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Originally published on bloomberg.com

In celebration of International Women’s Month, Bloomberg New Voices (a Bloomberg News initiative) and the Bloomberg Women’s Buy-Side Network (BWBN) Singapore chapter recently organized “Equity in Action” – Building a More Inclusive Tomorrow, an in-person event to discuss proven practices that foster a culture of equity.

Moderated by Haslinda Amin, Chief International Correspondent for Southeast Asia and anchor for Bloomberg Television, the panel also featured leaders across a diverse set of corporates:

Angelina Bopp, Managing Director, Head of Credit Managed Assets, Global Corporate and Investment Banking for Asia Pacific, MUFG Bank, LtdEleanor Seet, President and Director, Head of Asia ex-Japan Nikko AM Asia Ltd, Nikko AMScott Beaumont, President, Asia-Pacific, Google

The difference between Equality and Equity

‘Equality’ and ‘equity’ are two terms commonly used in gender related discussions, often interchangeably. While both words are rooted in definitions around fairness, they inherently mean different things. As a result, how we apply them can also produce vastly different outcomes.

In the workplace, equality is providing all employees with the same tools to succeed. Equity is providing each individual the resources they need to thrive.

Panelists shared how they are approaching Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) within their own organizations:

Scott outlined some of the ways Google is equalizing the playing field, and helping employees gain the skills and resources they need to thrive and succeed in their work. He emphasized the importance of surfacing issues that may be hindering people from having equal experiences, as well as having regular internal dialogues on DEI to develop shared empathy and understanding.Angelina discussed how MUFG is “creating a culture of inclusivity and welcoming individual thoughts and contributions”. She added that MUFG is putting equity into practice by creating space for individuals to speak and have their voices heard, driving both thought and team diversity.Eleanor noted that the mindset of being ‘Global Citizens’ is ingrained in Nikko AM’s DNA. The company strives for equal opportunities for all employees, recruiting and rewarding based on meritocracy. As a leader fueling employee and business growth, she makes it a priority – and a mandatory element of company culture – to address unconscious biases.

Despite the differences between their businesses, MUFG, Nikko AM, and Google are committed to creating equity through policies and practices. The speakers recognized that the pursuit of equity and equality comes with distinct responsibilities and complexities, and that leaders must embrace these challenges, especially since DEI is always evolving.

Bringing DEI to life – an evolutionary journey

When it comes to achieving equity in the workplace, there is no one-size-fits-all playbook for leaders to follow, but the panelists were unanimous in their agreement – it is a journey with no hard end goal because there’s always more that can be done.

Eleanor revealed Nikko AM’s size has allowed them to be nimble and advocate equity in a non-linear way, for each market. She illustrated the company’s ability to be flexible and cater to unique employee requests and adapting policies to retain talent, because every individual’s circumstances are different.Scott discussed how Google strives to create a sense of belonging by building an inclusive culture with diverse perspectives that betters the workplace, society, and their products. He observed that as a result of engaging in deep conversations with employees on gender, mobility, and minority issues, Google’s leaders have developed stronger empathy and introduced policies to address unique needs.Angelina shared that equality is the goal, but equity is the means to get there. “Treating people equitably means considering their individual needs and supporting them in specific situations to achieve equality.” She acknowledged that large organizations with established policies may adopt top-down DEI strategies out of necessity, which could limit their ability to be more agile on nascent policies. On the other hand, small- to mid-sized companies may find that bottom-up initiatives better suit the needs of their employees and communities.

Regardless of the size, structure or culture of an organization, the speakers emphasized the importance of continuously evaluating DEI strategies to ensure they are effective and meet the needs of their employees.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in DEI

Panelists shared their different points of view on whether KPIs were effective – or necessary – for DEI.

