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While the headaches and hassles of travel increase across the board during the holidays, not everyone has to deal with the same stressors. For Black people specifically, traveling during any period presents an extra set of complications and dangers in the form of microaggressions and overt racism — and those experiences can be amplified when airports are packed with frazzled nerves and flaring tempers. TriplePundit spoke with Zee Clarke, a corporate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) consultant and the author of "Black People Breathe: A Mindfulness Guide to Racial Healing," about the additional pressures that come with traveling while Black and what Black people can do to protect their peace amidst the chaos.

“There are so many issues,” Clarke began. “Let’s start with airport security. Waiting in line for airport security is so stressful. Black people wonder, ‘Is today going to be another one of those days?’”

As demonstrated by a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the ACLU, the Transportation Security Administration’s own documents show how its behavior detection program is not only ineffective, but can actually be used as the basis from which to harass people of color and religious minorities. Some of the so-called behaviors used to excuse targeting include being late for a flight or yawning.

Black women are also more likely to be pulled to have their hair searched. “The TSA blamed thicker hair,” Clarke said, with the agency’s website indicating that styles such as hairpieces, buns and braids could trigger the alarms on full body scanners. Agents aren’t gentle either — she described how many Black women had their scalps roughed over in such searches.

And while it seems ludicrous that anyone would hide a weapon or explosive device in their hair, Clarke pointed out that disproportionate searches are not limited to thick hairstyles. She gave the example of a queer Black friend who, regardless of her super short hair, still gets pulled by TSA so often that “she’s just accepted that she is going to be targeted and stopped 75 percent of the time.”

These secondary searches and interrogations aren’t just minor inconveniences either. Not only can the stress of being targeted have physiological repercussions such as elevated heart rate and blood pressure as well as psychological effects, but the results of such interactions can also be even more dire. Clarke pointed to Britney Griner as an example of the dangers that Black people face, especially abroad where legal protections can be lacking even more. Griner was originally sentenced to nine years in a Russian prison for bringing in less than a gram of THC. But a white woman, Audrey Lorber, who smuggled almost 25 times as much marijuana into the same country in 2019 was given a mere two months and a small fine.

As such, Clarke encourages Black people to utilize breathing techniques to protect their peace while waiting in line for security. She offered the 4-7-8 technique for lowering anxiety and calming the nervous system, an invaluable trick when faced with the likelihood of being pulled for a secondary inspection.

She spelled out how interactions like those with the TSA can lead to individuals getting triggered, which stimulates a fight-or-flight response that will not be helpful in a situation where the person being targeted is expected to remain cool and collected for their own safety. Belly breathing calms the sympathetic nervous system and is ideal to use in these sorts of circumstances, Clarke suggested.

While the risk of being targeted by the TSA remains one of the top concerns for those traveling while Black, it by far is not the only one. Clarke gave numerous examples of how traveling while Black can go wrong, including microaggressions from fellow travelers and less-than-helpful customer service representatives. Being cut in front of while standing in line is a common occurrence. “Especially as a Black woman, I feel invisible,” she said of the regularity with which white people will do this to her. “Because we don’t fit the prototype we just aren’t seen.”

Bias against Black women’s hair isn’t limited to security checks either as the ubiquitous affinity that a lot of white people have for touching Black hair doesn’t appear to be going anywhere. Clarke related one story of a friend who, as a Black woman on a cruise, was asked by a white woman, “Can I pet it?”

As if such questions were not bad enough, unsolicited touching remains something that Black people still deal with not just in day-to-day life, but also as an aspect of travel that – like any microaggression — can really sour the experience.

When it comes to delayed and canceled flights, Clarke pointed to how often Black travelers notice that they are offered less than white travelers in the same circumstances.  Of course, this isn’t limited to the transportation sector, as she explained, “Black people are five times more likely to be treated badly by customer service.”

When traveling, "the overall stress for a Black person is much higher than most," Clarke noted. “There is even a heightened state of stress while you are waiting at the gate.” Which is why she encourages belly breathing and long exhalations for dealing with customer service and microaggressions, as well as box breathing, body scans and stretching while waiting at the gate.

“You have to be ready for anything,” Clarke said of traveling while Black, while also cautioning against hypervigilance. “It’s a bad idea to expect bad things.” She encouraged Black people to be aware but not expect negative experiences. After all, “hypervigilance is a terrible place to be.” Instead, she encourages preparing ahead of time with a sound bath or guided meditation to go in feeling relaxed. 

“During the holidays traveling spaces are crowded. And when spaces are crowded, stress levels are heightened. Regardless of race, everyone’s stress is heightened,” Clarke noted. “It’s a layer on top of that for Black people.” 

Clarke's forthcoming book shares more specific examples of microaggressions and other racially inspired incidences that Black people deal with regularly and offers breathing techniques for managing the stress that comes from those experiences. Allies can also benefit, not just from the breathing exercises, but also because it can help them “become more educated about what happens to Black people in America,” Clarke said. 

Image credits: TheVisualsYouNeed/Adobe Stock and Zee Clarke

The bioeconomy of the future is beginning to take shape, and it is emerging in many different directions. Replacing petrochemicals with plant-based material is still a leading concern. Researchers are also taking advantage of new tools and methodologies to deploy a wider range of renewable materials, and to use those materials in ways that create new efficiencies. Here are five to follow in 2023.

