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American FMCG titan Procter & Gamble (P&G) is partnering with Habitat for Humanity to fund the construction, repair, and cleaning of homes in 12 countries around the world.

The commitment represents Habitat’s highest level of global volunteer engagement in a single year, with nearly 3,000 P&G employees volunteering alongside Habitat partner families in countries including the US, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa, Poland and Costa Rica.

In the Philippines, for example, five homes are being built and families provided with critical training on financial literacy, sanitation and hygiene while in the US, P&G will provide a gift basket of family and home care products to all new Habitat families – an estimated 6,000. Baskets include products like Charmin (toilet roll), Dawn (washing up liquid) and Tide (washing detergent).

“For the past 175 years, P&G employees have innovated to create brands that help people do the things that make their house feel more like a home. Today, we’re excited to provide both the financial support and the skills of our employees to our partnership with Habitat for Humanity, helping bring the comforts of home to families around the world,” commented Brian Sasson, global manager of social investments at P&G.
 

Insurance giant Aviva has partnered with  ClimateCare to develop a new way to measure and report the full impact of offsetting carbon emissions.

For the first time, Aviva has been able to robustly measure and report on the additional benefits its carbon offset programmes have had on local communities using the LBG Framework - a peer reviewed methodology which quantifies and measures corporate community investment, developed with ClimateCare.

The new methodology shows that in the last two years Aviva’s carbon offset programme has positively impacted the lives of more than 200,000 people through two projects - LifeStraw Carbon for Water in Kenya and Envirofit Efficient Stoves in India.

Zelda Bentham, head of environment and climate change at Aviva, said:  “Using this methodology we can demonstrate the full value of offsetting our carbon emissions. In the last two years we’ve offset 126,555 tonnes of carbon emissions through two environmental projects, and that’s directly led to improvements in the lives of more than 200,000 people. It’s what our customers and investors expect so it’s really important we can credibly show this.”

Since it was founded in 1997, ClimateCare has become a world leader in dual impact ‘Climate and Development’ projects, which both reduce emissions and deliver measurable improvements for local communities and the environment.

Picture credit: Kate Holt

Global FMCG giant Unilever has opened its first LEED certified ice cream factory. The site in Konya, Turkey reuses rain and surface water, recovers heat, and is zero-non-hazardous-waste-to-landfill by design.

The factory, which will produce renowned brands such as Cornetto, Max and Twister, is Unilever’s 35th ice cream factory globally, and will be the model for all future Heartbrand factories around the world.

Pier Luigi Sigismondi, Unilever Chief Supply Chain Officer, said: “Turkey is an important growth market for Unilever. We have a long history in the country – having been in business there for almost 100 years and opened our first factory in 1952. Today, Konya has become our eighth manufacturing site in the country, as we continue to invest in growing our Turkish and regional business. This new factory is a testament to our commitment to drive sustainable growth and make more people smile with our ice creams.”

Ice cream produced in Konya will be for domestic use, but also to export to the Middle East and North Africa. Current annual production capacity is 80 million litres, with the option to expand to 200 million litres.
 

A new spreadsheet-based tool to enable pharma companies to estimate the carbon footprint of tablet medicines in blister packs has been unveiled.

The tool, a first of its kind for the pharmaceutical sector, was developed in collaboration with the Carbon Trust and funded by industry body the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) together with pharma giants AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen-(J&J), Eli Lilly, and Pfizer.

The tool will help companies estimate the carbon footprint of tablet medicines in blister packs in a way that the Carbon Trust says is “relatively quick and easy”. A range of data has been incorporated into the model which covers carbon emissions for active pharmaceutical ingredients, transport and distribution, formulation and packaging, retail and use phase and finally the disposal of the packaging.

Sonia Roschnik, head of the NHS Sustainable Development Unit, commented: “[The tool] adds real value to the body of evidence emerging around the carbon footprinting of pharmaceutical products which account for approximately 20% of the NHS carbon footprint. This tool should be useful to manufacturers, commissioners and providers to start highlighting carbon hotspots and to target work to reduce emissions further.”

You can download the tool here.

Picture credit: © Falko Matte | Dreamstime Stock Photos

The renewable energy sector will soon be driven by emerging economies according to a new report from research agency Frost & Sullivan.

The shift in market power will be down to the economic development and revised energy priorities in those markets which will drive a more sustained increase in the adoption of wind, solar and biofuels.