Angelina believes that a culture of inclusivity should be intrinsic and not just incentivized by KPIs. She expressed that having the right people in the right roles creates the right culture. She shared that “culture is what you do when no one is watching,” and MUFG strives for their employees to be impactful and serve their communities.Scott explained how pursuing ‘belonging’ and making it a core part of Google’s culture and mission, has given employees clear guidelines on how to engage, raise concerns, and support one another in a respectful and inclusive environment. He detailed how setting clear DEI targets has helped Google progress, together with identifying manager attributes that guide them to build an environment of respect, inclusion, and equitable outcomes.Eleanor is of the view that having a consistent culture of inclusion and diversity helps Nikko AM develop sustainable KPI metrics. By setting a high bar on DEI indexes for themselves, the company culture progresses forward organically. She also stressed the value of an entrepreneurial spirit in Nikko AM’s culture that encourages teamwork and innovation.

Playing our part in progressing greater equity in the workplace

Speaking from experience, the panelists provided actionable advice on how to promote a more inclusive and equitable work culture, from an organizational to individual level.

Workplace: Companies can offer employees reskilling and lifelong learning opportunities across all levels in different sectors to foster career growth and development. In industries facing a talent crunch, companies could explore piloting a program that encourages underrepresented groups to return to the workforce.Male allies: Gender equality takes both genders. Men can be better allies to women in the workplace by creating equal opportunities for all. By finding ways to actively champion and promote their fellow female colleagues and walking the talk, men can contribute towards a more inclusive and diverse workplace.Individuals: Each one of us can create a safe space for our colleagues and teams to feel comfortable to express their opinions and concerns. Actionable examples include actively inviting others into the conversation to ensure all views are captured.

Leaders also play a crucial role in putting equity and parity on the agenda, but it takes a joint effort to push and sustain DEI in the workplace. The speakers at the event all agreed that if we champion equity daily as a collective, we will be able to build a brighter, more inclusive tomorrow.

If you would like to join the BWBN Singapore chapter and stay updated on its events and activities, please visit https://www.bloomberg.com/company/values/diversity-and-inclusion/advancing-women/expanding-opportunity/bloomberg-womens-buy-side-network/.

About BWBN

The Bloomberg Women’s Buyside Network (BWBN) is a global network led by a group of senior industry leaders who aspire to serve as role models for the next generation of women on the buy-side. As the first women’s buy-side network of its kind, it was created to advance the social purpose of the industry and spotlight its leading practitioners. The network promotes meritocracy and inclusion in the industry, and educates on the diversity of career paths within the buy side.

The network started in Asia in 2018, with chapters opened in Singapore, Hong Kong, India and Japan. From 2021, the network expanded globally with chapters added in Australia, New Zealand, California, New York and Brazil.

About Bloomberg New Voices

The New Voices initiative, started in 2018, has helped triple the percentage of on-air female guests on Bloomberg TV to 30% as of the end of last year. The initiative has also sponsored intensive one-on-one media training to more than 370 executives around the world and created the definitive global database of female sources in the industry with more than 7,600 names. We are eager to celebrate these successes and share our expansion plans to further elevate the expert opinions of women and under-represented executives in the year ahead.

For more information about Bloomberg New Voices, visit: www.bloomberg.com/newvoices

The Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth

YouTube influencer and philanthropist Lilly Singh and Mastercard’s Shamina Singh took the stage in a packed room in Washington, D.C., to share how we can all encourage greater gender equity.

“We can’t change the issue of gender equality with just money … it’s culture,” Lilly Singh said. “Culture determines how we treat women, how we view women. What is the patriarchy if not just a story that’s been told for a really long time? I believe if you change the stories, you can change the world. We can change culture.”

The topic was just one of many big, thorny issues discussed Thursday at the Global Inclusive Growth Summit, which brought together private-sector and social-sector leaders, government officials, economists, and academics to spark conversation and drive change on the environment, digital inclusion and much more.

A core sentiment of the daylong event, hosted by the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth and the Aspen Institute, was that of urgency: There’s no more time left to kick the can down the road on climate — we need to address it now. The same with gender equality and financial inclusion.

And if we all manage to drive greater inclusion, many of the speakers said, we could unlock far greater economic prosperity for everyone and build significantly more resilience in communities so they can withstand future challenges.

Here are three takeaways from the event.

01 
There’s no one way to define financial inclusion and inclusive growth:  Financial inclusion is, quite simply, the work of bringing more people into the formal financial system, whether that’s giving people access to a bank account, insurance, working capital for their business or the ability to safely send money to family overseas. Inclusive growth, meanwhile, is all about encouraging economic growth that more people can benefit from, not just those at the top of the ladder.

