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A

Chance

Change

for

The Tipping Point For


Sustainable Business

#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

Fear prompts Indian


Millennials to Hope,
& Act
Schubert Fernandes
SVP, India, and CBC
Lead, Asia, 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

New Development Goals and


Climate Agreement offer
Opportunities for Business

3 Trends that are Shaping


the Future of Business
Sustainability

Luis Davila
Team Leader, Momentum for Change
Initiative, UN Climate Change secretariat

Mark Newton
Head of Environmental & Regulatory
Affairs, Samsung Electronics America

48

The Business of Development: Leveraging the UN SDGs for


Business Growth & Global Impact

44

18

3.
Opportunities

Nigel Salter, CEO, Salterbaxter MSLGROUP


Kristina Joss, Senior Sustainability Consultant, Salterbaxter MSLGROUP

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

Unlocking the Forces of Business


and Consumer Demand
An interview with Sally Uren, Chief Executive, Forum for the Future

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

It's Time for Transformation:


Everything Needs to be Questioned
Pascal Beucler, SVP & Global Chief Strategy Officer, MSLGROUP

116
122

Table of contents

Me, My World, The World

III

Luna Atamian,
Senior Account Executive, Corporate & Brand Citizenship,
North America, MSLGROUP

Humanizing
Sustainability:
Making
it Matter

45
128

Humanizing Climate Change


Kristina Joss,
Senior Sustainability Consultant, Salterbaxter MSLGROUP

132
Simplify, Inspire, Engage

Expert tips on engaging core audiences

Inspiring campaigns selected by the


Corporate & Brand Citizenship team,
MSLGROUP

136

Michael Dickstein

Mark Newton

Director, Global Sustainable


Development, HEINEKEN

Head of Environmental and


Regulatory Affairs,
Samsung Electronics America

Engaging Employees around CSR

126 146

Kerri Warner
SVP, Employee Practice, North America, MSLGROUP

78

Table of contents

Human Rights is at the Center of


Business Sustainability

IV
A Rising
Business
Priority:
Human Rights

152

Jim Peacock
Director, Consultancy & Communications,
Salterbaxter MSLGROUP

45

Building the Resilience of People and


Communities
Liping Mian
Human Rights Advocate

154

3 Tips to Achieve Real Impact with your


Human Rights Initiative

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

his December, the world's eyes will be on Paris as United Nations


delegates, government officials, business leaders and concerned
global citizens come together to tackle climate change and global
warming at the UN's COP21 climate conference.

The ambition to drive change is unprecedented. Hundreds of thousands of


people, experts and leaders have voiced their concern and determination
to find and implement meaningful solutions.

Guillaume Herbette
CEO
MSLGROUP

There has been some progress. Early sustainability


leaders are already testing and implementing new best
practices. Some big businesses have already pivoted to
become more sustainable.
Governments are beginning to come around and make significant
commitments to change. We are seeing headlines about plastic roads, a
solar revolution, sports shoes made of recycled ocean waste, clothes that
are being 'grown' and biofuel for jets. It is increasingly clear no matter
what deal is agreed upon in Paris, the global movement for sustainable
development can't be stopped. There is much to do, and many businesses
and people who are committed to finding a new way of living and taking
action.
In A Chance for Change: The Tipping Point for Sustainable Business,
we feature the voices of inspiring millennials, sustainability leaders and
industry experts, and highlight the diverse initiatives already in play.
As science fiction writer William Gibson wisely wrote: the future is here,
it's just not evenly distributed.
We hope this report reassures you that change is coming, and inspires you
to be a part of the journey. If you are looking for a partner in developing your
sustainability story, start a conversation with us today.
We would also like to take this opportunity to thank our contributors for their
valuable input to this report.

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

Join an unstoppable movement: A collective


commitment to tackling climate change
The COP21 conference, coming up in Paris this December, will be
the focal point for the world's leaders and leading companies as the
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon seeks a binding
commitment to tackle global climate change.
The conference is being billed as the most significant attempt to
organize a response to the risks presented by severe climate
change and its impact on the world's economy and populations.
Last year's UN Climate Summit in New York generated huge
interest, massive demonstrations and some striking commitments
from corporations and corporate leaders. It was merely a warm-up
ahead of COP20 in Peru in 2014 and the bigger focal point, COP21
in Paris in a few weeks from now.

Paris prepares for COP21


As part of renovations to the
Eiffel Tower, UGE was called
in to install two wind turbines
on the second floor of the
iconic monument. The
turbines will produce
10,000kWh of electricity a
year, enough to cover the
energy needs of activity on
the Eiffel Tower's first floor.

Image Credit: UGE

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

We are seeing a broad and diverse range of


stakeholders raising their voice
from leaders who are acknowledging climate change to ordinary citizens who are concerned about their
personal and collective future on this planet. They are taking action, or showing the willingness to do so.

Millennials are frustrated and worried,


see what they are saying at our
platform bethechance.com, and on
page 22.

Image Source: 360b / Shutterstock.com

MILLENNIALS

Image Source: giulio napolitano / Shutterstock.com

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).

Image Source: twitter.com/PaulPolman

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.

Image Source: youtube.com/watch?v=eRLJscAlk1M

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.

Towards new business


models: A growing
intricacy between
business and climate
What's at stake for business? Their ability to
exist in the future. To safeguard communities
and supply of natural resources. To protect
investments. To attract and retain (and satisfy)
talent. To meet the needs and expectations of
customers and investors, who are looking for
businesses to adapt to digital disruptions and
prepare for physical disruptions. A changing
climate is everyone's problem - that is one of
the realities of living in such a globalized,
complex world.
As Barack Obama reminds us, we have
but one planet - earth.
Beyond this, a key driver is our conscience
- our ambition to build a better world for
our children and to leave behind a
strong positive legacy.

