Social Impact

The Numbers: 

• 85% of U.S. individual investors express interest in sustainable investing strategies. 
• 84% of investors want to tailor investments to impact goals and want an impact report to track impact. 
• Sustainable investing assets in the US reached $12 Trillion in 2018.

Key Takeaways: ESG investing is increasing in global popularity as it provides a financial return with less risks than traditional investing. 

Triple Pundit | Sustainable Investing at All-Time High, Says Morgan Stanley 

What’s Up: Converse is partnering with vintage and second-hand retailer, Beyond Retro, to create the Converse Renew Denim Chuck 70 made of upcycled denim.

Why: The UK buys 70 million pairs of new denim each year. Creating a single pair of jeans requires hundreds of gallons of water while simultaneously releasing toxic chemicals into natural water sources. 

Just the Start: Beyond Retro hopes this is the start of similar collaborations. 

PebbleMag.com | Converse & Beyond Retro Launch Upcycled Denim Sneaker

What: The ‘ScrapWrap’ is a dress made from left over clothing scraps. It is a zero-waste product and the first piece of a coming ‘ScrapWrap’ line. 

Who: DVF fell in love with 28 year-old former model, actress, Instagram influencer, and UN environmental ambassador, Amanda Cerny, and worked with her on this collaboration.

Why: Cerny wants to raise awareness about the environmental impact of the fashion industry and help with a zero-waste dress.

New York Post | Diane von Furstenberg Unveils the ‘ScrapWrap’ Made of Trash

Tip: Make a few small changes to reduce your waste. 

Top Easy Recommendations: 

• Turn the faucet off when doing dishes.
• Dine in more.
• Bring reusable bags when shopping. 
• Work with neighbors to community compost, plant a garden, or car pool.

Los Alamos Reporter | The ABCs of Zero Waste 

What: Target is launching a new loyalty offering in October that lets consumers vote on the local charities they would like Target to give to. 

Why it Matters: Increasingly stakeholders value & participate in social impact more when they are personally interested in the cause. By involving customers in the process Target increases customer loyalty & knowledge of their social works. 

Test Participation: In the 18 month testing phase for Dallas, Charlotte, Denver, and other locations more than 2 million guests have enrolled in the program.

Loyalty 360 | Target’s New Loyalty Program Democratizes Corporate Social Responsibility 

Why it matters: Consumers are increasingly paying attention to Fast Fashion. Fast fashion is the 2nd world’s largest waste producing industry and can involve child-labor, animal-testing, & environmental costs.

How to tell if clothing is fast fashion: Apps like Good on You provide easy info on the ethics of most brands. When an item of clothing has sequence or beads, it is highly likely that child-labor was involved in its production.

Key Takeaway: With a little research consumers can find ethical fashion & many are already educating themselves on the industry.

Dig Magazine Online | Ethical Implications of Fast Fashion

An easy way to switch to eco friendly: Beauty products, house-hold cleaners, reusable shopping bags and paper towels

Why is this important? Sustainability switches can be expensive at first. One can begin by investing in these small switches.  

SHAPE | These Eco-Friendly Amazon Buys Will Help Reduce Your Daily Waste 

What’s Okay: Participating in CSR or tax avoidance

What’s NOT Okay: Participating in both CSR programs and tax avoidance:

• conveys inconsistency between reputation building CSR and tax avoidance
• concerns investors that funds from tax avoidance are not used toward investments that generate a return

Key Takeaway: Investors place less value on firms playing Robin Hood by taking from the government via avoided taxes in order to distribute funds to society via corporate philanthropic giving.

CFO DIVE |  Investors Punish Companies that Combine Philanthropy & Tax Avoidance 

How to value base your messaging: 

• Make your cause part of your corporate identity
• Integrate your cause into social media 
• Hire informed people who care
• Partner with companies who share your values
• Be authentic

Consumers Perspective: 60% of consumers want brands to make it easier for them to see the company’s social good

Key Takeaway: 77% of Americans feel a larger emotional connection to companies with a cause.

