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Early next month, representatives from more than 500 banks from around the world will gather to explore how to promote sustainable development and “align financial flows” with the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Participants in the upcoming Finance in Common Summit account for 12 percent of global investment annually with $23 trillion in assets combined, allowing for enormous potential impact. 
 
Not surprisingly, financing energy transitions will be central to the discussions, including Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETPs), or creative financing packages to support developing countries’ transitions away from coal. Four JETPs have been announced so far with South Africa, Indonesia, Vietnam and Senegal. India is next in line. G7 countries and development banks are instrumental to financing these initiatives. 
 
But like anything that requires a massive infrastructure shift, transparency and accountability are essential to ensure that the billions of allocated dollars are actually used for their intended purpose. In the case of the JETPs, this means moving toward renewable energy to benefit all communities. Such transparency and accountability is only possible where local NGOs and civil society experts can participate freely and fully in public discussions, provide independent monitoring of social and environmental impacts, and support communities to advocate for their rights.

This is what the “just” aspect of the just transition is all about — which is why financial institutions should be paying very close attention to the situation of civil society voices in the countries they are prioritizing. 
 
Take Vietnam as an example.
 
Two development banks — the International Finance Corp. and the Asian Development Bank — joined forces with the U.S., U.K. and other G7 nations to finance a $15.5 billion JETP with Vietnam. Meanwhile, in the last couple of years, the Vietnamese government has arrested and detained five of the country’s most prominent climate leaders who should be at the forefront of this process. The charges all relate to “tax evasion,” but ample evidence, including multiple declarations from U.N. experts and treaty bodies, point to these vague laws being used to silence environmental defenders in Vietnam. 
 
One of the climate justice heroes currently serving a five-year prison sentence in Vietnam is Mr. Dang Dinh Bach (“Bach”), whom I know personally both as a former student and as a partner in a U.S.-funded law reform project. His work centered around protecting vulnerable communities from pollution, including plastic waste, asbestos and coal-fired power plants. I was impressed with his strong sense of values, always respecting the Vietnamese legal system and speaking highly of the government. He’s still in jail despite numerous high-level calls for his release and a U.N. opinion that found his imprisonment a “violation of international law” in the context of a “systemic problem with arbitrary detention” of environmental defenders in Vietnam.
 
Just a few months ago, another climate champion in Vietnam, Obama Foundation Scholar Hoang Thi Minh Hong, was detained on similar charges, continuing this highly concerning trend. The U.N. and several governments, including the U.S. and the U.K., have all released statements calling for her release, but to no avail. 
 
Internationally-renowned climate leader and Goldman Environmental Prize Winner Ms. Nguy Thi Khanh was recently released after serving 16 months in prison on similar tax-evasion charges. Environmental groups continue to face threats, and many have shut down in reaction to this chilling situation. 

For all banks that will be participating in the upcoming Finance in Common Summit, these arrests should be a red flag. Even more so for the International Finance Corp. and the Asian Development Bank, as they have recognized the link between dissent and sustainable financing, having adopted specific policies protecting those who voice opinions about the projects they fund. 
 
The World Bank, of which the International Finance Corp. is a part, has a zero-tolerance policy around reprisals and retaliation against those who openly share their views about projects it funds, stating: “Any form of intimidation against people who comment on Bank projects, research, activities and their impact, goes against our core values of respecting the people we work for and acting with utmost integrity." The Asian Development Bank's policy similarly says that civil society participation in its projects “fundamentally supports good governance, citizenship and accountability of the state.”
 
Both development banks must know that funding a JETP in Vietnam while the government is punishing those who argued for this precise transition violates the spirit of their policies and undermines the ultimate effectiveness of their JETP investments.  
 
Banks should not be supporting JETPs in any country where advocating for clean energy is treated as a crime under the guise of tax fraud. If Bach, Hoang and Khanh can be arrested for taking reasoned positions against coal-fired power plants or other projects that exacerbate climate change, then anybody is at risk of being arbitrarily imprisoned in Vietnam for supporting the goals of the JETP in the future. Each of these individuals worked within the system and was eager to help monitor and implement the JETP on behalf of impacted communities. 
 
