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Puppies for Parole recognizes the importance in second chances for all. The program offers incarcerated people in Missouri an opportunity to train and socialize shelter dogs, making them more adoptable. In turn, the program offers participants the therapeutic effects of working with animals, as well as vocational training and the chance to give back to their communities.

The initiative began in 2010 as a partnership between the Missouri Department of Corrections and a network of animal shelters and rescue organizations across the state. Royal Canin, a leader in science-based cat and dog health nutrition and a division  of the Mars family of brands, started donating food when packaging manager Michael Newkirk heard about the program and saw a perfect fit for Royal Canin.

Royal Canin, whose U.S. headquarters is located in St. Charles, Missouri, began providing Puppies for Parole with diets from its manufacturing facility in Rolla, Missouri. Newkirk started driving the food to local correctional facilities himself, beginning a more than 13-years-and-counting relationship between Royal Canin and Puppies for Parole. 

Making a difference in the lives of people and animals

Around 3.1 million dogs come into U.S. shelters every year, according to the ASPCA. Puppies for Parole offers a helping hand, both to shelter pets and the people who train them. 

Puppies for Parole runs in 16 of the 20 state correctional facilities in Missouri, making it one of the largest prison dog programs in the country. The 10-week program, which operates solely through donations and volunteers, has achieved over 95 percent adoption rates. This past summer, Puppies for Parole and Royal Canin  celebrated their 7,000th dog to be adopted out of a shelter into a forever home.

The dogs are adopted out of their original shelter after graduating from the 10 weeks of obedience training and socialization. Some dogs are additionally trained to be service animals for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder or people living with disabilities. 

From 2011 to 2023, Royal Canin donated an average 25,000 pounds of Royal Canin and Eukanuba products annually to Puppies for Parole, totaling about 300,000 pounds of food and over 600,000 meals donated. 

“We thought, wouldn't it be great if we were [not only] the nutrition, [but also] the education and fun provider?” said Racquel White, vice president of corporate affairs at Royal Canin North America. The company also provides educational materials around pet nutrition and training best practices, as well as toys for the dogs. 

Requirements for potential trainers include two years of good behavior, after which they can join a waiting list. Selected participants will join the 10-week program under an apprenticeship with the U.S. Department of Labor. Upon completing the program — which offers formal, on-the-job, and individualized training — participants earn a certificate in animal handling, recognized in all 50 states. Approximately 5,000 individuals in Missouri prisons have participated in the program since its inception in 2010. 

“Participants in the program have shared with us that these dogs have made such a huge difference in their lives [by] giving them something to live for,” White said. “We all know the impact of pets. The impact on this particular group of people, however, seems to be exponentially more positive.” 

Creating positive pathways for re-entry

Programs like Puppies for Parole can offer incarcerated people pathways to work upon release, which is often difficult to find due to stigmas about people who have served time.

Trey Dawson, a former participant in Puppies for Parole, is among those who continued training dogs after his release from prison. He went on to found the dog training business Backyard K9, which the Columbia, Missouri, community awarded a Gold medal in Pet Training. Backyard K9 is also a nominee for the Missourian Progress Awards for Entrepreneurship, and Dawson has visited multiple Missouri correctional centers to share his story. 

“The program also creates a chance for participants to give back to the community,” White said. One trainer told her that “he is able to give these dogs a chance that he may very well never have, which is to go into a home with a family living on the outside, so to speak.” 

Learn more about Puppies for Parole here, or click here to see dogs available for adoption through the program. 

This article series is sponsored by Mars and produced by the TriplePundit editorial team.

Image courtesy of Puppies for Parole 

This year, the build-up to the United Nations annual Conference of the Parties (COP28) has been given greater urgency by the first Global Stocktake report. Published earlier this fall, the report sends the clear message that time is rapidly running out to limit global heating. Without drastic cuts in emissions of around 50 percent by 2030, we will lose touch with a pathway to a 1.5-degree world, where the worst impacts of global heating can still be managed. Only urgent, short-term actions can deliver the temperature targets fixed in the Paris Agreement. 

The Global Stocktake report also highlighted the role that consumer behavior plays in generating emissions, calling on countries to shift to sustainable diets, halve food loss and waste, and transition at least two-thirds of all passenger travel to fossil fuel-free methods of transport by 2030. For business leaders committed to doing their part to limit emissions, this raises important questions about the viability of business models that prioritize immediate, consumer-driven economic growth over the macroeconomic risks of inevitable ecosystem collapse. Can we continue to drive revenue while concurrently safeguarding our long-term environmental and social wellbeing? 

Over the past two decades, more than 30 countries have given us reason to believe that we can. Ireland, for example, cut greenhouse gas emissions by 42 percent from 2005 to 2020 while growing its economy by 81 percent, outgunning most of the major developed economies. This is evidence that sustainability and economic consumption do not need to work in conflict. 

For Mastercard, playing a role in driving the wider decoupling of emissions and growth is a vital part of our responsibility as a business and as important to us as delivering on our own net-zero targets. We believe that companies can play an active role in supporting the transition to more sustainable consumption patterns. Whether it is the choice between two products, or the choice to support a less wasteful business model, sustainable consumption is about making smarter, more informed, more conscious decisions about what and how we are consuming.

As a payments technology company, Mastercard finds that we're in a unique position to collaborate across industries to inform, inspire, and enable a new movement of sustainable consumers. Businesses need to provide consumers with the knowledge and data to make more informed purchasing decisions and inspire individuals to understand how their decisions can have a positive impact. Mastercard has increased its efforts over the last few years to equip consumers with information about the impact of their consumption choices, focusing on an education-first approach. We developed the Mastercard Carbon Calculator with our partner Doconomy to help people track and understand the estimated carbon footprint of their purchases. This goes beyond simply choosing one product over another — it empowers consumers to gain a holistic view of the impact that their spending habits have on the planet.  

We know that helping drive the wider decoupling of emissions and growth is essential to achieving an inclusive and sustainable economy and a vital part of our responsibility as a business. We’re working to leverage the power of our network of 90 million merchants and nearly 3 billion cardholders so that soon, every swipe, click or tap will let a consumer contribute back to the planet and fight climate change. 

The Global Stocktake is clear: We cannot wait for better, more sustainable consumption to evolve organically out of business as usual. We must double down on our efforts to bring transformational solutions to our customers and partners, driving circularity, efficiency, and transparency through high-integrity data, digital tools, and consumer incentives. 

We believe that this emerging ecosystem of tech-enabled sustainable consumption will be most effectively realized through collaboration. That means solving problems, sharing learning and insights, and supporting entrepreneurs and innovators with partnerships and routes to market. Every business has a part to play. We’re committed to bringing transformational solutions to our customers and partners so that everyone, everywhere, will be able to make more informed, more conscious decisions today with hope to create a more sustainable and equitable future for tomorrow. We hope you’ll join us.

This article series is sponsored by Mastercard and produced by the TriplePundit editorial team.

Research shows that women and people of color often suffer from advanced heart and vascular disease at disproportionately high rates. But their burden doesn’t end there. While these populations tend to be overrepresented in their disease rates, they also tend to be underrepresented in their treatment.

For example, take peripheral artery disease (PAD), a potentially serious vascular condition that reduces blood flow to the limbs, usually the legs. Black Americans have twice the rate of PAD than their white counterparts. Yet while PAD is a condition that can be managed if caught and treated early enough, Black patients also have dramatically worse outcomes, including being twice as likely to receive amputations due to severely blocked blood flow.

