Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Chance
Change
for
#bethechance
#makeitwork
Table of Contents
1.
People
I
The Perfect
Storm:
People,
Priorities,
Opportunities
New
Generations,
New
Expectations
Sheila McLean
Corporate &
Brand Citizenship
Practice (CBC)
Director,
North America,
MSLGROUP
Global Insights
from our Millennial
Community
22
6 Millennial Change-Makers
Nidhi Chimnani
Director, Research &
Insights, MSLGROUP
2.
Priorities
37
40
Apurva
Kothari
Coral Reef
Advisory Group &
Pacific Voyager
No Nasties
Boyan Slat
Lauren Singer
The Ocean
Cleanup
Trash is for
Tossers &
Founder, The
Simply Co.
28
Engage Chinese
Millennials with
Meaningful Missions
20 30
Kim Ali'itasi
McGuire
Samantha
Bode
Ghidaq al-Nizar
@coffeetopia
The Longest
Straw
Lusha Niu
Director, MSLGROUP
China
32
Luis Davila
Team Leader, Momentum for Change
Initiative, UN Climate Change secretariat
Mark Newton
Head of Environmental & Regulatory
Affairs, Samsung Electronics America
48
44
18
3.
Opportunities
Priorities
Change,
Values Stay
the Same
David Tulauskas
Sustainability
Director,
General Motors
52
Re-defining
Success in
Business
Marcello Palazzi
Co-founder, B Lab
Europe
54
Special:
Sustainability
in Brazil - A
Competitive
Advantage
MSLGROUP
Andreoli
58
Table of Contents
II
Our Chance
for Change:
Disruptions in
Action
66
Five
Disruptions
in Action
Nidhi Chimnani,
Director Research &
Insights, MSLGROUP
Melanie Joe,
Consultant Research &
Insights, MSLGROUP
1.
Maximize
resources
70
3.
Collaborate
across
boundaries
2.
Create
positive
handprints
80
4.
Change
behavior
90
98
5.
Make clean energy
Featuring
comments and
case studies from
sustainability leaders
Michael Dickstein
Director,
Global Sustainable
Development,
HEINEKEN
John Friedman
Corporate
Responsibility
Communications
Director,
Sodexo, &
Author of
PR 2.0
Rosie Pidcock
Senior Business
Development
Manager,
UGE
Michael Kobori
Vice President
of Sustainability,
Levi Strauss
& Co.
David Tulauskas
Sustainability
Director,
General Motors
106
Re-negotiating the UNFCCC
Framework
Alice Marchal, Karen Verlinden, Rmy Ruat,
On behalf of the Sciences Po student team
64
116
122
Table of contents
III
Luna Atamian,
Senior Account Executive, Corporate & Brand Citizenship,
North America, MSLGROUP
Humanizing
Sustainability:
Making
it Matter
45
128
132
Simplify, Inspire, Engage
136
Michael Dickstein
Mark Newton
126 146
Kerri Warner
SVP, Employee Practice, North America, MSLGROUP
78
Table of contents
IV
A Rising
Business
Priority:
Human Rights
152
Jim Peacock
Director, Consultancy & Communications,
Salterbaxter MSLGROUP
45
154
158
150
Luna Atamian
Senior Account Executive, Corporate & Brand Citizenship,
North America, MSLGROUP
The Ever-Evolving
Definition of
Human Rights
Melanie Joe
Consultant, Research & Insights,
MSLGROUP
Data protection, a
fundamental people
right in Europe
162
Leonardo Sforza
Managing Director, Brussels,
MSLGROUP
78
168
Foreword
Guillaume Herbette
CEO
MSLGROUP
Click on the Twitter icons throughout this report to tweet the quotes that are highlighted.
Foreword
Sustainability
Meeting the needs of
the present without
compromising the ability
of future generations to
meet their own needs
Planet
- United Nations
People
Profit
Sustainable Citizenship:
A corporate citizenship that is solidly
grounded in a consistent and
coherent sustainable business
strategy, and backed by evidence.
Introduction:
The Road To
& Through Paris
Pascal Beucler
SVP & Global Chief Strategy Officer, MSLGROUP
@pbeucler
The issue of climate change and the conference in Paris will be extremely high profile until the end of
2015. It will be relevant to major corporations, governments, NGOs, industry groups and global bodies.
Businesses, their audiences and all their stakeholders will have to respond to the debates during the
event and then develop initiatives following the outcomes of COP21.
As we get closer to the summit, we are already witnessing a growing interest - and concern - around
the climate issue. It is more than just a technical debate between climate experts. It also goes beyond
the climate change denial controversy.
Introduction : The Road To & Through Paris
11
MILLENNIALS
RELIGIOUS LEADERS
Pope Francis expressed a very high-level moral
statement on our historical responsibility - and
particularly that of businesses and financial
institutions in his recent encyclical on the environment
and climate change. Leaders of other faiths, such as the
Dalai Lama and Muslim leaders across the globe, are
speaking out as well.
GOVERNMENTS
Government officials in various countries - and not
just the usual suspects like Al Gore or Ministers of
Ecology - are speaking out. Earlier this year, Saudi
Arabia's oil minister Ali Al-Naimi spoke of his
country's investment in solar energy as they
prepare for a near future where fossil fuels are no
longer needed.
CELEBRITIES
Pop cultural icons are
leveraging their fame for
change. From Hollywood
actor Leonardo DiCaprio
who was named the UN
Messenger of Peace for
Climate Change last year, to
musician Pharrell Williams
who joined Bionic Yarns - a
company that transforms
plastic waste into fabric.
Spoken word artist
Prince EA has risen to
fame because of his voice
on today's issues - his video
Dear Future Generations:
Sorry has amassed over
one million views.
CITIZENS
Concerned citizens are making
lifestyle changes to reduce their
own impact on our global
footprint (My Zero Waste).
BUSINESSES
Business leaders are passionate about driving
change. Earlier this year, 43 Climate CEOs
representing companies with operations in 150
countries wrote an open letter voicing their
support to transition into a low-carbon, climateresilient economy. This coalition was facilitated by the
World Economic Forum, and includes big
multinationals across FMCG, finance, insurance,
construction and electronics industries.
It is too early to know how successful the negotiations at COP21 will be. But what is sure is that a
worldwide opinion movement is growing around the climate issue, and that nobody can stop it.
13
15
Purpose
what you stand for as a company
Citizenship
the way you help solve pressing social issues
Social Openness
your ability to listen and share
Join us at A Chance for Change, our event in Paris this December to understand where
millennials and business overlap on the topic of climate change.
Why millennials?
There are nearly 2 billion millennials globally. They will make up the majority of
the global workforce in a few years. Their cumulative spending power is large
and they believe business should be measured by more than just profit
(Deloitte). This surprising couple of business and millennials could very well
change the game as long as major companies put two things at the heart
17
Section I:
The Perfect
Storm: People,
Priorities,
Opportunities
19
SECTION I : PEOPLE
New Generations,
New Expectations
The question is no longer whether a business
should behave in a sustainable manner
Of course, few businesses have ever claimed to act against the interests of
society. But for too long, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been
based largely on the assumption that the business case always aligns with
the societal case as long as enough philanthropy is dispensed.