To achieve a truly just energy transition in Vietnam, financing of the JETP must be contingent upon the urgent release of Bach, Hoang, and the other environmental defenders serving harsh and unjust sentences. In addition, civil society must be able to safely and freely contribute to the work needed for Vietnam to meet its net-zero emission target by 2050 and the JETP commitments without retaliation or threat of imprisonment. The same should be true for all countries receiving billions of dollars to meet the Paris Agreement goals. 
 
At this year’s Finance in Common Summit, I urge the participating banks that finance JETPs or any other type of climate-forward initiatives to do their due diligence and make sure their money will actually be used to fund truly just energy transitions. 

Image credits: Victoria Pickering/Flickr and Markus Spiske/Unsplash

A new loan program focused on regenerative agriculture techniques is reporting impressive results from its pilot year. Regenerative Agricultural Financing rewards farmers who protect the topsoil and use fertilizers responsibly. Eighty-three percent of the farmers who completed it in 2022 did just that, earning back 0.5 percent of their interest rate.

The program is the product of a partnership between the Environmental Defense Fund and the Farmers Business Network. And its success — coupled with farmers' enthusiasm — points to a promising new path for both lenders and borrowers that could potentially be replicated in other industries.

Innovative lending to promote regenerative agriculture and more

“The big innovation here is that it's one of the first agricultural finance products to reward environmental stewardship,” Maggie Monast, senior director of climate-smart agriculture at the Environmental Defense Fund, told TriplePundit. “My goal is to encourage others in the agricultural finance sector to create similar or tailored financial solutions of their own that really support farmers as they adopt climate-smart agriculture.”

Farmers were eager to jump on board, and the program “was quickly oversubscribed,” according to the fund. In order to accommodate demand, the initial budget of $25 million was doubled for 2023. The Farmers Business Network is looking to increase the loan program’s lending power to $500 million over the next five years, Monast said.

During the pilot year, 48 farmers participated in the program, and data was collected for 42,000 acres. There are 87 farmers enrolled for 2023, and although data on the total acreage is not in yet, Monast said she expects it will be roughly double what it was in 2022. “We're thrilled with the farmer interest and success of the regenerative agriculture financing program,” she said. “But really, we'll be seeing more success when other agricultural banks and farm credit cooperatives are following suit and working with farmers in a similar way.”

Results-based standards for regenerative agriculture

In order to earn their interest rate rebate, participating farmers had to meet environmental standards for two primary metrics: nitrogen fertilizer use and soil health. By doing so, farmers could save money above and beyond their rebate. And by reducing their nitrogen fertilizer usage to a more efficient level, they could save on inputs, as well.

“Nitrogen is necessary to grow our crops, but when it's used in excess, it both pollutes water through nitrate loss and it contributes a really potent greenhouse gas — nitrous oxide — which is 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide,” Monast said. “Farmers were required to stay within an efficient amount of nitrogen fertilizer use, and also to be using one or more soil health practices.”

The main soil health practices used were planting cover crops — plants used to cover bare soil — and adopting no-till farming — planting in soil that has not been churned up, she said. Flexibility was also allowed for other methods. “Those practices really build soil health and can contribute nutrients back into the soil, which supports farmers in reducing nitrogen fertilizer use and can also support farmers in reducing herbicide use,” Monast said.

Additionally, practicing no-till farming protects the soil from water and wind erosion and retains sequestered carbon, Monast said. And cover crops do their own part in keeping the soil in place and preventing erosion. “They add organic matter to the soil,” she said. “Depending on what kind of cover crop you use, they can also add nutrients back into the soil. So, if you use a nitrogen-fixing cover crop, it adds nutrients back into the soil … that allows you to then dial back on the nitrogen fertilizer you're applying and the herbicides you're applying because you're replacing some of that with the function of the cover crop.” 

