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Salamatu Katta is a 29-year-old cocoa farmer in Sierra Leone breaking down gender and generational barriers by taking over her father’s cocoa farm. She cultivates her crop organically as part of the Munafa Cocoa Farmers’ Cooperative. What made a difference for Salamatu’s small business — with ripple effects for her community — is that she is a Fairtrade farmer. Now, her image is emblazoned on a huge mural outside a Denver, Colorado, grocery store, bringing her story to American consumers.

Katta’s mural is one of three murals across the United States that are part of Fairtrade America’s annual Fairtrade Month campaign. It connects shoppers, grocers, brands and farmers to celebrate their roles in enabling the Fairtrade system to thrive. 

This year’s campaign is focused on ethical sourcing. Each mural depicts a farmer who grows Fairtrade-certified coffee or cocoa sold inside the store. For Katta, the cocoa she grows is an ingredient in products from chocolate company Hu Kitchen. In Boise, Idaho, the cocoa grown by Francisco Contreras and Carlixta Contreras Martínez is an ingredient in products from Navitas Organics. And in Buffalo, New York, the coffee grown by Ibu Rahmah is an ingredient in products from Gimme Coffee.

Beyond the colorful murals is the broader effort by Fairtrade America and the 70 U.S. Fairtrade-certified brands to support equity for farmers as they strive to create sustainable livelihoods for themselves and their communities, often against significant odds. There are over 2 million Fairtrade farmers and workers in certified cooperatives around the world. The certification ensures that products are grown in a way that supports sustainable livelihoods and safe working conditions, among other requirements. 

“Storytelling is a really interesting and compelling way to encourage folks to slow down a little bit and think about other folks,” Kate Stritzinger, Fairtrade America’s director of marketing and impact, told TriplePundit. “The 'We are Fairtrade' campaign closes the gap between consumers and farmers. That's really the intention behind it.”

The three new murals join twelve others from previous years. Retailers that receive murals report a 75 percent increase in sales on Fairtrade products year after year, Stritzinger said. The organization also measures the potential reach of the campaign across all Fairtrade brands and retailers. In 2023, that was 70 brands and 2,000 retailers in the U.S. and Canada, and Fairtrade found that 92 percent of consumers show interest in learning more about the people who grow their food.

Fairtrade aligns with brand values

For Hu Kitchen, one of the participating brands in the 2024 campaign, celebrating Katta is emblematic of the company’s mission to support farming cooperatives and the livelihoods and communities they represent. Hu Kitchen sources 100 percent of its cocoa, coconut sugar, cashews, vanilla and quinoa on Fairtrade terms.

“By sourcing ingredients that are Fairtrade certified, we're hoping to better support the livelihoods of these Fairtrade farmers that grow the ingredients that make Hu products possible,” said Daniel Klausner, director of commercial strategy and impact for Hu Kitchen. “We've seen firsthand the positive impact that certification can have on the farming communities.”  

The benefits of the Fairtrade system for brands and farmers fall into three buckets. First, Fairtrade farming organizations earn at least the Fairtrade Minimum Price, which varies based on things like the product, the quantity and the region it is grown in. That standard acts as a safety net for producers when the market prices are low and is especially important at a time of great market volatility in food prices.

“All of the stakeholders in the food system deserve fair pay, but some have more power in dictating their terms,” said Andrew Beck, director of procurement at Hu Kitchen. “Farmers often have the least power and as such they earn less than is fair. And often, that means less than is needed to reinvest in their farms or their families … When farmers aren't treated equitably, supply chains fall out of balance, and ultimately, that impacts everybody along the way, including customers.”

Farmers also receive the Fairtrade Premium, an additional sum of money that farmers and workers invest in projects of their choosing. The premium is calculated as a percentage of the volume of produce sold, and cooperatives decide democratically how they want to reinvest. That could be in more training and development or resources to improve farms and local communities, such as a seedling nursery, a new road or bridge, a health clinic or a maternity ward. In 2022, the Fairtrade Premium reached a record high of about $240 million USD. 

And not least, by having the Fairtrade mark on their products, brands show a commitment to the system, with the aim of expanding the network to more brands and more farmers who can benefit.
 
Since Hu Kitchen was Fairtrade certified in 2021, it has paid more than $1 million in Fairtrade premiums across all of its ingredients, Beck said. “That’s a million dollars that have gone to farmers like Salamatu and her community,” he said.

Katta is a member of the Munafa Cocoa Farmers’ Cooperative, which cultivates all of its cocoa organically. Her cooperative opted to use its premium to cover the cost of underbrushing work on the farms. Underbrushing is the process of removing weeds that compete with cocoa trees for water and nutrients. Katta also created economic opportunities for members of her community by hiring them to do the work.

“Salamatu has dreams of being an entrepreneur that can support not just her own future, but the future of her community, and we are glad to be supporting that,” Klausner said.

"This isn't just for big brands"

On a mural outside the Lexington Co-op grocery store in Buffalo, New York, shoppers can learn about the coffee grown by Ibu Rahmah that’s sold inside. Gimme Coffee, an employee-owned cooperative based in Ithaca, New York, that sells specialty coffees, sponsored the mural. Of all the coffee they source, 95 percent is certified Fairtrade.

Highlighting Ramah’s story is an opportunity to underscore why Gimme Coffee chose to be Fairtrade certified. 

“Frankly, this makes us an anomaly in the specialty coffee world,” said Colleen Anunu, co-managing director and head of product development at Gimme Coffee. “But we want to put this in front of customers to say this isn't just for big brands. This is a tide that lifts all ships. That’s why we engage with Fairtrade the way that we do.”