Many speakers at the event shared their takes on both ideas.

Comedian and author Trevor Noah challenged the notion that inclusive growth and financial inclusion are primarily about charity. He said that people being left out of markets is a failing of those markets. When more people are included, that’s not inclusive growth, but really “complete growth,” he said.

Building on that idea, Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser said during a separate presentation that her administration sees inclusive growth as a balance.

“Yes, we want to grow our population. Yes, we want more businesses. Yes, we want more development,” she said. “Well, we want the people who have lived here in good times and bad times to be able to afford to live. So what that has meant for us is: How do we grow wages? And how do we build more affordable housing?”

In a speech capping the event, Queen Máxima of the Netherlands said a focus on fostering financial health — encouraging people to save money and avoid excessive debt — was essential to true financial inclusion. “Without financial health we will not be able to do it.”

02 
Technology directed in the right way can have a big impact on inclusion: A number of speakers mentioned the potentially negative impacts of artificial intelligence, noting the rapid developments of generative AI models like ChatGPT.

But Microsoft Vice Chairman Brad Smith, whose company has invested in OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, and provides ChatGPT in its products, shared a much more optimistic view of how AI could be used. He said it could unlock huge benefits for nonprofits, allowing them to deliver programs and measure their impacts much more effectively and at a much lower cost.

During another presentation, Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach said companies need to consider three factors when developing new technology: Does it solve a problem for people? Is it inclusive? Is it trustworthy?

“If it’s not inclusive, it doesn’t scale. If it doesn’t scale, it doesn’t matter,” he added.

Samantha Power, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, shared how the Ukrainian government created an app that’s grown to include more than 200 government services. That app, called Diia, helped cut down on corruption by increasing government transparency and enabled people to let the government know if they’ve been displaced during the war.

Potential legislation is shared on the platform, and citizens can share positive or negative sentiments with their leaders — not wait for an election to hold them accountable. “It’s the digital and democracy coming together,” she said.

03 
Find ways to make the world work for more people: BBC journalist and Paralympian Ade Adepitan, who uses a wheelchair, asked the audience, somewhat jokingly, “What’s this fixation you able-bodied people have with stairs!”

The idea of adding more ramps and other means of access helps not just people like him, but many others, as well.

Chetna Sinha, founder of the Mann Deshi Foundation, which helps women in rural India access credit and build up their business skills, said that as the pandemic eased she worked with many women who had to start making money after their spouses lost their jobs.

They asked to be armed with smartphones, not feature phones, saying they had better services, especially voice SMS, which could matter because many of them didn’t read or write.

“They said, ‘Never give poor solutions to poor people. We are smart.’”

Philanthropist Melinda French Gates reinforced the point about empowering women.

“Make sure they have a great education. Make sure they can plan and space the first of their children. Make sure they have networks to get into a great job and be part of the banking system to save money,” she told the audience. “You will absolutely accelerate their growth. And guess what? They’re going to accelerate your economy.”

Originally published by The Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth

Check out more content from The Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth

Recycling plastics can save landfill space and conserve energy and water that would have been used to make new materials, among other benefits. But mechanical recycling also comes with its challenges.

To ensure high-quality post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic resins, recycled plastics must be cleaned. The optimization of this process can be challenging, especially removing contaminants and properly separating materials, as well as controlling foam during the required washing steps.

That is why Dow has developed an innovative washing technology called EVOWASH™. It supports high-quality mechanical recycling for the production of PCR resins that meet customers’ expectations, while also maximizing the reuse of process water.

“As a materials science company, an important part of our sustainability strategy is to design products and technologies that enable our customers and consumers to save water and other resources,” said Juan Pablo Watty, Dow global segment leader, Mechanical Recycling. “By improving the mechanical recycling process, this technology helps support a circular economy and advance recycling rates.”

Maximizing water circularity

Washing is a crucial step in the plastic recycling process since it removes some of the impurities that can degrade a batch of recycled plastic. The impurities targeted in this step commonly include things such as product labels and adhesives, as well as dirt and food residue.