Treatment rates for other cardiovascular conditions show similar disparities, including:

• Coronary artery disease: Hispanic patients with heart attack symptoms are 15 percent less likely to receive percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI, also called angioplasty), a procedure to open blocked coronary arteries.
• Heart failure: Black and Hispanic patients are less likely to receive a pacemaker or implantable defibrillator to keep their hearts beating normally.
• Atrial fibrillation: Black patients are 50 percent less likely than white patients to receive a treatment called catheter ablation and represent only 4 percent of those who undergo an effective stroke-prevention treatment called left atrial appendage closure. Black AFib patients also have double the risk of stroke as white patients.
• Heart attack: Women wait 30 percent longer than men to receive cardiovascular care. Such delays are associated with worse outcomes: Women who have a heart attack are nearly twice as likely to die in the hospital than men.

That last statistic is especially personal for me. A few years ago, my mother, a Black retired nurse, developed terrible leg pain. Over three weeks she visited three different doctors, but none could provide a diagnosis or reduce her pain; even so, my mother’s reverence for physicians made her reluctant to seek yet another opinion. At last, however, she saw a fourth doctor, who realized my mother had had a heart attack and hurried her into treatment. Her just-in-time diagnosis allowed her to undergo life-saving procedures, for which I am thankful. She received the gift of two and a half extra years of life before her passing last November from her chronic coronary artery disease. But no one should struggle to get critical care the way my mother did.

Working with health systems to close the treatment gap

Today, health systems have begun recognizing the need to close treatment gaps and provide patients the equitable access they deserve. But creating change can be hard, especially with a problem so vast and deeply entrenched as health inequity. The difficulty in knowing where to start can be enough to paralyze even the most educated individuals and well-meaning organizations.

Fortunately, this is where equity-minded healthcare organizations have stepped up to help. Our 20-year-strong Close the Gap initiative at Boston Scientific, for example, supports healthcare systems in taking meaningful steps toward greater healthcare access for those who are typically underserved, including Black, Hispanic, and women patients living with cardiovascular disease. Through its targeted Heart and Vascular Health Equity Level-up Program, Close the Gap uncovers care disparities and collaborates with healthcare providers on strategies to better engage and treat these underrepresented groups, with an emphasis on improving the diverse patient experience through system change and building trust. 

Close the Gap’s approach is also data-driven. Using national and local prevalence statistics for four common disease states (peripheral artery disease, coronary artery disease, atrial fibrillation, and heart failure), the team uses ZIP code-based data to identify which specific demographics are missing access to equitable care. Close the Gap then collaborates with providers and administrators to connect with those patient populations and improve the care experience based on health equity best practices.

Last year, for example, Close the Gap was approached by Piedmont Healthcare, a 22-hospital system that serves 3.4 million cardiology patients across Georgia. “We wanted to introspectively look at how we were faring in identifying individuals at high cardiovascular risk and providing care relative to their sex and ethnicity,” explains Dr. David Kandzari, chief of Piedmont Heart Institute. “For us, Close the Gap became the catalyst.”

Digging into the data, the Close the Gap and Piedmont teams looked at the treatment rates of a minimally invasive procedure used to treat coronary artery disease – the most common type of heart disease in the U.S. – and compared groups according to ethnicity and sex. While these procedures were broadly used across all patients, opportunities emerged to further explore differences. With those findings, the team came up with customized strategies for Piedmont, including plans for sharing information at a physician retreat, distributing patient educational materials in English and Spanish, and launching an educational web page on the Piedmont website.

Using that action plan, Piedmont has gotten off to a running start. “We’ve already raised awareness to more than 7,000 providers across the healthcare system,” says Dr. Kandzari, adding that Piedmont is also distributing patient materials through community programs, health fairs, and churches. “It’s been a rewarding experience for everyone here, and something we’re proud of,” he says. “And it’s motivated us to not stop there. This is really about a continuing initiative toward greater equity, so that all patients can receive the care they need.”

Equity progress over time, not overnight

When it comes to advancing health equity, we know that progress comes over time, not overnight. But those of us involved in this work can see how each small victory gets us a little closer to our goals. Each hospital willing to have those tough conversations, each doctor who takes a second look at a patient in light of a new awareness, each person who reads a flyer about cardiovascular health and decides to schedule a screening – every one of these is a step toward systemic change for the better.

The social return on this investment is worth it. Certainly, every life improved through more equitable treatment is well worth it. We’ll keep thoughtfully moving the work forward, celebrating every small victory along the way, until the day healthcare is finally fair and accessible to all.

This article series is sponsored by Boston Scientific.

It’s that time of year again. For three decades, leaders from countries around the world have convened to discuss solutions to the climate crisis at the annual United Nations climate talks. Now, heads of state from almost every country in the world participate alongside thousands of other stakeholders including business leaders, Indigenous Peoples, activists and scientists. 

The talks are recognized as the world’s only multi-country, decision-making body on climate issues. The 28th installment (COP28) begins in Dubai this week, where the stark reality of falling behind the targets set in the Paris Agreement — meant to limit the increase in global temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels — has ignited sentiments spanning from concern to hope, and from pragmatism to optimism.

What outcomes are anticipated from COP28? And what are the priorities for environmental groups at the summit? We spoke with teams at Oxfam, World Resources Institute, World Wildlife Fund, 350.org and Rainforest Alliance to understand the pivotal topics set to be addressed at the talks this year.

The outcome and response to the Global Stocktake is critical to pave a new way forward

COP28 is a milestone year as it will host the first Global Stocktake to evaluate the world's progress in achieving the climate goals set in the 2015 Paris Agreement, signed by 195 nations at COP21.

The Paris Agreement established the stocktake as a two-year process that occurs every five years and becomes the basis of charting a path forward. The stocktakes are meant to inform the greenhouse gas reductions each country commits to under the Paris Agreement, formally known as nationally determined contributions or NDCs, which are also updated every five years.

“We'd like to see greater ambition in our 2030 targets from countries — so really making the Global Stocktake a moment of learning and a moment of action,” said Marcene Mitchell, senior vice president at WWF.

Direction on updating Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) is key: “The [Global Stocktake] is a technical document that talks about economy-wide reduction of emissions,” said Ani Dasgupta, president and CEO of the World Resources Institute, in a recent press briefing. “An ideal outcome, which we don't know will happen, would be for [COP28] negotiated text to refer to the [Global Stocktake] and countries to agree that they will build their next NDC on that basis, ready for Berlin in 2025.” 

The stocktake is set to be completed at COP28. But early findings indicate that current greenhouse gas reductions and commitments are not consistent with the Paris Agreement’s goal to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius this century, which climate scientists deem a crucial tipping point. “For the first time, there is actual evidence of how far we are from the actions we're taking to the 1.5 degree Celsius goal that we all agreed to in Paris,” Dasgupta said. “A tougher NDC or the right NDC would be ones that takes the [Global Stocktake]  into account and reflect its findings.”

In particular, sub-national governments — like cities and states — have been slow to commit to the Paris Agreement, but organizers hope this will change at COP28. “Our research shows that cities are a key vehicle to implement a climate action and raise ambition. But we see that they lack targets, especially in terms of transportation and building efficiency,” said Rogier van den Berg, global director of the WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities. “We expect at COP28 to see the city's voice raised with the opportunity to include more city specific targets in the revised NDCs.”

