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Submitted by James Temple

By James Temple

Lately I’ve been hearing from a lot of people who are interested in building a career in the corporate responsibility field: as many as 20+ inquiries each week from networks, social media, website inquiries, cold calls – the list goes on.  

Most are looking to build a career with purpose and new ways to highlight how their professional contributions are helping to address society’s challenges. 

This is encouraging, and as a member of this sector, I am heartened to see others wanting to head down this path. However, this growing interest led me to a ‘eureka’ moment a few weeks back, and I asked myself an important question: what aren’t we doing (as practitioners) to help connect emerging leaders with our profession?   

What I’ve heard is that few forums exist to connect emerging leaders with opportunities in our field.  There are not many platforms available to them to ask open and honest questions in a safe environment.  Other confessions include a feeling that one must ‘break into’ the CSR space and that CSR is a highly technical field based on methodologies, terminology, and processes. 

Then there is a perception that CSR is a job title, not a mindset. 

Setting The Stage For Emerging Leadership

Last week, I hosted a series of webinars with PwC Canada that addressed these issues and aimed to help people think differently about our field.  The webinars highlighted current information about the profession and included panel discussions with practitioners and employees who are seen by many as agents of change.    

Here’s a snapshot of what was shared:

1. It’s better to get your foot in the door and connect-the-dots between where you are today and the path to a CSR related role

The Boston College Centre for Corporate Citizenship's 2013 Profile of the Profession reinforced our panelist’s observations: over half of CSR practitioners are hired from the organizations within which they already work.

The webinar participants also recommended focusing on getting your foot in the door with an organization that shares your values and offers you a diverse array or professional development experiences to hone your skills. Be open to taking on a role that matches your immediate qualifications but allows you to integrate a CSR mindset into your day-to-day work. 

Probabilities suggest you won’t have the CSR job title right off the bat. 

But you can showcase your fit for the role by demonstrating a connection of the dots between your current position and a CSR focus. Also, you may be well served by articulating the process you used to inspire others to think differently about issues relevant to your organization’s stakeholder groups. 

2. Focus your time on developing technical competencies and leadership capabilities

Our panelists also recommended selecting one area within the CSR space to focus your time.  Make it a priority to build deep subject matter expertise in one area to help make your mark. It’s a lot easier to start from a place of specialized strength in the environmental, social or governance arena before you try and skate on the top layer and be all things to all people. 

It’s also important to remember that the issues that are material to your organization’s stakeholders will guide how a CSR portfolio is developed, implemented and reported on year over year. The skills required to implement a CSR strategy will also vary depending on the unique regulatory environment, geography, industry group, size or scope of your organization’s operations. 

And remember, while the skills and experience you’ll need to take the lead will transform over time, your ability to lead others through complex situations, using your impact and influence to enhance the effectiveness of decision making processes and behaviours over time, will remain constant.   

3. Find the right balance between passion, personality and professional contributions

Embracing humility and positioning yourself as a guide to others throughout the CSR journey are themes that resonated with the panel and for those in the room with me. All of the practitioners we spoke with understood how their role was supporting the overarching goals of business and society. 

They were the pinnacles of shared value (and values!). There were no egos, or ‘right’ answers. There were different perspectives to help people build knowledge. This observation is a critical component to success, and you’ve got to find the right balance between your passion for CSR, your personality, and how your professional contributions address the business issue rather than the personal gain. 

Finally, a golden rule: not every corporate responsibility role has those words in its job title. And that's okay. It’s about the way in which you do your work and lead others – a fundamental component of great leadership in any field.  

The Carbon Trust has developed a Cut Cost & Carbon Calculator specifically for the catering industry. According to the Trust, UK catering operations account for almost 2% of all business and public sector emissions in the UK.

The calculator enable users to fully understand how to enhance profitability and reduce environmental impact through a range of activities including behavioural change, kitchen design, menu complexity and equipment selection.

Over 8bn meals are served every year across 260,000 sites, costing £770m a year on energy, and resulting in 3.9m tonnes of carbon. By taking a more strategic approach to catering operations the Carbon Trust estimates that a saving of over 30% is achievable, saving over £250m in energy costs and more than a million tonnes of carbon every year.

