Sustainability Science

Today, The Sustainability Consortium (TSC) has joined the U.S. Plastics Pact, a collaborative, solutions-driven initiative rooted in four ambitious goals intended to drive significant systems change by unifying diverse cross-sector approaches, setting a national strategy, and creating scalable solutions to create a path forward toward a circular economy for plastics in the United States by 2025. The first North American Pact of its kind, the U.S. Pact is a collaboration led by The Recycling Partnership, World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

If you were to believe the mainstream business media, there would be no question whatsoever that the twin crises of a pandemic and a recession have pretty much put the kibosh on sustainable business activity. I mean, why, amid all this human and economic carnage, should companies be focused on anything besides keeping their doors open?

Last month, for example, the Wall Street Journal published a piece ("Sustainability Was Corporate America’s Buzzword. This Crisis Changes That") proclaiming that when it comes to corporate commitments and programs, "executives have called a timeout." It said in part:

Today, every occupant of every C-suite is trying to figure out what they’re willing to throw overboard as the economic storm spawned by the pandemic is swamping their ships. Businesses that were planning to help save the world are now simply saving themselves.

Corporate social responsibility, or CSR, has become a shorthand for what companies do to integrate environmental, social and governance issues into their businesses. Until now it’s been a mashup of philanthropy, employee engagement, renewable energy programs and investor relations. But the coronavirus pandemic will press industries and investors to make sure CSR is truly connected to delivering value.

The frenzy around sustainability and ESG investing at the end of last year might have led to some froth, but this is a moment when the wheat will be separated from the chaff, says John Goldstein, head of the sustainable finance group at Goldman Sachs.

Along with the climate crisis, our destructive food system and other complex, systemic issues facing threatening our longevity on this planet, the health and sustainability of the ocean and everything it provides has become top of mind in recent years — thanks to growing corporate and governmental mobilization around rescuing this precious resource from our historically exploitative relationship to it.

Levi Strauss & Co. announced Thursday it is granting more than $380,000 to the second class of LS&Co. Collaboratory fellows who are working on innovations in the apparel supply chain that address issues related to climate change. The Collaboratory is a fellowship program for entrepreneurs working to create a more sustainable apparel industry. The program tackles different social and environmental sustainability challenges that are critically important to the future of the apparel industry and the environment. The first Collaboratory class in 2018 focused on water. The 2019 class focused on climate change.

Workers, including children, labor in harsh and dangerous conditions to meet the world’s soaring demand for cobalt, a mineral essential to powering electric vehicles, laptops, and smartphones, according to an investigation by The Washington Post.

The desire to switch to lifestyles with gentler environmental impacts is on the rise. But as the pandemic slims down wallets, firms must offer lower prices to inspire responsible consumption, states a new study.

The Covid-19 pandemic has made timely disclosures more important than ever but longer-term strategic matters must continue to be given due regard. SGX RegCo, Singapore's stock exchange, shares the most important social aspects that should be included in sustainability reporting.

Thai Union, one of the world's biggest seafood companies, takes the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) seriously - it has specific targets relating to SDG2 on Ending Hunger, SDG8 on Decent Work and Economic Growth, and SDG14 on Life Below Water. Like many businesses it does not specifically mention SDG17 in its strategy, "but of course collaboration for partnership runs through all the other goals," admits Darian McBain, executive advisor on Corporate Affairs and Sustainability. "Although it's not explicitly included, it's crucial to the Goals," she adds.

SDG17 and its focus on partnership in support of the other 16 goals can be seen as something of an afterthought - a goal that is one step removed from the firm targets offered by most of the other SDGs. But McBain insists it is a valuable addition to any SDG strategy. "It's a recognition that achieving the SDGs is so huge and all-encompassing that no one company, no one government and no single NGO can do it by themselves," she argues. "SDG17 is a recognition that no matter which aspect of the Goals you are looking at, we can't do it in siloes."

Our research shows that labor rights issues are present in renewable energy supply chains, including in the manufacturing of solar panels and the cultivation of palm oil and sugarcane used in biofuels. Looking further down the value chain, the rights of vulnerable communities can also be put at risk by major renewables projects developed on their land. So, while one side of the green revolution offers critical sustainability benefits, the image and reputation of energy operators, investors and end users can also be highly exposed to human rights issues that could cast a shadow over the sector’s socially responsible credentials.

Tracing the origins of the graphite in a phone, for example, requires finding out where the ­phonemaker obtains batteries, where the battery makers acquire the portion of batteries known as anodes, and where the anode producers get their graphite. Moreover, because there are multiple suppliers at each step and various types of graphite, it is difficult to know where any given batch of the mineral ends up.
Several companies declined to disclose the origin of their graphite. For example, Tesla, perhaps the best-known electric-car maker, uses Panasonic batteries. Tesla said those batteries have never included graphite from the Chinese company BTR, but it declined to identify its graphite source.