Environment

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.

Nadella explains how Microsoft is working to make stakeholder capitalism a reality, in light of COVID-19, our national reckoning with racial injustice, and challenges to American democracy.

How do you create an economy that works for all? Martin joins “Unfinished” to discuss the path forward with Angela Glover Blackwell (Founder in Residence, PolicyLink) and David Leonhardt (Senior Writer, New York Times).

These are the corporations at the forefront of stakeholder-driven leadership.

We take a closer look at a key point from the CEO Blueprint for Achieving Racial Equity, which we developed with FSG and PolicyLink.

Companies should use the opportunity that climate week represents to consider extending their engagement on limiting their carbon emissions across their whole value chain.

Milton Friedman and his peers set America on the course of shareholder primacy. Business leaders and academics are considering what must be done for a stakeholder-driven alternative.

As we prepare our annual rankings, we are considering a new way that companies might reduce their environmental impact – the reduction of air travel.