Consumer Goods Companies Face Major Earning Hit Without Smart Environmental Sourcing

CHICAGO and WASHINGTON, DC, December 1, 2008 — Companies in certain consumer goods sectors that do not implement sustainable environmental strategies could face a potential reduction of 13 percent to 31 percent in earnings by 2013 and 19 percent to 47 percent in earnings in 2018.

These findings are the result of a "future scenario" analysis released today by the World Resources Institute and A.T. Kearney, Inc. It is titled Rattling Supply Chains: The Effect of Environmental Trends on Input Costs to the Fast Moving Consumer Goods Industry, and is the first report of its kind to calculate the financial impact of environmental issues facing this industry.

The analysis provides consumer packaged goods executives with a tool to assess how environmental legislation and climate change could impact their businesses in future years. It also outlines how these executives can begin to develop strategies to address these issues.

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Study Looks At Effectiveness of Green Communications

mc² recently released a white paper (PDF) on how effectively S&P 100 companies are communicating their sustainability efforts, CSRwire reports.

The white paper identified three performance groups in terms of how industries are currently communicating about sustainability.

Leading Players: The automotive, forestry, chemicals and pharmaceuticals industries are currently setting the standard for sustainability communication.

Emerging Players: The mining/energy, transportation/shipping, technology, communications and consumer product/retail industries are making progress, yet still have significant opportunity to improve.

Lagging Players: The financial services and media/entertainment are lagging players. Their sustainability communications have the most opportunity for growth.

The study suggests that a starting place for companies to improve communications is through their existing Web sites. By employing interactive tools such as RSS feeds, videos and e-newsletters to report progress updates, starting a company blog and/or building an online community to initiate stakeholder dialogue, a company can begin to engage with their stakeholders in a more meaningful way.

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Report: Sustainability Begins in the Purchasing Department

Sept. 29, 2008 - Procurement professionals are fast becoming a "critical, core element" of corporate sustainability efforts, a new survey finds.

While many companies are focusing their main efficiency efforts around green IT, the use of automated procurement solutions is "quietly emerging as the leading edge of many organizations' efforts to go green," according to the survey by KPMG, Inc.

The survey of 600 senior-level procurement professionals finds that 42% of respondents regularly evaluate suppliers on environmental and human rights performance. Another 33% have begun, or are currently launching, a green supply chain program.

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Fortune 50 Lacks Transparency in Web-Based Environmental Reporting

By GreenBiz Staff
Published September 15, 2008
OAKLAND, Calif. -- The majority of Fortune 50 corporations use the Internet to disclose some information on their environmental performance but most are missing opportunities to involve stakeholders, tap the interactive potential of the web, and provide transparency in their reporting, new research suggests.

Researchers at Brigham Young University and KDPaine and Partners set out to test a new model for transparency, a hot topic in the field of corporate communications. After studying environmental information reported in the websites of F50 copanies, researchers found that a minority allow for any two-way interaction with stakeholders, which could inform and enhance the type of information they report.

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Branding for Sustainability: Five Principles for Leveraging Brands to Create Shared Value

By Raphael Bemporad and Mitch Baranowski

(CSRwire) Like never before, sustainability is transforming business practice and performance. Whether for efficiency, risk mitigation, government regulation, conservation or competitive advantage among increasingly values-driven consumers, sustainability is seeing its moment.

As more of the world's most powerful brands aspire to the same social and environmental values, business leaders and marketers face the new challenge of distinguishing their companies, products and services in an increasingly crowded sustainable marketplace.

So how is sustainability changing the rules of branding? How can branding advance sustainable practice and performance? And most important, how can socially responsible businesses build authentic brands for a more sustainable future?

We believe that sustainability requires a re-imagination of the art of branding - just as branding requires a re-imagination of the science of sustainability. The old branding paradigm stamped a commodity with a logo and a slogan, but we are champions for a new paradigm that delivers practical, social and tribal benefits and offers consumers authentic, meaningful and empowering experiences.

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Paper from Wheat, not Wood

WorldChanging Team
August 28, 2008 9:14 PM

By WorldChanging Canada writer Rod Edwards.