Introduction : The Road To & Through Paris

13

As the road to the COP21 becomes


busier, these words of Unilever chief
Paul Polman in Business, society and
the future of capitalism (McKinsey)
have a particular resonance:
In the coming 15 years, we need to align on the new
Millennium Development Goals. We have a unique
opportunity to create a world that can eradicate poverty
in a more sustainable and equitable way. That is very
motivational. Business needs to be part of it. Corporate
social responsibility and philanthropy are very
important, and I certainly don't want to belittle them.
But if you want to exist as a company in the future,
you have to go beyond that. You actually have to
make a positive contribution. Business needs to
step up to the plate.
Although some people might not like business or fail
to understand that it needs to make a profit, they do
understand that it has to play a key role in driving
solutions. In the next ten years, I think you are going
to see many more initiatives undertaken by groups of
businesses to protect their long-term interests and the
long-term interests of society. Governments will join
these initiatives if they see business committed. It is,
however, becoming more difficult for governments to
initiate such projects in the current political
environment as long as we don't adjust our outdated
governance model.

Business sustainability: From


convenience to compliance,
now to performance
There is no doubt that sustainability is no longer a compliance - or just a
corporate social responsibility - issue. It is now definitely a core business
concern that is fundamental to long-term objectives, long-lasting
performance and creation of beneficial shared value.
Like Coca-Cola Enterprises puts it: those that seamlessly incorporate
sustainability within their overall strategy not only benefit from improved
cost margins and an enhanced corporate image, but also make valuable
contributions to critical global concerns such as youth unemployment and
resource scarcity.

At MSLGROUP, we are deeply convinced that there's no better


reputation shield than what actually insulates the organization from
future risks, and fosters robust relationships with customers,
employees and communities. Nothing is more important today than to
collaboratively address, as the Financial Times and Coca-Cola Enterprises
highlighted it, the sustainability challenges, strategies, trends and
perspectives that are shaping all business models: ensuring that the
next-generation is workplace-ready, tackling resource wastage and climate
change, and enabling leaders to engage with society and prepare their
organizations for future threats and opportunities.
This calls for new and innovative ways to combine profit and purpose; to
redefine the role of business in society; and to better identify and analyze
what younger generations believe, value and bring to the table. Connecting
purpose, participation and profit is what creates the conditions for what we
tend to call 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

15

MSLGROUP's approach to the Reputation Complex


These elements are what make up a company's
reputation in today's liquid age:

Purpose
what you stand for as a company

Citizenship
the way you help solve pressing social issues

Employer Value Proposition


what makes you an employer of choice

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.

U.S. millennials alone are


projected to spend $1.4
trillion annually by 2020
(Accenture)

If you're not where Millennials are,


you're nowhere
In many ways, the future of Sustainable Citizenship is now in the hands of two
unexpected partners: businesses and millennials, the most influential
generation the world has ever seen.

of their business strategy: (1) a corporate purpose that is grounded in


sustainability and (2) a relevant citizenship approach.
Businesses that are able to really understand millennials' mindsets and their
views, concerns and priorities especially around sustainability and the climate,
will be better able to engage millennials and make them part of their
sustainability story.

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

Read early insights from our online millennial


community, bethechance.com, at Page 22.
Follow @BetheChance on Twitter for fresh insights

Introduction : The Road To & Through Paris

17

Section I:
The Perfect
Storm: People,
Priorities,
Opportunities

Millennials are driving


the demand for change.
They are upset about
the lack of climate
action, and have big
expectations of business,
and of themselves.

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

In 2014, MSLGROUP surveyed 8,000 millennials in 17 countries on the


topic of sustainability and citizenship. Millennials' views differ starkly from
those of preceding generations. Millennials feel that government can't solve
societal issues by themselves, and are counting on business to be the
solution and to be actively involved.

Millennials are a driving force for


business sustainability
Millennials - the largest, most diverse and influential generation to date are game changers in their expectations of business, with distinct ideas on
how companies should behave. The overwhelming majority believe that
corporations should tackle issues such as the economy, health and
environment. Millennials look to businesses not only to lead, but also to
actively engage them in the process. This opens ups huge opportunities for
businesses worldwide to re-set in the face of declining stakeholder trust.
However, a key point in the study is the degree to which millennials expect
business to be active in addressing sustainability issues. Just complying
with the law and PR will simply not wash. Millennials expect serious and
effective performance in these areas. This can in part be explained by the
recent economic crisis across the globe, which has led to a serious lack of
faith in business and an increased expectation that business needs to work
differently and deliver different outcomes. Link this to the transparency
being driven by social media, and businesses that dont act will not
succeed.

There is an urgent need


to move from talk to action.
Leading businesses know that they are a critical part of the solution. These leaders
go well beyond philanthropy and drive their organizations to make money in more
sustainable and socially responsible ways. Business have to move away from the
short-term focus on shareholders alone to a model of sustainable citizenship that
focuses on all stakeholders. Governments also must act, providing sticks and
carrots to business. Sustainable business practices must be enterprise-wide
endeavors, steeped in purpose.
No matter what words are used, concerns about climate change are real and here to
stay. Just ask the millennials whose buying and voting power will only grow.
Business and government leaders who ignore sustainability do so at their own risk.

