Environment

Highlighting the key Issues that rose to prominence in our 2021 survey of the American public, to provide corporate leaders with clear direction for where they should focus their efforts to make their companies more just and stave off emerging challenges from The Great Resignation.

After analyzing the climate commitments of America’s largest companies, we’ve determined the common traits of the most effective ones.

The stakeholder lens for corporate risk and value creation is vital to addressing climate and other systemic societal challenges, but can companies get the job done?

​​As COP26 draws to a close, it’s becoming clear how much the conversation has shifted to incorporate the financial and corporate worlds.

Climate action is a growing priority for corporate leadership, but the lack of consistency in language used to describe commitments is a growing problem.

What is fundamentally different from the COP of two decades ago, however, is that much of the activist rhetoric is now embraced by corporate leaders and investors.

HP CEO Enrique Lores joined our Quarterly JUST Call to discuss how the company’s sustainability initiatives have led to the generation of more than $1 billion in revenue for two years straight.

This year’s Climate Week comes one month after the IPCC reported unequivocally that climate change is “rapid, widespread, and intensifying,” and that human influence is the key driver.

Andrew Winston, co-author with former Unilever CEO Paul Polman of the upcoming book “Net Positive,” says corporations have finally recognized the necessity of sustainability policies but most have to be bolder and more focused on the long term.

During Climate Week, we brought together experts from C2ES, UN Global Compact, and WRI to look at the state of corporate climate commitments and how to incentivize more ambitious action.

Looking at the companies we ranked in 2021, we find that just 42.8% have disclosed a commitment to reducing emissions.

74% of respondents say companies can help address global climate change by committing to environmental goals like reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

A deadly heat wave in the Pacific Northwest, fatal flooding in western Europe and China, and more have brought fresh urgency to tackling the climate crisis.

As the U.S. announces a new climate target, these 10 companies are leading the way on their managing environmental impact.

We talked to Charlie Penner of the activist fund Engine No. 1 and Aeisha Mastagni of pension fund giant CalSTRS about the “Reenergize Exxon” campaign.

For corporations, bold action on climate is already a must. Net-zero commitments – essentially, a promise to balance GHGs emitted with GHGs removed and/or avoided – are everywhere.

This week’s chart takes a look at an intriguing correlation we found in our data – companies with diversity & inclusion policies and targets also tend to produce less greenhouse gas emissions.

“This is the future. And we need to make that future happen as quickly as possible otherwise we’re just a caretaker of a museum,” he said.

This week, we highlight how investment strategies are rapidly realigning to account for climate change.

We are celebrating the achievements of some of the most important Black women leaders in business, including Rosalind Brewer and Thasunda Duckett, who will be the only two Black women CEOs of Fortune 500 companies.

With the societal and legal move towards decarbonization, utilities that emit a comparatively high amount of carbon are challenged by stranded assets and/or potentially high costs to upgrade equipment.

investors are becoming sophisticated enough to tell the difference between greenwashing and value creation…and this Exxon case proves it.

The majority of Americans believe that business and government should join forces to address racial inequality, business/jobs recovery, climate crisis, economic inequality, and the public health crises.

Will business leaders continue to take a stand on the critical social issues of our time?

Companies with overall lower environmental impacts outperform their peers.