For the full story see the July issue of Ethical Performance

© Muharrem Kartal | Dreamstime Stock Photos
 

Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron has officially launched the Social Stock Exchange (SSE), a new initiative designed to connect the public financial markets with social impact investment. The SSE gives investors access to information on publicly listed businesses with strong social and environmental purpose, and guarantees full and transparent disclosure on the impact of those businesses.

Cameron said in a speech that the SSE demonstrates that the UK is at the heart of financial innovation and social investment. The global market for social impact investment is estimated to be worth $9bn and expected to grow to between $200 and $650 billion in the next decade.

The first member companies to be admitted to the SSE are high growth businesses in markets such as social and affordable housing, clean-tech, waste, water, recycling, renewable energy, sustainable transport, health, education and culture. They include Ashley House plc, V22 plc, Straight plc, Scope, Places for People, ITM Power plc, ValiRx plc, Good Energy Group plc, Primary Health Properties plc, Halosource plc and Accsys Technologies plc.

A further 12 companies are currently pending admission, following the SSE’s three stage admissions process, which includes the requirement to be admitted to a regulated Stock Exchange (hence the role of London Stock Exchange Group in supporting the initiative), the production of an Impact Report and assessment by the SSE’s Admissions Panel, formed of leading social impact investment experts.

The SSE is supported by a number of high profile organisations including London Stock Exchange Group, City of London Corporation, Big Society Capital and the Rockefeller Foundation.
 

Shaun McCarthy, the man behind the greenest Games ever, has been awarded an OBE for services to sustainability and to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

As the chair of the Commission for a Sustainable London 2012, the independent assurance body established to monitor the Games’ sustainability commitments, McCarthy coordinated the Commission’s small but dedicated team of experts, whose remit stretched from investigating waste management to the ethics of corporate sponsorship.

McCarthy joined the Commission in its inaugural year, 2006, and remained in the role until the Commission officially closed in March this year. In this role, he set an Olympic precedent – never before has an Olympic Games had an independent body to monitor and advise on sustainability issues.

Shaun McCarthy described his role at the Commission as: “One of the most challenging, and most rewarding jobs I have ever had, and that includes a stint at BAA during the construction of Terminal 5.”

He added: “This OBE is a huge honour, and I am incredibly grateful for the support of my colleagues at the Commission over the years, whose passion and dedication helped make the Games such a ground-breaking British event.”

McCarthy is now director of social enterprise Action Sustainability.  He is also a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA); and a member of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (MCIPS), Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (MIEMA) and the Institute of Directors (MIOD).

Image credit: Shinnosuke Ando/Unsplash

Submitted by Guest Contributor

By Gail Klintworth, Chief Sustainability Officer, Unilever

First of all I want to thank all who participated in our #SustLiving Twitter chat on May 17^th. It was great to see so many people joining the debate and willing to drive positive change with us. Together we made #SustLiving a trending topic worldwide.

Since there were so many good questions that we could not cover within the hour, I will personally respond to most of these questions via a blog series here on CSRwire Talkback. The questions fall in roughly three thematics:

1. Embedding and measuring sustainability
2. Value chain challenges and opportunities
3. Partnerships and policies

Embedding Sustainability In The Business

One of the questions that caught my eye was by @mbauerc, who asked: How is #SustLiving transforming Unilever's brand portfolio? Where do you see the biggest changes happening in the future? 

We strongly believe that the only way to guarantee long-term prosperity is to grow businesses in line with the needs and aspirations of the communities they serve. This is not new to Unilever. Our commitment to being a responsible and sustainable business was embedded in how we did business in the 1890s when William Hesketh Lever, founder of Lever Bros, wrote down his ideas for Sunlight Soap – a revolutionary new product that helped popularize cleanliness and hygiene in Victorian England – 'to make cleanliness commonplace, to lessen work for women, to foster health and contribute to personal attractiveness, and that life may be more enjoyable and rewarding for the people who use our products.'

A lot has happened over the last two centuries. 

For example, we began our work on sustainable agriculture in the 1990s and on nutrition in 2003. Sustainability is now at the heart of our business strategy. The thinking, which has underpinned this move is based on looking at the long-term trends which are impacting our business: growth in Asia, Africa and Latin America, increasing resource scarcity, rising commodity costs and last but not least the enormous health and hygiene issues around the world.