Ramah is “a total powerhouse, a standout individual,” Anunu said. “She has had to combat gender inequity in a region that doesn’t allow women to own certain lands or make decisions about agricultural production and. in many ways, are treated like the property of their husbands. For Ibu Ramah to own her own business is a phenomenal feat. She has pushed the culture to allow women to own coffee trees, to own bank accounts, to have say in decision-making in their households and how they spend their money and how agriculture production is brought to market. She has done so much for that area.”

Support of Fairtrade farmers is also a reflection of Gimme Coffee’s own democratic structure as an employee-owned company, Anunu said. “As a cooperative ourselves, it's super important to us that we're also working with suppliers that have democratic control through its membership in cooperatives. The Fairtrade brands have no influence over how the farmers spend their money from premiums. It really is a community-led effort.”

One part of the solution to a multifaceted problem

Taking part in the Fairtrade system has direct, positive impacts on farmers’ livelihoods, but it is just one solution to the multifaceted challenges facing farmers and communities in many places around the world. 

The global food system is complex, exacerbated by issues like climate change and global instability. Massively insufficient infrastructure like roads and bridges or communities struggling with intergenerational poverty are issues beyond the scope of what an organization like Fairtrade can resolve.

“But our work with Fairtrade is a step in the right direction,” Beck of Hu Kitchen said. “We know that putting more money in farmers' pockets allows them to invest where they believe they should be investing and supports their livelihoods best. That’s something we stand behind fully.”

Fairtrade America's Stritzinger seems to agree. “When you think about the chronic underpayment of farmers, the increased impact of climate change, and the prevalence of corporate greed here in the U.S., the problems farmers face are getting bigger,” she said. “And we haven’t even fixed it at the root level, which we see as pricing. So, we have to build the ship and sail it at the same time. Farmers know what they need. They just need the resources to tackle the problems themselves. They're way closer to the problems and to the solutions.” 

On the consumer side, getting more people to buy Fairtrade products is about access and visibility, Stritzinger said. 

“Our research shows that when consumers get the choice, they choose Fairtrade,” she said. “We’re a known entity. We’ve seen a 118 percent increase in awareness of Fairtrade in the U.S. in the past four years alone … We’re optimistic that once we get more products on shelves, we can deliver more impact for farmers.”

The long lines at early voting locations across the U.S. in the run-up to Election Day are a highly visible reminder that many voters need to excuse themselves from work for hours at a time just to cast their ballots. Employers can help to resolve the problem by offering paid time off for voting. Still, significant barriers will remain until all voters have an equal opportunity to cast their vote.

The business case for paid time off to vote

Advocates for paid time off emphasize that improvements in employee engagement and talent recruitment balance out the expense of lost working hours. For example, ahead of the U.S. midterm elections in 2022, the CEO of the advertising and marketing agency Red Branch Media penned a powerful op/ed outlining how paid time off for voting has “more than paid for itself in recruitment, retention and hiring” at the company.  

“When employees feel like their voices are being heard and that their opinions matter, they’re more likely to be engaged in their work. This leads to better performance and higher productivity,” Red Branch Media CEO Maren Hogan explained.

In the years since, the paid time off movement has grown considerably.  “The idea that employers can and should provide their employees time off to vote has gained significant momentum in recent years, evolving from a niche perk to an expected benefit in many industries,” Lars Schmidt, founder of the human resources consulting firm Amplify, wrote in an article for Fast Company this week. 

As time off for voting becomes a new standard for employers, some consider the paid leave movement a natural evolution of corporate social responsibility — particularly since less than half of U.S. states mandate paid voting leave. Schmidt echoes that sentiment, describing the movement as a permanent fixture, “driven by a combination of employee expectations, brand considerations, and a growing recognition of the link between civic engagement and workplace satisfaction.”

Business leaders can give themselves at least part of the credit for building momentum toward paid time off. In 2018, hundreds of corporations representing approximately 2 million workers launched the Time to Vote organization, focusing on an employer’s opportunity to make a difference by providing paid time off for voting.

Time to Vote launched with roughly 400 corporate members, which grew to 700 by 2020 and tops 2,200 today — more than double the organization’s initial goal of 1,000 participants. Meanwhile National Voter Registration Day, an annual campaign supported by large companies like Aflac, Microsoft, Paramount and Target, helped to get more than 5 million people registered to vote since it launched in 2012. 

Even if they have the day off, why should anyone wait for hours to cast a ballot?

Despite these corporate efforts, the question remains: Why must any voter in modern America — with paid time off or without — stand in line for hours to cast a ballot while others can breeze in and out of their polling place with practically no wait, or simply mail in their ballot or drop it off?

While the bipartisan Presidential Commission on Election Administration agreed a decade ago that no one should have to wait in line for more than 30 minutes to vote, about a fifth of voters faced longer waits when casting their ballots in 2020, according to the MIT Election Data and Science Lab. 

State laws often contribute to the wait times people see on Election Day. “Long waits at polling places are disruptive, disenfranchising, and all too common. Black and Latino voters are especially likely to endure them,” a research team at the Brennan Center for Justice found in a 2020 report.

In particular, communities with fewer poll workers, voting machines and other election resources tend to experience longer waits. When states reduce the number of polling places, limit early voting or make it more difficult to vote by mail, it adds pressure that leads to longer wait times. Voters waiting in long lines are also especially vulnerable to political violence, the Brennan Center for Justice found.