Forbes | Marketing for Good: Tugging at the Head & the Heart

What employees/customers want: 

• 59% of consumers expect companies to take a stand on climate/environmental issues
• 64% of millennials won’t take a job if the company doesn’t have a strong social responsibility program – millennials will make up 3/4 of the workforce by 2025

What companies think: 

only 22% of employers think employees look for philanthropic efforts in the workplace

Why it Matters: It is an obvious disconnect. Employers are late to the CSR game and will not be able to recruit and retain the best talent. They will also lose customers to companies with a focus on purpose. 

The Telegraph | Should businesses be paying more attention to CSR?

Who: Toyota, GM, Honda, Ford, BMW are all making moves on sustainability efforts

What: Drastically reducing emissions of U.S. operations, increasing EV vehicles range, or releasing a new EV in Europe, automakers are betting on sustainability.

Key Takeaways: Ford announced it is phasing out compact-sized cars and sedans, focusing on robust line of all-electric vehicles. 

Triple Pundit | 3p Friday: The Latest Sustainability Moves from the World’s Largest Automakers

Who: The Source Bulk Foods, 51 stores in Australia, provides no packaging except for shopping bags. 

Company goals: 

• Lowering local food waste in Asia, specifically Singapore’s 800,000 MT
• offer localized selections to the new Asian stores
• make healthy eating and sustainable living more accessible

FoodNavigatorAsia.com | Sustainable retail: Australian zero-waste store looks to conquer Asia

The problem:

• 26 billion pounds of textiles that end up in a landfill each year
• Fashion industry 2nd-most polluting industry in the world
• At current rate of consumption, the world will need 3x natural resources by 2050 to accommodate demand

Millennials & Gen Z finding solutions:

• 74% of 18-29 year olds prefer to purchase sustainable conscious brands
• 18-37 year olds are 2.5 times more likely to purchase second-hand clothing than other generations

Second-hand/sustainable industry leaders:

• ThredUP
• Swap Society 
• Posh Mark
• Mercari
• The RealReal

Pepperdine University Graphic | The Fight Against Fast Fashion, and Solutions for a Sustainable Society

Stats: 95% of pro-environmental behaviors linked to increased life satisfaction

Behaviors linked to increased life satisfaction: 

• Cycling to work
• Simplifying life style
• Recycling, purchasing green products, volunteering

Examples of increased life satisfaction:

• Sense of purpose
• Sense of “doing the right thing”
• Increased sense of autonomy and competence

Fast Company | A more sustainable lifestyle is a path to a more satisfied life

Example: South Pacific nation of Vanuatu restricted plastic straws, plastic bags, and reusable diapers. 

Supporting Arguments for the Ban: Leaders in Vanuatu point to decrease in tourism as a result of plastic pollution and link ban to increase in economic benefits and social well-being.

Results of ban: 

• Increase in tourism
• Other Pacific nations following suit
• Revival of cultural traditions such as cultural art of weaving traditional bags
• Increased innovation to find biodegradable solutions 

The Christian Science Monitor | Natural motivators for plastic bans

What: Walmart discontinues sale of “short-barrel” rifle ammunition, handgun ammunition, ends all handgun sales in Alaska, and asks customers to stop openly carrying firearms in stores.

Immediate results:

• NRA tweets: Walmart has “succumb to pressure of anti-gun elites”
• Gun manufactures like Smith & Wesson and Vista Outdoors see shares fall
• Numerous gun control advocates praise the decision

Other businesses limiting gun sales and/or requesting no open-carry onsite:

• Kroger
• Dick’s Sporting Goods
• Starbucks
• Target
• Wendy’s

AP News | Walmart to stop some ammo sales, ask to not open carry guns

Who: China

China’s steps to increased sustainability: 

• 62% increase in electric vehicle sales
• Responsible for 1/3 of all renewable investments
• Added the most photovoltaic generation capacity of any country in 2018
• Developing of plans for 500 smart cities – 10x that of the U.S.

Biggest opportunity for sustainability:

As a top global producer for consumer goods, supply chain sustainability management has enormous potential to mitigate climate change.

Forbes: You Wouldn’t Believe What Country is Becoming a Sustainability Leader

Who: Top CEOs from the largest corporations in the U.S. 

The big deal: Since 1997 the Business Roundtable defined the primary purpose of a company as serving shareholders. Times are changing. Consumer demand for corporate citizenship and the Business Roundtable agrees

What it means: Companies now define success by investing in employees, the community, ethical practices, and shareholder value.