1. The look of linen, from squid

Squitex is a delicate looking, ivory colored fiber that can be spun into a twine-like yarn. However, it is not made from hemp, linen, cotton, jute or any other plant. Squitex is made from squid or, more precisely, from the proteins found in the circular “teeth” embedded in the suction cups of a squid’s tentacles.

Squid may seem like an odd place to look for inspiration in the bioeconomy, but their teeth have evolved over 350 million years to arrive at a state of highly durable, flexible and self-healing functionality, all of which are highly desirable traits in fabrics and other coverings.

Squitex was created in the laboratory of Penn State professor Melik Demirel, who specializes in leveraging biomimicry to develop sustainable materials. His team cultivated large samples of squid protein by piggybacking it onto E. coli bacteria. 

As described by Penn State, Squitex fiber is strong enough to lift 3,000 times its own weight. It is biodegradable, and it can also be recycled if augmented with acrylic or cellulose.

Squitex was one of five materials to win the top prize in the 2021 Microfiber Innovation Challenge, hosted by the startup incubator Conservation X Labs.

2. The feel of leather, from plants

Petrochemicals have long been the go-to source for formulating synthetic suede and other alternatives to natural leather. Producing a high-quality leather alternative from non-petroleum resources within the bioeconomy has been a far greater challenge, but scientists from the company Modern Meadow have cracked the code. Their “Bio-Alloy” process incorporates proteins with natural plant-based polymers.

Earlier this year, Modern Meadow introduced Bio-Tex, the first material produced with Bio-Alloy technology. In partnership with Modern Meadow, the Italian firm Limonta is using Bio-Tex to produce BioFabbrica, described as a “vegan plant-based material family" that is "lightweight and delivers superior color vibrance and performance while reducing GHG emissions by over 90 percent compared to traditional, chrome-tanned leather.” 

The partners say they are also working to incorporate more recycled and waste bio-materials into the process.

3. Sustainable tires, from dandelions 

Electric vehicles are an important feature of the global energy transition, but they still contribute to the tire waste stream. That includes microplastic pollution from wear and tear on the streets, in addition to whole tires.

Automotive stakeholders have been searching for solutions. One seemingly obvious choice would be to use more natural rubber. However, that pathway is not available, at least not in terms of the current supply chain.

The rubber tree, Hevea brasiliensis, is the only supplier of natural rubber to the global economy. The entire species is now under threat from climate change and other issues, including a destructive blight. Demand for natural rubber is anticipated to outstrip supply in less than 10 years unless alternative sources emerge.

Dandelions could be it. Dandelion rubber already has a history dating back to the 1940s when researchers scouted for new sources after World War II disrupted supply chains.

More recently, the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory has been working on a modern version with Goodyear for application to aircraft tires. Earlier this year, the lab upped the ante with a multi-year R&D commitment that pairs Goodyear with the Ohio company Farmed Materials, which is raising the dandelion species Kok-saghyz, or TK for short.

The roots of TK yield a natural rubber when crushed. The processing will be undertaken through the BioMADE program, a public-private bioeconomy partnership supported by the U.S. Department of Defense. Goodyear will incorporate the rubber into tires that meet Air Force specification. If the new tires meet performance expectations, Goodyear foresees applications throughout its product line.

4. Renewable “steel,” from trees

The global steel industry has been leaning on green hydrogen, electrification and recycling to decarbonize. A different kind of solution has emerged in the form of high-strength alternative materials. One example is MettleWood, a cellulose-based material described as “60 percent stronger than construction-grade steel but 80 percent lighter, much less expensive and far more sustainable.”

MettleWood was created in the laboratory of the startup InventWood. The company is a University of Maryland spinoff founded by Liangbing Hu, who is the Herbert Rabin distinguished professor in the school’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering and director of its Center for Materials Innovation.

MettleWood can be made from many different trees. The common denominator is a new process that removes the lignin “glue” that normally binds tree cells. The remaining wood can be compressed to a higher degree, resulting in an extremely dense but lightweight material. 

The U.S. Department of Energy recently awarded InventWood with $20 million in funding to scale up MettleWood for widespread use. The InventWood research team has calculated that replacing steel structural beams, columns and connections with MettleWood would reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the construction industry by 37.2 gigatons in 30 years, which is roughly equivalent to the entirety of emissions from human activity for a year.

5. Recovering cobalt, with ostrich bones

For all the recent advances in materials science and the bioeconomy, researchers have barely begun to scratch the potential for bio-based alternatives to outperform their synthetic counterparts. New research from a team of scientists in the U.S. and Iran provides a glimpse into the possibilities.

The team modified ostrich bone waste with hydrogen peroxide to create a highly efficient process for recovering cobalt and other valuable substances from industrial wastewater.

The particular focus of attention is wastewater containing dyes, including cobalt-base dyes, produced by various leading industries including textiles, leather, paper, food, agriculture and pharmaceuticals, among others.

Among other uses, cobalt is a key material for manufacturing electric vehicles and for producing solar and wind energy. Manufacturers currently rely on a cobalt supply chain that is vulnerable to conflict issues and human rights violations. Wastewater recovery through the bioeconomy could provide an alternative route, while also helping to increase the supply of cobalt as demand rises.