New generations and new expectations have moved us significantly beyond
this idea. Stakeholders now expect all businesses to take responsibility for
all their impacts and to prevent human rights harms. So the question is no
longer whether a business should behave in a socially responsible
and sustainable manner, but rather: How?
Sheila McLean
Corporate & Brand Citizenship
Practice (CBC) Director,
North America, MSLGROUP
21
SECTION I : PEOPLE
Organizations
(like the United Nations)
Charities
73
125
129
169
Better Suppliers
22
86
People like Me
Religious
Organizations
Survey Question:
How do you want your favorite
brands to address climate change?
(Data based on 239 responses)
Over the last few weeks, millennials shared that they demand BIG
actions from business they want to hear more about greener and
cleaner products and want businesses to take a greener approach in their
operations, innovations, packaging and investments.
Most of all, millennials want businesses to partner with governments to
address climate change. With regional and global media shining the
spotlight on individual countries climate change commitments and world
leaders stance on this issue, it shouldnt come as a surprise that
millennials want to see collaboration amongst these two important
stakeholders of business and government.
Section I : People | Millennials are worried, frustrated, and want climate action, now!
23
Climate-anxiety appears to be
very real among this group, with several
millennials sharing that they feel panic,
nervousness and angst when they think
about the climate. On the other end of the
spectrum, several millennials expressed
confusion and uncertainty.
4
Millennials feel POWERLESS:
in the larger scheme
of things.
While they are ready to be the
chance for change, several
millennials have admitted that they
feel helpless, defeated, resigned and
paralyzed - the impacts of climate
change seem unstoppable. Its no
wonder they have high expectations
of businesses and governments.
5
Millennials also feel
HOPEFUL.
They believe this is our greatest
opportunity for innovation,
collaboration and the establishment
of a real global community, in the
words of one millennial from
Denmark.
Section I : People | Millennials are worried, frustrated, and want climate action, now!
25
SECTION I : PEOPLE
How Millennials
feel about Climate
Change in China
and India
In China and India, 90 young adults, aged 18-30, shared their views. Like their global peers, they are WORRIED,
ANXIOUS and SAD about climate change. This is not surprising, considering that millennials in both these countries
have recently witnessed economic growth driven by aggressive industrial activity.
Millennials in both China and India have seen first hand the impact of human activity on their local environments both countries are home to some of the most polluted cities in the world. Chinese and Indian millennials say they
want businesses to deliver cleaner and greener products, and to partner with governments to drive real change.
Both believe that government and business play a key role in addressing climate change. But they are different in
one key way: far more Indian millennials believe that the change starts with them personally.
We asked Schubert Fernandes, our Asia lead for the Corporate and Brand Citizenship (CBC), and Lusha Niu
our China lead for CBC, to shed more light on these insights.
Section I : People | Millennials are worried, frustrated, and want climate action, now!
27
SECTION I : PEOPLE
Climate Change:
Schubert Fernandes
Senior Vice President, India,
and, Asia Lead, Corporate &
Brand Citizenship,
MSLGROUP
In this context, Indian millennials are scared. They are worried and
sad by the current state of the planet. They sense there is an urgent
need to act and they have started to act. With the help of social media,
campaigns to drive change or oppose environmental degradation have
seen success.
Pivotal bodies like the government and corporates are also keeping pace.
Its difficult to ignore the surging urge of the countrys young, now a little
over 30%, to effect change. The Government of India recently submitted to
the UN a detailed climate change plan known as the Intended Nationally
Determined Contribution (INDC). Four Indian corporates, ITC Ltd., Tata
Steel, Tech Mahindra and Wipro Ltd., scored a maximum 100 Carbon
Disclosure Project score to top the Climate Disclosure Leadership Index
(CLDI) for the quality of climate change related information they have
disclosed to investors.
With the cry for support unanimous and emotions ranging from anger to
frustration to guilt and responsibility, millennials in India have shown
interest in getting involved in business and sustainability initiatives.
Businesses are responding by involving young minds in planning and
programs, and by funding innovative projects or just simply encouraging
ideas and actions through high profile engagement initiatives and contests.
We are hoping that the UN will make a powerful point in this direction at the
COP21 summit. In the coming months and years, Indian businesses will
have a huge opportunity to engage with concerned millennials and
involved them as active agents of change, to make the difference that is
so desperately needed.
Section I : People | Millennials are worried, frustrated, and want climate action, now!
29
SECTION I : PEOPLE
Engage Chinese
Millennials with
Meaningful Missions
If there is only one thing that the rest of the world needs to know
about Chinese millennials on climate change is that they are living
through it every day for the first time. None of the parents or the great
parents of this generation of Chinese millennials had breathed the air and
walked through the smog with a clear conscious of it being the pollution up
till now. Let's not forget it was only a few years ago that the government
was in denial of the pollution index published by others. a
Lusha Niu
Director,
MSLGROUP China
What's so great about Chinese millennials is the fact that they are holding
themselves responsible to make the change happen. They largely consider
businesses and the government as the key drivers to take them down a
greener path. A key behavior change we have observed among Chinese
millennials is they no longer taking consumption of eco-friendly products as
a cool and trendy act to follow but they are doing it with a clear conscious of
contributing, little by little, to bring back that blue sky we once lived under.
Source:
1 Goldman Sachs research and MSL analysis. | 2 AC Nielson market research and MSL analysis. | 3 emarketer statistics and MSL analysis. | 4 Forbes travel research and MSL analysis.
Section I : People | Millennials are worried, frustrated, and want climate action, now!
31
SECTION I : PEOPLE
Six Millennial
Change-Makers on
Sustainability
The consequences of
climate change are evident
when you live on an island
in the South Pacific. Rising
sea levels are taking our
land and threatening our
way of life.
Kim Ali'itasi
Mcguire
Coral Reef Technician,
Coral Reef Advisory Group &
Pacific Voyager, American Samoa
33
When it comes to
environmental issues in
general, I think a common
response is, well that's a long
way off, that's for our children
to worry about. So hello, here
I am. Why don't we just clean
it up?
Boyan Slat
Founder of The Ocean Cleanup,
Netherlands
Image Credit:
The Ocean Cleanup
I personally cannot
keep turning on my tap,
without knowing where
the water is coming from,
because one day, if that
runs dry, then I'm
I'm dead.
Samantha Bode
Director of feature film
The Longest Straw,
Los Angeles, United States
@TheLongestStraw
35
Apurva Kothari
Founder, No Nasties,
Mumbai, India
Image Credit: No Nasties
Lauren Singer
Blogger, Trash is for Tossers and
Founder, The Simply Co.,
New York City, United States
Image Credit: The Simply Co.