BusinessRoundtable.org | Our Commitment

Who: Ford

What is Ford’s EV strategy: Make their staple vehicles EVs- SUVs, trucks, fleets, cargo vans, mustangs 

The goal: By not requiring a consumer to think of a new type of a car, sales will be volume driven and can be profitable

Automotive News | Ford’s EV strategy takes shape in search for popularity and profit

What divestments have local museums made? Natural Science museums have divested from oil and gas to support climate change

What investments have museums made to local social justice reform?

• Building for the Arts and Creative Capital & NYC Inclusive Creative Economy Fund supports low income communities
• Soils Grown Deep Foundation endowment promotes social justice and economic opportunity in arts

What is the goal? Align an institution or foundation’s investments with its values

Financial Times | Museums should lead in socially responsible investing

Where: Texas’ Aviator Wind project

What: Facebook signed on for 200-megawatt 

How big is the Aviator Wind Project? Projected to be the largest single site wind power in the nation

How much of Facebook’s power needs are encompassed by Aviator deal? 100%

Is this a trend? Yes. “A recent analysis from WoodMac and AWEA identified as much as 85 gigawatts of renewable energy demand within Fortune 1000 companies through 2030″

Green Tech Media | Facebook Signs 200MW Wind Deal With Apex Clean Energy in Texas

Who announced the Confidential Computing Consortium? Linux Foundation

What other tech companies are involved?

• Alibaba
• Arm
• Baidu
• Google Cloud
• IBM
• Intel
• Microsoft
• Red Hat
• Swisscom
• Tencent

The goals of the consortium:

• defining and accelerating the adoption of confidential computing
• accelerate the confidential computing market
• influence technical and regulatory standards
• build open source tools

Linux Foundation | New Cross-Industry Effort to Advance Computational Trust and Security for Next-Generation Cloud and Edge Computing

Where is a school district engaging in a partnership on cyberbullying? Harlingen CISD

Who is Harlingen CISD partnering with on cyberbullying? Department of Homeland Security

What are the goals of the partnership?

• educate the community on cyberbullying: the signs, how it occurs, who is involved, where it occurs (apps, email, the web)
• crack down on cyberbullying

4Valley Central | Cyber bullying on the rise, local school partners with Homeland Security

Where: California

What agency is responsible for funding allocation? California Energy Commission

What funding has been allocated to Santa Clara and San Mateo counties?

• $21 million in incentives to Santa Clara County
• $12 million in incentives to San Mateo County

Who. Which utilities are involved?

• City of Palo Alto Utilities
• Peninsula Clean Energy
• San José Clean Energy
• Silicon Valley Clean Energy
• Silicon Valley Power

How will the partnership between the counties and utilities work?

• utilities pledge to contribute millions in matching funds
• utilities will be able to leverage local investment, CALeVIP funds will further expand EV charging accessibility 

City of Palo Alto | State Proposes $21M for EV Charging in Santa Clara County

Where: Illinois

Who: mayors of Burr Ridge, Darien, Hinsdale, and Willowbrook

How: By using eminent domain to acquire the land, they would prevent the re-opening of a medical-device sterilization facility

What is the environmental issue with the facility? A state regulatory agency shuttered the facility over the emission of harmful gases

Bloomberg Environment | Illinois Cities Consider Eminent Domain to Stop Sterigenics (2)

Where: Congress

The legislation: S. 2302, the America’s Transportation Infrastructure Act,

The climate change provisions create a grant program for:

• “to strategically deploy electric vehicle charging infrastructure, hydrogen fueling infrastructure, and natural gas fueling infrastructure along designated alternative fuel corridors that will be accessible to all drivers of electric vehicles, hydrogen vehicles, and natural gas vehicles.”
• $1 BILLION over 5 years

What partnerships open up? Grantees and Industry partnerships

Energy Manager Today | Senate Committee Green Lights Bipartisan EV Charging Funding Bill

Where: SFO

What: No single use plastic bottles. Travelers will be required to bring refillable bottles and cups

What exceptions exist?  flavored water is exempt

Is this based on a city ordinance? Yes, San Francisco’s  ordinance approved in 2014 that bans the sale of plastic water bottles on city-owned property

San Francisco Chronicle | No fly zone: SFO bans sale of plastic water bottles

Where: German transportation tech company 

What transportation market does FlixMobility serve?