EVOWASH™ is a range of biodegradable, industrial-grade detergents and antifoams designed to maximize adhesive removal, improve the optical quality of plastic resins, and reduce foam generation in the mechanical recycling of PET, HDPE, LDPE and PP. Because EVOWASH™ detergents are biodegradable and generate low foam, they have no impact to discharge water. In fact, our products have performed successfully in recycling systems with discharge cycles above seven days without impacting compliance with local regulations for process effluents.

Learn more about EVOWASH™

As published in Qualcomm’s 2022 Corporate Responsibility Report

Through our Environmental Program Management Standard, we focus on identifying activities, services and processes that generate waste and strive to reduce the impact of our waste disposal practices on the environment. We assess and classify waste generation sources to prioritize our waste mitigation efforts, such as implementing initiatives to eliminate waste at the source and maximize recycling, as well as promoting opportunities to utilize less toxic, more durable, reusable and recycled materials in our operations. In addition, waste reduction and recycling help us decrease the waste we send to landfills. We have active recycling and food composting programs, which help reduce waste to landfills at our major sites.

Our Company depends on a robust information technology (IT) infrastructure for all aspects of our daily operations. We take steps to minimize energy consumption and waste in our IT system, keeping costs and environmental considerations in mind. Measures like powering down printers, connecting through wireless backhaul and deploying modular and performance-optimized data centers have made a significant difference.

Furthermore, our waste management service vendors are viewed as partners in sustainability to help minimize waste through a shared goal and vision of waste reduction and recycling. Waste disposal service partners and disposal sites are assessed through a preliminary evaluation and periodic audits to determine sufficient assurance of acceptable performance and compliance with our disposal standards, especially when it comes to hazardous and other regulated wastes.

Learn more in Qualcomm’s 2022 Corporate Responsibility Report

Get an inside look at a growing social impact program. Patricia walks through the innovations she’s pioneered and lessons she’s learned leading Splunk’s volunteering, giving and matching, and community investment programs.

About Patricia

Patricia Toothman is a social impact manager at Splunk, where she manages the global employee engagement programs, community partnerships, and strategic giving. She has over ten years of experience in the CSR space, working with global brands across multiple industries.

More episodes packed with practical insight

To hear more from industry leaders – including Jen Carter of Google, Carmen Perez of Better Next, Kari Niedfeldt-Thomas of CECP, and Angela Parker of Realized Worth – on how to create blueprints for navigating a CSR career, building a social impact program, and adapting to changing times, visit Submittable’s Impact Studio. You’ll hear six episodes revealing a number of practical insights you can use in your mission.

Originally published by Med Device Online

In 2017, our Boston Scientific leadership team found ourselves faced with a dilemma. Poring over our annual employee survey results, we were taken aback to learn — much to our chagrin — that not all of our female employees felt they had equal opportunities for promotion as their male counterparts. We took a collective deep breath to let the realization sink in: A swath of our workforce was letting us know that they felt overlooked. We knew immediately that we needed to do better for them – and not only because diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) align with our values, but because in medtech, DEI is a business imperative.

Why do I say so? Because the medical device industry’s mission, making products to help solve healthcare’s toughest problems, demands relentless ingenuity. But the best ideas don’t emerge in a vacuum; they’re sparked by a deep understanding of the problems faced by patients and customers, then forged by the creative interplay of different perspectives. Creating a workplace that encourages that level of empathetic, collaborative engagement is critical for the innovation that powers our industry.

Continue reading here.

During last summer’s heatwave, when temperatures soared above 40 degrees, numerous data centres in Britain had to shut down. And in hot weather, data centres need even more power to keep their equipment cool. It highlighted a very real problem that too few people are aware of: the colossal power demands of the data centres that drive almost everything in the modern world, from food delivery to banking to communications.

When people use a computer or a smartphone, they rarely think about what it costs in terms of energy. But even something tiny, like adding more names to a list of people copied on an email, will have a real, measurable energy cost.

With cloud now the default way of working for businesses in almost every sector, the amount of energy used by data centres is ever increasing: currently up to 1.5% of global electricity demand, according to the International Energy Agency.

But solutions exist to reduce the impact of our data centres worldwide. And it’s not some exotic new technology – it’s tried-and-tested hardware which already exists, combined with a fresh way of thinking about the environmental impact of data centres.