There's an interesting development lurking in your magazine rack (provided you subscribe to Canadian Geographic): paper made from wheat straw—the stem & stalk waste product of grain farming. Indistinguishable from regular wood-pulp paper, printed products made of a percentage of wheat straw are notable not for their tactile qualities, but for their sustainability implications. As agricultural waste, wheat straw is perennially renewable so long as people farm. As a product, monetizeable wheat straw provides a diversified income stream for farmers. As a source of paper fibre, it takes pressure off the forests that traditionally supply pulp, and the species that inhabit them. Rick Boychuk, Senior Editor at Canadian Geographic notes that the "June issue uses sixty percent trees but looks and feels just like any other issue of Canadian Geographic."

Ottawa printer Dollco summarizes the potential impact of wheat straw in paper pulp:

The majority of Canada's paper is currently made from Boreal forests and Temperate rainforests. Straw from Canada's wheat harvest could produce 8 millions of tonnes of pulp—equivalent to the paper volume used by the North American newspaper industry every year. That could result in a saving of 100 million trees each year—without impacting food production or increasing energy inputs, while providing a new source of income for grain growers.

That's a powerful concept—completely re-inventing the North American pulp & paper industry to run on agricultural waste instead of cutting down forests.

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News and Websites Most Successful for CSR Communications

September 2, 2008

Successful CSR communication is about the right message, the right amount of information delivered through the right vehicle, according to the Natural Marketing Institute. Most consumers prefer to learn about CSR through news media, a favoring likely due to the media’s third party reference point.

Interestingly, company websites and product packaging also play very important roles for consumers. Since both of these vehicles are “organization controlled” they are a vital part of any CSR strategy. Incorporating some mention of CSR in product packaging - packaging being highly influential at the point of purchase - can also be a very effective tool in affecting consumer behavior. Packaging also can be used to drive consumers to a web site, where they can find additional detailed CSR information. The web content should be designed to provide consumers as much (or as little) information as they want, and also link to other outside resources. This method of self discovery can provide consumers with a vehicle for their CSR reports, thereby providing both transparency and substantiation of environmental and social efforts.

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Building CSR into the Supply Chain

GreenBiz.com, 5 August 2008 - Firms that work directly with factory managers to help suppliers take ownership of corporate social responsibility issues have a better chance of effectively addressing concerns about labor practices, the environment and worker health and safety, according to a new report by Business for Social Responsibility (BSR).

Concerns about corporate social responsibility (CSR) issues involving the supply chain prompt many companies to devote their energies to monitoring factory conditions.

A series of pilot projects, however, shows that efforts are better spent in partnering with factory leaders to provide suppliers with skills, knowledge and systems that enable them to cope with CSR issues as they emerge, BSR said in releasing its report.

The organization's "Pilot Summary Report: Building Capabilities to Implement CSR Management Systems at ICT Suppliers in China" is based on recently completed pilot projects that sought to break through barriers to improving factory conditions.

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60% Of Supply Chain Execs Measure Emissions

Sixty percent of supply chain executives are measuring their transportation and logistics emissions, according to ‘Green Transportation & Logistics North American Report‘ from eyefortransport.

The survey of over 500 North American supply chain executives shows that the vast majority of respondents, 90 percent, think that over the next three years green issues will remain or become more important to their transport and logistics processes.

Nine percent identified green issues as their No.1 priority over the next three years, while only one percent expects a lessening of importance.

This push towards green is reported to be driven by a number of factors, including financial ROI (61%), public relations payback (78%), improved customer relations (83%), decreased fuel bills
(70%), and improved supply chain efficiency (59%).

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ClimatePULSE: Who owns these greenhouse gas emissions?

From: , Triple Pundit, More from this Affiliate
Published July 15, 2008 11:10 AM

Protocols for corporate greenhouse gas accounting that are based on the ISO 14064 standards, such as the WBCSD/WRI GHG Protocol, use the term "scope" to distinguish between different greenhouse gas emissions sources. There are three categories; Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3. For most registry’s or reporting agencies Scopes 1 and 2 are considered mandatory while Scope 3 is considered optional.

Scope 1 emissions, also known as direct emissions, include any emissions that occur on-site or from company-owned assets. This includes the combustion of fuels, process emissions, and refrigerant leakage. These emissions are aggregated on a facility-level, with the company's vehicle fleet considered as one "facility."

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Food Retailers Advised To Hang On To Sustainability During Hard Times

Despite the economic slowdown it is crucial that food retailers do not put on hold their strategies for sustainability and for building ethical businesses as there is a risk that they could be left behind.