@Casilda asked: How do you demonstrate to external stakeholders that sustainability is integrated into operations?

Putting sustainability at the heart of our business model means that all key functions within our company need to drive the strategy, from finance, human resources, marketing, communications to supply chain. We have many sustainability champions across the world embedding sustainability within the business, and we are not only building delivery into workplans but we are incentivizing everyone to get involved. 

For example, factory employees can apply for investment to take their ideas to reality through a ‘Small Actions, Big Difference’ initiative, through which 600 ideas were identified in 2012, of which 100 will be implemented this year. Regarding demonstrating this to external stakeholders, we believe that our results need to show the progress, and facts like 256 sites around the world which are zero waste to landfill, show delivery. 

@ctwigg asked how we engage our finance personnel in the Plan and to what gain?

Ah, good old finance! I must tell you that we have had a major breakthrough here in the last year. We now have a program that is being led through finance – championed by our CFO – to help us deliver at each stage of the process… assessing projects, building robust cases for change, helping us to monitor our progress etc.

Movements for Social Change, Led by Brands

At the same time, one of the main drivers for change will, of course, come from our brands' movements for social change.

Our vision of creating a sustainable business is motivating for employees, but it is not always clear to them how to apply it to their role. We integrate sustainability into existing training and have created bespoke training. For example, new brand managers engage in a weeklong sustainable marketing challenge during their foundation course.

In 2013, we are also accelerating the integration of sustainability into our brands with each brand developing their own “sustainability ambitions” as part of their brand positioning statements – for example Knorr has chosen sustainable sourcing of their vegetables as a key area where they can partner with farmers and chefs to not only help to create the demand for sustainably sourced ingredients but also to show how this helps to deliver better taste.

@susanheaney asked how we achieve buy-in and integration of sustainability principles across our brands.

We use our Brand Imprint model to help us, which enables us to take a 360-degree view of the social, environmental and economic impacts of brands and – among other outputs – triggered Lipton’s decision to source its tea sustainably. We are now applying the methodology to help brands make a sustainable business contribution in line with an aspect of their positioning.

@missionmeasure brought up a great question: What's the next big brand on deck to echo success of the 'Lifebuoy Handwashing Program'?

While very few brands will have a full-blown ‘social mission’ such as Lifebuoy soap, we do expect all our brands to identify how they will contribute to the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan through concrete action plans.

For example, Magnum ice cream is sourcing its cocoa through the Rainforest Alliance certification, which enhances its quality credentials with consumers.

Other examples include:

• Dove driving female self esteem through the Campaign for Real Beauty.
• Ben & Jerry fighting social causes around peace and justice
• Pure-it providing clean drinking water
• Hellmann's improving child nutrition through its Real Food program
• Knorr driving sustainable agriculture through its Sustainability Partnership
• Domestos providing basic sanitation through its Toilet Academy and initiatives like World Toilet Day

Defining and Measuring Sustainability

We believe that without the facts behind causes and impacts, we would be aiming in the dark and we do know that what we measure is what we get… especially when we make it very transparent both within and outside the business. It enables us to see if our strategy and actions are working, but more importantly, allows us to show progress and identify specific areas where partnerships are needed or more focus is required. This is instrumental to create a movement internally and externally.

Measurement is inextricably bound up with embedding sustainability in the business. The targets in the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan, for example, have been developed together with key functions throughout the business: marketing, R&D, supply management and supply chain.

[@svnickbarg asked: What rubrics, process & incentives are used (if any) for brand management teams to innovate on sustainability?] Each product category team has specific targets across their product portfolio for water, waste and greenhouse gases, and in addition our foods categories have targets for the four priority nutrients.

Internally, the Unilever Leadership Executive, our most senior executive body, receives quarterly reports on progress. Externally, we are committed to an annual update covering both progress and problems encountered as well as periodic engagement opportunities like the Unilever Sustainable Living Lab and #SustLiving Twitter chat to grow the dialogue and learn from the challenges together.

Developing Environmental Metrics That Matter

Before I explain how we measure our environmental impact, however, I would like to take a step back and ask the question - how do we define sustainability? Is it just ‘green’?