While a 2022 study suggests that paid time off can motivate people to stand in line regardless of the waiting time, some workers are left out of paid leave policies altogether.

“Workers of color, particularly women of color, are more likely to face unpredictable and challenging schedules, potentially compounding the growing racial voter turnout gap,” Molly Weston Williamson, a senior fellow with the Center for American Progress, wrote in the report. 

In addition, convenient access to a polling place also varies considerably depending on the voter’s ability to work at or close to home, in contrast to others who commute long distances to work far from their local polling place. An additional dividing line exists between gig workers and self-employed individuals who can afford to give themselves time off to vote, and those who can’t afford to lose valuable time at work.

Paid leave or not, long lines also disproportionately impact voters who are less than able-bodied, or who have small children or other dependents in their care.

Altogether, these barriers to voters indicate that paid leave is an important but insufficient contribution to voting rights in the U.S. Employers who participate in the paid time off movement can build on their efforts by advocating for ballot access on a more holistic basis, including a more equitable distribution of in-person polling places as well as mail-in voting, drop-boxes, and other election reforms that help close the gap between voter registration and voter turnout.

Lots of people say they stand up for underdogs. But not everyone welcomes them into their showrooms. That’s what some Subaru retailers do every October as part of a 17-year partnership between Subaru and The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).

More than 600 Subaru retailers work with animal shelters in their communities, even holding adoption events in their showrooms. Through the Subaru Loves Pets program, they provide funds and supplies to shelters and cover adoption and vet costs for pets seeking loving homes. New owners are presented with Pet Parent kits curated by Staples and Bark, which include supplies they will need for their new family member.

As the largest corporate sponsor of the ASPCA, Subaru has donated more than $38 million to the organization throughout their partnership and helped to treat, transport, rescue, and home more than 134,000 animals across the United States. 

Just this year, Subaru and its retailers provided more than $3 million in direct funding through grants administered by the ASPCA to help get animals ready for adoption.

“We’re very selective with whom we partner. When we were invited to participate in the Subaru Share the Love Event, it quickly became clear that there were shared values,” said Matthew Bershadker, president and CEO of the ASPCA. “Subaru understands the importance of being a good corporate citizen, not just for customers, but the importance of doing good as a business.”

Not to mention that Subaru is a highly regarded and visible company, which made it a natural choice. “It’s a household brand name with a sterling reputation, not just for its products, but how it conducts itself,” Bershadker continued.

Just like the nonprofit, Subaru is driven to find all pets a loving home. Shelters house about 3.3 million dogs and 3.2 million cats across the United States, according to the ASPCA. Through the Subaru Loves Pets program, the automaker and its retailers have committed to improving the lives of as many shelter animals as possible.

“This is a partnership rooted in the alignment of values, which benefits the community and saves lives through our shared goals,” Bershadker said. “We are grateful for our longstanding partnership with Subaru.”

Both the ASPCA and Subaru are especially passionate about helping overlooked “underdogs” (older or disabled shelter dogs) find loving homes. Subaru created National Make a Dog’s Day, which annually takes place on October 22, for dog owners to spoil their pets and encourage people to foster or adopt underdogs.

“They are older, they sit in shelters longer and many are victims of abuse,” said Bershadker, who fostered and adopted an underdog himself. “Some have medical and behavior problems. Subaru is helping people to see these animals in a different light.”

The ASPCA uses science-based behavior programs to help abused animals recover from their trauma. “Their capacity to forgive and trust humans again after they have suffered is amazing,” Bershadker said. 

Bershadker recently adopted an underdog named Whiskey, who came to the ASPCA as a victim of abuse and neglect, with her hair knotted, wounds down to the bone and requiring the removal of more than 20 teeth. Bershadker started fostering her in January, and when she was officially surrendered to the ASPCA in March, he adopted her. Since then, she has grown from seven pounds to almost 10. “She is the type of dog Subaru is helping us celebrate,” he said. “The most difficult adoptions are especially great because we know these animals are finally getting the second chance they deserve.”

Adoption events also have a ripple effect on shelters, he added, freeing up critical resources to help the remaining animals and opening space for others. They also influence how people think about and treat animals, after seeing how some of them have suffered. 

The helping hand is needed as animal welfare agencies work to recover from the pandemic, which stretched limited resources thin. “Many of the shelters are still at or near capacity,” Bershadker said. 

Pet adoptions did not soar during the pandemic as numerous people believed. Instead, many shelters housed and fostered pets while their owners were sick with COVID or faced financial setbacks. 

“We did a fair amount of emergency boarding,” Bershadker said. “The cost of vet care, the lack of access to vet care, a shortage of veterinarians and vet technicians, and limited pet-friendly housing, as well as economic uncertainty, made caring for a pet difficult."

Those challenges for shelters and the people and pets they serve continued as costs of living rose over recent years. “The country is still struggling. Shelters are continuing to lean into fostering, and some shelters started programs to help keep pets in homes,” he said. “One or two things go wrong [for a family], and the safety net fails them. You can see the power of human-animal bonds and how it helps people heal.”

Not only does the partnership with Subaru raise awareness about the plight of animals in shelters, but it also helps celebrate those human-animal bonds, Bershadker added. “I love the local reach the partnership brings,” he said, referring to Subaru retailers working with local shelters. “We’re all trying to change the fate of animals together.”

This article series is sponsored by Subaru of America and produced by the TriplePundit editorial team. 

In August, the British retailer M&S made headlines with the launch of its new service for clothes repairs and alterations. It’s a new direction for a retailer that not so long ago led the sector on sustainability with its bold Plan A program — an internal plan to be more sustainable — but which has since been quieter on the subject of sustainability.