The report documents that while less than 50 countries worldwide had renewable support policies in place in the early part of the last decade, this number has now reached over 120. Investments in renewables have also risen dramatically over the past decade.

"The EU has set binding targets to source 20% of the bloc's total energy consumption from renewable energy sources in 2020, and targets for individual member states range from 10% for Malta to 49% for Sweden," said Harald Thaler, Frost & Sullivan’s energy and environmental industry director. "Climate and energy policies as well as long-term price-based incentives, such as subsidies and tax benefits, can substantially boost renewable energy penetration and innovation."

While the sector has escaped relatively unscathed from the vagaries of the global economic downturn, it is beginning to feel the pinch now as investments begin to decline significantly.

Urbanisation, population growth, and energy security concerns are other key drivers for the rise of renewable energy capacity in emerging regions such as Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. Further enabling accelerating the uptake of new energy sources in developing countries is the need to diversify to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and the dramatic fall in the cost of renewable energy.

"Concerted renewable energy strategies have been in place in countries such as China, India and Brazil for some time, and other emerging markets are now promoting renewables in a more systematic fashion," added Thaler.

Picture credit: © Guyerwood | Dreamstime Stock Photos
 

Tiffany & Co can trace 100% of its diamonds to a known mine or supplier (with multiple known mines) according to the internationally celebrated jeweller’s latest CSR report.

The report also highlights the fact that the company boosted the economies of the diamond-producing countries of Botswana, Namibia and South Africa by $90m (£57m, €67m)) in 2012 – up 43 per cent on the year before.

The company says the rise was due to increased purchases of rough diamonds which are purchased from countries that participate in the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme.

Read the full story in the September issue of Ethical Performance.
 

New salary figures show the existing gender pay gap in the UK is being aggravated by a 50 per cent bonus pay gap.

The data, published annually by CMI (Chartered Management Institute) and salary specialists XpertHR, reveals male managers earned average bonuses twice as big as those of their female counterparts over the last 12 months – £6,442 compared to £3,029 – on top of average basic salaries almost 25 per cent bigger (£38,169 compared to £29,667).

Analysis of the National Management Salary Survey, which includes data from more than 43,000 UK workers, shows men stand to earn over £141,500 more in bonuses than women doing the same role over the course of a working lifetime.

Both the gender bonus and gender pay gaps are more pronounced at senior levels. At £36,270, female directors’ bonuses are dwarfed by the average amount taken home by male directors in the last year – £63,700. Even without taking bonuses into account, the data shows that the gender pay gap increases with each rung of the management ladder. At entry level women are faring better, earning £989 more than men on average, but by middle-management they receive £1,760 less than men and at director level the gap widens to £15,561 (an average basic salary of £140,586 for men and £125,025 for women).

Ann Francke, CMI Chief Executive commented: “Despite genuine efforts to get more women onto boards, it’s disappointing to find that not only has progress stalled, but women are also losing ground at senior levels. Women are the majority of the workforce at entry level but still lose out on top positions and top pay. The time has come to tackle this situation more systemically.”

Read the full story in the September issue of Ethical Performance.

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The number of consumers willing to pay more for goods and services from ethical companies is on the rise globally, according to a new survey by market research organisation Nielsen.

The Nielsen Global Survey on Corporate Social Responsibility surveyed more than 29,000 internet respondents in 58 countries. The percentage of consumers willing to pay more increased among both males and females and across all age groups, with respondents under age 30 most likely to say they would spend more for goods and services from companies that give back. Among consumers ages 40-44, 50% agree they would pay more, up from 38% two years ago.

“While cause-marketing programs seem to resonate most strongly among younger respondents, the rapid change in sentiment among middle-aged consumers expands the cause opportunity for brands,” said Nic Covey, vice president of corporate social responsibility at Nielsen. “Today, brands can confidently focus purpose messaging on both younger and older consumers.”

Read the full story in the September issue of Ethical Performance.

© Robert Magorien | Dreamstime Stock Photos
 

Google updated its 2012 carbon emission figures last week, and among the numbers is this interesting tidbit: a typical Google user can use the company's services without leaving a carbon footprint. That's thanks to Google's vigorous pursuit of offsets as part of a far ranging carbon management strategy, which has enabled the company to claim a carbon-neutral status for the past six years.