Image courtesy of Goodyear

A backcountry navigation app popular with hunters is exposing how the latest iteration of robber barons is gobbling up private ranchland and effectively blocking access to hunting grounds and publicly-owned wilderness areas. Such consolidation of land wealth effectively robs the American people of access to the public lands and natural resources that have been preserved for everyone to enjoy and utilize. As this is the logical legacy of displacement that began with the forcible removal and genocide of Indigenous people, the best way to reverse course is by returning these spaces to their stewardship.

The U.S. is home to 15 million acres worth of “landlocked” public spaces that cannot be accessed due to the private land that borders their entirety, the New York Times reports. While a lot of private ranchers have allowed hunters through in the past, many had come to see these spaces as extensions of their own. Those permissions that did exist are disappearing, however, and the entitlement to gatekeep public lands is increasing as ranching families abandon agriculture altogether and sell their land off to corporations and tycoons. 

While on the surface this transition might look like the sad but inevitable course of capitalism as the next generation pursues their right to self-determination, it’s important to remember how that land got into private hands in the first place. The Homestead Act of 1862 sold off 160-acre parcels for just $10 to anyone financially able and willing to move westward and displace the people already living there. And while standard American history might promote the fallacy that these spaces were only meagerly inhabited at the time, in truth North America was likely home to just as many people as Europe was at the time. 

Nor was the American West a sweeping, unbridled wilderness. Indigenous people actively managed great expanses of land prior to colonization, controlling wildfires and engineering the landscape to promote species propagation and migration. “A lot of what we think of as wilderness was a temporary artifact of the depopulation of the native people—it was a major crash,” Arizona State University Professor Stephen Pyne told the History Channel, referring to the European diseases that wiped out an estimated 70 to 90 percent of the Indigenous population.

It’s within this framework that generations of predominantly white families were able to pass down land wealth in the West until, eventually, they grow tired of working that land and looked to lease or sell it off to the highest bidder. And those highest bidders are increasingly made up of corporate holdings and wealthy entrepreneurs who are blocking off all access to “landlocked” state and federal land and, in turn, the fish and game resources that are present there. 

That’s where OnX comes into play. The app is a GPS mapping system made for people who prefer to go off the beaten path. It is particularly popular with hunters since it paints a clear picture of who owns what and whether land is public or private. But that feature also exposes just how much state and federal land can’t be reached by the general public.

It also inspired a group of hunters to attempt to access Elk Mountain — a parcel of “landlocked” wilderness in Wyoming that is teeming with game — through a technique called corner-crossing. The resulting $7 million lawsuit could have far-reaching implications as pharmaceutical tycoon Fred Eshelman attempts to make an example out of the hunters who were able to access those public lands in spite of his attempts to keep them out of the area. Eshelman, whose net worth grew from $8.43 million in 2018 to an estimated $201 million as of Dec. 15 of this year, purchased his 50-acre ranch that acts as a barrier to a lot of Elk Mountain back in 2005. Although a hunter himself, the multi-millionaire has been adamant about barring others. 

Joel Webster, vice president at the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, told the New York Times: “If you go back a few decades, it was a lot easier for the public to go knock on the door and get access to private land. Generally, the people who owned the land had roots in that community — they went to church together, they went to school together, they grew up together. And if you want to access my place, that’s fine, just let me know — that kind of thing.”

Not anymore. As public lands activist Hal Herring also told the Times, “Hunting has become big business.” Instead of letting hunters pass through, many of these new landowners are offering their own hunting expeditions with five-figure prices on a sole head of elk.

Not only does the commodification of hunting strip hunters of access to recreation and food resources, but it also removes people further from public lands. By barring access to these wilderness areas, proper forest and wildfire management is impossible. Essentially, if it can’t be reached, it can’t be cared for. From a land stewardship perspective, this situation is irresponsible and dangerous — likely contributing to the prevalence of mega-fires in the West.

Instead of allowing land tycoons to scoop up everything west of the Mississippi, the environmental and equitable solution is to return stewardship to the tribes who originally managed the area. While not an easy process, it is the federal government's responsibility to begin reinstating ancestral lands and — as ranching families leave agriculture — the opportunity is there to buy their land back in order to do so.

Image credit: Sergei A/Unsplash

Henkel, a global leader in consumer goods and adhesive technologies, and the nonprofit Solidaridad have worked together for almost a decade to scale up sustainable palm oil production and help smallholder farmers improve and diversify their incomes. Their work since 2012 set a high bar, which has been raised with a new three-year grant from Henkel brand Dial.

The partnership, which aims to help smallholder farmers in Central and South America earn a living wage while connecting the farmers to a global supply chain, has proven to be beneficial for both partners. “If every partner were like Henkel, we could move much faster in addressing the challenges we face in the world,” said Michaelyn Baur, managing director for Central America and Mexico at Solidaridad, in a recent interview with TriplePundit. 

Building a more sustainable palm oil supply chain

Like many corporate partnerships, it all started when Henkel was looking for new ways to improve product sustainability. The company makes consumer brands including All and Persil laundry detergents and Dial personal care products, and palm oil is a common key ingredient in soaps like these.