Section I : People | New Generations, New Expectations

21

SECTION I : PEOPLE

Global insights from our millennial community

Millennials are worried,


frustrated, and want
climate action, now!
In the lead up to COP21, we asked our global
community of millennials at BetheChance.com
how they feel about climate change. Over 250
millennials (18-30 year olds) from Canada, China,
Denmark, India, Poland, United States, United
Kingdom and beyond shared a remarkably similar
voice: they are deeply concerned about the
climate, disappointed in our collective past
behavior and desperate for change.
Nidhi Chimnani
Director - Research & Insights,
MSLGROUP, and a Millennial
@nidhichimnani

Their responses echoed the findings from


MSLGROUP's 2014 survey of 8,000 millennials
across 17 countries: Millennials hold
businesses responsible for
implementing solutions.

Millennials want brands to partner with


Governments

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.

Globally, governments emerged as the most responsible for


implementing solutions to climate change. This sentiment was especially
true amongst millennials in the west - Canada, United States, Denmark
and United Kingdom, and in China, indicating a possible fatigue at all the
hype and lack of action. Millennials from India and Poland said that the
change starts with them, followed by governments, people in general,
businesses and non-profits.
As one young Polish millennial put it - it's not just big businesses
that have an impact, every single person does.

Section I : People | Millennials are worried, frustrated, and want climate action, now!

23

When it comes to climate change, there are broadly 5 types of


millennials. Heres how businesses can engage with them.
When we asked our community of millennials what emotion they feel when thinking of climate change, they shared a diverse
range of answers. Across the seventy-five shades of emotion they shared, five clear themes (and takeaways) emerged.

Millennials are AFRAID: they are


worried, nervous and uncertain
about the future.

Millennials feel FRUSTRATED:


they are angry and annoyed at
perceived inaction.

Millennials feel RESPONSIBLE:


they are sad and disappointed,
but also ashamed and guilty.

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.

Their frustration stems from a perceived


lack of action especially in countries
where solutions are within reach. As Sara,
24, from Denmark remarks: It's so easy to
do something - so why on earth do
politicians and companies have
to make it so hard?

They feel responsible for the current state


of our planet. In fact, half of the
millennials we heard from believe that
change starts with them personally and
they seem ready to act with their wallets.

Take-away for businesses:


Simplify communications
around this complex issue, and
engage millennials around the
potential to make a positive
change, together.

Take-away for businesses:


Theres an appetite for more
information on climate action.
Now is clearly a good time to
start talking about your initiatives
and contributions to solutions.

Take-away for businesses:


Millennials are thinking more and
more about the implications of
their everyday habits. They want
to hear about businesses greener
and cleaner products and they
want business to innovate and
change the way they operate to
deliver on this.

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.

Take-away for business:


Demonstrate the value that
millennials can deliver, as
customers and as employees,
as individuals and as a whole.

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.

[Im] shocked that the things most of


us don't even think about can have
such a huge impact half way
round the world!
- Elena, 19, UK

Others view it as a last resort. As a


millennial from Malaysia said, We
cannot live happily when seeing our
own house are being burnt (sic)
I do not want to feel sick anymore.

Take-away for business:


Involve young adults as your
citizen partners, make them a
part of your journey, and provide
ways for them to make a
meaningful difference.

For more insights from MSLGROUP's #BetheChance community, follow


@BetheChance on Twitter, where we will be sharing the voice of
millennials in the run up to and during COP21.

Section I : People | Millennials are worried, frustrated, and want climate action, now!

25

SECTION I : PEOPLE

The Asia View:

How Millennials
feel about Climate
Change in China
and India

In October 2015, MSLGROUP asked millennials


three questions around climate change:

How does climate change


make you feel?
Who is responsible for
implementing solutions?
How do you want your favorite
brands to address climate change?

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:

Fear prompts Indian


Millennials to Hope,
and Act
A couple of years ago a discussion about climate change in India
would give you a generic approval endorsing the need for
environmental conservation and protection. But today, the same
conversation ignites fear and anxiety in the minds of young India.
This sentiment in many ways assumes the same amount of
seriousness as other matters that keep millennials busy like
education, career, lifestyle or love.

Schubert Fernandes
Senior Vice President, India,
and, Asia Lead, Corporate &
Brand Citizenship,
MSLGROUP

India is currently grappling with yet another drought situation, its


worst since 2009. Erratic monsoons certainly top the list of related
worries, given its effect on the $370 billion agriculture sector, 60% of
which is dependent on rainfall. Global warming is taking its toll right
across and however much is being done in carbon control or clean
energy, it doesn't seem to be enough given the aggressive pace of
growth that all economies are driving.

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.

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.

Chinese companies and some of the very prominent Chinese


entrepreneurs also enacted varied degree of emission controls
voluntarily on their own operations, an act viewed highly by Chinese
youth when they think of a potential employer or a maker of products
destined for them.
After all, Chinese millennials equals 415 million customers today1 and 35%
of country's total consumption by year 20202. It also translates into USD 3
trillion aggregate income growth over the next 10 years. For marketers,
95% of female Chinese millennials owns smartphone devices and 49% of
them consume advertisement on their phones3.

The secret to success in today's China is for businesses to actively engage


with Chinese millennials on meaningful missions - climate change being
one of the obvious choices. The engagement also needs to be creative and
attractive at the same time in order for it to work well and mark substantial
impact. Urban Chinese millennials are also the generation of one child
policy so they have disposable income of between USD 1,500 to 3,800 per
day on a single vacation trip overseas4.
So a meaningful and tasteful engagement would go a long way for the
initiators in terms of both impact and influence.

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

Image Credit: Natalia Tsoukala

Kim protects coral reefs in her native


American Samoa, and has sailed across the
Pacific Ocean twice on a traditional
Polynesian va'a (boat) to raise awareness
around climate change. A first hand witness
of the dangers of climate change, Kim
believes the time to act is now.