Room for expansion

While the program was limited to soy, corn and wheat agriculture based on the nitrogen balance science the Environmental Defense Fund had available, Monast noted the possibility of scaling to other crops in the future. And she’s eager to see more lenders following the Farmers Business Network’s lead now that it’s clear farmers are open to these kinds of loan programs.

“At the end of last year, we put out the first-ever global survey of agricultural finance institutions on climate risks and opportunities,” she said. “And from that survey, we found that 87 percent of agricultural lenders see climate change as a material risk to their business. But only 24 percent have integrated climate change into their decision-making in a substantial way. So, that gap essentially is showing where lenders need to improve so that their business is aligned with the risks that they see in the marketplace.”

In that survey, 59 percent of lenders said they think new business opportunities will be associated with climate change, which the Regenerative Agricultural Financing program is an example of, Monast said. “Data shows that lenders are thinking about this and that this is the future. And this product is the first example to show the why.”

Of course, agriculture isn’t the only sector affected by the climate crisis. It’s hard to imagine an industry that won’t face any repercussions as our planet warms. The effects on investments will no doubt be far-reaching. Lending programs modeled after this one could have the potential to promote environmental stewardship beyond regenerative agriculture by rewarding reductions in emissions, increased use of post-consumer recycled materials, curtailed use of natural resources and many other innovative methods.

Image credits: Irewolede/Unsplash and EDF

Heaps of scrap tires were once a common sight in countries around the world, whether stockpiled, taking up space in landfills or illegally dumped. But the picture has improved over the years, thanks in part to the growth of new markets for scrap rubber and other components of end-of-life tires (known as ELT). Countries including Brazil and India now recover almost all of the ELT they produce, and recovery rates exceed 90 percent on average across the European Union. The U.S. recovers around 80 percent of its ELT.

Still, ELT recovery rates rise and fall in accordance with demand and end markets for ELT materials. In the U.S., for example, the ELT recovery rate was 71 percent in 2021, compared to a high of 96 percent in 2013, according to data from the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA). The primary reason for this decline in the U.S. is that scrap tire recycling is not keeping pace with increasing annual generation. Other regions are faring better, with ELT recovery rates nearing 100 percent in Germany and France and hovering around 90 percent in Japan and South Korea. 

New, more valuable use opportunities for ELT could provide even more incentives for ELT recycling and help further build circularity and sustainability into the tire lifecycle at the global level.

Moving toward a circular economy for end-of-life tires

Transitioning to a circular economy for ELT tires will require development of new markets for scrap tires.  According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) primary uses for  ELTs include tire-derived fuel, civil engineering applications, such as sub-grade fill and embankments, and ground rubber applications including rubberized asphalts.

Tire-derived fuel — shredded or whole tires that can be burned for energy and for their material content — consume roughly 32 percent of annually generated ELTs in the U.S. Tire-derived fuel typically replaces traditional fossil fuels and decreases emissions of sulfur oxides (SOx) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). Further, the U.S. EPA recognizes the biogenic or natural rubber content in tire-derived fuel as carbon neutral, which reduces the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions profile for this material. However, despite these benefits, USTMA’s Scrap Tire Management Summary report demonstrates that the use of tire-derived fuel in the U.S. continues to decline.  This is in large part due to market dynamics including energy prices and demand.  

Today, innovators are looking toward more sustainable ways to generate energy from ELTs. With next-generation carbon recycling technology in hand, emissions from tire-derived fuel could be captured and converted into new fuels, plastics, and other products. 

Additionally, a process called tire pyrolysis — or thermal degradation of the organic components in tires at temperatures of over 900 degrees Fahrenheit (482 degrees Celsius) — produces oil, gas and recycled carbon black products in addition to the recovery of the steel. In Germany, Mercedes-Benz and other stakeholders are exploring the use of pyrolysis oil, produced in part from recycled tires, to make plastic car parts. Bridgestone is also working with partners in Japan to develop next-level recycling technology that can break ELT down to its molecular building blocks for reuse in products including synthetic rubber. 