The announcement put the spotlight back on the issue of sustainability in the fashion sector. 

That’s a topic its always struggled with. Fashion is the second biggest user of water. It accounts for 10 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation estimates that a truckload of abandoned textiles is dumped in landfill or incinerated every second. 

While few would deny these facts, actually doing anything about it is far harder. Other sectors can talk frankly about chemicals, wages, microfibers and so on. But it sits too awkwardly with the glossy, beautiful world of fashion. Quite simply, too much honesty can derail the dream many fashion brands sell. 

At the same time, it’s not certain that transparency will have the desired effect. By adding the facts and figures, are you really going to stop someone from buying an article of clothing when they fall in love with it on social media and make a special trip to the store to purchase? It’s little wonder that the 2022 Fashion Transparency Index calls for more transparency from the world’s largest fashion brands about their social and environmental efforts.

This has to change. Fashion companies can no longer continue to ignore the issue of sustainability. While they may be able to avoid public censure or legal penalties, and clever ad campaigns may help them sell even the most unsustainable products, this is temporary. And the far greater issue is the missed opportunity. The brands that act now to become more sustainable and more ethical will see significant long-term value.

Language, small steps and transparency 

So, how do they start? What can they do to make a meaningful difference while not alienating vital customers? They can make major and fairly rapid wins by acting in three areas.

First, move away from calling audiences consumers and talk about them as people or citizens with choices and voices. Our culture of consumption is not sustainable, and brands using the term consumers assume that someone is going to buy from them. Words matter, and changing their language is an important first step in changing mindsets and perceptions.

Second, look for small, tangible steps. Move past the paralysis caused by the sheer scale, complexity and importance of sustainability. Incremental change can be significant if it is properly aligned with measurable goals around long-term well-being for all. For example, add a target number of wears to a garment’s label. That one small step could start to change the “one and done” mentality of fast fashion. 

Third, be more transparent without overwhelming consumers at the point of sale. Provide sustainability efforts in a digestible format, such as on websites, social media, or through dedicated optional sustainability initiatives, including repair services. 

Time to act

These are just three steps, but they have real impact. And we’re already seeing fashion companies lead the way. Look at Vivo Barefoot, which incorporated repairability into its DNA from the beginning. Or look at what M&S is doing. Repair and reuse is a key area. The conversation needs to shift from recycling to reuse, tackling the problem at its source. 

Nobody’s Child is a good example of a fashion firm considering the whole supply chain. It’s transparent about its direct suppliers, which is a good start, and all of its fabrics are at least 75 percent reduced-impact alternatives. It’s not perfect, but the company is transparent about its efforts, not making wholesale claims. 

More fashion companies need to find ways to lead in this space. If they wait for others to lead, they’ll miss a vital opportunity. The graveyard of history is full of once vast companies that hung back on the big issues of their day, waiting to see what competitors would do.

The key point with sustainability is that sharing something is better than sharing nothing. No brand is perfect, but the effort they make to improve is what tells the story. 

A new report co-produced by the Business and Human Rights Resource Center and Indigenous Peoples Rights International calls for more Indigenous co-ownership in renewable energy projects. 

The report highlights examples where co-ownership agreements between energy developers and Indigenous communities are established and shares the experiences of the parties involved. It also provides recommendations to governments, companies and Indigenous peoples, highlighting barriers and risks to co-ownership in renewable energy projects.

Why is co-ownership important?

“There is massive investment going into renewables and a lot of the same kind of problems that we see in other land-intensive industries, like fossil fuels, are being repeated in renewable energy,” said Ana Žbona, co-head of the civic freedoms and human rights defenders program at the Business and Human Rights Resource Center. 

Indigenous peoples, who in large part have already been pushed to the margins of society, are again experiencing the wave of progress roll into their communities and pull their resources out to sea.

You may expect that from oil barons or the fever of a gold rush, but renewable energy is assumed to be different. 

“Yes, this is an energy transition, but it’s also a systems transition,” Žbona said. “But with renewable energy companies, we aren’t seeing that. We’re seeing a lot of the business-as-usual, extractive approach.”  

Energy developers and Indigenous communities sharing ownership of renewable projects can help address this issue.

“Co-ownership is recognizing the equity that Indigenous peoples have in a project,” said Alancay Morales Garro, business and human rights lead at Indigenous Peoples Rights International.

It’s important to emphasize that co-ownership does not imply free, prior and informed consent of a project from the community. Consent must still be obtained, regardless of ownership.

Co-ownership is proving to be good for business

The report notes that co-ownership models between Indigenous peoples and renewable energy projects are on the rise globally. 

In Colombia, Greenwood Energy is developing a solar project on Arhuaco land, and 49 percent of the project is owned by the Arhuaco people. Greenwood had plans to build a transmission line. But after project discussions with the Arhuaco, the company learned that the proposed route for the line was not optimal and for reasons of cultural and environmental significance, the partners rerouted the transmission line. The decision reduced costs and created a more sustainable project.

In Canada, a company called Natural Forces has eight projects and 19 Indigenous partners. “Their sense is that those projects were successful because of those long-term relationships that they’ve built,” Žbona said.

Natural Forces has some projects where Indigenous communities have small, minority stakes and others where the communities own more than 50 percent of the project. 

Companies that engage in co-ownership agreements with Indigenous nations receive a variety of benefits. The value of Indigenous knowledge of the land cannot be overstated. 