By Glynn Davis

Speaking at the IGD Global Retailing conference in London Joanne Denney-Finch, chief executive of IGD, suggested it would be tempting for companies to take a step back from sustainability until the economy improves but this would be a mistake because those companies that have started to tackle the problem are recouping the benefits.

“Sustainability is about making your business future-proof. There is a massive transformation taking place and we urgently need to use the world's scarce resources carefully,” she says.

Denney-Finch highlighted how large operators like Wal-Mart can make a major difference by focusing on the environment, especially when it involves its suppliers: “It wants its 65,000 suppliers to reduce carbon use and this will have a bigger impact than any governments.”

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The 3 Keys To CSR Reporting Are Materiality, Materiality And Materiality

Alex Hausman
CSR Reporting Manager
The Timberland Company

In the past, the importance of CSR reporting was that it existed at all. Stakeholders just wanted to know if a company was willing to talk about their impacts on the community or the environment. Once companies opened up a communication channel in the form of a report, then the focus became the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). This framework was necessary for the comparability, consistency and credibility of the report.

The GRI has legitimized sustainability reporting and brought it to the masses. Today, over 50% of the world’s biggest 250 companies report and over 2,500 worldwide. This new level of transparency and information has opened up new and unthinkable conversations between companies and its stakeholders. It has helped support, and is necessitated by, the sea change of responsible business initiatives seen around the world.

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Canada Ad Watchdog Releases Green Marketing Guidelines

A new guide (PDF) from the Canadian Competition Bureau of the Canadian Standards Association provides the business community there with green marketing guidelines.

While the guide is not law, the Competition Bureau says it will not hesitate to pursue deceptive environmental claims, fine violators or remove products from store shelves.

According to “Environmental Claims: A Guide for Industry and Advertisers,” the use of vague claims implying general environmental improvement are insufficient and should be avoided; environmental claims should be clear, specific, accurate and not misleading; and environmental claims should be verified and substantiated, prior to being made.

But some say the voluntary nature of the rules means consumers still can’t trust messages displayed on product labels, the Globe and Mail reports.

Douglas Macdonald, of the University of Toronto’s Centre for Environment says that, since companies have been using images associated with nature, freshness and cleanliness to promote their products for decades, Canada should adopt rigorous standards similar to those in place for food labels in order to reduce false or misleading claims.

The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority released its Annual Report 2007 in May. The ASA said it dealt with record numbers of complaints about environmental claims as advertisers increasingly sought to promote their ‘green’ credentials. Complaints about environmental claims more than doubled year on year with 556 complaints about 408 ads.

The Federal Trade Commission has announced the third in a series of public workshops being held as part of the agency’s regulatory review of the “Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims,” commonly known as the Green Guides. The Commission’s first Green Guides workshop, held in January, examined issues concerning the marketing of carbon offsets and renewable energy certificates. The most recent workshop, held in April, examined green packaging claims.

In May, Futerra Sustainability Communications released a guide (PDF) that analyzes the current state of greenwash and what’s being done about it.

A Brighter Shade of Green

Rebooting Environmentalism for the 21st Century
by Ross Robertson

I’ve always been a somewhat reluctant environmentalist. I was practically weaned on John Muir’s Yosemite, and as a kid growing up in the suburbs of California in the last decades of the twentieth century, I fell fast in love with the depth and space and beauty of the mountains. They were everything my world of clay lots and cement and computer technology was not—cool, silent, elemental, rich with unquestionable mystery. They were every bit as spiritual as church, minus the dogmatism and the bake sales. The forest wilderness of the Sierra high country made a green romantic out of me, and when I got to college in Atlanta, I became concerned enough about the fate of nature to do something about it. I organized river cleanups and letter-writing campaigns, studied the classics of American nature writing, and sat on the environmental committee of the university senate. I lobbied on Capitol Hill in Washington and protested chip mills and nuclear reactors in Tennessee. I even intercepted a Brazilian merchant ship on its way into Savannah harbor and blocked it from unloading its illegal cargo of Amazon mahogany, which was still wet with the blood of indigenous tribes.