New technology can lead to new markets

Other traditional tire recovery uses could also see shifts in the near future. For example, a recent State of Knowledge Report completed by the University of Missouri and sponsored by The Ray and USTMA, finds promising economic, performance and environmental benefits from the use of ground ELTs in roadways. The report also identified data gaps including the need to better understand the benefits of rubber-modified asphalt relative to the issue of tire and road wear particles (tiny debris formed as the tire meets the road surface).  USTMA is currently sponsoring research to answer this question through the University of Missouri, and the study is expected to be finalized later this year.

New recycling technology is opening the door to novel uses in the concrete industry, enabling planners to select applications where exposure to abrasion, fire, seepage, or other loss can be minimized or eliminated. 

Though only small amounts of tire scrap have been added to concrete as a replacement for traditional material like gravel or crushed rock, that could soon change. A team of engineers from Australia’s RMIT University recently developed a compression-based process that can replace traditional concrete aggregate with tire-derived materials. 

According to RMIT, the new rubber-based concrete meets Australian building codes. It is lighter than conventional concrete, raising the potential for reducing transportation and building costs.

Separate research from the University of South Australia also found ELT to be an economically viable and safe input for concrete in residential construction, further building curiosity around this potential end-life solution.

To inform developments like these, the Tire Industry Project (TIP) — a voluntary CEO-led sustainability collaboration under the umbrella of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development — outlines the relative contribution to circularity of different ELT-management pathways in its ELT management hierarchy.

Next-generation tire recycling and the circular economy

Getting to the next level of circularity will also involve new technology in the tire itself.

The use of bio-based materials in tires is one new approach. Michelin, for example, is focusing on bio-based alternatives for butadiene, a key ingredient in synthetic tire rubber, and Continental is looking to recycled rubber, rice husks and plastic bottles in its drive for sustainable materials for tire production. Goodyear’s commitment to using sustainable materials includes the use of rice ash silica, as well as the use of soybean oil, a surplus that is available beyond food applications. 

In its Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Roadmap for the tire sector, TIP raises additional opportunities for industry stakeholders to move toward circularity — which include scaling solutions to track and trace the flow of ELTs, fostering new or improved ELT markets, and developing standards and solutions companies can use to advance product design to achieve more sustainable outcomes. 

“A systematic life cycle approach must be taken to achieve a circular economy, which can result in better environmental performance and improved security of supply of raw materials,” the Roadmap reads. “The design and manufacture of new tire solutions is a core area of competition between tire companies that seek to innovate new and proprietary performance attributes for their customers.”

The transportation sector, including the tire industry, has been at the forefront of the long, complex journey toward decarbonization and sustainability. And the movement from ELT recovery to circularity will help ensure that vehicle tires can come along for the ride.  

Image credit: Robert Laursoo/Unsplash

Almost 90 percent of global financial and goods flows touch an SAP system. That kind of reach is almost unthinkable — and the tech giant wants to put it to work to empower diverse startup founders. 

While the company doesn't fund startups directly, its SAP.iO Foundries initiative arguably offers something even better. The program gives startups an opportunity to integrate within SAP’s technology ecosystem and develop relationships with the company’s vast network of customers, partners and employees. 

Almost half the companies (44 percent) in SAP.iO's global portfolio are founded or led by an underrepresented entrepreneur. Since 2017, the 525 companies incubated by SAP globally have raised around $11 billion in venture capital post-graduation from SAP.iO. They've also landed sales in the tens of millions thanks to connections made through the program and created around 36,000 jobs. 

"The feedback that underrepresented people often get when they go to investors is, 'You don't have enough traction,' whether that's valid or not," said Kange Kaneene, vice president of SAP.iO Foundries in North America, Latin America and the Caribbean. "What we can say is: We are going to give you that traction. We're going to give you big contracts with big customers that are incontrovertibly impactful in whatever region or industry they sit in, and then we'll help you fundraise by introducing you to people. And that's something that the numbers show has been extremely successful for us." 

