Sat.May 23, 2020 - Fri.May 29, 2020

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Food waste startup backed by Oprah Winfrey snags $250 million

GreenBiz

Food waste startup backed by Oprah Winfrey snags $250 million. Heather Clancy. Tue, 05/26/2020 - 06:01. While overall startup funding is down this quarter because of the economic disruption brought on by COVID-19, entrepreneurs focused on solving climate-related problems have been bucking the trend. This morning brings one of the biggest deals yet this year: an infusion of $250 million in new financing for food waste crusader Apeel Sciences.

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10 ways to redesign venture finance for a more inclusive post-COVID world

Impact Alpha

Impact investing was created to revolutionize capital markets. Instead, we are replicating them. This needs to change. The good news is, the structures we need to reform the capital system already exist. COVID provides an opportunity for impact investors to step into a leadership role within capital markets, as the amount of private and public. The post 10 ways to redesign venture finance for a more inclusive post-COVID world appeared first on ImpactAlpha.

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Company-Wide Innovation Is an Anticipatory Imperative

Daniel Burrus

If you were to ask anyone in your organization to outline their daily responsibilities, you’d likely get a list that includes position titles rather than responsibilities, like sales or information technology. But what about something more crucial to the overall goals of the organization, like innovation? It is likely that employees don’t think of their role as being part of innovation, either for a lack of understanding of what innovation means at the company or the literal thought that their d

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180 Degrees Consulting and the MDP Student & Alumni Advisory Council Working In Partnership

Sustainable Development Network

The Master’s in Development Practice (MDP) is a two-year graduate degree program focusing on sustainable development practice. The program was launched in 2008, established at Columbia University in 2009 and has rapidly expanded to about 38 academic institutions (and growing!) in 26 countries since then. Hundreds of students have graduated from the program, joining a pool of alumni and students in what is known as the MDP Student & Alumni Advisory Council (SAAC).

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Are Your Impact Comms Resonating With Stakeholders?

Whether your organization is at the start of its sustainability and impact journey or years into it, many brands share a common concern: the uncertainty of whether they are sending stakeholders mixed messages. Creating content that speaks to your audience's “love language” can be a tricky dance. But, worry not! 3BL has put together tips to ensure that your content not only finds its rhythm but also resonates with your target audiences.

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The COVID-19 recovery requires a resilient circular economy

GreenBiz

The COVID-19 recovery requires a resilient circular economy. Jocelyn Bleriot. Fri, 05/29/2020 - 01:00. The COVID-19 crisis has disastrous human and economic consequences, revealing our system’s exposure to a variety of risks. The call for a more resilient, circular and low-carbon economic model has garnered support from a growing number of businesses and governments over the past few years, and appears today more relevant than ever.

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Focus on workers, customers and governance drive ESG outperformance amid COVID uncertainty

Impact Alpha

ImpactAlpha, May 26 – Sustainable funds outperformed their conventional peers in the first quarter downturn and held their own in the April bounce back (see, “Sustainable investments are growing, and outperforming, in a volatile market”). The outperformance was initially attributed to underexposure to the energy sector, which cratered in Q1. As a fuller picture emerges, The post Focus on workers, customers and governance drive ESG outperformance amid COVID uncertainty appeared first on ImpactAlp

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Cod in Decline – The Long View of Fishery Sustainability

Sense and Sustainability

After years of improvement in the stocks, North Sea Cod is once again on the decline , and the period of optimistic, certified “sustainability” now seems to be over. The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), a body that issues certifications of “sustainability” to inform consumers, had to withdraw its certification of North Sea Cod’s sustainability in 2019.

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Using waste carbon feedstocks to produce chemicals

GreenBiz

Using waste carbon feedstocks to produce chemicals. Elizabeth R. Nesbitt. Wed, 05/27/2020 - 14:36. Emerging carbon capture utilization (CCU) technologies potentially allow chemical companies and other manufacturers such as steel companies to convert waste carbon from industrial emissions — in the form of carbon monoxide (CO) and/or carbon dioxide (CO2) — into sustainable, value-added biofuels and chemicals.

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New York?s $100 million loan fund for small businesses is a model for a $1 billion national fund

Impact Alpha

ImpactAlpha, May 26 – New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo may have been listening in to ImpactAlpha’s Agents of Impact call last week. The state’s New York Forward Loan Fund will channel $100 million through five local community development financial institutions to the kind of small, minority-owned businesses that have been left behind in hastily prepared.

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Building Better ESG Indexes: 30 Years On

MSCI

How ESG indexes have evolved over the past 30 years: A Q&A with Stuart Doole, head of new index development at MSCI, about his conversations with investors since the COVID19 crisis started, the growth of ESG investing and how MSCI Research uses AI and machine learning in developing its ESG indexes.

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Mastering Supply Chain Sustainability: Where Does ESG Fit In?