37
Ghidaq al-Nizar
Artist @coffeetopia and founder
of #zerowastecoffee,
Indonesia
Image Credit: @coffeetopia
View Ghidaq's
#zerowastecoffee collection on
Instagram and Facebook
39
SECTION I : PRIORITIES
Opportunity for
Business
Luis Davila
Team Leader, Momentum for
Change Initiative, United Nations
Climate Change secretariat
@davilalu
Image credit:
Delpixel / Shutterstock.com
41
Partnerships
Public-private sector alliances will be key to achieve the new
SDGs and to dramatically scale up climate solutions.
Whether it is constructing resilient infrastructure for the 21st
century that can withstand the effects of climate change, or
expanding health services to millions of underserved communities
globally, businesses will be called upon to help accelerate poverty
reduction and build a more sustainable world. This provides a unique
opportunity for businesses to expand services and tap into new
markets, but perhaps more importantly it provides a roadmap for
achieving shared value for businesses and served communities.
Innovation
If the international community is going to have any chance
at meeting the SDGs or implementing a new universal
climate agreement, it will need tap into the ability of
entrepreneurs - and the business community at large - to
be creative, disruptive and innovative. Large-scale
transformation will be necessary to get closer to a highly resilient,
low-carbon economy that promotes growth and prosperity for all.
Luckily, the world has never had better know-how and solutions to
avert crisis and create opportunities for a better life for people all over
the world. From renewables to organic agriculture, solutions span
every sector of the global economy.
Investment
Investors are becoming increasingly aware that climate
change will affect returns on investment by potentially
stranding assets or affecting companies that have not
made their supply chains resilient to climate impacts. This
means that businesses are facing tremendous challenges, but at the
same time have a unique opportunity for internal transformation. Not
just of operational issues, but of their long-term corporate strategy to
match the challenge of implementing the SDGs and addressing the
effects of climate change.
The Lima-Paris Action Agenda aims to accelerate climate actions both pre 2020 and afterwards - among governments,
organizations, concerned citizens and businesses.
NO
POVERTY
2 ZERO
HUNGER
AFFORDABLE AND
CLEAN ENERGY
13 CLIMATE ACTION
14 LIFEWATERBELOW
HEALTH
3 GOOD
AND WELL-BEING
15 LIFEONLAND
4 QUALITY
EDUCATION
5 GENDER
EQUALITY
WATER
6 CLEAN
AND SANITATION
11
RESPONSIBLE
12 CONSUMPTION
SUSTAINABLE CITIES
AND COMMUNITIES
AND PRODUCTION
43
SECTION I : PRIORITIES
The Business of
Development
Leveraging the UN Sustainable Development Goals
for Business Growth and Global Impact
A more diverse set of goals: A larger
role for business
Starting January 2016, the UN Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) will replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
in dictating the global development agenda through 2030. The 17
SDGs reach across six broad categories of cooperation, dignity,
justice, people, planet and prosperity, and include targets and
indicators that are global, inclusive and scientifically grounded.
Nigel Salter
Kristina Joss
@nigelsalter2
@kjoss_
Section I : Priorities | The Business of Development: Leveraging the UN SDGs for Business Growth and Global Impact
45
1
Communicate more
meaningfully
Communicating sustainability remains
a tremendous challenge for even the
most advanced companies and todays
consumers are demanding business
play an active role in addressing social
and environmental challenges. The
arrival of the SDGs will only intensify
the need to communicate better to an
increasingly educated consumer base
and will provide the language to do so.
4
Look across the
value chain
Multinational companies will want to
understand whether their company
operations across different
geographies impede or align to
each country's strategic initiatives
for the SDGs.
5
Collaborate to innovate
Big impacts will require multiple layers to deliver. The SDGs will be a catalyst
for innovative cross-sector, cross-issue and cross-geography collaborations
that leverage respective strengths, assets and expertise all aimed to scale.
Businesses should seek partnerships that are built on need and focus on
innovative approaches to the indicators, as they will be the most impactful.
Section I : Priorities | The Business of Development: Leveraging the UN SDGs for Business Growth and Global Impact
47
SECTION I : PRIORITIES
3
Future of Business
Sustainability
Trends that are Shaping the
We asked CSR veteran Mark Newton what the future of business sustainability will hold for
sustainability leaders. He shared three trends to watch out for.
On the flipside, the advent of social media and broadband enables widely dispersed and
seemingly disparate groups of individuals to rally, breaking down physical barriers
plaguing conventional grassroots efforts. Campaigns are moving from expensive and
physical to inexpensive and virtual. NGOs, consumers and special interest groups
can now mobilize quickly, in greater numbers and without geographic or
socioeconomic constraint. Despite fatigue from relatively clumsy early efforts to punish
bad behavior, the potential to significantly reward brands by using social media as an
organizing and collaboration tool is still relatively unexplored.
2 Responsibility recoil.
Educated consumers that vote responsibly with their wallet are whom we strive to reach. But despite best
efforts apathy still reigns. Corporate green washing, messaging overload and confusion about what matters
has heads spinning. Data over the last 40 years shows that CSR sensibility resonates cyclically
- it peaked in the early seventies, again around mid-2000 but has since trended downward with respect to
other issues more front of mind among the public. This trend is likely to continue for the next several years
as geopolitical and socioeconomic factors remain volatile making CSR communications all the more
challenging. We must acknowledge the public distrust and cynicism that occurs in destabilized times.
Despite all the good work by the socially responsibility investment (SRI) community to focus on building the
business case, there is still little evidence that mainstream investors are tuned in. This work is still in its
infancy and there is huge opportunity here. Successful efforts will position CSR as a contributing factor
toward alleviating socioeconomic and geopolitical instability rather than as a competing priority.
Section I : Priorities | 3 Trends that are Shaping the Future of Business Sustainability
49
3 Flattening Earth.
Global emerging frontier markets like MIST (Mexico,
Indonesia, South Korea and Turkey), MINT (Mexico, Indonesia,
Nigeria and Turkey) and CIVETS (Colombia, Indonesia,
Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa) are forecast by some
to surpass BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) and even
approach western economic output by mid-century. A huge
emerging global middle class comes along with that and with it
the prospect of unbridled consumerism.
What these countries have also in common are emerging and
stressed social and environmental infrastructures that provide
both CSR opportunity and risk. As the global economy taps into
markets and production capabilities here, we will
see an increasingly global and interconnected
supply chain racing to lowest cost
providers and an influx of new product
categories.
In the current paradigm, lowest cost is
synonymous with insufficient lifecycle
considerations, an inadequate safety net for
workers and lax protections for natural resources
and the environment.
The market potential here is tremendous as is the opportunity to educate consumers
and to produce responsibly.
(More from Mark Newton at page 144)
Section I : Priorities | 3 Trends that are Shaping the Future of Business Sustainability
51
SECTION I : OPPORTUNITIES
Priorities
Change,
Values Stay the Same
At General Motors, our approach to
sustainability is strengthening our
company and providing customer
benefits while building stronger
communities and a better world
through improved mobility.