SAP leverages relationships to help startups scale

SAP.iO seeks out early-stage startups in the enterprise software space. It's hosted dozens of themed cohorts globally, aimed at identifying solutions that can add new desirable features to SAP's technology ecosystem. A current cohort in New York, for example, is focused on digital supply chain innovations, while another recent cohort centered on sustainability in the consumer and retail segment.

Kaneene and her team leverage their networking prowess to assemble a list of 500 to 600 potential startups for each cohort. After several screening rounds, about 15 startups are put forward for what SAP.iO calls Selection Day, where they present their ideas to a selection committee made up of SAP customers, partners and investors. In the sustainability in retail cohort, for example, selection committee members included representatives from companies like Unilever, Levi Strauss and Red Bull — "big customers in the space that we think are probably representative of what the industry at large would want," Kaneene said. 

Ten startups are ultimately selected for each cohort, and they're incubated by SAP.iO for five months. Their solutions are integrated into SAP's technology portfolio and listed on the company's marketplace, SAP Store, with the $2,000 listing fee waived for three years. Rather than taking an equity stake in portfolio companies, SAP shares in the revenue they take in from sales on the marketplace, Kaneene said. 

The startups also receive mentoring and expert go-to-market advice, as well as introductions to key stakeholders who can help them scale. Each cohort ends with a Demo Day, where startups present their refined business plans to potential customers and investors. 

"When you are a startup that has a direct sales model — meaning you sell directly to an enterprise versus a consumer — it's really hard," Kaneene said. "You have to figure out what buying team within a corporation you need to approach. Then you have to figure out who the sole decision-maker is, and then how to actually contact that person. Because SAP has 450,000 customers globally, we already have those relationships." 

Since its inception, SAP.iO has connected portfolio startups to customers 7,000 times. Companies in SAP.iO's portfolio span a range of sectors — from Anthill, a woman-owned startup that provides an SMS-based employee portal for deskless workers, to COI Energy Services, a Black-owned digital energy management platform for the commercial building sector. 

But startups don't have to be selected for a cohort in order to benefit. Startup founders meet with product and go-to-market leads at SAP during the screening process, and some of those conversations lead to new ideas for co-innovation. Those chosen to present to the selection committee have also received inquiries from customers even if they weren't selected for the cohort, Kaneene said. 

A boost for underrepresented founders... 

SAP.iO intentionally seeks out underrepresented founders, who it defines as entrepreneurs from groups whose venture capital funding is disproportionately low for their region. This varies globally but often includes women, people of color, LGTBTQ people and people from countries that tend to be overlooked by VC funders.

SAP.iO formalized its commitment to these founders in 2019 with the launch of SAP.iO No Boundaries, which it bills as "the first comprehensive inclusive entrepreneurship initiative for underrepresented and underestimated entrepreneurs in the business software industry." It pledged to scale SAP.iO Foundries with a focus on diverse founders, aiming to support at least 200 startups founded or led by underrepresented entrepreneurs by 2023. It met that goal in July, six months ahead of schedule. 

But incubating startups led by diverse founders is only the beginning. Creating a landscape in which these startups can succeed also means busting preconceived notions and changing hearts and minds. 

"When I talk to external stakeholders about how we're excited about the focus on underrepresented founders, their feedback is always, 'Oh, so does that mean you're compromising on quality?' That's always very frustrating, but we're excited to say that [the startups led by underrepresented entrepreneurs] in the portfolio tie or surpass the rest of the portfolio on all the typical external metrics," Kaneene said.

The 200 startups founded or led by underrepresented entrepreneurs make up 44 percent of SAP.iO's global portfolio — and they represent half of the unicorns in the portfolio (meaning their valuation exceeds $1 billion), as well as 42 percent of cumulative VC funding. They also "have a greater likelihood to progress in their partnership with SAP," according the company. 

Metrics like these often run counter to what VC funders and other external stakeholders expect. "It always comes as a surprise," Kaneene said. "People just cannot get their heads around the fact that diversity doesn't mean crap. I don't know why." 