• FlixMobility works with individuals and companies
• using its logistics platform
• building efficient long-distance (intercity) routes
• shortest connection is 50km
• most connections are beyond 100km
• “sweet spot” is 200km —

Is it just cars in their networks? No, it is cars, trains and buses

TechCrunch | FlixMobility extends Series F at $2B+ valuation as it gears up to add cars to its bus and train network

Where: Austin TX

What: Electronic tipping of musicians and artists via Dipjar for digital tips

How: Pilot program launches Summer 2019 with artists applying to participate

NYDaily News | Austin, Texas, takes new initiative to support city’s struggling musicians with cashless tipping pilot program

What? Opponents to eminent domain are surreptitiously planting fruit trees on land that has been taken by eminent domain

How could this be used? Imagine a group planting state trees or state flowers that could be protected from removal.

The signage:  “A gift to the people, reclaiming land stolen by corporate greed.”

Where did this happen? Property taken for the Kelo project in New London, Mass.

The Day | Group is planting fruit trees, vegetables on Fort Trumbull eminent domain land

Where: San Francisco

The ordinance: Plastic and Litter Reduction Ordinance 

What is required but he Plastic and Litter Reduction ordinance? 

• A gathering of 100 or more on city owned property requires reusable cups for at least 10% of attendees
• Single use food service items are available only by request

Where: Arizona

What sparked a safety concern about battery storage? A fire at a battery storage facility on April 19, 2019

What issue did an Arizona regulator raise? that lithium ion battery storage create a unacceptable risk

3 goals of utility scale battery storage according to this Arizona utility commissioner:

• sustainable
• less risky
• do not utilize chemistries that have a potential to release hydrogen fluoride in the event of a fire or explosion

Utility Dive | Arizona commissioner cites ‘unacceptable risks’ from lithium-ion batteries for large-scale projects

What: Professional Services Council Foundation created the  Mark L. Cohn Research Fund

Why? ” promote innovation through research primarily focused on cybersecurity and other emerging technologies.”

Corporate Partner:  Unisys

PSC Foundation | PSC FOUNDATION LAUNCHES MARK L. COHN RESEARCH FUND TO HONOR VETERAN UNISYS FEDERAL CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER

Where: Syracuse, NY

What: Smart Street lights are replacing traditional street lights

How much? $38 M bond financing with $3 Million annual savings to city when installed

Why? 

• Energy efficient LED lights
• Data collection from street lights including:
  • traffic patters
  • power outages
  • weather measurements like wind, snow, and rain

Route 50 | When Street Lights Do More Than Illuminate a City

Where: Tennessee, Texas, & Alaska

What: invest funds in Innovative Industrial Properties, that will operate in Illinois where recreational marijuana becomes legal Jan. 1

Other pension investments in cannabis?

• New York State Common Retirement Fund.
• Arizona State Retirement System.
• California State Teachers Retirement System.
• California Public Employees Retirement System.
• Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio.
• New York State Teachers Retirement System.
• Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund.
• State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System.
• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System.
• Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public Schools Employees Retirement System.
• Teachers Retirement System of the State of Kentucky.
• Municipal Employees’ Retirement System of Michigan.
• State Teacher Retirement System of Ohio.
• Public Sector Pension Investment Board — Canada.

Chicago Sun Times | 3 other states, numerous public pension funds aiming to profit off legal weed in Illinois

Where? Berkeley CA

What? City Council unanimous vote to ban natural gas infrastructure in new low-rise residential buildings starting 1.1.2020

Exceptions? Yes, 2. new industrial & commercial buildings

Supporters? 

• PG&E
• Sierra Club
• atural Resources Defense Council 

What will be required in new buildings instead? electrification of space and water heating and air conditioning

Smart Cities | Berkeley, CA sets historic law banning natural gas from new buildings

Where: Los Angeles, CA

What EV goals did LA set? Emission free by 2050

How will LA accomplish this?