When Henkel first surveyed the market in 2012, the company turned to Latin America, where it could, in effect, help support the evolution of a laboratory for how smallholding, sustainable palm oil could be produced—once it found the right partner on the ground. 


Palm oil in Latin America is not a driver of deforestation to the extent it has been in other parts of the world. Instead, well-managed oil palm plantations can serve to restore landscapes that have been ravaged by decades of environmental degradation. 

Enter Solidaridad, a global nonprofit with deep Dutch roots that works to build sustainable — and profitable — supply chains in more than 40 countries. Having already established programs on the ground in Honduras, the nonprofit was positioned to get its living laboratory off the ground, funded by Henkel. From the start, it was a trust-based relationship, Baur told 3p. “It’s been an overwhelmingly positive, productive and responsive relationship,” she said. “It continues to evolve based on changing conditions in the world, the state of the palm oil markets, and shifts in the donor sphere where priorities are constantly changing.”

From concept to reality: Making a positive impact on smallholder farmers 

Smallholder farmers, defined as family-owned enterprises with up to 10 hectares of agricultural land, make up about three-quarters of all farmers worldwide. For individual farmers, increased income can lead to investments in education, health, access to global markets and raw materials of higher quality. And when rural smallholders earn more, the benefits often reverberate through their entire communities — for example in the form of new public services like daycare centers or healthcare clinics. 

In Honduras, the palm oil farming industry began when a series of 1970s land reforms granted smallholders plots of land after worker strikes in the banana industry. The farmers initially started growing corn and beans, but as their families struggled to survive on these crops alone, they looked to palm oil as a new source of income. 

By 1985, Fausto Martinez and other Honduran palm oil farmers co-founded Hondupalma, an organization representing 30 associated groups and hundreds of independent partners and producers across the country. 

Around 20,000 smallholders in the northern zone of Honduras now cultivate palm oil, which Hondupalma’s leaders say has reduced poverty in the region. Since only about 2 percent of palm oil plantations in Mesoamerica were established on land that was forest in 1989, based on a recent report. According to Solidaridad, the growth of smallholders over the past 30 years has also served to restore some local ecosystems.

“He built economic resilience,” Baur said of Martinez, “and also landscape resilience” through training, producer exchanges, and multi-stakeholder dialogues convened and led by Solidaridad. Hondupalma producers like Martinez were also at the forefront of the push for a national zero-deforestation agreement for palm oil — an effort that could soon extend to coffee and other commodities in Honduras. 

In 2012, Solidaridad began working with Hondupalma and other smallholder producer organizations and companies to promote the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) standard in Honduras, with support from Henkel and the Netherlands government. Since then, Soliaridad’s Mesoamerican Palm Oil Alliance has expanded the effort into a regional learning and exchange platform for sustainable, smallholder-sourced palm oil. After listening to palm companies, producer cooperatives in Honduras and Guatemala, Solidaridad formally requested the RSPO Board of Directors to open a regional workshop to respond quickly to the requests of its members and register new interested parties in the certification.

“We are now running programs in Guatemala, Mexico and Nicaragua as well,” Baur said, “and we have the potential to work in other countries like Panama and Costa Rica to transform the sector, not just create one-on-one efforts.”  Elsewhere in the world, Solidaridad has expanded its work on palm oil in West Africa and parts of Asia. The partnership with Henkel has made it possible to scale and implement new projects in these regions.

Henkel brand Dial strengthens its commitment to Solidaridad 

Building on their nearly 10-year relationship, Henkel and Solidaridad recently announced a new set of programming with personal care brand Dial. The brand will provide a grant to Solidaridad through 2025 for a project in Colombia to create 35,000 acres of farmland for certified sustainable palm oil production and provide 250 farmers with training and access to additional financial support. 

The certified sustainable palm oil will be used in Dial soap made in Colombia, and the project also “offers a great opportunity to tell a story that could really inform consumers about an ingredient that is mostly hidden,” Baur told 3p. 

“Most people only think of Indonesia when they think about palm oil, but the story of palm oil is changing, projects and efforts are global, in less well-known corners of the world,” she said. “The emphasis is focusing on smallholder palm oil producers and helping them increase their productivity — and doing it in a way that diminishes environmental impacts, builds more inclusive business models, and increases visibility and knowledge about the impacts of palm oil.” 

The work with Solidaridad also helps Dial to “learn about the people that help make our product and how it's done,” said Molly Bombonato, associate brand manager for Dial. “Though it seems ‘simple’ to create something like a bar of soap, there's a community of people and a variety of processes that make this product come to life,” she said. “By partnering with NGOs like Solidaridad, brands can make a bigger environmental and social difference with larger projects.”

Baur sees the partnership as a way to not only build a traceable supply chain coming from smallholders, but also potentially change consumer mindsets around sustainability and smallholder agriculture. “Our partnership with Dial comes out of a long-term partnership [with Henkel], and the trust that has been built,” she said. “If more partnerships had this level of trust, it would be a game changer.” 

This article series is sponsored by Henkel North America and produced by the TriplePundit editorial team.

Images courtesy of Henkel and Solidaridad

Will a movement to a just transition become important within the corporate sustainability lexicon in 2023? For many community-focused organizations, such a shift is a must if sustainable development will be fair and equitable for all.