Part of the problem is that servers have a long lifetime: up to ten years. As new servers come in, older machines may move away from being business-critical to being something that sits at the back of the data centre, doing something occasionally, but still drawing lots of power. Every data centre has machines that no one is quite sure that they are doing – but people are too afraid to switch them off. Businesses need to move beyond this mindset.

Refreshing hardware

As a consumer, you tend to buy a new machine if your PC is going slowly, or as an employee, raising a ticket with IT usually gets it replaced. Servers sitting in a data centre are a very different matter. They keep on working, even when the hardware is inefficient, outdated and power-hungry.

Refreshing your inventory, especially older assets, can quickly pay for itself by reducing the amount of energy that servers draw. In the same way that modern cars have lower emissions than older models, it pays to have the latest hardware when it comes to data centres.

In past decades, many business decision makers imagined that choosing the ‘green’ option was always going to cost money. But what we are seeing today is that the best economic solution also happens to be the most sustainable solution. If you reduce the amount of power your servers consume in the data centre, your power bill goes down at the same time as your CO2 emissions.

Why asset recovery services matter

Often, if you replace old hardware, you’ll also end up doing the job far more efficiently, with one new box taking the place of 10 or 20 old ones. Updating old hardware doesn’t just cut costs: there’s also a welcome cashflow boost that provides opportunities to improve sustainability to help meet environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals, thanks to asset recovery services.

Every year, the world generates 50 million tonnes of e-waste, enough to cover the island of Manhattan, according to UN statistics. And while Lenovo’s latest research finds that 70% of organisations are already using data to achieve a mix of ESG and financial goals, more needs to be done.

For companies hoping to achieve their ESG goals, an asset recovery service helps in finding the optimal method to dispose of hardware – whether that’s recycling, refurbishing, reusing, or scrapping in an environmentally friendly way, such as waste-to-energy disposal. Organisations need clarity and policies around how this is done – equipment can’t be simply thrown into a skip.

Businesses also need to ensure that their asset recovery services work with partners with the highest standards. This removes risk from the customer – there’s no danger that the partner will find a loophole to ship the waste abroad and dump it in landfill. This is another important way to safeguard reputation.

Recycling servers in this way generates a lot of ‘wins’. If a company gets a few thousand pounds back for the old hardware, they can buy CO2 offsets for the new hardware – or simply donate to an environmental charity. Of course, carbon offsetting can’t be your only plan for sustainability, but if companies invest in UN-approved CO2 offset projects like reforestation and green power initiatives, it’s a useful tool that can help demonstrate ESG commitments.

Protecting data

Protecting customer data has become ever more important for businesses, thanks to privacy regulations such as GDPR. Making sure that data is handled and wiped in the correct manner has moved up the agenda for businesses, so that sensitive information does not fall into the wrong hands. So, in the same way that disposing equipment in a suitable manner is vital, managing and destroying data from these devices in a way that is safe and secure is just as important.

Where once this might have been purely an IT problem, it’s now also a problem for the CFO or other members of the senior leadership team. That’s another reason why choosing the right asset recovery service is so crucial; it ensures that sensitive information is correctly handled and destroyed in line with regulations. Particularly for sectors like financial services and the public sector, this is top of the list.

The future

Data centres will increasingly face regulation and demands for transparency over their energy and water usage. The European Commission is reportedly set to announce a plan to call out and clamp down on data centres’ environmental impact. By 2025, this could see data centres having a ‘label’ which details their energy usage, just like dishwashers and other home appliances do today.

For consumers, buying from sustainable brands is playing an increasing role in purchasing decisions. Across all generations from Baby Boomers to Gen-Z, sustainability is now more important than a brand name when buying a product, according to research. Consumers are increasingly conscious of the ESG credentials of businesses, meaning that organisations cannot afford to have unsustainable practices in their data centres.

Meanwhile, sustainability has become a differentiator in the battle for talent – before people start working at an organisation, they are beginning to evaluate how it treats the environment. That’s a new trend being largely driven by Gen Z, with Bupa research finding that one in three would turn down roles in companies with poor ESG credentials. Sustainability is only going to become more significant for employees, investors and governments, and the importance of data centres and their power consumption will continue to grow.