David Tulauskas
Sustainability Director,
General Motors
@davidtulauskas
Authentically communicating a
company's purpose and
sustainability commitment can pay
dividends and increase customer
loyalty for the long term.
53
SECTION I : OPPORTUNITIES
Re-defining
Success in Business
An interview with Marcello Palazzi
People's Insights: Tell us about the mission of B Lab.
Marcello: B Lab is a global organization dedicated to raising the standards of
business and encouraging a new generation of best for the world companies
across industries, at a time when entrepreneurship has become the de facto
engine for well-being. There are huge opportunities - and some societal and
planetary pressures - to turn enterprise into a greater force for good. Given the
intense economic activity of our global world of 7.3 billion people, there is also
huge opportunity to further tweak the balance of negative and positive
externalities and impacts of business.
We do this by offering businesses B Corp certification (which measures
and compares performance), as well as advocacy, learning and education
initiatives. Our B Impact Assessment tool is the first step in the certification
process. The tool analyzes business models, governance, social and
environmental performance and looks at 200 separate issues.
Marcello is Co-Founder of B Lab Europe
(B for Benefit) and is on a mission to turn
B Corp into a global movement of best
for the world corporations. A
philanthropreneur and Co-Founder and
President of Progressio Foundation,
Marcello has led over 300 innovative
ventures, projects and events in 30
countries, across the 4 P's: public,
private, philanthropy, and people.
@mpalazzi
Together, B Corporations are showing the world that there is a more evolved way to
do business; that it is very possible to stay true to yourself, and society, in business
and to do so in an ethical manner. So the driving factor is to be successful
without causing direct or indirect harm to people and planet.
There are also multiple concrete benefits to being a B Corp, in terms of identity,
branding, reputation, ability to attract impact investors and other general benefits of
being part of a global network that provides knowledge sharing and group
rates for service providers.
55
For example, we have partnered with the Mayor of New York and the
New York City Economic Development Corporation to host the first
best for program Best for NYC. It is a pilot project in which we are
inviting New York City businesses to assess their performance and
benchmark it against 20,000 peers. We are excited to offer similar
programs to further expand the movement.
Businesses that complete the Best for NYC Challenge and
commit to seeking ways to improve can access business
support tools and services and may be recognized as
Competing to be Best for NYC.
http://bestfor.nyc/
57
SECTION I : OPPORTUNITIES
Special:
Sustainability
in Brazil
A Competitive Advantage
Experts from MSLGROUP Andreoli in Brazil point out that
sustainability can be a competitive advantage for companies,
with examples of Brazilian businesses that are leading in
sustainability. With its continental size, abundant natural
resources and a civil society aware of global social and
environmental challenges, Brazil can play an important
role in developing innovative solutions that create value
for people and companies.
3 Sustainability initiatives
that work
In the corporate field, Brazilian institutions have benefited from
being open and innovative in sustainability. Here are three
examples of Brazilian companies that are seeing benefits to
reputation, growth and competitive advantage.
59
Growth fuelled by
renewable plantations
Fibria is the world's largest producer of
eucalyptus pulp, with its operations based
entirely on renewable plantations. In addition to
its pulp business, it invests in renewable fuels
derived from wood and biomass.
This innovation has allowed Fibria to develop
operational partnerships with leading
companies abroad, expanding and
multiplying business opportunities.
Strong
governance can
boost credibility
in sustainability
Nevertheless, there is still a lot
to be accomplished
environmentally and socially,
and Brazil's greatest challenge
in sustainability probably lays
in one of its fundamental
aspects: governance.
Governance is essential to
establishing credibility and
trust among the company's
strategic stakeholders,
affecting its brand, reputation
and economic results.
61
63
Section II:
Our Chance
for Change:
Disruptions
in Action
Real Change
is Possible
The Charles River flows between
Boston and Cambridge in the
United States, and was notorious
for being dirty.
The river was so polluted that
swimming in the Charles has
been banned since the 1950s.
Fast forward to today. Local agencies have made huge progress in cleaning
up the river. The Charles is now considered swimmable many days of the year,
and the Charles River Conservancy (CRC) is hoping to restore its potential for
swimming on a permanent basis.
The restoration of the Charles River demonstrates that real change is possible.
Section II : Our Chance for Change: Disruptions in Action
65
and more creatively, and understand that millennials can be the big
unlock for driving demand for sustainability. Theres often nowhere
between those two views.
But were probably placing too much hope on millennials. Its quite
easy to say oh lets wait for millennials to unlock demand. That might
actually be too late. Millennials arent the Trojan horse, theyre not the
silver bullet - because there is no silver bullet. Whilst its easier to talk to
millennials in many respects about this agenda, we should equally be
focusing on unlocking demand from older generations, like baby boomers.
We just cant rely on millennials, thats a high-risk strategy. It has to be
everyone.
67
Five Disruptions
in Action
In this section, our insights team highlights five broad trends that
point to a real chance for change. We feature examples of initiatives
led by businesses, organizations and people, and shine the spotlight
on five inspiring businesses at the forefront of sustainability.
Nidhi Chimnani
Melanie Joe
@nidhichimnani
@melanie_joe
69
1 MAXIMIZE RESOURCES
From startups to well-established brands,
businesses are constantly finding new ways to
reduce their footprint and maximize their use of
existing resources. Not only is this good for the
planet, it is also good for businesses.
Circular Economy
Sharing Culture
Upcycling
Spotlight: Levis Water<LessTM
$500
$750
700,000
MILLION
BILLION
TONS
Value of the
7.5 million tons of
extractable plastic in
the oceans
Cost of producing
the 1.3 billion tons
of food that we waste
globally every year
Amount of waste
that Sweden imports,
to provide heat and
electricity locally
United Nations
sweden.se
71
MAXIMIZE
RESOURCES
Circular economy
Bringing resources
back into the system
$1
100,000
TRILLION
NEW JOBS
A CULTURE OF MAKING
STUFF LAST LONGER
73
MAXIMIZE
RESOURCES
Sharing culture
Shifting from ownership
to access
113
MILLION
The number of sharers
in Canada, the United
Kingdom and the United
States - about 40% of the
adult population
Vision Critical and
Crowd Companies
NEW MODELS OF
CONSUMPTION
BUSINESS TO BUSINESS
MARKETPLACES
75
MAXIMIZE
RESOURCES
Upcycling
Enhancing the value of
existing products
77
MAXIMIZE
RESOURCES
Levi's Water<Less
Michael Kobori,
Vice President of Sustainability,
Levi Strauss & Co.