It hasn’t been the most memorable year for the ESG (environmental, social and governance) movement. After several years of outperforming market indices like the S&P 500, many of the largest ESG funds took a huge tumble during 2022. Granted, markets are cyclical. It’s not clear yet whether some of the blowback going on will fade away or only accelerate in the coming months.

To start, over the past several months legislatures in at least 13 U.S. states have passed anti-ESG laws. Some of the arguments against ESG are bizarre: QAnon conspiracy theorists are among the communities that insist ESG is some sort of corporate and elitist plot to push the globe toward a new age of thought police and Marxism, delivered in part by microchips hidden in vaccines. 

Then there’s the other crowd speaking out against ESG — as in critics who say its framework and execution amounts to little more than greenwashing.

The gaslighting and irony aside, the concepts surrounding ESG generate their own set of problems. Just as the very terms “corporate philanthropy” and “corporate social responsibility” have long fallen out of favor, might a focus on a just transition provide companies a path toward addressing social and environmental problems more effectively?

One stubborn challenge with ESG is that it’s a concept that much of the general public still has a difficult time understanding. “Corporate responsibility” and “sustainability” are fairly self-explanatory. But other than to investors, the “G” in ESG, governance, is a challenge to explain, and it's difficult to grasp even for reasonably intelligent, well-informed people.

Analogous to the adage “you can’t manage what you don’t measure,” it’s hard for companies to communicate what many people don’t understand. And therein lies the Trojan horse: If a nebulous concept like ESG isn’t communicated well, there are always other forces that will gladly do the communicating — only they will twist the definition to suit their own agendas. We can see that with what’s been going on in Florida, Texas and, now, Ohio.

Here’s where the case can be made for a framing change for people and planet around a just transition. A just transition, which the global labor movement has pursued for several years, has gained traction as it could meet the needs of all people worldwide by pursuing sustainable development, fighting climate change and securing biodiversity. “Lately, I’ve heard more people in the sustainability space say ‘just transition,’ and I think we’ll hear it even more in 2023,” one of our writers recently predicted in an editorial meeting. 

She’s right. Expect to hear more about a just transition over the next several months. Following a declaration made at COP27 in Glasgow in late 2021, this integration of social and climate justice emerged as one of the leading topics of discussion at last month’s COP27. 

In an interview with TriplePundit last week, Ozawa Bineshi Albert of the Climate Justice Alliance described a just transition as “the process of moving away from our current fossil fuel-based economy to a more regenerative one that is good for all people and Mother Earth."

She continued: "Just transitions are grounded in local communities and may look different depending on the people and place, but these strategies work to transition entire communities to build thriving economies that provide dignified, productive and ecologically sustainable livelihoods, democratic governance and ecological resilience. We often say: We don’t want just a transition, we want a just transition.”

Among the arguments for a just transition framework is that it would push companies to show how they are integrating their climate action with their social impact work; there is no pathway toward silos as one that could emerge in an E, S and G structure. When describing a company’s work around a just transition, it would behoove them to focus less on the “what” and more on the “why” and “how.” Among the hypotheticals, it wouldn’t be enough to talk about switching from coal-based power to renewables. Instead, professionals should look to ask (and answer) questions like: What could be done for job retraining in the communities affected by such a switch, and how will companies prevent waste from such projects ending up in landfill sites near communities of color? 

Further, companies would have to do more than cut a check to nonprofits with a huge brand name. An acknowledgement that marginalized communities — including people of color and Indigenous people — have long been left out of these conversations and action plans could nudge companies toward working more closely with more local and grassroots organizations. Under a just transition, communities wouldn’t just be the recipients or beneficiaries of a sustainability or social impact program; instead, they would be involved with such discussions from the get-go. Instead of charity, communities would gain clarity on how a new program would affect them, and they would have a say in the matter. 

On that point, Bineshi Albert also told 3p: “Over 92 percent of the money held by charitable foundations — over $1.2 trillion dollars — doesn’t go to solving our current interconnected economic, racial and climate crises. The vast majority of it is invested in Wall Street, where business as usual fuels poverty and pollution for the sake of profit.”

As with any framework or concept, a rethink of how to tackle our environmental and social problems under the umbrella of a just transition wouldn’t be immune from criticism. Any elevated talk of local involvement and biodiversity could revive the conspiracy theories akin to Agenda 21, a U.N. declaration from the early 1990s, which for years evoked all kinds of hysteria about a global plot to undermine nations’ sovereignty.

Nevertheless, a just transition, if planned out and implemented transparently and equitably, could help build trust between companies and communities as it would involve more people in these conversations. After all, no one likes being told about a change with the simple conclusion that they’ll benefit. They want to know how — and communities want to be included in the shaping of any such plans, too.

Image credit: PTTI EDU via Unsplash

Humanity faces perhaps no larger collective challenge than that of climate change. During my time at COP27, I heard about initiatives like restoring ocean mangroves, developing zero-emission hydrogen fueled cars and the future of small modular reactors. All of these solutions are critical as we urgently work to reduce emissions and adapt to climate change. Corporations and governments must lead the charge as they have the biggest levers for reducing emissions. However, climate action starts with individual, everyday decisions. 
 
The most recent IPCC report clearly states that lifestyle emissions represent an area where small changes to your daily routine can have a big impact on global emissions. With policy support, 'behavior and socio-cultural' change could deliver a rapid 5 percent reduction in demand-side carbon emissions. 
 