But the success of the underrepresented founders in SAP.iO's portfolio is starting to change those perceptions. "When I talk to VCs, a lot of times the reason they love working with us is because we provide a vetted list of startups they can evaluate," Kaneene said. "When we can say, ‘Come to our Demo Day where we have 10 awesome digital supply chain companies — half of them diverse, all validated by real customers,’ they love it, because it de-risks that for them. It helps them understand that diverse founders are out there, and not only are they out there, but they are also validated by SAP and by the customer and we can show the revenue that they're bringing in based on those relationships."

What's still needed to help diverse founders scale up

Underrepresented founders are notoriously overlooked and under-funded. In the U.S., for example, less than 2 percent of all venture capital funding went to women-led startups in 2022. Only around 1 percent went to Black-owned startups. Numbers like those aren't going to change overnight, and it will take action from the entire VC industry to move the needle. 

"There are some fundamental screening criteria that are, probably even unintentionally, taking unrepresented founders out of the game," Kaneene said. "A lot of venture capitals will say, 'I only talk to people who came in from a warm lead.' So, if your network isn't diverse, then neither is anything else." 

Other VCs avoid investing in companies led by a sole founder or by a founder who is still working a day job while building their business, factors that overwhelmingly characterize underrepresented entrepreneurs. Further, venture capital favors big cities — in the U.S., more than 60 percent of all VC funding in the first half of 2022 went to startups based San Francisco, New York City or Boston — which can also hold underrepresented founders back. 

While it can't change the landscape on its own, SAP.iO provides a powerful proving ground for diverse founders with big ideas that can shake up the tech sector. "We believe that we're finding the best companies overall and also we're helping these underrepresented and overlooked founders," Kaneene said.

Images courtesy of of SAP.iO

Indicators suggest that the worst of the economic strain is behind us. And while this doesn’t mean consumers will enjoy unabated shopping sprees any time soon, it may hint that more people will consider factors beyond the price tag when selecting a brand.

In tight economic times, consumer decision-making is generally limited to factors of price and quality — in other words, how do I get the most bang for my buck? When the grip on household spending loosens, though, and consumers find themselves with more disposable income, they have more room to consider other factors in their decision-making. 

The U.S. Consumer Price Index for June 2023 saw the smallest monthly increase since 2021, signaling that inflation may have plateaued and offering consumers a bit of reprieve from the previous years’ bank account blitz.

In 2022, U.S. food prices had their largest annual increase since the 1980s, and per-capita disposable income fell by 6.6 percent. Now, food prices are beginning to stabilize, and the forecast for 2023 indicates that disposable income will start to see a small climb. Meanwhile, the global economy is also beginning to recover from disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

If consumers find economic relief in the near future, they’ll enjoy more freedom to choose products and services based on preferences beyond simply finding the best price.

What does the data say about purchase drivers?

Data from Glow, a consumer data research company, shows that U.S. consumers consider price and quality as the most important factors when selecting goods or services in any industry. Given the state of the economy as of late, this isn’t much of a surprise.

Alongside price and quality, other purchase drivers include ease of use, customer support, availability and convenience, features and benefits, and sustainability. The final factor there, sustainability, is already top of mind for many consumers — and its relevance is quickly growing. 

So, what really goes through consumers’ minds when they consider making a purchase? In industries where the price-quality combo is comparable between brands, consumers are more likely to look to the next set of drivers to aid in their final decision-making, said Mike Johnston, managing director of data products at Glow.

When we look at the Glow data for sustainability as a purchase driver across industries, it features as a top-three driver for 40 percent of U.S. consumers when it comes to energy providers, as well as 31 percent in the auto industry. The industry that sustainability ranked lowest in, convenience stores, still saw 20 percent of consumers ranking it as a top-three purchase driver.

“If there is a factor that is important to 1 in 5 consumers, or more, this is significant for any business as it can have a material impact on whether their brand is selected,” Johnston said.  

Why is sustainability demand on the rise?