The next NDC updates are due in 2025 and must include short-term targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions over the next 10 years. “What we need out of this COP are some strong signals about what needs to happen in those NDCs,” added David Waskow, director of international climate action at WRI’s Climate Program.  

The energy transition from fossil fuels to renewables is urgent

Fossil fuels — coal, oil and gas — account for over 75 percent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and nearly 90 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions. GHG emissions trap the sun’s heat, causing global temperatures to rise. 

While a commitment to phase out fossil fuels was left out of the final text at last year’s climate talks Egypt, 81 countries supported the effort. “That number has been growing, and I think there has never been that much momentum for this discussion,” said Andreas Sieber, associate director of policy and campaigns at 350.org.

To stay on track with the Paris Agreement, the global community must reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 43 percent by 2030, compared to 2019 levels, according to the latest report from the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). This reduction is crucial in order to prevent consequences of climate change, such as more frequent and severe droughts and heatwaves, scientists wrote in the report.

 “We need to reduce emissions by 60 percent by 2035 … up from the 43 percent reductions that are needed by 2030,” said Waskow from WRI's Climate Program. “It's important to note that 2035 puts us well along the way to mid-century by when we need to reach net-zero globally. There has to be financial commitment to having a strong outcome next year that will underpin a country's ability to take that action in their NDCs.”

Within this conversation about a fossil fuel phase-out is a debate over whether capturing and storing carbon is a climate solution or a distraction from policies to cut down fossil fuels. It could contribute toward the goals, however not significantly, organizers said. “We know we have to reduce by about 15 gigatons of emissions. Carbon capture and storage will save us about one gigaton,” said Jennifer Layke, global director of WRI’s Energy Program.

"Phase out" or "phase down" fossil fuel production: There’s also a debate over whether to "phase out" or "phase down" fossil fuels, and this will be a focal point at the COP28 climate talks. Dasgupta from WRI says that what we should look for at COP28 is “any language that actually creates a time-bound process of reducing fossil fuel.”

Just over 150 countries committed to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 and are discussing the transition away from fossil fuels. However, contradicting these commitments, the 2023 Production Gap Report finds that governments plan to produce around 110 percent more fossil fuels in 2030 than would be consistent with limiting temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, and 69 percent more than would be consistent with 2 degrees.

“Phasing out fossil fuels, while accelerating renewable energy, that's the very first outcome we'd like to see from COP28,” said Mitchell of the World Wildlife Fund. “We would really like to see the countries come together to talk about the eventual phase-out of fossil fuels by mid-century. And to do that, we need to accelerate renewable energy deployment. So, we would really like to see some goals around the deployment of renewable energy and the acceleration of that. It's coming, but it's not coming fast enough.”

In the run-up to COP28, the International Energy Agency identified actions that are essential to ensure the 1.5-degree goal stays within reach. This includes an orderly decline in the use of fossil fuels and tripling of renewable energy capacity by 2030. Also crucial is doubling the rate of energy efficiency progress this decade.

Climate finance for developing countries needs to scale up immediately 

Twelve years ago, at COP15 in Copenhagen, wealthier nations pledged to channel US$100 billion a year to help less wealthy nations cope with climate change by 2020. This target has been repeatedly missed. 

“We need to scale up that $100 billion per year finance pledged by the developed countries,” said Mitchell of WWF. “We need to align our private and public financial flows with climate objectives. We really need to start being serious about putting the funding to it.” 

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 will bring an estimated $370 billion in climate action projects and financing into the U.S. economy and partially fund the United States’ NDC, Mitchell said. “We'd like to see that type of commitment not only on the domestic markets, but internationally between the developed world and the developing world to help them get on that path,” she said. “Without external funding, the Global South is not going to be able to meet the goals.” 

Developing countries will need $200 billion to $250 billion every year by 2030 to adapt to climate change, the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) estimates. The Green Climate Fund, the United Nations' main fund for helping vulnerable countries cope with climate change, said earlier this year that it raised $9.3 billion — falling short of its $10 billion target after wealthy nations failed to pay in.

Meanwhile climate-related finance for the agriculture and land-use sector, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, has significantly decreased in recent years, posing a challenge to meeting the dual adaptation and mitigation goals of the Paris Agreement, said Leila Yassine, global advocacy manager for nature at the Rainforest Alliance. “We must ensure that international financial mechanisms become simpler and more accessible, allowing this finance to flow toward locally-led and nature-based solutions in the communities that need them most,” she said.

Operationalization of the Loss and Damage Fund: The Loss and Damage Fund for developing nations, established at COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh, was considered a "breakthrough agreement." However, it came without substantial pledges and no operational plan. 

“We must understand that the energy crisis is unjust because those responsible for it are not suffering the consequences. The crisis is exasperating inequality between the rich and poor,” said Jacobo Ocharan, lead of the Oxfam Climate Initiative “The Loss and Damage Fund is a win, however we are extremely worried that there is no agreement on who is going to cover the fund, who will contribute and how much.”

Recently, a special U.N. committee tasked with implementing the fund met for the fifth time in Abu Dhabi, following a deadlock in Egypt last month, to finalize recommendations that will be put to governments when they meet at COP28 in Dubai. The impasse was over which entity should oversee the fund, who should pay, and which countries would be eligible to receive funding.

To get all countries on board, it was agreed the World Bank would serve as interim trustee and host of the fund for a four-year period. “If the World Bank is to host the fund, one of the criteria for them for hosting a financial intermediary fund is that three countries make a pledge to the tune of $200 million. So that's the bare minimum that one can work with,” said Preety Bhandari, senior advisor to the climate program at WRI.
The goal is to have the fund up and running by 2024.

Increased investment in renewables: Annual capital spending on clean energy in emerging and developing economies needs to expand by more than seven times, to above $1 trillion, by the end of the 2020s in order to put the world on track to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, according to the International Energy Agency.

Of the current $1.7 trillion allocated to clean energy globally, only about 15 percent is invested in the Global South outside China, Sieber from 350.org wrote in Climate Home News last month. By 2030, we will need around $1.9 trillion of yearly investment in the Global South outside China — from both public- and private-sector sources, the International Energy Agency estimates.

350.org joined more than 100 organizations in an open letter to COP28 president Sultan Al Jaber earlier this month, demanding a strong formal outcome on the energy transition. This includes the phase-out of fossil fuels, tripling of renewable energy capacity to 11,000 gigawatts by 2030, and a significant increase in concessional finance from developed countries to support a renewable, efficient, and equitable energy transition in developing countries.

The bottom line

All in all, a multitude of complex and interconnected challenges need to be addressed at COP28 for the world to get back on track. Summit President Sultan Al Jaber emphasized in his letters to parties that “it is not too late to correct course” and “we're playing catch-up to keep 1.5°C alive.” He calls for “optimism and unwavering resolve” at the talks this year, though the outcome remains to be seen. 

TriplePundit will be in Dubai reporting from COP28. Sign up for our daily newsletter to follow along with our coverage. 

Plummeting costs for solar and wind power. Historic government investments in clean energy and climate priorities. A rising tide of corporate leaders eager to help advance solutions and even calling for the phase-out of fossil fuels. These are just a few of the promising signs of progress as representatives begin to arrive in Dubai for COP28, the latest round of global climate negotiations.  
 