Even without the offsets, the growth of cloud computing has contributed to an extremely modest carbon footprint for an active Google user. The company calculates that it comes out to about 8 grams of carbon daily, or the equivalent of driving one car one mile per month.

Of course, the problem is when you multiply those 8 grams by hundreds of millions of Google users, you've got a carbon footprint of enormous proportions, so while it's fair enough for Google to pat its users (and itself) on the back, the takeaway here is that offsets are an essential part of an effective carbon strategy. With that in mind, let's take a closer look at what Google has done to achieve its carbon-neutral position.

What is a typical Google user?

One useful thing about Google's per-user breakdown is that it provides a specific benchmark that individuals and businesses can use to get a handle on the carbon footprint of their own Internet activity.

According to a recent post on the Google Green blog, to get to the mile-per-month figure the company assumed that a typical, active Google user does 25 searches per day, watches an hour of YouTube per day, and uses Gmail and other services.

If you find yourself, or your company, using Google services well in excess of that pattern, it's not safe to assume that your usage is carbon neutral, and it might be time for you to consider adding some offsets of your own to the equation.

The Google carbon-neutral footprint

As for Google users who fit the typical pattern, it's instructive to take a look at all of the backstage activity that goes into enabling a "guilt-free" internet experience, carbonally speaking.

One obvious strategic area is renewable energy and energy conservation, and in that regard, Google has ranged far and wide. Along with significant solar energy and wind energy investments, among the company's many projects are on-site biofuel production and heat reclamation from wastewater.

Google services also ripple out to affect other businesses and households. Google Earth, for example, was recently used by the University of California - San Diego to develop a free online solar map that helps calculate the most efficient placement for rooftop solar panels, and the company's Google.org funding arm developed an internationally recognized geothermal map.

Grow business, not carbon

We noticed a while back that the sporting goods company, REI, has been able to expand its business without a proportional increase in carbon emissions, and Google's carbon calculations demonstrate a similar phenomenon.

Last year marked the fourth in a row that Google's carbon emissions actually dropped when calculated on a per million dollars of revenue basis.

As for the key role played by offsets, Google has developed a brief white paper on carbon offsets laying out the thinking behind its strategy.

The white paper makes the case for purchasing offsets that go far beyond a company's core business activities, basically because those investments can help manage global carbon issues that are urgently in need of addressing.

Globally, greenhouse gas emissions from livestock are a significant issue, and Google's white paper highlights its involvement in methane capture from manure at a livestock operation in North Carolina, in collaboration with Duke University. In addition to managing global emissions, such projects also promote local environmental health by offering an alternative to conventional open lagoons and field spraying of animal waste.

The livestock project also has the potential to support local economic development by enabling farmers to expand their operations without running afoul of environmental regulations.

It's also worth noting that non-core offset projects can enable a company to promote a good citizen image by supporting national goals. The manure-to-gas project, for example, supports the federal AgStar program of the Department of Environmental Protection.

[Image (cropped): Google logo by Robert Scoble]

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While e-billing is convenient and commonplace, US consumers like paper bills and statements and don’t want to be pushed into electronic-only communications, finds a new report.

As pressure to go paperless from banks, utilities, telecommunications companies and other service providers grows, a majority of US consumers wants to keep the option to receive paper bills and statements, says a survey published by Two Sides. More than six in 10 consumers say they would not choose a provider that does not offer paper bills and statements, and 88% want to be able to switch between electronic and paper bills without difficulty or cost. The survey of 2,000 US consumers was conducted for Two Sides by research firm Toluna.

"More than eight in 10 believe that cost savings are the driving force behind the 'go paperless' marketing hype, and many are suspicious of marketing claims that going paperless will 'save trees' or 'protect the environment'. In fact, 50% of those surveyed said they either did not believe such claims, felt misled by them or questioned their validity," said Phil Riebel, president of Two Sides.

"Even though half of survey respondents believe that reducing environmental impacts is one of the reasons companies are switching to electronic billing, 72% also believe that print on paper can be a sustainable way to communicate when produced and used responsibly," Riebel added. "It's also important to note that more than one-third of survey participants reported that they print some or all of their electronic bills at home, so the claim that e-bills are paperless really isn't true in many cases."

The Two Sides survey reaffirms consumer attitudes revealed in similar surveys conducted by other organizations in the United States and the United Kingdom including Consumers for Paper Options, Two Sides UK and Keep Me Posted.

Picture credit: © Genarosilva | Dreamstime Stock Photos