The whole spectrum of environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues is gaining traction with a large share of consumers. Granted, some consumers stand firmly in the “anti-ESG” camp, but a significant portion of shoppers are shifting their purchase drivers to prioritize sustainability.

Based on a recent study by NIQ, 69 percent of global consumers say that sustainability and ESG concerns have increased in importance to them over the last two years. It’s no surprise that the climate crisis has prompted many people to reevaluate their buying habits, but that’s only part of the reason why sustainability issues are playing a more prominent role.

“There are a mix of reasons for the growing importance of sustainability across consumers,” Johnston said. He points to the growing exposure in society of social issues, corporate scandals and the global climate crisis, as well as the changing demographics of the consumer base, as to why sustainability demand is on the rise.

“Sustainability and ESG issues are routinely seen to be more important with younger consumers,” Johnston said. These younger consumers, like millennials and Gen Z, are growing in importance quickly and increasingly occupying a larger share of the market.

‘Young’ consumers drive the sustainability surge

We can call them young, but there’s a good chunk of millennials who are closer to retirement than they are to high school, and they aren’t getting any younger. The dynamics of the market are changing as baby boomers and Gen Xers scale back their market influence.

For millennials, 61 percent say that sustainability and ESG issues have increased in importance for them in the last 12 months. Across all categories, sustainability is a top-three purchase driver for 33 percent to 50 percent of these consumers. Aside from convenience stores, at least 10 percent of millennials ranked sustainability as the top purchase driver in all categories.

On the other side of the coin, baby boomers are least concerned about sustainability when making a purchase, according to Glow data.

Sustainability has to work in tandem with other purchase drivers

It’s growing in importance, but sustainability hasn’t yet reached the level of a standalone purchase driver in most cases. Depending on the product, price or quality has the ability to settle decisions single handedly.

It’s not uncommon to think or hear a shopper say, “I don’t care, just give me the cheapest one you got,” signaling price as the sole purchase driver. Or, likewise, “I don’t care what it costs, I just want the job done right,” meaning quality trumps everything else.

Consumers who care about sustainability are often willing to pay more and possibly even make a sacrifice on quality or convenience. But how much more will they pay, and how much else will they sacrifice? The answers to those questions vary depending on the product, industry, and consumer but are generally something like, “A little bit, but not too much.”

“There are many studies that show that consumers are willing to pay a premium for sustainable products,” Johnston said. In particular, Gen Z and millennials are more eager to pay those premiums.

Businesses that embrace the sustainability surge and can find that sweet spot between price, quality and sustainability will position themselves to attract a large share of the growing market for more sustainable products. 

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

Image credit: Jacob Lund/Adobe Stock

The term “greenhushing” has become familiar shorthand for the ability of corporations to make progress on environmental issues, without running afoul of partisan political objections to ESG (environmental, social, governance) principles, by not talking much about the work they're doing. U.S. business leaders could apply a similar tactic to advocate for reproductive rights on a state-by-state basis, but progress in that area can only be guaranteed by strong federal protections for abortion and contraceptive access.

Abortion-hushing in Texas

One recent example of “abortion-hushing” occurred in Texas, a state that gained a particularly strong reputation for restricting abortion access with the passage of Senate Bill 8 in 2021.

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is front and center among the state officials supporting the ban. However, as noted by reporter Selena Simmons-Duffin of National Public Radio, earlier this month he quietly signed a bill into law that undercuts the “fetal heartbeat” provisions of Senate Bill 8.

“Abbott signed a law giving doctors leeway to provide abortions in Texas when a patient's water breaks too early and for ectopic pregnancies,” Simmons-Duffin reported. “The new law, which goes into effect Sept. 1, is the work of a Houston Democratic lawmaker who built bipartisan support."

Simmons-Duffin, who reports on health policy for NPR, attributed the legislative achievement to the absence of the word “abortion” in the bill. The lawmaker behind the bill, Democratic state Rep. Ann Johnson, adopted that strategy after hearing from doctors in her constituency. She realized there was a sharp disconnect between what doctors know about abortion and what Republican lawmakers in Texas believe about abortion.