People are interested in making these changes — we’re seeing this as people come to Google Search to find ways to live more sustainably. In fact, search interest in queries like ‘rooftop solar power’, ‘electric bicycles’ and ‘electric cars' reached all-time highs this year. Yet, there is an extremely wide “say-do gap” among consumers — those who are concerned about sustainability and those who make sustainable purchases.
 
Google is helping bridge that gap by enabling a billion users to take more sustainable actions through our products. These everyday choices often also help them save time, money and energy. Here are three key ways in which individuals can choose to be more sustainable today: 
 
Home energy: Heating and cooling your home have the largest impact on emissions. To date, Nest thermostats have saved more than 100 billion kWh of energy — more than double Portugal's electricity consumption in 2021. With a Nest thermostat, people can track how long they spent heating and cooling their home and see how they can reduce that time to use less energy. And, as the price of installing solar has gotten more affordable, homeowners can now turn to it as a possible additional option for decreasing their energy bill. Project Sunroof estimates energy savings for the home, using the same data powering Google Maps to create a 3D model of your roof. 
 
Transportation: Without active and sustained mitigation policies being implemented, transport emissions could increase at a faster rate than emissions from the other energy end-use sectors. Whether traveling near or far, there are options to make more sustainable decisions. Google Maps now lets you choose the most fuel-efficient route if it isn’t already the fastest one, which has already helped avoid more than half a million metric tons of carbon emissions — equivalent to taking approximately 100,000 fuel-based cars off the road. Companies like delivery or ride-sharing services can now become more sustainable by using the same eco-friendly routing capability in their apps. Air travel is also a big contributor to global warming – with Google Flights, people can now see the carbon emissions per seat and choose a lower emitting route. 
 
Shopping: The fashion industry is one of the largest contributors to the global climate and ecological crisis. If consumers are empowered with the right information, they can make more sustainable decisions, like purchasing pre-owned items. Now, when people search on Google for things like clothing or furniture, they’ll see a label indicating which products are pre-owned.  And, if you’re shopping for a new car, you’re probably looking to lower your fuel costs and emissions. With a quick search, you can now see the annual fuel cost for cars and emissions estimates.  And soon detailed, up-to-date information about EV rebates that are included in the Inflation Reduction Act to maximize sustainability, and cost will also show up in search. 
 
Individual choices and actions are an important piece of this complex climate puzzle that often gets overlooked because people lack the information on where to start. In a recent report, 60 percent of respondents admitted that it is too difficult to find trustworthy information about climate change. We have a critical opportunity to unlock more impact.
 
The ability to measure the collective impact of these decisions will create significant potential for us all. This is important not only for Google, but for the growing number of companies offering solutions to help their customers reduce emissions. 
 
It’s time to better understand how our everyday choices can add up to significant change for our planet. 

Interested in having your voice heard on 3p? Contact us at editorial@3BLMedia.com and pitch your idea for a guest article to us.

Image credit: Bill Mead via Unsplash

In 2022, businesses were under intense scrutiny regarding environmental, social and governance (ESG) topics, regardless of their industry. Investors, customers, regulators and governments have invested significant time and resources into defining ESG requirements and evaluating performance.

Unsurprisingly, there has been some resistance in the business community toward ESG and the requirements it creates. There have been questions about its importance, the accuracy of ESG ratings and the perceived misuse of sustainability statements. Despite this uncertainty, three things have become abundantly clear: ESG is a competitive opportunity, such regulations have teeth and the ESG regulatory landscape is only going to grow from here.

The costs are clear

The non-compliance costs associated with a variety of existing and forthcoming ESG regulations prove that businesses should take ESG seriously.

Take the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) for example. With its broad scope and sweeping focus, this one law is set to affect more than 50 percent of U.S. imports and over 11,000 companies. The cost of non-compliance is simple and severe — goods are prohibited entry at the border, threatening company contracts and brand reputation. It is not hyperbole to say that this one law could disrupt entire sectors while denying businesses the opportunity to sell in the U.S. market. 

Regardless of whether you view ESG through a financial materiality lens (i.e., how these policies affect your business’s bottom line) or an environmental and social materiality lens (i.e., how your corporation affects the world), it’s clear that non-compliance penalties are severe and that it’s essential to create ESG milestones and goals now.

Three ESG milestones for 2023

It’s not only investors driving ESG program creation. With more regulations cropping up every quarter, businesses need to treat this framework as the core compliance requirement that it is.

It’s not all doom and gloom, either — ESG is a competitive opportunity for businesses. Being able to demonstrate a mature and differentiated approach puts you ahead of the pack with respect to current requirements. It also positions you to successfully pivot when new regulations are created.

By hitting these three milestones, companies can set themselves up for ESG success in 2023.

Evaluate your sustainability budget: Understanding how much of a budget to set, and how to set it, is crucial. ESG programs are particularly tricky, as they cover a wide array of functions — sustainability, engineering, procurement, legal, IT and quality control, for example. There is also no “one-size-fits-all” approach. That’s why it’s important to evaluate whether your budget is sufficient to achieve your sustainability goals.

Allocating your sustainability budget appropriately will allow you to create a long-lasting, robust and effective program to address ESG requirements.