“Indigenous peoples are very informed about how their territory works,” Žbona said. “When they are invested in a project, they will give the kind of advice that’s going to make the project work better.”

There is also less risk of a project being protested, suspended, canceled or challenged in court when an Indigenous community has an equity stake in the project.

A mining company in Northern Canada, Skeena Resources, that co-owns a mine with the Tahltan Central Government told TriplePundit that the practice of respect and relationship-building adds immense value to a project.

“It’s the ability to work closely with people around common goals and to share aspirations with each other,” said Justin Himmelright, senior vice president of external affairs at Skeena Resources. “Trust and respect build fantastic productive relationships when it comes to advancing projects and initiatives together.”

While changing the status quo can be difficult, companies agree it is well worth it in the long run.

“A big renewable energy company said, ‘Yeah, it is challenging learning a new way of doing things,’” Žbona said. “They said, ‘It means more upfront time investment, but ultimately we are showing that there is another approach, a different mentality here, and that makes us more competitive in the end.’”

Governments have to play a bigger role

For co-ownership agreements to thrive, companies and Indigenous communities need a regulatory framework that facilitates the agreements. 

Canada is one country that is leading the way. The country’s regulatory framework recognizes Indigenous title to land and provides support to pursue co-ownership agreements.

“In Canada, there is legislation in place,” Žbona said. “There are even policies that allow for Indigenous peoples to have access to funding for these types of projects.”

In other regions, the lack of government recognition of Indigenous peoples makes it difficult for them to acquire an equity share in projects.

“In some places in Asia and Africa, where Indigenous peoples are not recognized, the state has all the power, and sometimes they exercise those powers wrongfully,” Morales Garro said. “The rights recognition of Indigenous peoples is a must.”

With greater rewards, comes greater risks

As investors know, having equity in a project or a company is not a risk-free venture. The report highlights some of the risks Indigenous communities face when considering ownership.

“If you have equity in a project, you have stakes on the table and there are risks associated with that,” Morales Garro said. “Projects can fail.”

If the governance of the project and the community’s funds are not adequately managed, it can also create internal divisions in the community. 

And when communities move towards full ownership of a project, they need to ensure they have experts who can successfully manage the project.

“One Indigenous community said, ‘We have lots of lawyers, but we don’t have many engineers or technicians, and that’s a gap that will come up if we start pursuing these types of arrangements,’” Morales Garro said.

Given the increased demand for clean energy, co-ownership models offer a potential improvement over the conventional, sometimes combative, relationships that Indigenous peoples had with energy projects in the past. With the right procedures, this arrangement could be a win for all parties involved.

The fundamentals of advertising and marketing that were taught in university classrooms for decades are flawed and could result in a lawsuit in today’s era of greenwashing, says veteran sustainability communications counselor Suzanne Shelton.

Brands that are committed to being good stewards of the environment need to tell their stories rather than greenhushing, but the messaging must be accurate.

“You will be cooler, sexier, happier … smarter if only you will buy this product or service. That is how traditional advertising works. It is all about implied benefits,” Shelton, senior partner at ERM Shelton, told attendees at the annual Sustainable Brands conference in San Diego this week.  “But when you apply that same approach to sustainability, that’s when you end up in court.”

A vocal advocate for brand storytelling on sustainability topics, Shelton’s appearance came at a perilous time for corporate communications professionals tasked with bolstering reputation with consumers, investors, employees and other key stakeholders.  Regulators have sued brands in both the United States and Europe, accusing them of intentionally making misleading claims over the sustainability of products and services.

So far in in 2024, 20 airlines have been taken to task by European regulators for overstating the percentage of sustainable aviation fuel used by their fleets, and for not using clear enough language over purchasing carbon offsets. A beverage maker was the subject of a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission settlement over the recyclability of plastic coffee pods. And the California attorney general sued an oil giant for claiming plastic recycling programs are ubiquitous when waste is more often sent to landfills or incinerators.

The rewards for companies deemed to be more climate-friendly are huge.

The $44 Billion Sustainability Opportunity for Brands, a report by Glow, TriplePundit and 3BL, estimates that U.S. brands could capture $44 billion in additional revenue by offering more sustainable products. The report was released in March 2024, following a survey of 3,000 US adults in November 2023. The survey found that 87 percent of consumers consider it important for businesses to act responsibly toward the environment and society. 

The report estimates that more than $9 billion of U.S. consumer spending on food and groceries will move away from brands with a poor sustainability reputation and toward brands that are perceived as leaders. 

At Sustainable Brands, Shelton referenced her firm’s own Global Eco Pulse research that revealed 80 percent of respondents have an improved opinion of a company that is reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Conversely, just 8 percent say they view a company negatively for cutting emissions.

“I think I can make a blanket statement that may not be our target audience,” she said, tongue planted firmly in her cheek.

The veteran agency owner urged attendees to ensure that their corporate “ESG house is in order” and that they are communicating on topics like recyclability and the third-party certifications on which their companies rely.

On the topic of greenwashing, Shelton said 29 percent of consumers are “savvy spotters” who are educated in identifying glorified climate claims and willing to call out bad actors.

“These are people that are actively working to put their wallets where their values are,” she said. “So, 29 percent of the population out there, if you greenwash, they’ll put you on the bad list and it'll be really hard to get off.”

Even brands working to save the planet and accurately communicating about progress can make improvements, Shelton maintained. 

“Have you ever seen copy that talks about sustainability being something for future generations?” she asked. “Next time you see that in your organization, I want you to get a red pen and cross through it.