For doctors, abortion is a broad term that covers fatal or life-threatening medical conditions. In contrast, Johnson portrays the political opposition as rooted in a belief that abortion always consists of an “elective procedure on a completely healthy fetus," she told Simmons-Duffin.

Half measures are not enough

That view of the political opposition does not fully capture the full range of anti-woman, anti-pregnancy sentiment expressed in abortion bans. The Johnson bill also focuses narrowly on two instances where the pregnancy will clearly not result in a live birth, without including a range of other complications.

Still, the Johnson bill does represent some progress. It helps to shield some medically necessary abortions from the false portrayal of abortion as a self-centered act of cavalier individualism. The emphasis on medical necessity provides an opening for business leaders in other abortion-restricting states to advocate for at least a partial relaxation of the law.

However, a piecemeal, state-by-state approach is not enough. Republican office holders are already setting the wheels in motion for a national abortion ban that could supersede any state-based attempts to preserve the rights of pregnant people.

Elections have consequences, but judicial appointments are for life

A national ban on abortion may seem like a remote possibility, though that depends on the outcome of the 2024 election cycle. Of more immediate concern is the peppering of the U.S. judiciary with ultra-conservative judges, capped by the presence of a 6-3 Republican-appointed supermajority on the United States Supreme Court, including three justices appointed by former President Donald Trump. 

Regardless of which party prevails on legislative policy, the lifetime appointments to the Supreme Court will continue to impact abortion rights for the foreseeable future.

That impact has already proved devastating. Despite pledges of support for precedent during nomination hearings, the Republican-appointed Supreme Court supermajority upended 40 years’ worth of precedent on abortion rights when it overturned the 1974 Roe v. Wade decision last summer.

Extremist judges elsewhere in the federal system have also had a powerful impact on abortion access. In particular, U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of Amarillo, Texas, set off a firestorm of protest on April 7 when he issued a ruling that overturned the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the widely used abortion drug mifepristone. That approval was first rendered 23 years ago, in the year 2000, and it has been expanded since then. 

Countdown to catastrophe

Mifepristone is still available for the time being. However, its future status is in doubt. The U.S. Department of Justice challenged the Kacsmaryk ruling, and the case was sent to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit. A three-judge panel of the court issued its ruling last Wednesday, August 16.
 
“Access to the abortion pill mifepristone must be restricted, a U.S. appeals court ruled on Wednesday, ordering a ban on telemedicine prescriptions and shipments of the drug by mail,” Reuters reported.

It could have been worse. A two-judge majority on the panel narrowly applied the ruling to COVID-related expansions on access. Nevertheless, the ruling was not a surprise. “All three judges on the panel are staunchly conservative, with a history of opposing abortion rights,” observed Reuters reporter Brendan Pierson.

“One of them, Circuit Judge James Ho, said he would have gone further and pulled mifepristone off the market, but the other two judges said the lawsuit came too late to challenge the original 2000 approval,” Pierson added.

The panel did put a hold on the ruling, pending the results of an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court by the Justice Department. The clock is ticking. If the Supreme Court decides to let the ruling stand, or if it throws further roadblocks against access to mifepristone, abortion access will be impacted in all 50 states, not just the states that restrict access.

The spillover of abortion patients from restrictive states to non-restrictive states has already resulted in backlogs and needless delays. Limiting telemedicine and mail-order shipments will push more patients into doctors’ offices, further straining medical systems.

The full implications for corporate DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) programs are yet to be seen. However, signs of an impact on economic opportunity have already emerged, and the loss of obstetrics and gynecology services in some communities sounds an ominous note for employee recruitment and retention. 

Business leaders have long ignored the warning signs of anti-abortion extremism by continuing to lend financial support to Republican candidates who oppose abortion rights. The 2024 election cycle provides one final opportunity to undo some of the damage done, if they choose to take it. 

Image credit: Manny Becerra/Unsplash