Speaker: Hortense Grouvel

In this new webinar, you will learn firsthand how to set up a sustainable supply chain program that will help meet increasing ESG requirements stemming from regulators, customers, consumers, and investors alike. Hortense Grouvel, ESG expert at IntegrityNext, and Sean Whelan, Global Senior Manager at Halliburton, will look at how ensuring compliance will also help you increase sustainability performance, resilience, and innovation, allowing you to unlock the full potential of your supply chain op

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How to create the carbon footprint of your supply chain

Carlos Sanchez

Like. Climate change is a major threat to human existence that require rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society. Multinational companies have the resources and capabilities to play a key role in catalyzing this change. While most companies have implemented carbon footprint reduction programs in their factories, buildings and fleets, not many have yet mastered how to tackle the emissions of their supply chains.

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Advice for thriving amid crisis, from 14 sustainability vets

GreenBiz

Advice for thriving amid crisis, from 14 sustainability vets. Kathrin Winkler. Tue, 05/26/2020 - 08:00. A few months back (and forever ago), our professional colleagues in our Sustainability Veterans group expressed their thoughts on the most important attributes for advancing a sustainability career. Our goal was to share lessons that we learned in the trenches to help those following us to build on our experiences.

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Better climate-impact due diligence: There’s an app for that

Impact Alpha

ImpactAlpha, May 27 – CRANE, for “Carbon Reduction Assessment of New Enterprises,” can assess the potential future climate impact of more than 200 technology solution areas (see, “Catalyzing capital to develop carbontech for gigaton-scale CO2 removal”). Case in point: Prime Coalition backed Lilac Solutions after an analysis showed the Oakland-based company’s lithium mining technology could.

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The Role of Sustainable Development Solutions Networks (SDSNs) in the protection of the environment

Sustainable Development Network

The case for SDSN Black Sea Normal 0 21 false false false DE X-NONE X-NONE In 2015, the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – “a plan for people, planet and prosperity”, which includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that service as a roadmap for the national and international policies that should be implemented to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all.

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What Regulations Will Impact Sustainability Comms in 2024?

Navigating the waters of sustainability reporting disclosures and regulations can be intimidating, to say the least. With various measures set in motion in 2023 to keep companies accountable, there is a lot in store for brands’ impact communication in the upcoming year. 3BL is kicking off this January with our Navigating ESG Comms Through the Cosmos - Capricorn Edition by highlighting the impact of: The U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Climate disclosure rules The European Commission

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Leadership Fueling Recovery in a Pandemic

Michael Connor

by Gael O’Brien. Reopening businesses in a still-uncertain pandemic invites leaders to shape an approach that supports the work ahead. A first step depends on whether leaders can transform the buzz words “we’re in this together” into an authentic community working together to overcome obstacles. The pandemic’s assault exposed a lack of preparedness at every level in the U.S. and globally.

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Demystifying the ?Absolute Zero? concept

GreenBiz

Demystifying the ‘Absolute Zero’ concept. Heather Clancy. Fri, 05/29/2020 - 02:15. If your sustainability team has regular debates about how to label or describe its various initiatives, it’s not alone. The nuances of all the various adjectives and descriptors that are used to describe climate action — from "science-based" to "net zero" to "carbon negative" — are enough to make heads spin, especially for those who spend their professional lives worrying about how to communicate these concepts.

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Agent of Impact: Sarah Kearney, Prime Coalition

Impact Alpha

ImpactAlpha, May 29 – Venture capital seems optimized to fund Instagram, not impact. Rather than bemoan the capital gap, Sarah Kearney bulldozed through it. Kearney founded Prime Coalition in 2014 to execute a blueprint for driving capital to early-stage technologies that can take big bites out of carbon emissions and help forestall the worst impacts.

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Cheap virgin plastic is being sold as recycled plastic—it's time for better recycling certification

Eco-Business

Prompted by the low price of oil, factories in China are mixing virgin plastic with recycled plastic and selling it as recycled. Brands with sustainability commitments need to be sure what they're buying is genuinely recycled material. How?

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What Questions Are Brands Asking About Their ESG Initiatives Ahead of 2024?

Temperatures are rising (and not just metaphorically) as key stakeholders anxiously anticipate the outcomes of COP28. While companies reconsider their 2024 environmental sustainability strategies, there is another aspect of ESG that deserves exploring, the social sector. In the latest edition of "Navigating ESG Comms Through the Cosmos - Sagittarius Edition", 3BL hones in on this sign’s bold quality of asking questions others are burning to know the answers to.

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The Impact Of Covid-19 On Electric Vehicles

CleanTechnica

First, it was some kind of flu in China. Then, the coronavirus quickly spread across the world, being recognized as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11, 2020. In country after country, lockdown measures started to get enforced, with travel restrictions, school closures, and more measures put into place.

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How Stripe’s ‘negative emissions’ team picked its first four carbon removal projects

GreenBiz

How Stripe’s ‘negative emissions’ team picked its first four carbon removal projects. Heather Clancy. Thu, 05/28/2020 - 01:14. Among the many notes to myself about potential follow-up stories lies my scribbled reminder to check in on online payment tech company Stripe’s pledge last year to put at least $1 million annually toward carbon removal activities.