@KoboriGrillsCSR
START
79
2 CREATE POSITIVE
HANDPRINTS
Purpose
Create shared value
Net positive
Spotlight: Sodexo's
Better Tomorrow Plan
83%
45
MILLENNIALS
MILLION
MSLGROUP's
The Future of Business
Citizenship study
TOMS
81
CREATE
POSITIVE
HANDPRINTS
Purpose
Aligning people and business
69%
MILLENNIALS
When you have a
purpose, inconsistencies
start showing up
- Eileen Boone on CVS's
decision to remove all
tobacco products
CVS
Want business to
make it easier
for consumers
to get involved in
societal change
The Future of Business
Citizenship study
83
CREATE
POSITIVE
HANDPRINTS
The concept of Create Shared Value (CSV) was introduced in 2006 and
offers a holistic vision for the role of business in society: development of
communities is good for business. CSV promotes fair wages, skill training,
sustainable environmental practices, investment in health, education,
infrastructure and so on. These elements can help boost the long term
sustainability of the business by increasing reliability of material resources,
increasing operational efficiency and safeguarding human resources.
Several large brands have embraced the concept of shared value and are
driving large-scale social development, often in collaboration with
international and local organizations.
$3-4
The value that Levi
Strauss earns on every
dollar invested in
improving lives of
factory workers
- Michael Porter
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT:
AN INVESTMENT
TECHNOLOGY: A CATALYST
85
CREATE
POSITIVE
HANDPRINTS
Net positive
Amplifying the positive
impact of business
10x
Ikea
Dell
IN PURSUIT OF
POSITIVE IMPACT
TRANSFORMING
OUR FOOTPRINT
87
CREATE
POSITIVE
HANDPRINTS
Sodexo's Better
Tomorrow Plan
The strength of Sodexo's corporate
responsibility effort arises from our mission.
The Better Tomorrow Plan defines the
strategy Sodexo is pursuing as a
responsible company. The plan revolves
around three pillars that provide a
consistent and structured approach for all
of our corporate responsibility efforts.
The pillars are:
+ We Are - Our fundamental vision,
mission and values
John Friedman
Corporate Responsibility
Communications Director,
Sodexo, and author of
PR 2.0: How Digital Media
Can Help You Build A
Sustainable Brand
@JohnFriedman
89
3 COLLABORATE
ACROSS BOUNDARIES
Open Innovation
Partnerships
100
MILLION
If you want to go fast, go
alone. If you want to go
far, go together.
African Proverb
91
COLLABORATE
ACROSS
BOUNDARIES
Open innovation
Crowdsourcing
sustainability
Growth of GE's
crowdsourced ecofriendly ecomagination
portfolio versus
GE overall
GE
4x
You want to be
innovating so fast that
you invalidate your
prior patents.
- Elon Musk
Tesla
OPEN SOURCE
TECHNOLOGIES
93
COLLABORATE
ACROSS
BOUNDARIES
Partnerships
The amplifier effect
Partnerships offer an
amplifier effect,
where one plus one
equals three.
- Michael Dickstein
HEINEKEN
58%
sustainability experts
that believe that multiactor collaborations,
including governments
and NGOs, are the most
effective approach to
sustainability
GlobeScan
SustainAbility Survey
STEWARDSHIP
PROGRAMS
CO-OPETITION
POWER OF
PEOPLE
95
COLLABORATE
ACROSS
BOUNDARIES
Michael Kobori,
Vice President of Sustainability,
Levi Strauss & Co.
@KoboriGrillsCSR
97
4 CHANGE BEHAVIOR
66%
Take this jacket that I'm wearing... Half of the impact of this
jacket on the planet, over its lifetime, is with Patagonia that
made the jacket. The other half is with me, the person that
bought it, and how I use and care for it.
- Rick Ridgeway,
Vice President of Environmental Affairs
Patagonia
99
CHANGE
BEHAVIOR
7.7
MILLION
Items of clothing that
Marks & Spencer
customers donated for
recycling and kept out of
landfills from 2012-2014,
as part of its
Shwopping initiative
Marks & Spencer
ENABLING NEW
BEHAVIOR
MAKING IT COOL
101
CHANGE
BEHAVIOR
Gamification
Rewarding
good behavior
$1
47.6
BILLION
MILLION
Opower
Starbucks
POSITIVE REINFORCEMENTS
ENGAGING
EMPLOYEES
103
CHANGE
BEHAVIOR
Heineken:
Brewing a Better World
What does a better world look like to one of
the world's largest brewers?
A world where beer is brewed using the power
of the sun. A world where breweries are
carbon neutral and replenish water sourced
from local communities. A world where people
dance more and drink slow, and responsible
drinking is cool. At HEINEKEN, this world is
already becoming a reality.
Michael Dickstein,
Director - Global Sustainable
Development,
HEINEKEN
@MichDickstein
Wieckse Beer:
Produced entirely by Solar Energy
from 3,000 panels on the rooftop of
the brewery in Den Bosch,
Netherlands
105
A cleaner today
Energy of tomorrow
Spotlight: UGE - Opportunity China
Spotlight: Chevrolet's
#CleanEnergyU
$250
BILLION
24.2%
International
Energy Agency
Walmart
$2.6
TRILLION
Fossil fuel assets
that over 460 institutions
have committed
to divest
Go Fossil Free
107
MAKE
CLEAN
ENERGY
A cleaner today
Reducing
negative impact
72,000
8
MILLION
LEED
Toyota
(August 2015)
TRANSITION TO A
LOW-CARBON ECONOMY
Concerned citizens gathered at 450 events in 60 countries to show their solidarity for
the fossil free divestment movement (photo: 350org on Flickr)
109
MAKE
CLEAN
ENERGY
Energy of tomorrow
The revolution
has begun
Governments, organizations and businesses are making big investments in solar, wind,
hydropower, geothermal energy, biofuels and batteries, and are unveiling new projects at an
inspiring speed. From oil ministries in the Middle East, airports in India, breweries in Europe and
data centers in Silicon Valley the clean energy revolution is a global one. There also seems to
be a movement to own energy, as businesses seek to generate new clean energy across
operations and boost reliability of energy in developing markets.
Beyond industrial use, there is some speculation that clean energy can leapfrog traditional
energy in rural areas people may have access to solar energy before they have access to
traditional grids. In particular, solar lanterns can be useful in situations where access to the grid
is disrupted, during natural disasters or conflicts.
100%
100,000
MILLION
All of Apple's data
centers run on 100%
renewable energy,
since 2012
Apple
Gallons of low-carbon
renewable jet fuel that
FedEx Express and
Southwest Airlines have
each committed to
purchase, per year from
Red Rock Biofuels
FedEx Express and
Southwest
reservations of
Tesla's Powerwall and
Powerpack batteries
between May to August
6, 2015, Q2 2015
Tesla
TOWARDS BETTER
ENERGY STORAGE
111
MAKE
CLEAN
ENERGY
UGE:
Opportunity China
UGE is a global leader in the business of
distributed renewable energy with over
2,000 projects in 100 countries.
Historically, our primary focus has been on
generating energy locally, on-site, through
vertical access wind turbines.
Rosie Pidcock,
Senior Business Development
Manager, UGE
@rosiepidcock
113
MAKE
CLEAN
ENERGY
Chevrolet's
#CleanEnergyU
Chevrolet supported 11 colleges from
Portland to Boston as part of the brand's
voluntary Clean Energy Campus
Campaign. These campuses are now
selling carbon credits, an opportunity
Chevrolet created with the help of other
environmental stakeholders. Money earned
goes toward their continued investment in
clean energy technologies, and Chevrolet
retires the credits to benefit the
environment, meaning they will never be
used to offset emissions related to its
vehicles or operations.