And yet, while fresh reasons for optimism abound, we’re still not implementing solutions at the requisite scale or speed to prevent ecological and human catastrophes. The world just endured the hottest summer in 120,000 years, marked by unprecedented wildfires in such far-flung places as Canada and Maui. More recently, the popular tourist destination of Acapulco, Mexico, was devastated by a surprise Category 5 hurricane that spun up in less than 24 hours over unusually warm waters. This is the underlying reality the U.N. reaffirmed when it unveiled the first Global Stocktake report, an essential tool for measuring the world's collective efforts — or lack thereof — against the goals of the Paris Agreement ahead of COP28.  
 
With the stakes continuing to grow and our window of opportunity to avoid the worst effects continuing to shrink, many business leaders want a better understanding of where we stand now, why we continue to fall short of where we need to be, and what we can do to close the gap. In response, I offer two fundamental truths, from which everything else flows.  
 
First, the climate crisis and the nature crisis are inextricably linked and mutually reinforcing. Our warming planet is unraveling ecosystems that sustain all life and undergird all economic activity. And as we lose more of the natural world, we lose critical allies in the fight against climate change. I’m talking about our forests, grasslands and peatlands, and other natural systems that slow warming by absorbing vast amounts of carbon, while also providing key resources that help us adapt to the challenges that a century of human-induced warming has already baked in for life on Earth. 
 
The good news is that companies are waking up to the reality of these twin ecological crises. More than 6,500 companies — including 2,000 small-to-medium enterprises — are setting near-term (e.g. 2030) emissions reduction targets through the Science Based Targets Initiative. Hundreds of others are now setting even more ambitious net-zero targets for 2040 or 2050. And a growing number are taking steps to remove deforestation and other harmful impacts from their product supply chains and even going beyond that to invest in the large-scale conservation and restoration of critical terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems.  
 
Innovation bolsters their efforts. Advances in technology have made wind and solar — which helped the world avert a whopping 600 million tons of carbon emissions in 2022 alone — both affordable and scalable over the last decade, to the point where these so-called “alternative” energy sources are cheaper than gas and coal. Furthermore, research shows that investment in renewables generates three times more jobs than the same investment in the fossil fuel industry. The Clean Energy Buyers’ Alliance, which WWF helped found, reports that more than 70 gigawatts of renewable energy have been contracted by corporations since 2014.  
 
Despite these successes, challenges loom large ahead of COP28. Our current pace in ramping up renewable capacity still lags. We need a two- to three-fold acceleration to achieve our decarbonization goals in time to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Likewise, nature continues to retreat in the face of expansion for agriculture and development, taking with it the myriad social, economic and cultural benefits that it provides to humanity free of charge. 
 
This brings me to my second truth: The private sector can’t do it alone. We need government action to help create the enabling conditions for change and provide ample financing to support it. Last year’s passage of the Inflation Reduction Act in the United States represented much-needed progress on both of these points. The legislation will direct nearly $369 billion into clean energy and climate-centric initiatives, with the aim of cutting U.S. GHG emissions by 40 percent by 2030.  
 
Government can also establish frameworks for additional climate transparency, a step that 87 percent of Americans support. California’s new Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act, a potential new climate disclosure rule from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the EU directive on sustainability, and the U.K. directive on climate transition planning are indicative of this expanding frontier. Meanwhile, initiatives like the Taskforce on Nature-Related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) are helping to set a new benchmark for voluntary disclosure on nature impacts. 
 
Business leaders should encourage more government action like this, in the U.S. and on the world stage. The recent and relatively rapid progress toward a global plastics treaty is proof that companies can leverage their collective clout to drive concerted action among the governments of the world. At COP28, and in the months and years that follow it, companies will have another opportunity to push for similar coordination around our global goals for climate and nature. 
 
The Global Stocktake at COP28 once again underscores the need for nations to ramp up their ambitions and match their words with concrete action. It also serves as a reminder that the corporate world has both a stake in and a significant role to play in mitigating climate change and nature loss.

Companies possess the tools, insights and means to drive change. It's about weaving sustainability into the corporate DNA — benefiting the bottom line, uplifting communities, and ensuring a clean, safe and stable future for our planet. The onus now lies with corporate leaders to amplify their efforts, collaborate efficiently and push for a world where sustainable business is simply business as usual. 

TriplePundit will be in Dubai reporting from COP28. Sign up for our daily newsletter to follow along with our coverage. 

GivingTuesday started as a social media hashtag back in 2012 and grew into a national movement. Observed each year on the Tuesday after the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, GivingTuesday aims to channel support to nonprofit organizations in a counter to the hyper-consumerism associated with Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

GivingTuesday is now one of the biggest nonprofit fundraising events of the year, raising $3.1 billion in the U.S. alone in 2022. The support is needed now more than ever, as nonprofits report donations are down this year as inflation leaves many less able to give. 

This year, TriplePundit turned to our readers, writers and colleagues to develop our crowdsourced GivingTuesday Guide, with the aim of providing a platform for our community to learn from each other about how best to support the causes we care about. Even if you're not financially able to give this year, volunteering or offering your support on social media can make a world of difference for these nonprofits. Read on for some of your favorites. 

CampLauncher

CampLauncher provides free camp scholarships for neurodiverse young people, such as those on the autism spectrum or who have diagnoses like Asperger’s or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). "Summer camps are often life changing for any individual, regardless of their social and emotional profile. For neurodiverse children and young adults, camp is uniquely positioned to be a transformative force in their lives," the organization's website reads. 

Participating camps include Camp Akeela in Vermont, MGH Aspire in Massachusetts and Talisman Summer Camp in North Carolina. "I have personal experience with Camp Akeela, which changed my son's life and mine," said TriplePundit reader Leslie Ochroch in her nomination of CampLauncher. 

Click to donate for GivingTuesday

The Friendly Fridge Foundation

The Friendly Fridge Foundation operates the first community refrigerator in the Bronx, New York. Founded by two friends of TriplePundit writer Tina Casey in 2020, the fridge now brings an average 5,000 to 7,000 pounds of food per week to Bronx residents. The mission? "Normalize reducing environmental waste and harm while also reducing stress of many."

Neighbors can donate their unwanted food, and the nonprofit also partners with more than 25 schools, pantries, community centers, restaurants, catering companies, farms and other organizations, according to its website. Along with a community fridge on the sidewalk in the Bronx, the group's volunteers also serve regular hot meals to their neighbors and give away essentials like children's toys and warm clothes. 

"I love this nonprofit because it enlists the whole community as donors, receivers and hosts, and because it preserves the dignity of those in need of food," Casey said. "There is no schedule or waiting in long lines."

Click here to donate for GivingTuesday

Rural Youth Voter Fund

The Rural Youth Voter Fund works to "mobilize young voters in small towns, sparse suburbs and rural areas to power a clean economy," said TriplePundit reader Bill McClain, who is involved with the effort. The Fund supports grassroots community organizations focused on engaging young voters, particularly young voters of color.

Those groups include Get Out The Native Vote — "which provided stipends, materials, and training to Native Alaskan youth organizers who worked in 10 rural Alaskan communities to register their neighbors and turn-out the vote for Mary Peltola," the first Alaska Native member of Congress and first woman to represent Alaska in the House of Representatives, according to the Fund's website. 

Click here to donate for GivingTuesday

YMCA

The YMCA focuses on youth development and community enrichment through more than 2,700 local chapters across the U.S. Programming includes sports and athletics, as well as childcare, education, youth leadership, and senior and immigrant services. 