For thousands of years we have


grown our crops and have enjoyed
the abundance of resources from
our coral reefs. However, in the
past decade we have seen the
rapid decline of our reefs and
crops due to high temperatures
and rising sea levels. We need the
rest of the world to see what we
see, to understand the impacts
that we feel. There is no more
time for denial. We need this
time to come up with solutions.
We need to find ways to become
resilient.

Pacific Voyager. My most recent


voyage was to the 2014 IUCN
World Parks Congress in Sydney.
The leaders of Kiribati, Palau, and
Cook Islands were on board with
us. Now we need the rest of
the world's leaders on board
with us.
I voyage and speak out because
I care about what we are leaving
for our future generations.
I want them to know that I tried
my best to preserve our
paradise for them.

The Pacific Voyagers journey to


Sydney in 2014

My love for my Samoan ancestry


and my Pacific island community
was my motivation to become a

Section I : People | Six Millennial Change-Makers on Sustainability

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

At a TEDx talk in 2012, Boyan


introduced a method to collect all the
plastic in the top layers of world's
oceans. To date, the 20-year old has
built a team of 100 members,
completed a feasibility study and
raised $2 million to fund the
next phase of testing.
@BoyanSlat

Crew inspects a 40m


long proof-of-concept
barrier in Portugal,
March 2014.

How the oceans can clean


themselves: Boyan Slat at TEDxDelft

Watch the sequel to Boyan's


2012 TEDx Talk

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

Nearly two years ago, Samantha and


her producer Angela Jorgensen
developed a deceptively simple
concept: Bode would backpack the full
length of the LA Aqueduct to help the
people of Southern California draw a
connection between the water that
comes out of their taps and the source
of that water, hundreds of miles away.

@TheLongestStraw

In 2014, Samantha successfully


completed the 64 Day, 400 Mile
backpacking journey. By depicting
the epic journey that the city's
water must travel, she and her
crew hope to bring home the
importance of water conservation,
appreciation, and development of
local water sources for the city of
Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles Aqueduct, one of


three major water sources in LA,
began operation in November of
1913. Originally, it stretched from
Owens Lake to LA, but as the
City of Angels has grown, greatly
expanding local water needs,
the aqueduct has been twice
extended, now stretching 338
miles and ending north of San
Francisco and east of Yosemite
National Park.

Trailer: The Longest Straw

Section I : People | Six Millennial Change-Makers on Sustainability

35

Anyone truly aware of what


is going on with our cotton
farmers would not continue
to ignore this crisis. If you
had a viable alternative, you
would choose it. No Nasties
hopes to be that alternative
with our 100% organic &
100% fair-trade clothing."

Apurva Kothari
Founder, No Nasties,
Mumbai, India
Image Credit: No Nasties

While in the U.S., he had read a lot


about the agrarian crisis faced by
Indian cotton farmers and the high
number of farmer suicides in India.
In his research, he found there
had been over 300,000 farmer
suicides in the last 15 years that's more than one every 30
minutes!

Apurva was in the United States for over 10


years working in Technology in New York. In
2011, he decided to move back to India and
wanted to get involved with organic
clothing.
@nonasties

When Apurva returned to India, he


decided it was time to change
career paths and started No
Nasties.
Apurva structured No Nasties
around a mission to help the cotton
farming community. Every product
from No Nasties is 100% organic

and 100% fair-trade. Organic


reduces the input costs for
farmers, while fair trade increases
revenue. No Nasties pays a
fair-trade premium that is used by
the farmers for community
development projects. This
approach helps not just the
individual farmer, but the
entire village.

See the No Nasties


clothing range

I have always cared deeply


for the environment.
I studied environmental
science and was always
talking about how we should
do this and that. But I wasn't
actually doing anything to
live that way. So I decided to
make a change and go
Zero Waste.

Lauren Singer
Blogger, Trash is for Tossers and
Founder, The Simply Co.,
New York City, United States
Image Credit: The Simply Co.

Lauren shares her experience going Zero


Waste on her blog and through speaking
engagements. Inspired by the positive
support she has received from her readers
and viewers, she quit her job and started
her own company, The Simply Co.
@Trashis4Tossers

Going Zero Waste has been the


absolute the best way to align my
values (hope for a more balanced
environment) with my day to day
lifestyle (not producing any trash
and living sustainably).

product options out there, the same


did not go for cleaning products.
In fact, there is very little regulation in
the cleaning product industry and
what you think you are buying might
not always be what you get.

A big part of living a Zero Waste


lifestyle for me has been making
all of my own products from
scratch, everything from
toothpaste to cleaning products.
I was getting a lot of emails from my
blog readers asking for places that
they could buy products that were
like the ones I was making since
they didn't have time to make them.

This upset me. We, as consumers,


have a right to safe, transparent, and
effective cleaning products and it got
me thinking - I had an opportunity to
make these products for others. So I
quit my government job as a
sustainability manager and my
company, The Simply Co., was born.

I started looking in stores and


realized that while there were beauty

Lauren's Tedx Talk: How I live a


zero waste life

Since launching my company,


I have gained a platform and
ability to share how I live with a
larger audience than I ever
thought possible.

Section I : People | Six Millennial Change-Makers on Sustainability

37

For two years, I have been


running my own little green
campaign. I create drawings
and photography using coffee
grinds! I chose #zerowaste
coffee because it's all about
using and re-using the
coffee waste, to make it
more valuable.

Ghidaq al-Nizar
Artist @coffeetopia and founder
of #zerowastecoffee,
Indonesia
Image Credit: @coffeetopia

"We live in an era where waste is


one of the biggest human problem.
Zero waste coffee is a way to
express my concern for
environmental sustainability.