David Tulauskas,
Sustainability Director,
General Motors
@davidtulauskas
The brand promoted Twitter chats, told the story through Instagram,
published student blog posts and curated the conversation
on Storify. We need to be talking about climate change in terms of
technologies that are inspiring and future scenarios we want for the next
generation. Take a clean energy future for example. It speaks of innovation,
advanced technology, clean air and blue skies, something that is better. If
people can buy into that, they can think about the role they can play.
115
#MakeitWork
Re-negotiating the
UNFCCC framework
Recommendations from Sciences Po's
student negotiators
In May 2015, Sciences Po - the Paris
Institute of Political Studies - organized a
simulation of COP21 to imagine and test
an alternative format of climate
negotiations. 200 students formed 41
delegations and negotiated over three
days to find a way to #MakeitWork.
Alice Marchal
Karen Verlinden
Rmy Ruat
On behalf of the student team who organized the Make it Work simulation
Recommendation #1
Recommendation #2
The issues in the COPs are extremely technical, and tend to disconnect
the consequences of climate change from its causes. The approach is
not holistic enough: crucial issues like agriculture or commerce are not
explicitly dealt with. If for example transport for international trade is
responsible for such big contributions to global greenhouse gas emissions,
why is there no representative of the WTO at the negotiation table?
Section II : Re-negotiating the UNFCCC framework: Recommendations from Sciences Po's student negotiators
117
Recommendation #3
Involve all Key Actors in Negotiations
This brings us to a third issue; the actors involved in the negotiations. In
the UN framework, only nation-states are given the right to negotiate and
vote. In order to better represent real interests on climate change issues,
we decided to introduce new actors never before given an equal voice to
states in climate change negotiations at the negotiating table. These new
actors can be divided into three categories: natural entities (e.g. forests,
stranded oil assets, endangered species), local specificities (e.g. the
Sahara, indigenous people, Amazonia), and transnational networks (e.g.
international regulatory bodies, internet, youth).
It is crucial to directly involve actors who can have a decisive
impact in tackling climate change. We would like to highlight their
contribution to the problem, but also, the important role they could play
to find solutions together.
Recommendation #4
Nation-states Should Not be Treated
as Homogenous Entities
The Westphalian point of view that is framing the UN
system postulates that nation-states are relevant and
homogenous entities with common interests to defend, an
idea which is questionable. Are US negotiators really
defending California's interests? Would California
defend the same position on its own if given the
opportunity to do so?
Recommendation #5
Replace 'One Size Fits All' with
a Two-Step approach
The use of global modeling
contributed to spreading the idea
according to which we are all in
the same boat hence implying
that the global level is the only
relevant scale for action. The one
size fits all solution that
negotiators are trying to find
through a logic of consensus is
leading to agreeing on the lowest
common denominator.
We recommend instead for the
negotiators to take a two step
approach: first, to look at where
they themselves want to be in
50 years time in very practical
terms (i.e. what will your children
eat for breakfast?) and second,
who they would have to
cooperate or coordinate their
action with and what that action
would include. This would lead
to a web of agreements at
different scales, which - when
combined together - would reveal
the long term demands of tackling
climate change and the necessary
action to put us on the path to
respecting the 2C limit.
Image Credit: #MakeitWork
Section II : Re-negotiating the UNFCCC framework: Recommendations from Sciences Po's student negotiators
119
In the end, the delegates were open minded enough to integrate these two
approaches. This is not something that we can see happening in real life. It
is impossible for us to imagine that UNFCCC negotiators would be willing to
work together or find middle ground with people wanting to destroy the
UNFCCC framework. As young students we had the luxury of raising the
relevant issues and actually taking determined actions to address them.
Even if climate negotiations were reshaped according to these
recommendations, it would still have its limits. To counter these, actors,
especially private companies, should think about developing appropriate
bottom-up approaches, form networks and find common solutions that can
take the form of micro-level voluntary cooperation.
For more on the #MakeitWork Simulation, visit http://www.cop21makeitwork.com/, read the Make it Work report
(in French) and the press coverage review (in French)
Section II : Re-negotiating the UNFCCC framework: Recommendations from Sciences Po's student negotiators
121
Everything needs
to be questioned
Pascal Beucler,
SVP & Global Chief Strategy Officer, MSLGROUP
123
125
Section III:
Humanizing
Sustainability:
Making
it Matter
Symbols for
the Future
@JanGromadzki
127
Me, My World,
The World
Bridging the gap between marketers and
sustainability leaders
Although for many companies around the world the tides may be changing, there is still a fundamental
disconnect between marketing and sustainability leaders. Having worked with both, it's not surprising this
tension exists.
Marketers are taught to drive profit quarterly. Their bonus structure is based on increased sales and
because many of them are rotated on to new assignments routinely, those sales are short-term focused.
Sustainability leaders are taught to view the long-term health of the business and to make key decisions
based on the long-term impacts the business will have on society.
Luna Atamian
Senior Account Executive
Corporate & Brand Citizenship
North America, MSLGROUP
@lunatamian
This short-term versus long-term contradiction can be difficult to bridge. The secret is being able to
understand each other and speaking to sustainability from the marketing lens. Don't get me wrong,
this is much easier to say than do. But we've seen it work. When marketing and sustainability come
together it can be a business transformational moment. We must move past what we know and how we
were trained. We must see the other side and we must see the bigger picture in how we grow our brand
into the future.
VISION
SHARE
UNIQUE
EMPOWER
INNOVATE
ALLOCATE
ONGOING
TARGETS
RELATE
129
THE
WORLD
my social and
environmental impact,
through my
association with
the brand
MY
WORLD
what matters
to me
ME
the customer
131
Humanizing
climate change
Making communications more relevant
Climate change has become one of the most complex challenges of our generation. Sitting at the
intersection of science, politics and emotion, the realities of climate change and its impacts are
not only difficult to understand but also to accept. The impacts are overwhelming, distant, hard to
visualize and pegged to varying scientific projections (is it 2 degrees, 3 or 6?). It is no wonder
that most businesses and organizations engage people around issues that are more tangible
such as recycling or electricity use.
Yet businesses, constrained by these challenges in the supply chain, have been feeling these
pressures for years. While the world has been debating about climate change, many
organizations have been trying to prepare for it.
Kristina Joss
Senior Sustainability Consultant,
Salterbaxter MSLGROUP
@kjoss_
This year in particular is proving to be a critical moment as the launch of the UN Sustainable
Development Goals in September and an agreement for COP21 in December are encouraging
collaboration between businesses and governments on sustainability solutions. However, we
seem to be missing one big audience - people. For society as a whole to make a real shift to
sustainable lifestyles, it's important that we engage the general public and involve them in the
journey. After all, products might be made at factories and sold at stores, but they are used
and discarded by end consumers.