Dive into your supply chain: Various risks are buried deep in your supply chain. Take environmental risks — 90 percent of environmental risk lives in a manufacturer’s supply chain. The further upstream the supplier is, the less visibility a manufacturer has, making it even harder to identify and address these risks.

Therefore, creating a plan to collect, analyze and act on all necessary data is vital. This may be done either by building a program internally or by using a platform that can dive deep into your supply chain. You can’t solve a problem you don’t know exists, and with more regulations coming in 2023, actioning this data is vital.

Turn your suppliers into allies: Businesses need their suppliers to be partners in eradicating forced labor and other ESG harms from their products. Improper engagement can introduce friction in the supplier relationship and — worse — cause suppliers to hide and obscure problems. That’s why cultivating collaborative, open relationships with suppliers is a fundamental aspect of ESG compliance.

For example, supplier education and engagement are crucial for compliance with the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (SCDDA), conflict and responsible minerals regulations, the UFLPA and even product compliance regulations.

An more sustainable supply chain can position your company for success

Put simply, better supplier engagement results in better outcomes, positioning you for success.

The time Is now: ESG is no longer in its nascent stage. Existing regulations and market expectations are already affecting businesses’ bottom lines and market access, among other things. This trend is not going away, nor is it slowing. If anything, it’s accelerating.

In the European Union alone, forthcoming legislation like the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the EU forced labor ban present organizations with new potential requirements that could affect market access, profits and more. They also offer businesses new opportunities to contribute to a better and more sustainable future for all. 

Yes, there will be puzzles associated with ESG, but puzzles are meant to be solved. Businesses that proactively embrace these challenges and find solutions will be the ones that reap the greatest advantages. 

Those that don’t can expect impacts to their market access, brand and bottom line.

Interested in having your voice heard on 3p? Contact us at editorial@3BLMedia.com and pitch your idea for a guest article to us.

Image credit: Assent

The United Nation’s biodiversity summit, or COP15, is reconvening in Montreal with the ostensibly grandiose goal of 30x30, i.e., conserving 30 percent of the Earth by 2030 — continuing world leaders’ dismal legacy of trying to fix the climate through the same thought processes and a worldview that sent the globe into crisis in the first place. Rather, stopping and reversing biodiversity loss requires a shift away from Western-style conservation and a rapid return of land management rights to Indigenous and local communities.

On the surface, COP15’s 30x30 parameters appear to be a big step in the right direction. According to its proponents, protecting 30 percent of land and water should not only stop biodiversity loss but begin to turn it around by 2030 so that “by 2050, the shared vision of living in harmony with nature is fulfilled.” Whether or not these claims are accurate is an issue all on its own, but as of last year, the U.N. claimed that only 7.7 percent of marine areas and 16.6 percent of dry land and freshwater systems were protected. That’s a far cry from the expectations set by 30x30, leading some experts to caution against “unrealistic” goals that could ultimately discourage future environmental measures.

But those unrealistic goals are not the biggest problem facing the initiative, nor is it the difficulty delegates are confronting in hammering out the details. Rather, the deeper issue lies in the very nature of protected areas as promoted by the Global North. With 80 percent of what’s left of Earth’s most biodiverse spaces already protected by Indigenous people, meeting 30x30 would require wresting control of those natural areas away from the rightful caretakers. That is why researcher Fiore Longo is calling the initiative “the biggest land grab in history.”

Jennifer Corpuz of the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity is quoted in The Guardian as saying: “There are very, very painful stories of how Indigenous peoples’ rights have been violated, how they have been killed, taken out of their territory and caused to become extinct because of the expansion or the establishment of protected areas.” 

So, while world leaders and conservationists claim they are "making sure that they're seen as stewards rather than just stakeholders,” as an integral part of the negotiations, Indigenous peoples have a long history to look back on and more than enough reason to be wary. And with the bulk of biodiverse land already protected by Indigenous stewards, it’s easy to question the motives behind the initiative.

Indeed, the Western ideals of conservation that view nature as thriving on its own, untouched by humankind, have backfired — leading to mass displacement as people have been forced from their homelands and further environmental degradation as the land lost its caretakers. One needs to look no further than the landscape of the North American West to witness the consequences of removing Indigenous people and their practices from the land.

Clearly, we do not know what we’re doing. Meddling further into territories long protected by their original people will not solve our biodiversity problem, the climate crisis or prevent the next mass extinction. Instead of endangering Indigenous land rights even further with 30x30, COP15 could more effectively achieve its purported goals of reversing biodiversity by pivoting to a what advocates call a “Land Back” framework.

Land Back is a movement to begin returning stewardship of North America to its original people — but its concepts can be applied worldwide in the fight against biodiversity loss and climate change. Doing so could have a substantial impact on preserving ecosystems and preventing deforestation. Indigenous people have demonstrated that they are the best caretakers of the natural world, after all.

“We’re the protectors of the forest,” a man named Bharat who had been displaced from his ancestral lands in the name of creating a protected tiger preserve in India told the news platform African Arguments: “If we don’t save it, what will happen? If we abandon it, who will protect it?”