Going forward, not meeting sustainability targets for a business is going to be almost as bad as not hitting financial targets. This comes in addition to the subsequent effects of climate change itself, with Lenovo’s research finding that 59% of senior executives expect the threats of global warming to have a moderate to severe impact on their business. Yet, although executives recognize these challenges, few have near-term plans in place to address them. Only 33% are taking steps in the next three years to tackle global warming.

Companies need to take a holistic view of the energy consumed by data centres, and how to get a grip on it. It’s an area where vendors, partners and customers will need to work closely together, taking an overview of every part of the journey, from when a server arrives at a data centre to the moment when it’s recycled, upcycled or reused. Everything needs to be measured, monitored and understood. Sustainability is a journey – and for companies which rely on data centres, taking the first step is the most important part.

With health and safety a priority focus for Directors and C-Suite Executives, COVID-19 provided Environment, Health, and Safety (EHS) professionals with an opportunity to get a seat at the table. As the aftereffects of COVID continue to wane, EHS professionals face new challenges as economic issues put pressure on businesses to cut costs. In order to keep their seat at the table and maintain momentum and visibility, EHS professionals need to showcase their value, outweighing cost implications, and present innovative solutions.

The end of March saw EHS professionals from some of the biggest names in the tech industry gather for the Antea Group USA’s EHSxTech® one-day event. Hosted by Salesforce, a world-leading CRM supplier, at their newly opened Salesforce Tower in Dublin, the event facilitated a unique opportunity for industry professionals to collaborate and network with their peers, while exploring health and safety (H&S) practices and EHS trends in this rapidly changing industry. 

Developing and Scaling a Culture of Safety  

You can conduct risk assessments, update standard operating procedures, and communicate your latest Health and Safety policy to your teams. But how can you guarantee that the information you’re communicating, designed to protect both people and the environment, is being digested and implemented in all areas of your organization? 

The answer is, you can’t. 

It’s almost impossible to guarantee 100% that your health and safety policy and procedures are being implemented by every member of your organization, whether they are in the office, at home, or at a client’s place of work. How can EHS professionals overcome this? 

Opening the event, our host Michael Flemming, Health & Safety – Director (EMEA & LATAM) Salesforce, outlined the importance of building a health and safety culture that truly integrates and reflects the organization’s culture. By developing an integrated approach, EHS teams can help employees evangelize a health and safety culture. 

“The key,” Michael outlines, “is the approach you take to communicating and engaging with your employees, to build a solid foundation for a culture of active participation in health and safety principles. Often Health and Safety teams are very effective in developing policies and procedures, however, without buy-in from the wider organization, the adoption of these principles can stagnate .”

The need for thoughtful communication was further expanded upon by Karl Huntzicker, VP – Global Health and Safety at Salesforce, “The role of communication and marketing in effective health and safety implementation is crucial. You could have the best EHS program on the market. But if it’s not identifiable, relatable, interesting, and effectively communicated, you won’t earn buy-in, and it won’t be effective.”

There was agreement amongst the group that the Health and Safety narrative needs to fit and integrate with the organization’s narrative to be visible and effective. 

“Visibility is essential to engage employee communities and have an impact. We need to upscale our workforce and promote community care by every individual within the organization. The development of robust health and safety systems must facilitate the accessibility of employees.” – Stephen Lynch, LinkedIn. 

Tackling Legacy Health and Safety  

Developing, implementing, and scaling an effective health and safety culture starts with an assessment of what already exists. For many EHS professionals, tackling historic health and safety legacy issues presents a major challenge in developing new innovative approaches.  

“Post-COVID, EHS is going through a hard reset. This presents an opportunity to review systems and processes, addressing inefficiencies.” – Jim Clifford, Autodesk. 

Rebuilding foundations is expensive, and in the current economic climate, many EHS professionals are feeling the pinch. 

Adding Value with Health and Safety – in an Era of Expense Reduction 

The technology sector flourished during the COVID-19 pandemic, with some of the biggest tech giants reporting record-breaking revenue and employee expansion at unprecedented rates.  