"YMCA branches across the United States rely on donations to continue bringing vital services to communities," says Dave Armon, CEO of TriplePundit's parent company, 3BL. "Whenever I travel, I visit local Ys to swim. Invariably, these facilities are welcoming to visitors and patronized by a diverse set of users. Those unable to pay for a YMCA membership are eligible through assistance funds.  Whenever I can, I contribute beyond my own membership to ensure others can access learn-to-swim programs and all sorts of other activities from tai chi and dance to basketball and pre-K classes." 

Local YMCA chapters consistently receive the highest marks possible from Charity Navigator for transparency, governance and efficient use of funds. 

Click to donate to the national chapter or search "YMCA" and your city to find a chapter near you.

Camino

Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Camino is a faith-based nonprofit that primarily serves Latino communities in the U.S. and around the world. Founder and CEO Rusty Price has helped organize more than $150 million in aid to communities across Cuba, Guatemala, El Salvador and the United States since 2003, according to the organization's website. 

Camino also provides vital services in the Charlotte area, including a bilingual health center and bilingual career training and social mobility programs, as well as a community thrift shop and a food pantry that served more than 12,000 people across the city last year. 

"Overall, it's a great organization!" said TriplePundit reader Arhys Cruz Mora. "And this Christmas, their goal is to give away over 2,000 gifts at their annual Christmas With Camino gift giveaway." 

Click to donate for GivingTuesday

It Takes A Village

It Takes A Village provides free support to new families and postpartum parents in Western Massachusetts. Services include a home visit program for families with new babies, as well as social groups, educational programming and other resources for new parents in the area. The Village Closet in Huntington, Massachusetts, provides free diapers, clothes from newborn to adult, baby supplies, toys, books and other essentials that families need. 

Mary Lorbert, a client success manager at 3BL, volunteers with It Takes a Village regularly and serves on its board of directors. "Being a parent is hard work," Lorbert said. "The difference It Takes A Village makes is huge to each individual and family it serves. Most recently, it has held car seat fitting clinics, with new car seats provided and installed by a professional, and winter coats and toy gathering initiatives for the upcoming winter and holiday season." 

Other 3BLers who live near the company's offices in Northampton, Massachusetts, including content specialist manager Carreen Cook, also donate to It Takes a Village. Like many smaller, local nonprofits, it is not rated by Charity Navigator, but you can learn more about the organization and its mission here. 

Click to donate for GivingTuesday

The Miracle League 

The Miracle League believes everyone — regardless of disability — should have the opportunity to play baseball. Founded in Georgia in 2000, the nonprofit now includes more than 350 chapters across the U.S. and Canada, serving over 450,000 children and adults.

TriplePundit writer Megan Amrich, who chronicles her experience parenting a child with disabilities on her blog Joyful, Brave & Awesome, found her family's experience with the Miracle League of Western Massachusetts to be life-changing. 

"My son began playing in the league this year, and it has been such a transformative experience not only for him, but for our entire family," Amrich said. "He has the opportunity to learn sportsmanship, get outside, be active, and be a team player while surrounded with other kids who move, communicate, think, and act differently or similarly to him. In addition to the weekly baseball games, there are social events throughout the year. And this fall, the league opened its first Inclusive Playground, which is fully accessible for children like my son who use wheelchairs. I cannot say enough good things about this group!" 

Click here to donate to the national chapter or search "Miracle League" and your city to find a chapter near you.

CreatorsCircle

TriplePundit writer Nayelli Gonzalez founded CreatorsCircle to help connect diverse young people to purpose-driven careers. The organization hosts a summer fellowship for young people interested in careers in sustainability and social impact, and it provides online databases of impact stories and other impact-focused youth programs. 

"CreatorsCircle is a resource hub that connects diverse youth with opportunities to create a life of purpose and impact," Gonzalez said. "Our programs provide high-school youth from historically marginalized communities with access to free resources⁠ — including a searchable online database, workshops and a summer program — to help close the opportunity gap for future generations of impact creators and connect them with avenues to explore purpose-driven careers that will help build a new, regenerative economy that advances transformative systems change for the good of all."

All donations this giving season will be used to support stipends for high-schoolers to attend CreatorsCircle's summer fellowship in 2024.

Click to donate for GivingTuesday

Center for Employment Opportunities 

Opportunities are often limited for the more than 650,000 men and women who leave U.S prisons and jails each year after serving their time. People with records are often turned away by employers and locked out of housing. More than half of those leaving incarceration in the U.S. are unemployed a year later, increasing the likelihood they’ll return. 

The Center for Employment Opportunities is a U.S. nonprofit on a mission to provide pathways to employment for formerly incarcerated people and reduce the likelihood they'll return to prison. The organization began as a project of the Vera Institute of Justice in the 1970s and branched out on its own in 1996. It now operates in 30 cities across 12 U.S. states and has placed more than 34,000 justice-impacted people into full-time jobs through transitional employment, career coaching and support services, according to its website. 

The Center earned the highest possible score on Charity Navigator, and I personally send them a recurring donation every month to support the fantastic work they do for people who deserve a second chance. 

Click to donate for GivingTuesday

OpenOceans Global 

TriplePundit writer Carl Nettleton is the founder of OpenOceans Global, a nonprofit on a mission to keep plastic waste out of the world's oceans. The group uses crowdsourcing to map plastic pollution on beaches around the world and works with dozens of organizations focused on plastic pollution globally to amplify their work. 

"OpenOceans Global brings to light innovations in ocean plastic policy, plastic substitution, waste management, river intervention and many other solutions," Nettleton said. "Your contribution will fund the mapping of plastic-fouled beaches, curate solutions, host a collaborative hub for global experts, and support the award-winning The Transition newsletter, reporting on people and progress in solving the ocean plastic crisis."

Click to donate for GivingTuesday

Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation works to eradicate type 1 diabetes among young people. TriplePundit writer Ellen Delisio has raised thousands of dollars for the Foundation over the years — and the vast majority of those funds go directly to research. The Foundation channeled $473 million into research for type 1 diabetes therapies in 2022, according to its website, with four stars from Charity Navigator for transparency and efficient use of funds. 

"They say they exist to put themselves out of business," Delisio said. "Once a cure is found, their job will be done." The Foundation also supports services for people and families living with the diagnosis and public policy advocacy — including campaigns to lower the cost of insulin in the U.S. and the Children’s Congress, which brings young people to meet with and educate lawmakers around the world about type-1 diabetes. 

Click to donate for GivingTuesday

Black and Pink

"Black and Pink is a prison abolition group specifically advocating for the rights of LGBTQIA+ and HIV+ incarcerated people," explained John Arvanitis, director of client success and onboarding at 3BL.

The group has seven chapters across the U.S. that provide transitional housing and wraparound services to LGBTQIA+ and HIV+ people who are justice impacted and advocate locally for policies that are more inclusive of the community. It also advocates for criminal justice reform nationally through its Working Group and leads a national penpal and support program for people in the community who are incarcerated. 

Click to donate for GivingTuesday

The Nature Conservancy 

The Nature Conservancy is a global environmental organization working in 79 countries around the world. With more than 400 environmental scientists on staff, the Nature Conservancy conducts pivotal research, supports conservation and restoration projects, and advocates for public policies that protect people and the environment. 

Content specialist Andrea Voytovich is among the 3BL staffers who give recurring donations to the Conservancy. "I'm an enthusiastic member," Voytovich said. "Through that membership, I'm able to help them effect positive global change for both people and nature. I appreciate their frequent updates on how funds are used in specific ways, as well as the ease with which anyone can learn about the natural world and how to help protect and preserve it through information they provide." 