Image credit: Leon Kaye

Republican policy makers in several U.S. states have raised obstacles against ESG (environment, social, governance) investing, with the apparent aim of protecting fossil energy stakeholders. However, they are swimming against a demographic tide. The up-and-coming workforce of today is simply not interested in aiding and abetting the very industries that threaten their health, their safety and the welfare of the planet.

A demographic crisis in the fossil energy industry

Employment in the coal industry has been declining for generations as machines replaced hand labor in the 20th century, and natural gas edged coal out of the power generation in the early 21st century. More recently, low-cost wind and solar technologies have been pushing coal out of the power generation sector. Renewable energy is also beginning to replace coal in steelmaking and other heavy industries. 

In contrast, the oil and gas industry can still take advantage of opportunities in the areas of petrochemicals and transportation fuels – that is, if they can recruit enough workers to maintain a capable workforce. That is becoming a challenge.

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In 2018, the Editor-in-Chief of GEO ExPro Magazine, Jane Whaley, warned of a “poorly balanced” oil and gas workforce in terms of experience, gender and age.

“The demography of the oil and gas industry…is tilted towards an older age range, with a serious lack of middle management experience…Yet we must employ the younger generation, so they can learn from those with experience,” Whaley wrote.

Whaley indicated that recruiting more young women into the oil and gas workforce would help resolve the age issue. She put the blame squarely on the industry for failing to attract, retain and promote more women. 

However, writing for Shale Magazine last July, reporter Vince Dawkins outlined a broader demographic problem for the oil and gas industry that an improvement in gender diversity cannot solve.

Dawkins drew attention to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the U.S. workforce in general, and on the oil and gas industry in particular.

“The Great Resignation has struck all industries, leaving employers scrambling to try and fill the skill gap. For the oil and gas industry, the skills gap is even wider, because there’s also an age gap. The average age of someone working in the oil and gas workforce is 56, and over half of skilled engineering workers will be able to retire in the next ten years,” Dawkins observed.

“The industry is facing many challenges in finding and keeping a talented, skilled workforce. In the immediate future, there will be a predicted 1.9 million oil and gas positions that will need filling, and a deficit of hundreds of thousands will remain because of the skills and age gap,” he added.

E&P has an ESG problem

In particular, Dawkins draws attention to the highly specialized exploration and production (E&P) sector within the oil and gas industry.

“The E&P industry needs a particular set of skills to thrive,” he writes. “Generations with expertise and experience, people who know the foundations of the industry inside out, are the ones about to retire.”

“Younger generations often have a different set of priorities and interests, and don’t necessarily spend the time to learn about these foundational elements of E&P,” he adds.

That hits the nail on the head. Dawkins suggests that a generational difference in time management is behind the drift away from E&P careers, but he also notes a more specific root cause in the form of “a different set of priorities and interests.”

As strongly indicated by a growing body of surveys, those different “priorities and interests” focus squarely on ESG. 

One recent example is the recent Deloitte Global 2022 Gen Z & Millennial Survey, which sampled young people around the world who were born in the 1980s through to the youngest within the Gen Z generation. The survey took place from November 2021 to January 2022. It ended just before Russia launched its unprovoked attack on Ukraine, but the findings indicated that Gen Zs and millennials were already “deeply worried about the state of the world.”

In a finding that is especially ominous for the oil and gas industry, Deloitte notes that young people are “pushing for more purposeful — and more flexible — work,” particularly in the area of climate change. Deloitte also noted that companies are more likely to retain young workers who are “satisfied with their employers’ societal and environmental impact.”

“Protecting the environment remains a top priority for Gen Zs and millennials. About three-quarters of respondents believe the world is at a tipping point in responding to climate change,” Deloitte emphasized.

ESG investing for everyone

Deloitte also noted that Gen Zs and millennials are “trying to invest in environmentally sustainable choices.” That is consistent with a recent survey from the 401(k) firm Sphere, which describes itself as “climate-friendly.” Sphere noted a strong worker interest in ESG 401(k) plans, even though most respondents did not know what exactly what the acronym “ESG” stands for.

Those findings suggest that employers can make a real difference — and retain talent — by educating their employees about ESG investing. Writing for Quartz earlier this week, reporter Gaurav Gupta also cited several surveys that suggest a close relationship between a company’s ESG profile and employee retention.

The surveys cited by Gupta include one from IBM, in which “70 percent of employees find sustainability programs make employers more appealing, and 80 percent want to help their company reach climate or ESG goals.”

In the face of this demographic reality, Republican policy makers have caught themselves in a trap of their own making. The party has historically aligned itself with corporate interests, and Republican leadership could be supporting U.S. businesses that are responding to the reality of the climate crisis. Instead, they have harnessed themselves to the anti-ESG platform amplified by former President Trump, who affirmed and accelerated the party’s long, steep slide into anti-science policy making.

In the meantime, the corporate ESG movement has a powerful ally in the Biden administration, which has focused like a laser on climate action and ESG principles. In one recent development, last month the Department of Labor announced that it will strike down Trump-era rules that were designed to inhibit ESG investing.

Chasing after the “woke” corporation canard with their eyes shut, Republican leadership has stepped into a minefield of religious extremism and anti-Jewish code words instead of responding to the real-world, fact-based concerns of business leaders and the working public. It will take generations to pick their way out, if they ever do.

Image credit: Gustavo Fring via Pexels