Ghidaq's love for coffee and the


planet inspired his #zerowastecoffee
collection of art.

I use coffee waste - that is coffee


grinds - to make my paintings, its
all created from remnant coffee.
The second big issue that we face
is deforestation so I do not use
paper but plates as canvas
because I am aware of how paper
contributes to deforestation.

I am very grateful because thanks


to my work, I was chosen as one
of the ambassadors of my
country's national organization to
campaign for the conservation of
the Sumatran tiger.
My art is an example that anyone
can show kindness to nature, for
anything. I believe that art should
be used not to escape from reality
but to recreate the reality itself, a
better reality!"

View Ghidaq's
#zerowastecoffee collection on
Instagram and Facebook

The real opportunity is the continued


demand from consumer. It's the millennials
that are showing there is a market.
The more they demand, the more the
business changes. Right now, the market is
demanding sustainability. We make it easy.
David Katz
Founder and CEO at The Plastic Bank
@DavidKatzEO

The Plastic Bank incentivizes people in disadvantaged communities to


collect plastic and swap it for goods - like access to solar-powered mobile
phone charging stations, and soon, access to 3D printers. The Plastic Bank
then recycles the collected plastic and sells it to brands as Social Plastic.
Watch the story of Social Plastic by The Plastic Bank

Section I : People | Expert Tip

39

SECTION I : PRIORITIES

New Development Goals and Climate Agreement offer

Opportunity for
Business

Luis Davila
Team Leader, Momentum for
Change Initiative, United Nations
Climate Change secretariat
@davilalu

The new Sustainable


Development Goals (SDGs) and
the Paris Climate Conference
(COP 21) in December 2015 will
drive the world's development
agenda for decades to come.
Businesses will undoubtedly play
an essential role in implementing
these goals and agreements,
especially as it relates to
partnerships, innovation
and investment.

The new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)


and the Paris Climate Conference (COP 21) in
December 2015 will drive the world's development
agenda for decades to come.
Luis Davila, UNFCCC

Image credit:
Delpixel / Shutterstock.com

Section I : Priorities | Opportunity for Business

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.

This year marks a defining moment in the global quest for a


sustainable future for 7 billion people, rising to over 9 billion by
2050. The SDGs and the Paris climate change agreement
offer no quick fixes, but businesses can and must play an
important role in helping them succeed.

The 17 new Sustainable Development Goals, also


known as The Global Goals, set the agenda for
global leaders and businesses through 2030.

NO
POVERTY

2 ZERO
HUNGER

AFFORDABLE AND
CLEAN ENERGY

DECENT WORK AND


INNOVATION
8 ECONOMIC
9 ANDINDUSTRY,
10 REDUCED
INFRASTRUCTURE
GROWTH
INEQUALITIES

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

PEACE AND JUSTICE


16 STRONG
17 FORPARTNERSHIPS
INSTITUTIONS
THE GOALS

Image Credit: globalgoals.org

Section I : Priorities | Opportunity for Business

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

CEO, Salterbaxter MSLGROUP

Senior Sustainability Consultant


Salterbaxter MSLGROUP

@nigelsalter2

@kjoss_

While not legally binding or mandatory, the SDGs will


undoubtedly inform investment plans and international
jurisdictions, set national development budgets and drive
sustainability activity. Perhaps the biggest difference between
the two is the role of the private sector.

While the MDGs were largely directed at governments, and


thus often brushed off by the business community, the
SDGs are deliberately designed for business and civil
society to bear responsibility for together.
It's important to acknowledge that not everyone thinks the
SDGs are a great new step forward. There remains a
substantial body of opinion suggesting the goals are unlikely to
deliver. Politicians and CEOs alike have criticized the SDGs for
being too lengthy, too complex and downright unrealistic. With
17 goals, 169 targets and more than 300 provisional indicators
it's an understandable criticism to make.
Yet despite the opposition, the SDGs are intended to provide
the widest range of opportunities for governments, businesses,
NGOs and institutions to focus on areas where they can
collaboratively make a positive difference.

For businesses specifically, it is not only about maximizing


material contribution, but also maximizing value for all their
stakeholders.
The UN has been clear that unlike the MDGs, the SDGs will
require the full engagement and participation of businesses to
make achieving these goals possible. For the last 15 years,
businesses have shown their value in tackling global
challenges through robust sustainability strategies and
community investment programs. From investment in major
infrastructure; protection of human rights and the planet's
ecosystem; improving opportunity, justice and prosperity; and
engaging and educating consumers - business is being seen
as a collaborative partner in building a better world.
This creates an enormous opportunity for businesses to
engage as a strong and positive influence on society and
champion of our planet's stability.

From investment in major infrastructure;


protection of human rights and the planet's
ecosystem; improving opportunity, justice and
prosperity; and engaging and educating
consumers - business is being seen as a
collaborative partner in building a better world.

Section I : Priorities | The Business of Development: Leveraging the UN SDGs for Business Growth and Global Impact

45

Fortune favors the brave: 5 key insights for taking action


The SDGs could prove to be a guidepost for companies that have strong ambitions and
visions for their business and the value it creates for society. When ascertaining the SDG
opportunity, businesses can focus on five key insights for taking action:

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.

Report with purpose

Sync the strategy

With GRI and the UN Global Compact


& WBCSD's implementation guide
Compass, businesses should consider
how to incorporate the SDGs into their
reporting activity. This means a more
proactive approach to demonstrating
where and how the business is
delivering material impacts against the
global challenges outlined by the
SDGs. In fact, the SDGs should
provide the context, relevancy and
value that are often lacking in
sustainability reports.

