employees and pensioners worldwide have already made a social commitment with the support of Henkel.Program includes financial and in-kind donations as well as paid time off for social projects in various areas.Over 17,300 social projects in more than 100 countries have been supported.

DÜSSELDORF, Germany, July 7, 2023 /3BL/ – Henkel’s volunteering initiative “Make an Impact on Tomorrow” (MIT) celebrates its 25th anniversary. The aim of the initiative is to promote the voluntary engagement of employees and retirees in social projects. Over 17,300 projects in more than 100 countries around the world have already been supported.

The MIT-initiative was launched in 1998. This made Henkel one of the first German companies to make voluntary social engagement a key element of its sustainability activities. “MIT is at the heart of our social activities. We are convinced that we can make a difference in society if we get personally involved. That’s why we offer our employees and retirees a variety of opportunities to get engaged, both individually and in teams,” says Karol-Monique Westhoff, Global Head of Corporate Citizenship at Henkel.

Henkel’s support includes financial and in-kind donations as well as the opportunity to take paid time off to dedicate to a social project. Employees can support their own projects and also participate in projects that have already been funded. “The response to our MIT program has always been very good and the interest is growing: over 10,000 employees and pensioners worldwide have already become socially involved with the help of the program.”

One project focus in 2022 was on activities for Ukraine. This includes, for example, Henkel’s cooperation with the non-governmental organization (NGO) “Habitat for Humanity”. Four Henkel employees supported the organization for a month in Warsaw, Poland, with refugee aid thanks to paid time off. The volunteers helped both with setting up emergency shelters and with administrative activities. In addition, two Henkel teams were again involved in building shelters for families in need in Romania. Henkel has been supporting this project for over 8 years, during which more than 250 Henkel employees have built and renovated houses. 

Another example is the global employee initiative “Trashfighter”, which is part of Henkel’s ongoing commitment to a sustainable circular economy and the prevention of plastic waste in the environment. Lastly, Henkel again supported the inclusive Special Olympics World Games sports event in Berlin this year and was on site with 60 volunteers.