“Who the hell are those people?" she continued. “They're just like some future people, but my kids, my grandkids, like that's personal. These are people that I've been up for every day, sworn to protect and love.”

A successful energy transition hinges on batteries capable of storing renewable energy for use when it can’t be generated. While lithium-ion technology is the current the gold standard for batteries, alternatives are needed. New technology promises to help energy storage operators evaluate the suitability of sodium-ion batteries and plan accordingly. 

“Sodium-ion batteries are a promising alternative to lithium-ion batteries, primarily because of the difference in raw materials,” said Juan Ramos Zayas, engineering manager at the battery analytics software company Twaice. “Sodium is available in significantly higher abundance than lithium. And sodium mining and refining are more environmentally sustainable, compared to lithium mining.”

Most of the materials used to create storage for renewable energy are not themselves renewable. Many of the extraction processes for lithium and cobalt — which is also needed for lithium-ion batteries — cause varying degrees of environmental and social harm, including environmental degradation, pollution and monopolization of water resources, displacement of Indigenous peoples, and widespread death and ecological destruction in the cobalt-rich Democratic Republic of the Congo.

On the other hand, sodium is plentiful in the natural environment and is considered a renewable resource. And sodium-ion batteries generally don’t require cobalt or other critical materials, Zayas said. 

“There may be further advantages in terms of service life, costs, safety and performance,” he said. “However, the industry is still in the early stages of standardizing the materials required for sodium-ion, and we will have to wait before we can draw any concrete conclusions.”

This doesn’t mean sodium-ion batteries will eventually replace lithium-based batteries, especially where higher energy density is needed. By their very nature, sodium-ion batteries have a lower capacity for energy density, Zayas said.

While that might make them less than ideal for long-range electric vehicles, they are effective for a variety of uses, including storing renewable energy at scale.

But energy storage operators need information about how these batteries age to plan their implementation and manage energy systems. Twaice already offers software that simulates the aging of lithium-ion batteries to help operators learn that information.

By further developing its simulation models to work with sodium-ion batteries, the company will help operators understand how they behave and age, too, Zayas said. This is the first model of its kind to work with non-lithium batteries, and it will help determine the suitability of sodium-ion batteries for specific projects and optimize their use without oversizing their storage. 

“Our simulation models provide a fundamental understanding of sodium-ion battery aging under varying operating conditions,” Zayas said. “So far, we are seeing that sodium-ion batteries degrade generally similar to lithium-ion batteries, and that we can transfer a lot of methods we use for lithium-ion battery modeling. Moreover, the cells we have tested show a promising lifetime, indicating a high potential of sodium-ion batteries to be deployed for different applications.”

There are, of course, limitations to the simulation. The information gleaned from the models is generally only valid for the conditions within the company’s Battery Research Center, where the testing takes place, Zayas said. But Twaice uses its battery expertise, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to estimate how they will perform in other conditions as accurately as possible.

Integrating sodium-ion batteries into energy storage systems offers a better option for the environment and communities near mines. But such alternative options are also necessary to meet the exponential growth in demand for batteries caused by the energy transition. Reliable models for understanding how these batteries degrade and behave are integral to making that happen, and they will likely become more so with the standardization and increased use of sodium-ion.

Editor's note: A previous version of this story attributed emailed responses from Twaice to Alexander Karger, battery and machine learning engineer. We regret the error. 

Leadership at NBCUniversal believes its "The More You Know" series of public service announcements (PSAs) lasted 35 years because it keeps pace with changing times, pays attention to important social issues, and adjusts to a communications environment that’s vastly different from when the series began.

“We attribute the longevity of 'The More You Know' (TMYK) to the recognizable and trusted faces who address timely issues and offer actionable tips people can use to improve their daily lives and the world we all live in together,” Marie Dilemani, senior director of marketing and communications for NBCUniversal, told TriplePundit in an email. “This ethos is something that transcends eras and fads.” 

The Peabody Award-winning series began in 1989 featuring personalities from various NBC shows. News anchor Tom Brokaw was the first to appear in the series, which succeeded another PSA campaign that ran from 1983 to 1989.

“We use TMYK as a messaging vehicle during consequential moments, and that’s what resonates,” Dilemani said. “If TMYK wasn’t the most well-known and impactful PSA campaign, I don’t think it would still be here at 35, let alone feature the people we’ve seen continue to enthusiastically participate.”

The series has featured a broad range of guests during its run, including celebrities, television hosts and United States presidents. Former Presidents George H. W. Bush and Barack Obama encouraged parents to be more involved in their children's education and former First Lady Michelle Obama worked to promote the prevention of childhood obesity. 

The latest campaign includes celebrities Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, stars of the upcoming film, “Wicked.” The messages are strengthened by the roster of talent who participate in the campaign, Dilemani said. 

“Whenever we have the opportunity to collaborate with talent, we want them to speak on topics that are meaningful to them,” Dilemani said. “In the case of Ariana and Cynthia, we looked at the themes of ‘Wicked’ and recognized we could inspire our audiences to cultivate sisterhood with the women in their lives by checking in on them … ‘Wicked’ is already having such a strong hand in the cultural zeitgeist, and it’s not even out yet, so our social impact message will benefit from the buzz. And thanks to its acclaimed history, TMYK can do its own part to fuel that buzz. It’s a win-win.”

The core values of the campaign are uniform across all platforms, Dilemani said. But the company pays close attention to the video style and messages it focuses on for social media because it sees a significant opportunity to engage with younger viewers who may not be as familiar with the campaign there. 