The SDGs arrive at a crucial point in


the sustainability agenda, with many
businesses looking to review their
strategies and 2020 goals. Identifying
opportunities to link existing and new
sustainability strategies to the global
challenges outlined in the SDGs will
enhance a business' ability to reach
sustainable growth.

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.

The SDGs arrive at a pinnacle


moment for the sustainability
agenda, with the mobilization of
citizens at the 2014 Climate Week
rally in New York City, a landmark
case on climate change in the Dutch
courts, and the cooperation of
international governments leading
up to COP21.
As a result, the business community
faces a unique opportunity to
explore - in collaboration with the
rest of the global community - the
potential for a problem solving
agenda to the world's biggest
challenges. To learn more about the
business opportunity and to get in
touch with Salterbaxter MSLGROUP,
visit http://sdg.salterbaxter.com/

The business community faces a unique


opportunity to explore, in collaboration with
the rest of the global community, the
potential for a problem solving agenda to the
world's biggest challenges.
Nigel Salter, Salterbaxter MSLGROUP

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.

1 All things digital.


Massive amounts of disaggregated data coupled with the rapid expansion of global
digital connectivity presents an almost irresistible opportunity for tailoring messaging to
individuals, micro-segments and interest groups. The challenge here is to move away
from the yuck factor (i.e. - yuck! How did you know that about me??)
Mark Newton
Head of Environmental and
Regulatory Affairs,
Samsung Electronics America
@newton_csr

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)

Previous issues of Directions

For many years, science has been lurking in the


background of the sustainability debate; biding
its time, waiting for its moment to shine. It seems
as if this time is now coming.
The latest issue of Directions, Salterbaxter
MSLGROUP's guide to trends and issues in
sustainability communications, explores the
exciting interplay between science, sustainability
and strategy.
Download the report at
http://www.salterbaxter.com/directions-report-2015/

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

We will increase the fuel efficiency and


reduce our vehicles' environmental
impact beyond anything anyone
imagined even a few years ago. But we
know our customers care about more
than the cars. They care about how
we build them, and how we engage
with the world around us.

For example, we operate 122


landfill-free facilities and aspire to
be a completely zero-waste
manufacturer. Last year, we ended
use of coal as an energy source in
our North America plants and
continue to invest in renewable
energy around the world.
We believe we're part of the
solution to climate change, and
we're the only automaker to sign
the Ceres BICEP Climate
Declaration stating that addressing
climate change creates economic
opportunity.

We will continue to see


millennials looking to
companies to take a stand on
environmental issues.

and environmentally responsible


products at every stage of their life,
whether they are single or married
or if they become parents.

It's a huge opportunity to create


lifelong loyalty if you have products
that millennials want with a
company purpose and brand
promise that resonates with their
values.

Authentically communicating a
company's purpose and
sustainability commitment can pay
dividends and increase customer
loyalty for the long term.

If you get that mix right, you'll have


them for life. Priorities change, but
values stay the same. Conscious
consumers will want sustainable

(More from David Tulauskas at page 114)

Section I : Opportunities | Priorities Change, Values Stay the Same

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

B Lab has certified over 1,500 B Corporations in 43 countries. In addition,


3,000 businesses have registered as Benefit Corporations (legal entities)
in the United States and Canada.

PI: What has drawn so many business owners to this


movement?
Marcello: It starts with leaders who are defining who they are and who they
want to be. The world is led by many entrepreneurs who want to help shape a
good life for many others and to create a legacy for themselves, beyond just
making money. They try to do the best for themselves and for the world, and
they introduce this culture within their businesses. For these leaders, B Corp
certification is a natural next step.

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.

PI: What is your vision for 2020?


Marcello: We are creating a whole new class of companies that embody the
best for the world spirit. This growing community could be supported by new
entities such as, perhaps, a new chamber of commerce, a bank for B Corporations,
B Corp programs with business schools and partnerships with municipalities.

Section I : Opportunities | Re-defining Success in Business

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/

The full B Impact Assessment tool measures a


company's performance against 200 criteria, and
enables the company to benchmark their
performance against other businesses. 20,000
companies have taken the shorter quick impact
assessment.

Image credit: sample B Impact report

We are creating a whole new class of


companies that embody the best for
the world spirit.
Marcello Palazzi, B Lab Europe

Section I : Opportunities | Re-defining Success in Business

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.

A world leader in green plastic


Braskem's development of a green plastic, sourced from sugar
cane ethanol instead of the traditional fossil fuel petroleum, has paid
off in many ways. This innovative biopolymer uses mostly
renewable energy in its production process and captures CO2
from the atmosphere.
Braskem is the leading producer of thermoplastic resins in the
Americas and was recognized as one of world's most innovative
companies by the U.S. magazine Fast Company in 2014. It is listed in
the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and ISE, the sustainability index of
the Brazilian stock exchange BM&FBovespa and is a signatory of the
UN Global Compact since 2007.

Section I : Opportunities | Sustainability in Brazil: A 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.

The reputation-case for


business sustainability
Brazil's largest bank Ita Unibanco is the only Latin
American bank that participates in the Dow Jones
Sustainability Index since its creation and for 16
consecutive years. It has also been listed in the ISE
index for 9 years, named the sustainable bank of
the year in the Americas (Financial Times, 2012)
and recognized as Brazil's most valuable brand for
more than 10 consecutive years (Interbrand).
As a consequence, the bank's reputation has
strengthened, accelerating business and
financial performance.

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.