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Corporate executives are suddenly talking ESG on quarterly earnings calls

Impact Alpha

ImpactAlpha, May 28 – Environmental, social and governance, or ESG, issues are getting more airtime this earnings season as investors seek out healthy businesses that can drive long-term value creation. ESG is in the spotlight “as investors pay greater attention to business continuity efforts and how issuers are weathering the Covid-19 storm,” Edelman’s Jeremy Cohen.

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As lockdown ends, activists set to resume fight over Manila Bay reclamation

Eco-Business

President Rodrigo Duterte, who previously denounced any reclamation activity in Manila Bay due to the potential environmental impacts, has more recently given mixed messages on the issue as the administration looks for funds for its pandemic response.

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The Silver Lining to Corporate DEI Challenges

In our latest edition of Navigating ESG Comms Through the Cosmos - Scorpio Edition, 3BL embraces the perspective of one of the zodiac's most misunderstood signs: Scorpio. While this sign often has a darker view of the world, they do not shy away from shining a light on controversial topics. This month we take a deep dive into corporate pullback of DEI and how companies can utilize astrological advice to reinvent its social impact communication.

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Managed Retreat in the Face of Climate Change, Part 2

CleanTechnica

In the second episode of a two-part podcast interview for CleanTech Talk, Michael Barnard, Chief Strategist of TFIE Strategy Inc. and CleanTechnica contributor, and A.R. Siders, core faculty at the University of Delaware’s Disaster Research Center, continue their talk about A.R.’s work as a preeminent U.S. researcher in managing retreat in the face of climate change.

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Can companies rely on regenerative agriculture's carbon removal impact?

GreenBiz

Can companies rely on regenerative agriculture's carbon removal impact? Jim Giles. Fri, 05/29/2020 - 01:30. Amid the recent headline-grabbing investments in food ventures, one event went largely unnoticed: FedEx’s involvement in a $200 million raise by Indigo Ag, a company that provides services and data to farmers. Why would a delivery behemoth invest in an outfit that sells seeds?

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DFC shores up portfolio with $4 billion COVID relief plan

Impact Alpha

ImpactAlpha, May 27 – Multilateral banks and development finance institutions are an especially critical source of capital in emerging markets as private investors shy from dealmaking in the pandemic. The U.S. International Development Finance Corp.’s new $4 billion relief pledge joins multi-billion-dollar relief efforts from the International Finance Corp., the Inter-American Development Bank and the African.

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Cable route surveys to begin for Australia-Singapore solar sharing project

Eco-Business

The cable route survey will have low environmental impact, said developer Sun Cable. The project, which will feature the world’s largest solar farm and longest sub-sea cable connection, generated much excitement when announced last year.

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Supercharge Your ESG Content This Libra Season

Throughout Climate Week, a feeling of urgency on tackling the climate crisis was palpable. Yet, questions continue to linger about corporate progress. Are we truly moving the needle or are we stuck in a cycle of empty statements and a flood of reports and guidelines? In the latest edition of Navigating ESG Comms Through the Cosmos - Libra Edition , we use Climate Week outcomes to explore how brands can communicate progress credibly.

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Tesla Model Y Delivery Estimate Goes Down To 4–8 Weeks

CleanTechnica

The Tesla website now shows a delivery estimate of 4–8 weeks for the Model Y if you order today.

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Residential energy is becoming companies' business

GreenBiz

Residential energy is becoming companies' business. Sarah Golden. Fri, 05/29/2020 - 01:45. In this crazy upside-down world, the line between residential and commercial energy is getting fuzzy. . Everything changed so quickly, it makes sense that climate and energy teams have yet to figure out how to account for the shift. But as companies such as Mastercard , Facebook and Twitter look at long-term remote work policies, working from home (WFH) is adding a new dimension to corporate carbon account

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The Brief: New York?s CDFI loan fund, aspirational neo-bank, imperfect food distribution, emergency loans for social enterprises, drivers of ESG outperformance

Impact Alpha

Greetings, Agents of Impact! Featured: ImpactAlpha Original New York’s $100 million loan fund for small businesses is a model for a $1 billion national fund. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo may have been listening in to ImpactAlpha’s Agents of Impact call last week. The state’s New York Forward Loan Fund will channel $100 million through five local community development.

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Is poaching in Indonesia’s biodiverse Leuser Ecosystem on the rise amid Covid-19?

Eco-Business

Conservationists say the illegal hunting appears to be by locals targeting wildlife for food, attributed to economic hardship faced by communities during the pandemic.

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How Will Virgo Season Impact Your ESG Communication?

3BL’s in-house experts merge the celestial wisdom of astrology with current environmental, social, governance (ESG) communication trends to offer a unique perspective and practical advice on sharing your company’s commitments effectively. 3BL’s new “Navigating ESG Comms through the Cosmos” series begins with Virgo season! In this edition, we delve into: How businesses have responded to environmental disasters over the past few months and why you can expect a continued focus on the climate crisis