The Conservancy received four stars on Charity Navigator, the highest score possible. 

Click to donate for GivingTuesday

Center for Communication

Another favorite of 3BL CEO Dave Armon, the Center for Communication is a New York City-based organization committed to driving representation among creatives. The mission: "promote diversity in media by providing students with the knowledge, skills and connections they need to succeed in the industry."  

"Presidents and CEOs of many NYC-based ad and PR agencies, fashion houses, news outlets, video production houses and book publishers participate in CenCom events, which are open to current college students of all ages, as well as recent grads," Armon said. 

The organization reaches undergrads, graduate students, and recent grads from more than 200 colleges and universities across the New York area and nationwide. Its program series — including panels and career summits — aims to get more passionate young people into media, particularly those from communities that are historically underrepresented in the field. It is not rated by Charity Navigator but has attracted the attention of partners like Google, Bloomberg Philanthropies and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

Click to donate for GivingTuesday

Able Gamers

Another favorite of 3BLer John Arvanitis, Able Gamers connects people with disabilities with low- to no-cost gaming setups. Nonprofit staff works with people individually through peer counseling to develop a setup that meets their needs. If a certain controller or device is not available with existing gaming technology, they invent it at the AbleGamers Center for Inclusive Play in Kearneysville, West Virginia, a maker space that includes 3D printers, a laser and electronics manufacturing capabilities.

But even if the right hardware is developed, too often gamers with disabilities find the features of the game itself are not accessible. To help, Able Gamers also hosts courses for gaming developers focused on accessible and inclusive game design. 

Click to donate for GivingTuesday

Don't forget your local news outlets this GivingTuesday

Local news organizations provide critical services in cities and towns across the U.S. and around the world. They offer a platform for local people and their stories, and in many cases uncover glaring cases of public harm that undoubtedly would have continued if not for their reporting.  

But local news is a dying breed. Even in major cities, local newspapers, magazine publishers and broadcasters are being forced to downsize, and the services they provide are at serious risk. As you think about your GivingTuesday donations this year, consider subscribing to or supporting your local news outlets. TriplePundit staffers — including myself, editorial assistant Taylor Haelterman and many of our writers — do the same in an effort to support public information and the people who provide it. 3BLers including client success manager Mike Isopi also choose to donate to public news outlets like the Public Broadcasting Corporation (PBS) to support educational broadcasting. 

Storytelling is central to sustainability and social impact. Issues like warming temperatures or gender equity gaps may sound complex and difficult to understand. But when communicated through the lens of story — and through the eyes of the people and communities affected by these issues and working to solve them — they take on new meaning for engaged audiences. 

Young leaders looking to accelerate their work in this area have a new opportunity to learn how to tell impactful stories. Launched by the nonprofit organization Girl Rising, the Future Rising fellowship selects 10 leaders annually between the ages of 17 and 25 who are working on gender equity and climate justice issues interchangeably. The fellowship provides financial support, a stipend of $5,000, access to networks of advisors and experts, and skills training such as leadership development, storytelling workshops, speaking opportunities, and other professional opportunities.

Girl Rising was established to explore how empowering women and girls with education can combat global poverty, CEO Christina Lowry told TriplePundit. Originally, Girl Rising launched as a film, which later became an organization. Along the way, the founding team kept up with research and trends on girls’ education and consistently discovered girls and women are disproportionately impacted by climate change, Lowry said.

Girls and women are more susceptible to climate-induced disasters

Globally, women represent 43 percent of the agricultural workforce, a rate that grows higher in parts of Asia and Africa. As such, women play a critical role in environmental sustainability and food security. Yet due to a combination of factors such as cultural gender norms, lack of access to education and resources, poverty, and limits on decision making, they are disproportionately impacted by climate disasters. Women are also susceptible to climate-induced exploitation such as organized trafficking because climate disasters uproot local security and safety for women and children, according to the United Nations Environment Program.

"We believe, at this moment in time, it is imperative to hand the mics over to girls and young women for us to be able to elevate the voices of those people, young women and young men who really are on the front lines of this work,” Lowry said. “So, we decided to create a fellowship program.”

During their cohort, Future Rising fellows complete a narrative media project that tells the story of their own work or the work of girls and women within the climate and environmental justice space. Fellows also learn the elements of impactful storytelling and are empowered to develop their own stories to tell.

The Future Rising fellowship teaches effective storytelling strategies and provides access to a global network

Ayomide Solanke is a 2021 Future Rising fellow from Lagos, Nigeria. For her media project, she created a graphic novel that highlights how societal practices and norms such as child marriage affect girls and women and worsen poverty and climate change. The novel has since published locally in Lagos as well as online. “[The fellowship] was an opportunity at the time to be able to see and get my message on a larger and … wider platform,” she said. 

Solanke first discovered the fellowship via X, previously known as Twitter, and applied. "My original manuscript was probably maybe 10 pages at most,” she told us. “At the end, I have like 45 to 50 pages.” 

During the fellowship, Solanke and her cohort participated in a series of training sessions and workshops to learn more about storytelling. She learned to incorporate the voice of survivors in her story by speaking with them, while navigating the delicate line of not making them feel re-victimized. And the time spent drafting her story taught her how important using easy-to-understand language can be to getting a message across.   

"I would say that the Future Rising fellowship helped me not just in my project, [but] also in my work as an activist,” Solanke said. “I'm able to have a wider platform to grow and evolve and meet other people and share my work with people, and also hear, and see what other people are doing and incorporate and collaborate.”

Like Solanke, 2022 fellow Geela Garcia of Manila, Philippines, said the fellowship connected her to a global network of individuals to learn from and engage. "I wanted to be in a diverse community with shared goals and perspectives about people and our home,” she told TriplePundit. “Since the cohort is global, it exposes me to stories and experiences of people from different cultures and parts of the world. The fellowship reminds me that despite our differences, we are similar in wanting to make a safer and more livable place for all.”

Girl Rising and HP continue their work to advance digital equity and eliminate challenges to girls’ education

Girl Rising has partnered closely with the tech giant HP for nearly a decade — from HP’s support of the original Girl Rising film, to a multi-year partnership to advance technology education in the U.S, India and Nigeria, said Michele Malejki, the company’s global head of social impact.

"In 2021, HP made a commitment to accelerate digital equity for 150 million people, and the Girl Rising Future Fellows program, also launched in 2021, was a natural next step in our collaboration — squarely rooted in our Sustainable Impact focus areas of climate action, human rights and digital equity," Malejki told TriplePundit. 

Digital equity — meaning equal access to technology and knowing how to use it — is essential for combating poverty as education, healthcare and economic opportunities increasingly move online. Women and girls, people with disabilities, aging populations, and other marginalized groups are disproportionately affected by gaps in digital literacy and technology access. HP and the HP Foundation aim to change that by bringing technology solutions and funding to nonprofit partners like Girl Rising. 

“HP and Girl Rising share a common belief that to drive positive, lasting change in the world, women and girls must have access to quality education, which includes amazing learning materials,” Malejki said. “Educating women and girls is fundamental to addressing our climate crisis, to strengthening our communities and global economy, and to solving other related issues like population growth and human rights violations.” Since 2019, the company and nonprofit have enabled 14.4 million students and teachers in India, Nigeria, and the U.S. with technology solutions and new curriculum, she said.