The power of incentives and recognition


Incentives for corporate sustainability practices also include the recognition of
outstanding companies, both domestic and multinational, that operate in Brazil.
The ECO prize, promoted by the Amcham chamber of commerce, the Exame
sustainability guide published by the business magazine Exame and the
Sustainable Leadership Platform promoted by the consultancy Idia
Sustentvel are among initiatives that recognize and encourage sustainability
on the Brazilian market.
Companies such as Ita, Fibria, Natura, Promon, AES Brasil and Embrapa,
among others, stand out in their market and have become benchmarks in
innovative sustainable performance initiatives.

Brazil is in the midst of a


period that is putting
governance to the test.
In recent years, and
particularly in 2015, major
corporate groups operating
in the petrochemical,
infrastructure and
construction industries,
among others, have become
targets of investigations into
involvement in illegal
dealings. The impact on the
reputation, brand and
economic value of these
organizations has been visible
and should have long-lasting
negative effects.

Section I : Opportunities | Sustainability in Brazil: A Competitive Advantage

61

Sustainability is no longer an option


Aware of this challenge, the business community has often scheduled the issue on the
agendas of strategic discussion. But developing a sustainability strategy is not the same as
developing a sustainable business. To simultaneously enhance financial performance
and sustainability, it is necessary to constantly innovate in products, processes and
the company's business model.
In a period of economic challenges such as that Brazil is going through, developing a
sustainable business strategy becomes an important competitive advantage for businesses,
strengthening not only economic performance but also the brand and reputation.
The focus on sustainable innovation is no longer optional and has become a strategic
priority for all the companies, whatever the size, and for all the sectors.
For more insights on Brazil, contact our team at MSLGROUP Andreoli at
mslgroup.andreoli@mslgroup.com

The focus on sustainable innovation is no longer optional


and has become a strategic priority for all the companies,
whatever the size, and for all the sectors.

Section I : Opportunities | Sustainability in Brazil: A Competitive Advantage

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.

Aaron Bourque, Charles River Conservancy

People swam in the


Charles River. For Fun.
Boston Globe

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

Unlocking the forces


of business and consumer demand
An interview with Sally Uren
Peoples Insights: What do you see as the top 3 priorities for
businesses in the next few years?
Sally: Here's what I'd like to see as their priorities. First, I'd love to see
businesses creating innovative business models that can help them deliver
more fully on their purpose. A company's purpose isn't selling stuff, it's about
providing access to the things we need, nutrition, warmth, and even delight.
In order to deliver on purpose, we're going to need to see some new
business models.
Second, I'd love to see businesses better understand how to do their bit to bring
down CO2 emissions, because climate change is quite possibly the biggest
threat we have right now. Third, I'd like to see businesses unlock their potential
as a force for societal good.
Sally is Chief Executive at the Forum
for the Future with overall responsibility
for delivering the Forum's mission to
create a sustainable future. She works
with leading global businesses,
both in one to one partnerships, and
also as part of multi-stakeholder
collaborations designed to address
system-wide challenges.
@sallyuren

PI: We hear a lot about sustainability in the West. What is the


potential in other regions?
Sally: There are thousands and thousands of businesses listed on stock markets
outside of the U.S. and Europe. The problem is they have not yet woken up to
the potential that sustainability represents. In the work we do in Asia-Pacific,
we partner with large organizations and conglomerates. Their potential to
create massive change is enormous and they are really interested in
sustainability. So that's the story of optimism. That's where the energy
is going.

PI: What role can the end-consumer play in


bringing about change?
Sally: Consumers are one of the market levers that you need to pull to
create change at scale. Theyre not the only one and we cant expect
whole-scale behavior change to deliver the solutions that we need.
But its really important. So, what we have to do is unlock the potential
of brands to create the desire for more sustainable products.
This can help unlock consumer demand which in turn will help brands
accelerate their progress in delivering more sustainable
products and services.
The reality is that the shift we need to see will come from government,
business, and civil society working together - thats system
innovation. Its not going to come from any of those three
working in isolation.

PI: What about millennials - what role might they play?


Sally: Businesses tend to fall into two camps when it comes to millennials.
Theres a camp that doesnt understand this whole notion of millennials and
is just not interested. Then, you have businesses that think more long term

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.

PI: Last question, which single green technology are you


most excited by?
Sally: Probably solar. Im inspired by the huge number of markets
where solar has now reached grid-parity. And, well, the sun is
there - lets harness it!

Section II : Unlocking the forces of business and consumer demand

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

Director, Research & Insights,


MSLGROUP

Consultant, Research & Insights,


MSLGROUP

@nidhichimnani

@melanie_joe

The future is here, it's just not


evenly distributed.
William Gibson

Section II : Five Disruptions in Action

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

Efficient use of existing materials keeps costs


down. Re-use and recycling of materials helps
reduce footprint and ensures a sound supply of
materials in a resource-constrained world.
Sustainable development is also good for
reputation and engagement of all
stakeholders.
Governments and people are waking up to the
potential as well. Governments are encouraging
sustainable development and people are selforganizing to maximize their own use of products.
Overall, there's an increasing recognition that
there's wealth in waste.

The Mad Crab art


installation at Fort Kochi,
India, created with waste
plastics that threaten the
marine ecosystem.

Elena Mirage / Shutterstock.com

$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

The Ocean Cleanup

United Nations

sweden.se

Section II : Five Disruptions in Action | Maximize Resources

71

MAXIMIZE
RESOURCES

Circular economy
Bringing resources
back into the system

One of the ways we can maximize resources is by developing


circular economies, in which products and by-products are
systematically re-used, recycled or re-manufactured.