We see and support a shift from looking predominantly at avoiding the environmental “negatives” to actively enabling positive social impact – a 360-degree view at sustainability. This is also reflected in our company vision: to double the size of the business, whilst reducing our environmental footprint AND increasing our positive social impact.

We got several questions about measuring our footprint. From @britter03 who asked what tools we use to assess our environmental footprint and how we prioritize opportunities that come out of 400 brand categories, to @peggyatkc who asked if we are conducting life cycle assessments on core products or focusing on areas where we will have regional growth.

So, let me explain the process we used to develop our environmental metrics.

To understand our full impact on the environment, we wanted to measure the most significant environmental impacts of our product portfolio across the lifecycle. This includes multiple steps, from how we source our raw materials to how our consumers use our products and dispose packaging. By 'significant,' we mean impacts most relevant to our business and to society.

We therefore developed metrics for the following priority impact areas:

• Greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) which covers the full lifecycle
• Water used by consumers in countries where water scarcity is an increasing problem
• Waste, which covers product leftovers and packaging that goes to landfill.

For each metric we aimed to capture the most significant areas of impact throughout the product lifecycle where we can have an influence and where it is feasible to measure the outcome.

Then we took each of the three metrics and applied them to a representative cross-section of our products: In summary we:

• Analyzed 1,651 stock-keeping units (SKUs) covering all our product categories and key product formats. Together, these are representative of our total product portfolio of 30 000 SKUs.
• Covered 14 countries that together represent our regional footprint namely: Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Russia, South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom and the U.S.
• Captured around 70 percent of our sales.

This analysis enabled us to measure the absolute and per consumer use impact of each of our product categories for greenhouse gas emissions, waste and water use:

• Our average greenhouse gas impact is 50 grams per consumer use,
• Average water use is 8 litres per consumer use, and
• Average waste impact is 1 gram per consumer use.

Our aim is to halve each of these by 2020.

But, coming back to positive social impact, we also want to make sure that our Unilever Sustainable Living plan has a lasting effect on livelihood improvement. Nowhere is this more urgent than with the 1.3 million smallholder farmers who are linked in to our agricultural supply chain. 

Many of you are aware of the very high costs of impact studies, which make it difficult to measure impact at scale. In 2012, we consulted with NGO and supply chain partners on how to develop a livelihood assessment methodology, which is simple, quick and affordable. We need to further develop and test this methodology in 2013

If we crack this, it will be a very helpful addition to our arsenal of sustainability knowledge.

Hope this gives you valuable insights into how we are driving sustainability at the heart of our business. In the next blog post, I will focus on the challenges and opportunities of our value chain approach.

Meanwhile, please continue to share your ideas and perspective on Twitter with #SustLiving.

US telecoms giant AT&T has launched a pilot project which provides free solar mobile charging stations in locations across New York City. Called Street Charge, the public can charge their phones, tablets and other mobile devices free of charge while out and about.

AT&T says the initiative is a direct result of Superstorm Sandy when AT&T powered the City's distribution centres with commercial generators and a pop-up cellular service. New Yorkers who had lost power for days or longer flocked to the centres seeking a charge and a way to communicate to the outside world.

AT&T teamed up with solar technology company Goal Zero and Brooklyn-based design firm Pensa to develop the initiative.

Between now and the end of summer, AT&T will deploy around 25 AT&T Street Charge solar mobile charging units.

"Two years ago, we debuted free Wi-Fi in 26 locations across New York City Parks and last year became one of the first major carriers to offer underground cellular service on 36 subway platforms. Solar mobile charging is a natural next step in AT&T's efforts to provide innovative services for New Yorkers that empower them to lead more sustainable lives,” said Marissa Shorenstein, New York State president, AT&T.

• AT&T has just published its 2012 Sustainability Report where it states that its 14,300 energy-reducing projects have saved it more than $151m in annualised energy savings since 2010 and nearly 1.3bn kilowatt hours, equivalent to the electricity use of 136,340 homes in one year. 

Former British deputy prime minister and Conservative MP Lord Heseltine is to receive an honorary fellowship from the Society for the Environment for his contribution to environmental concerns.

The retired politician and cabinet member is one of 12 leading figures who will be awarded a fellowship later this month.