“We address topics that are top of mind for them, like mental health and the importance of finding a mentor, and we do so in ways that feel organic to social media,” Dilemani said. “Instead of scripting talent, we ask them a question on a topic and invite them to answer in a genuine way by sharing personal anecdotes.”

Beyond adapting to social media, the advent of streaming services, like the company’s Peacock platform, presented another opportunity to evolve, she said. 

“When Peacock launched, we could publish longer pieces, and as a result, the conversation series was born,” Dilemani said. “Two or more talent sit down together and dive into more nuanced topics like mentorship, climate change and mental health. I love how the audience is invited to sit down with them to reflect.”

Changes in audience viewing habits are a particularly significant challenge, so the company leverages social media and its various platforms to reach viewers where they are, she said. 

“For example, we plan an Instagram collaboration post with brand accounts and secure promo time or in-show coverage adjacent to participating talent’s appearances on ‘The Kelly Clarkson Show’ or [‘The Today Show’],” Dilemani said. “The fact that our marketers and schedulers still find room for TMYK in this highly competitive marketplace is a testament to NBCUniversal’s commitment to do good and give back.”

As a media and entertainment company, NBCUniversal is in a unique position to shed light on social issues of primary concern to people of all backgrounds, she said. 

“We have a broad array of recognizable talent who love giving back and using their influence to help others,” Dilemani said. “TMYK is the perfect platform to bring this aspiration to life — covering topics from voting to caregiving to literacy, and giving viewers simple tools to make positive changes in these areas.” 

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, it shook the world and tested governments’ reactions to health crises. But it also struck vulnerable, underserved communities in Africa in an entirely different way. Across the continent, from bustling cities to smaller communities, the pandemic exposed the harsh realities of ineffective healthcare systems and supply chains. It resulted in uncertainties around access to critical health products, ranging from protective personal equipment to COVID-19 vaccines. 

Today, Africa’s healthcare systems stand at a pivotal crossroad. Historic challenges of investor hesitation and operational hurdles collided with the stark realities exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic and were compounded by resulting debt crises. And supply chain failures highlighted the gaps in health product distribution and access. 

Africa’s population is expected to grow by over 30 percent within the next 10 years, reaching 1.7 billion people by 2030, further highlighting the growing and urgent need for innovative solutions to boost healthcare access. With 50 percent of Africans living more than two hours away from the nearest health facility, the need for reliable, local, tech-enabled distribution systems to get healthcare products into the hands of patients has never been more important.

The rise of African healthtech innovators 

As nations across Africa address the most efficient ways to deploy their limited health financing, local healthtech innovators present a unique opportunity to offer effective solutions to local challenges. 

While tech giants dominate headlines, an emerging crop of leading innovators are quietly transforming Africa’s health supply chains by enabling greater, faster and safer access to health products. New, data-driven tech platforms to manage product stocks in clinics and pharmacies are leading the charge, promising to change how health products are stocked in outlets down to the last mile.

Kasha, a leading health access platform in East Africa, exemplifies this transformation. Kasha streamlines the purchase of medicines for consumers and facilitates remote restocking for pharmacies, clinics and hospitals to minimize stockouts. Launched in Rwanda, Kasha has expanded across East and South Africa, with plans to reach West and Central Africa by the end of 2024.

Beyond providing a reliable platform, Kasha empowers individuals with access to a wide range of health products and information, enabling informed choices. By serving underserved providers and diverting pharmacies from risky open drug markets, Kasha is revolutionizing local health supply chains and healthcare access.

The potential impact? Massive. Nearly 50,000 pharmacies, clinics and hospitals are now able to minimize the price and quality impacts of supply chain fragmentation. Instead, they source quality medicines straight from distributors and manufacturers thanks to tech-enabled systems for managing stocks. Conservatively, assuming these outlets serve only three patients daily, that's over 250,000 patients getting better access to health products and care. This isn't just innovation — it's a transformation of healthcare systems.

It doesn’t end there. Innovators offering track-and-trace technologies to follow the movement of health products and reduce the likelihood of counterfeits entering the supply chain are also reducing the threat of substandard and falsified health products. Innovators in medical drone delivery are advancing access for tens of thousands of residents in hard-to-reach communities who were historically cut off from health supply chains. And new analytics firms are applying data-driven approaches to supply chain planning and demand forecasting. 

Unraveling the red tape 

While they hold significant promise to improve access, healthtech innovators are caught in a web of local market challenges. Take drug distribution company, Remedial Health, which is serving 4,000 pharmacies, clinics and hospitals in Nigeria to improve access to genuine and affordable medicines. Having raised $12 million to offer digitally enabled procurement, Remedial Health is not just managing inventory but going further to offer financing solutions to local pharmacies. This minimizes the impact of cash flow constraints on product availability in pharmacies across the country. 

In Egypt, Yodawy, which raised $16 million in a Series B funding, stretched beyond an online pharmacy. It evolved into a pharmacy benefits manager to ease access to health products via health insurance systems. Since its inception in 2018, it has processed 4 million prescriptions and partnered with 3,000 pharmacies and 15 insurance companies. In a country where health insurance coverage is historically low, driving greater adoption is crucial.

As they innovate, startups also face an uphill task of navigating long, bureaucratic sales cycles and a maze of international regulations to qualify for tenders with global donors and organizations. Unfortunately, global organizations focused on Africa’s supply chains are built to work with large, multinational companies and international organizations and do not procure tech-driven solutions — especially those developed by startups built in Africa.