133
135
Simplify,
Inspire, Engage
Inspiring campaigns selected by the Corporate
& Brand Citizenship team at MSLGROUP
We asked our colleagues to share their favorite
sustainability and social responsibility campaigns campaigns that resonated with them, inspired them and
motivated them to act. Here's what they shared and why
these campaigns stood out.
t
c
#idea
Romanian e-commerce
platform Elefant put up
posters on trees, asking
people to scan a photo of a
tree, for a free e-book.
A nice way to remind
people to opt for greener
forms of reading, and to
promote Elefant's
e-book library.
Sachin Karle
@sachinkarle009
137
#emotion
There's a saying that reason leads to
analysis and emotion leads to action.
The power of this Project Sunlight video
is clearly emotional, touching people's
hearts because nothing is more universal
and engaging than such a question:
why bring a child into this world?
Amidst bleak headlines,
it's refreshing to see a video
that points to a brighter
future, with safer drinking
water, better farming
practices and healthier
hearts. A good narrative
too, for Unilever's
sustainability actions
under Project Sunlight.
Pascal Beucler
Global Chief Strategy Officer
MSLGROUP
@pbeucler
#awareness
This campaign highlights one of the issues I feel
most strongly about - cruelty in animal
husbandry. With The Scarecrow, Chipotle
Mexican Grill is urging people to think about how
and where their meals come from, by showing
them the uncomfortable truth about industrial
farming. I think its a great step towards promoting
sustainable and responsible farming practices.
Melanie Joe
Consultant, Research and Insights
MSLGROUP
@melanie_joe
139
#insight
I
E
Nidhi Chimnani
@nidhichimnani
#impact
I like Greenpeace's
Everything is NOT
awesome
campaign because it
is really brand
centric, but also
Greenpeaces Everything is NOT
Awesome campaign was brilliant.
Not only was it uniquely brand
centric, but it also represents
the impact society can have in
demanding companies to act and
do better for the environment.
Kristina Joss
@kjoss
141
Luna Atamian
@Lunatamian
Recognizing HEINEKEN's
sustainable farmers:
HEINEKEN invited people
to support the Legendary 7:
its sustainable farmers
like Coen ten Berg - Sheriff
of Soil Fertility, and Jacky
Brosse - Protector
of the Bee.
People could view their
stories on mobile app
Blippar and take selfies
of themselves in
legendary garb.
143
Mark Newton
Head of Environmental and
Regulatory Affairs,
Samsung Electronics America
@newton_csr
Make it kid-friendly.
145
Engaging Employees
around CSR
The state of employee engagement isn't revealed simply through an annual
survey, but self-evident in the corporate culture - the habits of mind and
behavior that leaders and employees express every day.
When working with clients who want to improve employee engagement, we
start with the end in mind. We ask clients, when employees are engaged,
what will they be thinking, feeling and doing differently from what they
are today and how will this impact your business?
This establishes the aspiration for engagement in ways that can then be
measured and actioned upon - and tied to organizational goals.
Kerri Warner
Senior Vice President
Employee Practice,
North America, MSLGROUP
The very process of bringing together a group of leaders who haven't had this
conversation together before is the first step in building alignment, shared
accountability and then a multi-channel strategy to drive engagement.
Then we get tactical, co-creating a set of specific activities that reflect the
desired state of engagement.
CONSISTENCY
CONTRAST
of message
147
Employee engagement is both a result of well-planned giving back programs and also a catalyst to
achieving CSR goals. In this way, looking holistically at employee engagement in conjunction with CSR has great
upside for all stakeholders.
May 2015
Getting to grips with
Integrated Reporting
Inside
Whats driving the reporting
agenda, and how do you
take the first steps?
Integrated Reporting
MAKING IT COUNT
As the demand for greater
reporting transparency continues,
Salterbaxter MSLGROUP
provides an inside look at what's
driving the Integrated Reporting
agenda in its spring 2015
supplement of Directions.
salterbaxter.com/integrated-reporting-making-it-count
149
Section IV:
A Rising
Business
Priority:
Human Rights
151
Center of Business
Sustainability
In the past five years, the topic of human rights has moved to the center of
corporate responsibility and sustainable business. There are two specific
reasons and one more general and very powerful driver.
First, the United Nations Global Principles on Human Rights and Business,
adopted in 2011, make it clear that companies have a responsibility to respect
universal human rights in their operations and supply chains.
Second, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted in September
this year, have a strong focus on the role of civil, political, social and economic
human rights in advancing sustainable development. Comprising 17 goals and
169 targets, the SDGs will shape national and international sustainable
development initiatives and financing in the public and private sectors
for the next fifteen years.
Jim Peacock
Director, Consultancy and
Communications,
Salterbaxter MSLGROUP
@jecpeacock
153
People and
Communities
Coming from a human rights and anthropology background and
having worked with different non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) for almost ten years, I naturally became interested in the
subject of business and human rights while studying at
Sciences Po Paris in 2013.
Businesses in general have a more mature management system
and more sustainable resources, which NGOs do not always have.
Plus, a focus on economic profits often drives businesses to expand
their markets across the entire country or the entire world. Thus,
when businesses decide to embrace human rights, there is a huge
potential to make a significant impact.
Liping Mian
Human Rights Advocate
Liping is dedicated to driving change,
in her years as a human rights
advocate and at her current role
in a multinational company.
However, businesses are still exploring why they should care about
human rights, what they could contribute positively to human rights
and how they could act on it. After one year of working with a
multinational company on corporate social responsibility,
I propose that the real opportunity of human rights, for
business, is to develop the sustainability of people.
Sustainability
of people
Companies should integrate
human rights as part of the
business rather than isolate the
issue just because they should
do good. Human rights does not
only mean cost and risk, but also
benefit and opportunity. Taking
care of human rights could ensure
that companies have sustainable
employees to run the business,
sustainable customers to pay for
their products, and sustainable
local communities to maintain the
business. Innovative ways of
respecting human rights could also
give them a competitive advantage
over their peers.
Averting HIV and AIDS, South Africa HIV & AIDS Statistics, http://www.avert.org/south-africa-hiv-aids-statistics.htm.
155
Businesses should further safeguard their position and reputation by taking positive actions to
influence their value chains. The November 2012 fire in Bangladesh, for example, led people
to yet again focus on multinational companies and hold them accountable for their supply
chain behaviors.
Countries and regions require in their legislation that multinational companies control their
value chains, through means such as:
Including human rights-related clauses in agreements with their suppliers, sub-contractors
and partners
Auditing their value chains on a regular basis
Providing trainings and mentorship to their value chain on
respecting human rights
157
3 Tips to Achieve
Real Impact
with your Human Rights Initiative
Luna is passionate about social
change, and a firm believer in
companies' responsibility and
opportunity to make a difference.
Prior to MSLGROUP, Luna served
as the Eastern Chapter Director at
FWD.us where she helped build
national advocacy campaigns to
mobilize tech leaders around
immigration issues. Her campaign
Immigrant Heritage Month
received an official recognition
from the White House as well as
President Obama.