The fellowship recognises Lord Heseltine’s contribution to environmental concerns and his work as a previous Secretary of State for the Environment under both Margaret Thatcher’s Government in the 1980s and John Major’s Government of the early 1990s.

Recently appointed president of the organisation, Tony Juniper, a previous director of Friends of the Earth in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and vice chair of Friends of the Earth International will be receiving the accolade also.

Society for the Environment chief executive Alex Galloway said: “Our mission is to champion the role of environmental professionals, and to set standards for their recognition through the Chartered Environmentalist qualification. As we grow, it remains important to acknowledge and appreciate the work and contributions individuals have made and continue to make to the green sector.”

See July’s issue of Ethical Performance for the full story.

As the G8 Summit kicks off in North Ireland, the UK’s Sustainable Investment and Finance Association (UKSIF) has called for attendees to use the event to make progress in breaking down barriers to long-term responsible investment.

As a member of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Coalition (CSRC), UKSIF is urging for commitments by the leaders of the G8 to work towards ensuring better corporate sustainability reporting by all large companies in their countries.
 
Simon Howard, UKSIF chief executive, said: “Integrating long-term sustainability factors into companies’ business strategies could help increase the quality and flow of information which lets investors make the informed and long-term decisions vital for the global economy, environment and society.

Howard also welcomed the inclusion of social impact investing on the G8 agenda, expressing hopes that attendees at the summit would take the opportunity to set out clear plans for enabling this flourishing market to operate effectively on a global scale and boost the effectiveness of international aid and development.

“We hope that G8 Leaders will return from the summit and strengthen their dialogue with the responsible investment community on how best to utilise key movements such as social impact investing to reshape capital markets for a more sustainable future,” he added.
 

The Financial Times (FT) and IFC, a member of the World Bank Group announced the winners of the 2013 FT/IFC Sustainable Finance Awards recently, with M-KOPA of Kenya winning the Award for Excellence in Sustainable Finance, Banco Santander taking the Sustainable Global Bank of the Year transaction prize and Impax Asset Management of the UK recognised as Sustainable Investor of the Year.

The FT/IFC Sustainable Finance Awards, now in their eighth year, have established themselves as the world’s leading awards for environmentally and socially responsible banking and investment. The 2013 Awards attracted a record 254 entries from 164 financial institutions and 57 non-financial groups in 61 countries.

The 2013 winners and special commendations in each category are:

Sustainable Bank of the Year
• Regional winner Africa/Middle East: Standard Bank, South Africa
Special Commendation for Leadership in the Middle East: Bank of Palestine
• Regional winner Americas: Banco Santander Brasil, Brazil
• Regional winner Asia/Pacific: Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Japan
• Regional winner Europe: GLS Bank, Germany
Special Commendation for Leadership in Eastern Europe: Center-Invest Bank, Russia
• Sustainable Global Bank of the Year (transactional): Banco Santander, Spain

Sustainable Investor of the Year
• Winner: Impax Asset Management, UK
Special Commendation: LeapFrog Investments, Mauritius

Sustainable Investment of the Year
• Winner: WHEB Partners and Resysta International, Germany

Technology in Sustainable Finance
• Winner: M-KOPA, Kenya
Special Commendation: Etisalat, UAE

Achievement in Inclusive Business
• Joint Winners: Kenya Tea Development Agency, and Universitaria Minuto de Dios, Colombia

Achievement in Impact Investing (special award supported by UK Department for International Development)
• Winner: Root Capital, USA

Excellence in Sustainable Finance
• Winner: M-KOPA, Kenya
 

Car brands dominate this year’s Best Global Green Brands Report from brand consultancy Interbrand.

Toyota comes top – for the third year running – with Ford second and Honda in third. Nissan is in fifth position and Volkswagen comes in at seven.

The year’s top risers are Nissan, Ford, Nokia (9th), and UPS (32nd) while new entrants include Nestlé (14th), Kia (37th), Zara (48th), and Colgate (50th).

Interbrand’s 2013 Best Global Green Brands report examines the gap that exists between a corporation’s environmental practices and consumers’ perceptions of those practices.

A full report on the rankings will appear in the July issue of Ethical Performance.

You can view the report online at: http://www.interbrand.com/en/best-global-brands/Best-Global-Green-Brands/2013/Best-Global-Green-Brands-2013.aspx