Meanwhile Girl Rising announced the third cohort of Future Rising Fellows in September in its latest bid to help young people tell their stories on a global platform and have access to power. 

“One of the things we know is that young people often don't have a seat at the table, and as critical discussions and decisions are being made about how countries and multilateral institutions are going to address climate change, where investments are going to go, we believe these young people need to be at the table and have their voices heard and their demands heard,” Lowry said.

This article series is sponsored by HP and produced by the TriplePundit editorial team.

Image courtesy of Girl Rising

This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist's weekly newsletter here.

On a 20-acre parcel outside the tiny Southern California town of New Cuyama, a 1.5-megawatt solar farm uses the sun’s rays to slowly charge nearly 600 batteries in nearby cabinets. At night, when energy demand rises, that electricity is sent to the grid to power homes with clean energy. 

To make renewable energy from intermittent sources like solar and wind available when it is most needed, it’s becoming more common to use batteries to store the power as it’s generated and transmit it later. But one thing about the Cuyama facility, which began operations this week, is less common: The batteries sending energy to the grid once powered electric vehicles.

The SEPV Cuyama facility, located about two hours northeast of Santa Barbara, is the second hybrid storage facility opened by B2U Storage Solutions. Its first facility, just outside Los Angeles, uses 1,300 retired batteries from Honda Clarity and Nissan Leaf EVs to store 28 megawatt-hours of power, enough to power about 9,500 homes.

The facilities are meant to prove the feasibility of giving EV batteries a second life as stationary storage before they are recycled. Doing so could increase the sustainability of the technology’s supply chain and reduce the need to mine critical minerals, while providing a cheaper way of building out grid-scale storage. 

“This is what’s needed at massive scale,” said Freeman Hall, CEO of the Los Angeles-based large-scale storage system company.

Electric vehicle batteries are typically replaced when they reach 70 to 80 percent of their capacity, largely because the range they provide at that point begins to dwindle. Almost all of the critical materials inside them, including lithium, nickel, and cobalt, are reusable. A growing domestic recycling industry, supported by billions of dollars in loans from the Energy Department and incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act, is being built to prepare for what will one day be tens of millions of retired EV battery packs.

Before they are disassembled, however, studies show that around three quarters of decommissioned packs are suitable for a second life as stationary storage. (Some packs may not have enough life left in them, are too damaged from a collision, or otherwise faulty.)

“We were seeing the first generation of EVs end their time on the road, and 70 percent or more of those batteries have very strong residual value,” said Hall. “That should be utilized before all those batteries are recycled, and we’re just deferring recycling by three, four, or five years.”

Extending the useful life of EV batteries mitigates the impact of manufacturing them, said Maria Chavez, energy analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists. 

“The whole point of trying to deploy electric vehicles is to reduce emissions and reduce the negative impacts of things like manufacturing and extractive processes on our environment and our communities,” Chavez told Grist. “By extending the life of a battery, we reduce the need for further exploitation of our natural resources, we reduce the demand for raw materials, and we generally encourage a more sustainable process.”

Just as batteries have become crucial to reducing emissions from transportation, they’re also needed to fully realize the benefits of clean energy. Without stationary storage, wind and solar power can only feed the grid when the wind is blowing or the sun is shining. 

“Being able to store it and use it when it’s most needed is a really important way to meet our energy needs,” Chavez said.

The use of utility-scale battery storage is expected to skyrocket, from 1.5 gigawatts of capacity in 2020 to 30 gigawatts by 2025. EV packs could provide a stockpile for that buildout. Hall said there are already at least 3 gigawatt-hours of decommissioned EV packs sitting around in the United States that could be deployed, and that the volume of them being removed from cars is doubling every two years. 

“We’re going from a trickle when we started four years ago to a flood of batteries that are coming,” he said. 

B2U says its technology allows batteries to be repurposed in a nearly “plug and play fashion.” They do not need to be disassembled, and units from multiple manufacturers — B2U has tested batteries from Honda, Nissan, Tesla, GM, and Ford — can be used in one system.

The packs are stored in large cabinets and managed with proprietary software, which monitors their safety and discharges and charges each battery based on its capacity. The batteries charge during the day from both the solar panels and the grid. Then B2U sells that power to utilities at night, when demand and prices are much higher. 

Hall said using second-life batteries earns the same financial return as new grid-scale batteries at half the initial cost, and that for now, repurposing the packs is more lucrative for automakers than sending them straight to recyclers. Until the recycling industry grows, it’s still quite expensive to recycle them. By selling or leasing retired packs to a grid storage company, said Hall, manufacturers can squeeze out more value out of them.

That could even help drive down the cost of electric vehicles, he added. “The actual cost of leasing a battery on wheels should go down if the full value of the battery is enhanced and reused,” he said. “Everybody wins when we do reuse in a smart fashion.”

B2U expects to add storage to a third solar facility near Palmdale next year. The facilities are meant to prove the idea works, after which B2U plans to sell its hardware and software to other storage-project developers. 

At the moment, though, planned deployment of the technology is limited. B2U predicts only about 6 percent of decommissioned EV batteries in the U.S. will be used for grid-scale storage by 2027. 

“People are skeptical, and they should be, because it’s hard to do reuse of batteries,” said Hall. “But we’ve got a robust data set that does prove reliability, performance, and profitability. We’re at a point where we really can scale this.”

This article originally appeared in Grist. Grist is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Learn more at Grist.org.

This article is sponsored by Alibaba

In an era when environmental consciousness is becoming increasingly important, consumers worldwide are expressing a strong desire for more sustainable lifestyles. However, a recent independent study commissioned by Alibaba Group reveals that convenience and affordability remain significant barriers to adopting sustainable practices. 

This article explores the findings of the study and highlights the crucial role that businesses can play in making sustainability more accessible. Through transparency, affordability and a commitment to sustainability, businesses can engender the trust of consumers and empower them to make conscious choices for a better future.

Bridging the gap: Convenience and affordability 

The study, titled "The Sustainability Trends Report 2023," surveyed over 14,000 consumers across 14 markets. It found that convenience and affordability are key factors for consumer behavior. Consumers cite lack of information (48 percent) and high prices (45 percent) as the major obstacles preventing them from making more sustainable purchases. Businesses can address these concerns by making sustainable options more convenient and affordable.

Building trust through transparency

Consumers surveyed showed skepticism (38 percent) toward businesses' claims of sustainability, with only 15 percent expressing complete trust in such claims. Building trust is essential for businesses looking to engage consumers in sustainable practices, and transparency is key to bridging this trust gap. 

By providing concrete evidence of their sustainable practices, businesses can demonstrate their commitment and earn the trust of consumers. This might be particularly important for consumers in European markets, where we measured higher levels of skepticism of sustainability claims.

Alibaba's commitment to sustainability

Alibaba Group’s approach to help address the sustainability challenge recognizes our unique capabilities as a digital platform company. As a result of Alibaba’s platform model and ecosystem, we are pioneering the concept of "Scope 3+." Scope 3+ refers to the emissions generated by a wider range of participants in a digital platform’s ecosystem, currently outside of the Scope 1, 2 and 3. Scope 3+ business ecosystem decarbonization supports technological and business model innovations to enable and engage with a broad range of stakeholders in more decarbonization actions

In our latest Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Report, Alibaba disclosed its first annual Scope3+ decarbonization progress with state-of-the-art scientific measurements and third-party verification. Alibaba showed how a platform can help reduce barriers, increase transparency, and expand sustainable choices for consumers. Our Carbon88 carbon ledger and Low-carbon Friendly Products Program offers over 180 million consumers information and rewards for green choices across our diverse platforms, from selecting no cutlery in food delivery to choosing certified green products. Our Decarbonization-friendly Actions program works with leading consumer brands to design and offer more sustainable products sold on our platforms. 