Luna Atamian
Senior Account Executive
Corporate & Brand Citizenship
North America, MSLGROUP
@Lunatamian
Collaborate closely
with human rights
experts to better
understand human
rights risks
key step towards
ensuring good
human rights
performance by
companies is the
practice of
human rights
due diligence: the analysis of
business activities
and the risks those activities
pose to affected communities.
This analysis is complex and
requires technical human rights
expertise and training which
most companies lack nowadays.
That's why businesses need to
increase collaboration with
human rights experts.
Indeed companies often ignore the
changeable human rights risk
environment. Human rights risks
are not only various but also
constantly changing. Using
experts' counseling, businesses
need to make a greater effort to
continually map the changeable
long-term and short-term risks as
well as direct and indirect risks
associated with their activities.
Recognize that
human rights issues
are often inter-linked
and create
wholesome programs
usinesses often
concentrate on the
fulfillment of one
particular human
right related to
their specific
operations without
taking into consideration that
human rights are indivisible,
interdependent, and interrelated.
To be sure, most businesses are
organically associated with certain
rights. For instance, it makes
sense for a pharmaceutical
company to focus on the fulfillment
of the right to health in its
communities. Yet, the fulfillment of
the right to health may depend, in
certain circumstances, on the
fulfillment of the right to education
or to information. The realization
of one human right most often
depends on the realization of
other rights. By concentrating on
the enjoyment of one specific
human right, it is likely that other
fundamental rights might be
overlooked, resulting in more
human rights infringements
than intended.
Section IV : 3 Tips to Achieve Real Impact with your Human Rights Initiative
159
Implement a formal
company policy
statement and deliver
on it to boost
business
performance
onclusively, merely
expressing support
for the UN Global
Compacts Ten
Principles does not
suffice anymore.
Millennials expect
more from corporations. They are
interested in knowing which
company has taken the step of
explicitly referring to human rights
in their formal company policy and
adopted it.
Section IV : 3 Tips to Achieve Real Impact with your Human Rights Initiative
161
The Ever-Evolving
Definition of
Human Rights
The late Nelson Mandela famously said, To deny people their
human rights is to challenge their very humanity.
The idea that every person is free simply by the virtue of being
born human seems straightforward enough, and yet, almost
seven decades after the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights was adopted by the UN General Assembly, we continue
to live in an age where adverse human rights violations are
commonplace.
Melanie Joe
Consultant, Research & Insights,
MSLGROUP
@melanie_joe
163
2 For digital users (not just Gen Z and Millennials, but all other
4 Areas of conflict often see some of the worst cases of human rights violations - the Syrian refugee
+
crisis highlights this in tragic ways. Perhaps one of the most distressing things about the crisis was the
refusal on the part of several countries to provide asylum to the refugees. Similarly, climate refugees
who are displaced by the disastrous effects of climate change in places like the Kiribati Islands have
started demanding compensation from the developed world. With good reason too, considering that
developed nations have contributed more to climate change, with their consumption patterns and
business practices. In both these cases, denial to entertain the victims' requests becomes a direct
violation of their right to seek a safe place to live.
Looking the other way is no longer an option. We've long known that war is exploitative of human
rights. Today, we need to seriously consider climate change as a threat to human rights as well.
Societal evolution is bringing along an evolved set of concerns with it, and this flood has only just
begun. The near future will also very likely see the debate around the impact of robots, artificial
intelligence and machines on human rights, and that's just scratching the surface.
165
Similarly, the recent example of a man being lynched to death over the
consumption of beef in India, and the lack of stringent action against it
makes one wonder: why are individual freedoms still viewed through
a political lens? Why are those in the position to tackle these issues still
under pressure to conform to the opinions of their political
parties/vote bank?
Its time for the international community to reach an understanding on how
we can place human rights above all other considerations. We need to
separate these from political, religious and cultural factors, and look at them
for what they really are the rights that each and every human being is
entitled to. Only then can we move towards a world where we do justice to
the concept of human rights.
167
Data protection,
a fundamental
people right
in Europe
Leonardo Sforza
Managing Director, Brussels,
MSLGROUP
1. http://www.europarl.europa. eu/news/en/newsroom/content/20151015STO97860/html/Morae
s-on-mass-surveillance-Balance-is-neededbetween-privacy-and-surveillance
2. http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legalcontent/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:12012P/TXT
3. http://fr.scribd.com/doc/285362297/Luxembour
g#scribd
4. http://blog.mslgroup.com/eu-us-personal-datatransfer-after-the-european-court-ruling/
169
About People's
Insights
The Team
Pascal Beucler
SVP & Global Chief Strategy Officer,
MSLGROUP
Nidhi Chimnani
Director, Research & Insights,
MSLGROUP
Melanie Joe
Consultant, Research & Insights,
MSLGROUP
Ankita Thobias
Copywriter,
MSLGROUP CREATIVE+
Parth Mistry
Junior Executive, Operations,
MSLGROUP CREATIVE+
Ashish Shah
Senior Design Director,
MSLGROUP CREATIVE+
Sudhir Garimalla
Account Director,
MSLGROUP CREATIVE+
Darshit Mahajan
Creative Specialist,
MSLGROUP CREATIVE+
Tapan Bhatt
Senior Art Director,
MSLGROUP CREATIVE+
Imran Memon
Senior Graphic Designer,
MSLGROUP CREATIVE+
Vipul Barot
Senior Graphic Designer,
MSLGROUP CREATIVE+
Manish Silajiya
Senior Design Director,
MSLGROUP CREATIVE+
Rahul Sutaria
Quilling Artist,
Manav Sadhana
From a very young age, Rahul (34) had a passion for creating art
out of waste goods or unusual materials that are not generally
associated with art. He also doubles up as a sports coach and arts
& crafts teacher at Manav Sadhana - an NGO based at the
famous Gandhi Ashram in Ahmedabad, where he spends most of
his mornings teaching street kids. You will find his quilling artwork
photographed and featured across this report.
About Manav Sadhana
Manav Sadhana is a registered Public Charitable Trust at
Ahmedabad's Gandhi Ashram. The NGO is dedicated towards the
upliftment of people living in marginalised communities in
Ahmedabad. Manav Sadhna is engaged in constructive
humanitarian projects that cut across barriers of class and religion
while addressing issues faced by socio-economically neglected
segments of society.
Shraddha Bagadia,
Priya Brahmbhatt
Quilling Artists &
Volunteers,
Laddoo Foundation
Pascal Beucler
SVP & Chief Strategy Officer
(pascal.beucler@mslgroup.com)
Nidhi Chimnani
Director, Research & Insights
(nidhi.chimnani@mslgroup.com)
With more than 3,000 people across close to 100 offices worldwide, MSLGROUP is
also the largest PR network in Europe, fast-growing China and India. The group
offers strategic planning and counsel, insight-guided thinking and big, compelling
ideas - followed by thourough execution.