Like many organizations across all sectors globally, the technology sector is faced with macroeconomic uncertainty. It is no secret the Tech industry has been hit particularly hard, resulting in scrutiny of EHS performance, budget requirements, and visibility of EHS teams at the board level. Changes are underway in this era of expense reductions and realignment with a post-COVID world. Where businesses may be struggling, there is a temptation to cut costs and operate a minimum compliance program. In order to keep their seat at the table and drive momentum, EHS professionals need to demonstrate how their EHS programs add value to their organization.

EHS teams need to adapt to be more efficient, sustainable and cost-effective, and present new innovative ways of engaging teams in a developing health and safety culture.

“Innovation is key to keeping a seat at the table post-COVID.” – Stephen Lynch, LinkedIn. 

EHS leadership at Salesforce is innovating by reframing Health and Safety as a competitive advantage for the organization. Driving home that Health and Safety is more than just compliance. An effective EHS team and established health and safety culture will:

Drive ProductivityProtect Trust – Both our team and our clients want to know that we are a reliable supplier who provides a safe and secure working environmentEnable Sales and SuccessBuild Resilience – An effective EHS Management System prevents downtimeAttract and Retain Talent

EHS – A Changing Landscape  

Staying ahead of emerging issues remains one of the biggest challenges for EHS managers. Here are some top concerns the group discussed.

Personal Transportation Devices on the rise, presenting very unique risks for EHS managers.ESG and Sustainability are beginning to intersect even more with EHS. As ESG moves from voluntary initiatives to compliance obligations like the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), EHS professionals are finding their roles expanding to accommodate elements of sustainability and engage in these corporate efforts.

We are already planning our next EHSxTech® event, with an aim to move beyond networking and knowledge sharing, to collaborating on the development of best practice principles ahead of regulatory changes. With some of the biggest tech companies present at the event, we have an opportunity to utilize their voice and recognized brands to lead industry change, to the benefit of protecting both people and planet from environmental, health, and safety risks whilst considering sustainability and ESG in our operations. 

Learn more about EHSxTech and how you can get involved here. 

About Antea Group

Antea®Group is an environment, health, safety, and sustainability consulting firm. By combining strategic thinking with technical expertise, we do more than effectively solve client challenges; we deliver sustainable results for a better future. We work in partnership with and advise many of the world’s most sustainable companies to address ESG-business challenges in a way that fits their pace and unique objectives. Our consultants equip organizations to better understand threats, capture opportunities and find their position of strength. Lastly, we maintain a global perspective on ESG issues through not only our work with multinational clients, but also through our sister organizations in Europe, Asia, and Latin America and as a founding member of the Inogen Alliance. Learn more at us.anteagroup.com. 

April 17, 2023 /3BL Media/ – The University of Michigan Ross School of Business, a top-ranked global executive education provider, in collaboration with Ceres, a leading nonprofit organization driving equitable solutions to the world’s greatest sustainability challenges, announced a new online executive education program for corporate boards of directors. This strategic partnership with Ceres marks the first Michigan Ross open enrollment executive education program centered on sustainability to address the increasing range of material and financial risks and opportunities that corporate boards face.

Building Board Expertise on Sustainability is a comprehensive online program that brings together business and sustainability experts from Michigan Ross Executive Education, the Erb Institute, Ceres, and other nonprofit leaders to deliver a unique educational experience and provide the essential skills needed by every board member in today’s rapidly evolving board rooms.

The program includes a combination of self-paced online content and live virtual content delivered through the world-class Corp U learning platform at Ross. Ross faculty will partner with Ceres subject matter experts to provide seven weekly course modules of asynchronous virtual and live-virtual learning beginning in September 2023.

“Today, corporate board members are increasingly expected to understand the risks and opportunities of climate and other sustainability issues that impact their own operations and supply chains and the broader capital markets,” said Steven M. Rothstein, Managing Director of the Ceres Accelerator for Sustainable Capital Markets at Ceres. “We are thrilled to partner with Ross and others to offer this unparalleled training that will improve expertise in the boardroom and lead to better business management and performance results.”