• PHASE IN STANDARDS. increase % of electric and zero emission vehicles in the city to 25% by 2025, 80% by 2035, and 100% by 2050
• EV CHARGER INSTALLATION. 10,000 public EV chargers by 2022 & 28,000 chargers by 2028
• INCLUDE TAXI STANDARDS. 10% of its taxi fleet by 2022 & 100% of its fleet by 2028
• SCHOOL BUS STANDARDS. Zero emission by 2028
• PORT STANDARDS reduce GHG emissions 80% by 2050
• PUBLIC TRANSIT. Metro and LADOT buses by 2030

Electrek | LA’s own ‘Green New Deal’ sets goal of 100% zero emission vehicles by 2050, 20K+ new EV chargers

WHAT? Amazon protests

WHY? Protestors do not support the use of Amazon technology by ICE

WHERE does this business trend get interesting? In the company’s response (emphasis added):

An Amazon representative said in an emailed statement: “There is clearly a need for more clarity from governments on what is acceptable use of [artificial intelligence] and ramifications for its misuse, and we’ve provided a proposed legislative framework for this. We remain eager for the government to provide this additional clarity and legislation.”

Wall Street Journal | Protesters Disrupt Amazon Event Over Its Ties With ICE

The study: Authenticity Gap report by FleishmanHillard Fishburn

What did consumers say for this 7th annual Authenticity Gap report?

• 66% consumers want companies to show greater purpose & societal impact
•  59% expect companies to stand up on climate and environmental issues (that’s up from 39% in 2018)
• 84% of the 160 companies studied don’t meet consumer expectations concerning environmental issues and climate change

What did it say about how this message should be conveyed?

• 76% expect CEOs to first and foremost communicate issues that impact customers 
• 71% expect CEOS to first and foremost communicate issues that impact employees
• 55% believe Companies should act on issues with a large societal impact, even if there is no significant affect to the company
• 48% consumers think companies must take a stand on controversial issues that influenced government policy changes
• 43% consumers think corporations should take stands on issues concerning the CEOs own personal views and beliefs 

The Holmes Report | Study: Consumer Expect Brands To Take A Stand On Climate Change & Data Security

What’s happening? traditional mutual funds & exchange-traded funds are investing in clean water

Why? As clean water becomes scarcer, the price goes up

How are they investing?  Companies that contribute to the delivery, testing and cleaning of potable water.

NY Times | As Fresh Water Grows Scarcer, It Could Become a Good Investment

Where: Michigan

The Bills:

• SB 409 / HB 4789: Create tax incentives for small businesses and multi-unit housing to install EV charging stations. 
• SB 405 / HB 4786: Create a council within the MDOT to produce an EV infrastructure plan to expand Michigan’s charging network. 
• SB 408 / HB 4787: Allow the state to install EV charging stations at state “park and ride” lots, either directly or by lease. 
• SB 407/ HB 4788:  Allow the state to install EV charging stations at state parks, either directly or by lease. 

NRDC | EV Charging Infrastructure Package Introduced in Michigan

Where: Long Breach CA

What travel ban? Prohibiting taxpayer funded travel to Alabama and Georgia due to abortion restrictions

Is Long Beach alone? No, similar travel bans are also in the works by Los Angeles, the State of Colorado and the State of Maryland 

AL.COM | Another California city looks to ban travel to Alabama over abortion law

Where: Missouri

What:   the “Good Neighbor Bill.”

How does the Good Neighbor Bill work?  allow neighbors/neighborhood associations to clean up abandoned properties by picking up trash, mowing lawns and fixing windows without any legal ramifications

KCTV | Missouri bill would allow neighbors to clean up outside of abandoned houses

Where: Great Britain

What: 1/3 of British lawmakers are calling on the parliamentary pension fund to divest its holdings in fossil fuel companies 

Why? to address the climate change “emergency”

What’s the largest fund to divest from fossil fuels? Norway’s $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund (the world’s largest fund)

Reuters | British lawmakers demand their pension fund divests fossil fuels

• 20% of Fortune 500 CISOs will be women by 2020
• 13% were women in 2017
• Capitol Hill hearings hear testimony from women 20% of the time on information security

Tech Target | Women in cybersecurity work to grow voice in US lawmaking