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Five Ways Businesses Can Avoid 'Green Fatigue'

By Preston Koerner
Published June 23, 2008

You may have noticed an article by Alex Williams in the New York Times last week entitled "The Era of Green Noise." The article hits on some trends we're seeing, especially in the green lifestyle area, with people worn out by the green barrage of choices and information. Green advertising and/or pitches might get a roll of the eyes, or worse, some backlash. People may just repel and fight against the message. So businesses are starting to get concerned about the proper way to move forward given this "green fatigue" from the "green noise."

I've been thinking about this and have a few suggestions for businesses that want to keep a quality connection to their customers.

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Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler

A SEA change in the consumption of a resource that Americans take for granted may be in store — something cheap, plentiful, widely enjoyed and a part of daily life. And it isn’t oil.

It’s meat.

The two commodities share a great deal: Like oil, meat is subsidized by the federal government. Like oil, meat is subject to accelerating demand as nations become wealthier, and this, in turn, sends prices higher. Finally — like oil — meat is something people are encouraged to consume less of, as the toll exacted by industrial production increases, and becomes increasingly visible.

Global demand for meat has multiplied in recent years, encouraged by growing affluence and nourished by the proliferation of huge, confined animal feeding operations. These assembly-line meat factories consume enormous amounts of energy, pollute water supplies, generate significant greenhouse gases and require ever-increasing amounts of corn, soy and other grains, a dependency that has led to the destruction of vast swaths of the world’s tropical rain forests.

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Sustainable manufacturers reaping consumer rewards

By Neil Merrett

15/01/2008 - US consumers are becoming increasingly concerned over social and environmental implications when choosing packaged food and beverage brands, according to a new report by Information Resources, Inc (IRI).

The findings highlight a growing opportunity for manufacturers around the globe to capitalise on demand for products that can claim to offer some sustainable benefits over their rivals.

IRI surveyed the attitudes of 22,000 US shoppers to organic, eco-friendly produced and packaged goods and fair treatment of employees. About half of the respondents to the survey said they considered at least one of these factors when making a purchase.

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Study: 86% Of Americans Involved In ‘Green’ Activities

More than 84 percent of respondents to a new study believe “it is a moral obligation” to care for the environment and 86 percent already participate in at least one green activity such as conserving energy at home, recycling, driving a fuel efficient car, buying recycled products or picking up litter. However, the research also found that a main barrier to doing more “green” actions is people’s trepidation that such activities may associate them with extreme political or environmental viewpoints.

The study, entitled “Moving Consumers from Green Interest to Green Action,” was conducted by Insight Research Group in partnership with HGTV and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Not surprisingly, given the increased media coverage of “green” topics, the study found that 40 percent of consumers say they are more aware of environmental issues now than they were in 2006. In addition, 81 percent of respondents think the current focus on environmental or “green” issues is “here to stay” rather than a “passing fad.”

The study found that Americans would be willing to do even more if they understood how a particular “green” action could help the environment as well as benefit them personally - 78 percent said they are “willing to make a lifestyle change for the good of the environment.” While many responded that “the best way to solve current environmental problems” is through individuals (72 percent) and businesses (64 percent) taking responsibility, most admit they can’t distinguish between the reality and the hype, and report it is hard to know what actions are truly good for the environment.

When asked why they participate in “green” activities, consumers reported the major motivators are that “it’s good for the environment” (82 percent), “it helps future generations” (78 percent), “it’s healthy” (78 percent), “it’s the right thing’ to do” (78 percent), and “it fits with my morals or beliefs” (73 percent). Interestingly, Insight Research Group’s consumer segmentation, People’s Approach to Green and the Environment (PAGE), revealed that consumers who are the most green, “Green Gurus” (17 percent), regularly participate in 4.1 green activities, while the rest of consumers — which includes Conscientious Citizens (24 percent), Guidance Seekers (24 percent) Bystanders (17 percent) and Hype Haters (18 percent) - are not far behind, regularly participating in an average of 2.5 green activities.

Insight says its research methodology consisted of both qualitative and quantitative phases. The initial qualitative research phase included twenty 30-minute phone interviews recruited via RDD (random digit dialing) among consumers of a wide range of ages, professions, regions, political opinions, and environmental attitudes. The phone interviewees also completed a three-day online, interactive debate via blogging based on “green”-focused prompts and questions. The quantitative research phase consisted of a nationally representative online survey with a robust sample recruited via RDD (N = 1000).