“As demand for the prioritization of corporate sustainability initiatives from broadening groups of stakeholders continues to increase, it is imperative we equip board members with the necessary tools and expertise to effectively and proactively address sustainability objectives at the corporate level,” said Izak Duenyas, Associate Dean for Executive Programs at Michigan Ross. “We are pleased to be able to partner with Ceres and bring together world-renowned faculty and leading sustainability experts to deliver this essential program and further advance the Ross mission of building a better world through business.”

The program begins September 18, 2023. Enrollment is now open.

About Michigan Ross 

The Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan is a diverse learning community grounded in the principle that business can be an extraordinary vehicle for positive change in today’s dynamic global economy. The Ross School of Business mission is building a better world through business. Through thought and action, members of the Ross community drive change and innovation that improves business and society. 

Michigan Ross is consistently ranked among the world’s leading business schools. Academic degree programs include the Bachelor of Business Administration, Full-Time MBA, Part-Time MBA (Online and Weekend formats), Executive MBA, Global MBA, Master of Accounting, Master of Business Analytics, Master of Management, Master of Supply Chain Management, and PhD. In addition, the school delivers programs for individuals and custom executive education programs targeting general management, leadership development, and strategic human resource management. For more information, visit MichiganRoss.umich.edu.

About Ceres 

Ceres is a nonprofit organization working with the most influential capital market leaders to solve the world’s greatest sustainability challenges. The Ceres Accelerator for Sustainable Capital Markets is a center of excellence within Ceres that aims to transform the practices and policies that govern capital markets to reduce the worst financial impacts of the climate crisis. Through our powerful networks and global collaborations of investors, companies, and nonprofits, we drive action and inspire equitable market-based and policy solutions throughout the economy to build a just and sustainable future. For more information, visit ceres.org or ceres.org/accelerator and follow @CeresNews.

Media Contact: Becca Johnson, bjohnson@ceres.org

TOKYO, April 17, 2023 /3BL Media/ – Nearly a quarter of annual electricity consumption at the Nippon Otis Elevator Company (“Nippon Otis”) logistics and engineering center (“NOLEC”) can now be offset by power generated with newly-installed solar panels. Nippon Otis is the Japanese subsidiary of Otis Worldwide Corporation (NYSE: OTIS), the world’s leading company for elevator and escalator manufacturing, installation, and service. 

(solar panel installation video available for download here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63iwdiRoFQo)

In 2021, Otis developed its Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) strategy and goals, and made a global commitment to achieve those goals. The solar panels, recently installed in the parking lot of NOLEC, covering a total area of 2672.47 m2, are part of that effort. The solar panels will generate electricity to cover approximately 21% of NOLEC’s annual electricity consumption. In addition, with the installation of solar panels, Otis expects to reduce NOLEC’s greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 27% compared to 2022.

“We are pleased to be able to further promote our environmental efforts and carbon footprint reduction with this solar project,” said Nippon Otis President Thibault Lefebure. “We will continue to strengthen these efforts – including the purchase of renewable energy and switching to hybrid and light vehicles – to further reduce our impact on the environment and strive to build a more sustainable future.” 

Nippon Otis will continue to do its part to protect the environment across three areas:  

Factory: HVAC upgrade, LED lighting, solar panel installation
Vehicle: Lease + hybrid and light vehicles/EV scooters
Real Estate: Flexible/remote work arrangements, office footprint reduction

Globally, Otis aims to achieve carbon neutrality for electricity at its factories by 2030, and to reduce its global Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030 compared to 2019. For more information on Otis’ ESG initiatives and performance, please refer to its 2022 ESG Report.

About Otis

Otis gives people freedom to connect and thrive in a taller, faster, smarter world. The global leader in the manufacture, installation and servicing of elevators and escalators, we move 2 billion people a day and maintain approximately 2.1 million customer units worldwide – the industry’s largest Service portfolio. You’ll find us in the world’s most iconic structures, as well as residential and commercial buildings, transportation hubs and everywhere people are on the move. Headquartered in Connecticut, USA, Otis is 68,000 people strong, including 41,000 field professionals, all committed to meeting the diverse needs of our customers and passengers in more than 200 countries and territories. To learn more, visit www.otis.com and follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter @OtisElevatorCo.