It is time to adopt locally-developed, cost-effective, tech-driven solutions that can accelerate access. This isn’t just about sleeker systems, it’s about fostering a self-sustaining ecosystem of innovation that can respond nimbly to Africa’s unique needs. Global organizations working to strengthen Africa’s supply chains must intentionally shift from Western solutions, large multinationals, and international organizations to testing and procuring solutions from local health supply chain innovators. 

It is time to leverage African solutions for African challenges.

The music industry is not known for being a sustainability pioneer, but for the millions of Billie Eilish fans, there’s an opportunity to take a literal bite out of the climate change crisis. Concertgoers can take the Support and Feed pledge to eat one plant-based meal each day for 30 days. 

“If 10,000 people at a concert take a pledge to eat one plant-based meal per day for 30 days, it would save 7 million gallons of water,” Maggie Baird, founder of Support and Feed and mother of Billie Eilish and her musician brother Finneas, said last month at Climate Week in New York City. 

With an average attendance of 1.15 million people at Eilish concerts, the potential impact is considerable. The hope is that the awareness remains long after the concert. “We like to say that people come for Billie, but they stay for the planet,” Baird said.

Along with Support and Feed, Eilish and her team partner with Reverb, an environmental nonprofit that works with musicians, concerts and venues to green their events, while engaging fans to take environmental and social action. During Eilish’s Happier Than Ever tour, 133,500 fan actions were taken, including over 3,622 adopting the plant-based meal pledge, according to a Reverb report.

Riding on a music industry trend

While Eilish is just one performer, the plant-based pledge and other sustainability-focused aspects of her tours are part of a global trend in the music industry, in large part due to demand from fans. Some 69 percent of attendees at music festivals globally in 2024 favored nature-conscious events.

British hiphop legends Massive Attack offered entirely vegan catering at a festival in Bristol, England, in August. The event, Act 1.5, is named for the global temperature rise limit set in the Paris Climate Agreement.

This is a trend that Baird hoped to see for years, she said at the Nest Climate Campus event. Baird emphasized the link between food systems and climate change.

The vast majority of the world’s farmland is used for meat and dairy, with livestock accounting for 80 percent of agricultural use. A global shift to a mostly plant-based “flexitarian” diet could reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help restrict global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, according to a recent study from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.

Putting equity on the menu

There are other overlooked dimensions to the challenge, Baird said. The shift to plant-based eating can also simultaneously tackle issues around health, access to nutritious food and equity. Two decades of studies underscore the health benefits associated with plant-based diets. Yet access to such food is often unavailable to marginalized communities. Community-based food systems can make a difference, as TriplePundit previously reported.

“I think of all the movements in the climate space, this may be the most overlooked, but in many ways, the most exciting and joy-filled one,” she said. “At Support and Feed we provide delicious, plant-based, restaurant-quality meals that anyone would be honored to eat, and at the same time helping the local economy because we are purchasing those meals from small community businesses.”

Since Support and Feed’s founding in Los Angeles, California, during the pandemic, the nonprofit has worked with over 80 community organizations, 150 volunteers, and supported over 60 local restaurants to deliver nearly 600,000 plant-based meals and pantry items.

It has expanded to Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis, Nashville, New Orleans, New York City, Philadelphia, Hampton Roads and Washington D.C. It also has a presence in another 30 cities globally, including the United Kingdom, the European Union and Australia. It aims to have a footprint in cities that are most impacted by food insecurity and climate change.

Missing ingredient to the food system challenge

The intersectionality of the food system equity and climate crisis challenges is often missed by other food-focused organizations, Baird said. To remedy this, Support and Feed has three interconnected programs. 

The first is a customized meal delivery program that addresses hunger in local communities by building cohorts with restaurants, grocers and food rescue partners. It also runs educational programs to shine a light on how food equity is tied to the climate crisis, and its disproportionate impact on low-income and historically marginalized communities. And a third program boosts food accessibility and wellness by helping children and youth learn to grow their own food and pollinator habitats. 

“Food is about the climate crisis, it’s about equity, it’s about health — my passion is working at the intersection of all of those,” Baird said.

Awareness can make all the difference

Growing up in western Colorado, Baird became a plant-based eater who cared for the environment at a young age and raised her children with the same love for eating plants. “Food is my love language,” she said.

At the same time, Baird said she recognizes that not everyone grew up with plant-based eating or is motivated enough by climate and environmental issues to continue to eat that way. 

While 73 percent of Americans think plant proteins are healthy — compared to just 39 percent who think animal proteins are healthy — only 32 percent say environmental sustainability is a serious factor in their food-buying decisions, according to a study by researchers at Virginia Tech. Part of that gap might be because it is not easy to know the environmental impact of food choices. Most of the survey respondents said if the information was easier to access, it would influence their decisions.

That is why education is such an important part of Support and Feed, Baird said. Like the information Eilish’s team shares with fans and the dedicated sustainability page on the Billie Eilish website inviting fans to take action in multiple ways.

“We’re really trying to break a lot of stereotypes and myths,” Baird said. “It’s not about taking something away from people. That just doesn’t fly with people. Food is culture, food is love, food is a lot of our identity and it just plain doesn’t work to come in and say, ‘You need to do this.’ So we try to meet people where they are. We ask people to start with one fully plant-based meal a day for 30 days. We offer recipes and guidance.” 

It's a life mission that Baird said she finds satisfying on many levels. “We help people understand that if you take a little step, if you think about this each day and make substitutions, find some new foods you love, then all of us together make a massive impact,” she said. “You can be part of a solution, and it doesn't really have to hurt.”