The result of these efforts is to make sustainable choices more abundant and transparent, while maintaining their affordability.

Empowering consumers for a sustainable future

On a positive note, the survey results show that consumers globally are eager to learn and engage in sustainable practices. Over three-quarters (76 percent) express a desire for more information on how to be more sustainable, with emerging Asian markets showcasing the highest willingness to learn. 

Businesses can facilitate this learning process by providing accessible information and educational resources. Respondents also emphasized the importance of affordability, sustainable packaging, and wider product choices. By fulfilling these expectations, businesses can help consumers make sustainable choices with ease.

Technology as a catalyst for sustainability

The research shows that technology and digitalization can be pivotal in supporting consumers to lead more sustainable lives. Over half of online shoppers (57 percent) are utilizing digital marketplaces dedicated to sustainable products. This trend is particularly prominent in Asian emerging markets, with the Philippines (76 percent), Indonesia (73 percent) and Thailand (70 percent) leading the way.

Businesses have an opportunity to leverage technology to streamline information and search processes to address consumers who cite a lack of information (48 percent) and a time-consuming research process (27 percent) for discouraging buying sustainable products. Companies might also consider digital marketplaces tailored to sustainable products. The study highlights the untapped potential of digital platforms, particularly in Asian emerging markets, where online shoppers express high preferences for buying sustainable products.

Businesses, particularly digital platform operators like Alibaba Group, have a crucial role to play in overcoming these obstacles. By prioritizing transparency, affordability and a diverse abundance of sustainable options, businesses can earn the trust of consumers and give them more conscious options. Together, businesses and consumers can pave the way for a sustainable future that benefits both the environment and society as a whole.

This article is sponsored by Alibaba

Standard business practices have stretched far beyond planetary boundaries — placing Earth’s climate biodiversity and ecosystem services on the brink of collapse. Companies must reduce environmental impacts. It isn’t only a moral imperative — it’s essential to business survival.

Planetary boundaries are nine critical thresholds that delineate the limits of Earth’s essential functions. When the world operates within these limits, the planet functions like a well-oiled machine, benefiting businesses and the general well-being of all species. When the world operates outside those limits, there are devastating consequences — such as extreme weather events, mass extinctions, land degradation, droughts and pollution.

But it’s not all sacrifice. Bringing business operations back within planetary boundaries will unlock competitive benefits, such as increased economic resilience, reduced operational risk and an edge against competitors.

A matter of business survival, not just success

An analysis of financial disclosures found that over 200 of the world’s biggest corporations will face $1 trillion in climate change-related costs in the decades ahead. These companies also estimated $250 billion in assets may need to be written off or retired early due to high-risk location and government regulation. Other studies go even further, estimating up to $24.2 trillion in costs to the global financial sector.

While markets have not yet collapsed, there are many examples of significant business challenges related to droughts, biodiversity loss and extreme weather.

Droughts: Back in 2015, drought conditions in California contributed to a 28 percent decline in Campbell’s carrot business profit and forced Starbucks to move its water bottling operations to Pennsylvania. And last year, heatwaves and droughts in Europe resulted in steep drops in corn, sunflower and soybean yields.

As the planet warms, scientists predict droughts will become more frequent and severe. Local and federal governments will make tough decisions on who can use limited water resources, prioritizing essential services and citizens. Businesses producing non-essential goods and services will be at risk.

Extreme weather: In 2019, PG&E filed for bankruptcy due to $30 billion in liabilities from wildfires potentially caused by its power lines. Hurricanes have repeatedly devastated the tourism industry in Puerto Rico, causing hundreds of billions in damages. Due to record-high precipitation, floods in the U.S. Northeast are estimated to result in $5 billion in losses from New Jersey to Vermont this year. Businesses large and small can expect devastating liabilities, service disruptions, and loss of revenue as workforce continuity takes a hit.

Biodiversity loss: More than half of the world’s gross domestic product depends on ecosystem services, and their functional decline already costs the global economy $5 trillion a year. Food businesses are particularly strained by biodiversity loss. More than 75 percent of global food crops rely on pollinators, which are dying at rapid rates. Marine species loss from climate change and overfishing has resulted in insurmountable challenges for fisherman and the rapid decline of cod, crab and shrimp in the U.S. In Europe, Baltic fisheries are even forced to shutter operations due to regulatory pressure or just a lack of fish to catch.

Less biodiverse ecosystems are also sensitive to invasive species. Roughly 20 percent of Earth’s land and water are currently at risk, and scientists estimate the effects of invasive species have already taken a $1.3 trillion financial toll in just 40 years.

The benefits of heeding planetary boundaries

Despite the risks, many corporate leaders cite "high investment, low return" and industry competition as excuses to maintain or even increase environmental impact. But by bringing operations within planetary boundaries, companies can fortify their economic resilience and even outpace peers.

Improve economic resilience: The organic agriculture market is a great example of how alignment with planetary boundaries can increase economic resilience. Most nitrogen-based fertilizers are derived from the ammonia manufactured through natural gas. When the Russia-Ukraine war began, international sanctions on Russia caused natural gas prices to skyrocket. But due to industry standards that forbid the use of nitrogen-based fertilizers, organic producers kept costs stable while the rest of the market struggled. 

As the world works to reduce the consumption of fossil-based materials, companies that are less dependent on fossil-based resources are shielded from risks posed by regulatory and inflationary challenges.
 
Outpace competitors: Contrary to popular belief, global studies show that the most sustainable companies are usually also the most profitable. Take Patagonia, for example: It’s one of the world’s largest and best-known outdoor apparel brands, approaching $1 billion a year in profits. Yet its "slow fashion" model helps the company align with planetary boundaries. Patagonia makes over 80 percent of its products from recycled materials, and the company’s free repair services and Worn Wear program extend the lifecycle of damaged and secondhand products.

See also the industry rise of sustainable native companies such as Veja, Native, Who Gives a Crap and Beyond Meat. These startups have embraced sustainable operations from the start and have flourished in the market both from a consumer brand perception and financial perspective, forcing traditional competitors to adapt.

Taking the first step

Humanity has an unconscious belief that it has separated itself from nature. The reality is that we are more dependent on the planet than ever before.

Discussing planetary boundaries in the boardroom starts with understanding operational dependency on nature. Start with these questions:

• Which commodities or sourcing areas is the business model most dependent on?
• How will climate change, biodiversity loss, and water scarcity impact key commodities or sourcing areas?
• What ecosystem services (such as pollination, water purification or soil moisture) are critical to business operations?
• If these ecosystem services ceased their function, how much would it affect the bottom line?
• Is the company currently replacing an ecosystem service (such as diverting water to a drought-stricken area, or transporting bees to pollinate plants)? If so, how much does it cost each year?

Every company is dependent on nature in some way, but many will quickly realize they don’t have answers to these simple questions. Nature dependencies are often missing from risk evaluations.

Once identified, leaders can develop a holistic plan to address environmental impact on all operational levels. While there is no silver bullet, companies must stop working against nature and begin working within planetary boundaries. The cost of inaction far exceeds action, and nature is coming to collect.