$1

100,000

TRILLION

NEW JOBS

Annual benefits that


could be generated by
2025 for the global
economy, if companies
adopt circular
supply chains

That could be created


within the next five
years, if companies
adopt circular
supply chains

WEF, the Ellen


MacArthur Foundation
and McKinsey

WEF, the Ellen


MacArthur Foundation
and McKinsey

This approach can boost economic growth and job creation,


and is supported by organizations like the Ellen MacArthur
Foundation and the World Economic Forum (WEF), large
businesses including Cisco and Kingfisher, and
increasingly, governments.

Our mission is to reveal


the value in plastic
waste. Pound for pound,
plastic is worth more
than steel.
- David Katz,
Founder and CEO
The Plastic Bank

NEW INFRASTRUCTURE, DESIGNS AND MODELS

A CULTURE OF MAKING
STUFF LAST LONGER

The circular economy calls for new


thinking and significant change. For
businesses, this might mean
creating infrastructure to enable
more recycling.

End-consumers too are becoming


more conscious about the waste
they produce. The popularity of
peer-to-peer platforms and social
media projects is helping fuel a
slow shift away from today's
use-and-throw culture.

For example, aluminum producer


Novelis promotes consumer recycling
of aluminum cans to help ensure a
sound supply of used aluminum crucial for the company to meet its
goal of using 80% recycled aluminum
inputs by 2020.
Coffee capsule producer Nespresso
has introduced 14,000 collection points
in 34 countries and doorstep collection
in 15 countries to collect capsules for
recycling.

For some businesses, circular


economy goals can be achieved by
re-designing products and services.
For example, Philips started selling
lighting as-a-service to cities and large
corporate customers to manage their
energy use and to boost end-of-life
collection rates.
Google is currently developing Project Ara a modular smart phone that enables people
to replace individual modules to upgrade or
repair their phones, rather than replace the
entire device. Dell is experimenting with
the use of bamboo, mushrooms and
wheat straw to create green packaging
that is renewable and biodegradable.

Platforms like eBay (and its local


variants), Yerdle (funded in part by
Patagonia) and Stuffstr (recipient of the
Target Award at Sustainable Brands
'15) encourage people to repair, re-use,
resell, recycle or donate their stuff.

Cosmetics maker LUSH is piloting the


use of Social Plastic for packaging plastic that has been recycled by
The Plastic Bank and sourced from
pickers in disadvantaged communities.

Levi Strauss minimizes the number


of materials used in its Dockers
Wellthread products to enable
easier recycling.

Social media projects promote zero


waste lifestyles (Tedx: Why I Live a
Zero Waste Life) and minimalist
fashion (Project 333).

Businesses are also investing in


local municipal projects to keep
recyclables out of landfills and
return them to the economy
Examples of initiatives include Closed
Loop Fund and Marks & Spencer's
investment in Somerset County.

In addition to saving on material


costs, recycle programs can also
unearth new streams of savings
or revenue.

In addition, communities like iFixit


support people who want to repair their
stuff with free how-to-guides.

The Novelis evercan uses


90% of recycled aluminum and
is the world's first certified high
recycled content aluminum
can sheet

A preview of Project Ara, a


modular smart phone by
Google, inspired by Phonebloks

Yerdle: How Many Items in the


Average Home? 300,000!

For example, telecom provider Sprint


avoided $1 billion in costs by using
remanufactured phones as replacement
devices in its handset insurance
program. Electronics retailer Best Buy
has collected 1 billion pounds of
electronics and appliances for recycling
at its stores, on behalf of electronics
manufacturers and recyclers.
Section II : Five Disruptions in Action | Maximize Resources

73

MAXIMIZE
RESOURCES

Sharing culture
Shifting from ownership
to access

People's relationship with things have changed in recent years


as a result of, among other things, the smart phone boom, the
recession and concerns about the climate. It is now possible,
acceptable and even practical for people to forgo
ownership in exchange for access to other people's things
(through rentals, swaps or donations).
This exchange works for both sides - owners can monetize their
idle assets and renters get access to goods at potentially lower
rates. It's good for the environment too, as renters can avoid the
environmental footprint of owning their own separate products.

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

RECOGNIZING THE VALUE


OF IDLE ASSETS

NEW MODELS OF
CONSUMPTION

BUSINESS TO BUSINESS
MARKETPLACES

The sharing economy builds on the


concept that our unused stuff is
potentially valuable to others.

Businesses are responding to


peoples willingness to share or
access by offering new, flexible
formats of consumption. This is
especially evident in the travel and
fashion industries.
In travel, businesses, and even cities,
offer subscriptions to car-sharing
(Zipcar in North America and Europe)
and bike-sharing services (Vlib'
in Paris).

The popularity of peer-to-peer


marketplaces is inspiring similar
online marketplaces for
B2B exchanges.

In fashion, online websites offer


rentals to individual clothing items
and accessories, and even monthly
subscriptions to entire catalogs.

Some businesses are also creating


their own networks - the newly
established Materials Marketplace
enables 20 businesses in the United
States to exchange and re-use
industrial by-products.

Over the last few years, people have


rented out everything from their spare
bedrooms (Airbnb) and spare seats in
their car (BlaBlaCar) to idle sporting
goods (StokeShare).

The chase to identify and monetize


more idle assets has led some
people to their rooftops. Rather
than letting their roofs 'stay idle,'
people can use them to generate
solar energy.
This energy can power their houses
and lower electricity bills, or be sold to
solar grids, to generate income. To
promote more people to switch to
solar, some companies (like SolarCity)
offer to front the cost of installing the
solar panels.

For example, LE TOTE sends


subscribers a tote full of clothing to
wear for a few days - people can buy
clothes that they want to keep and
return the rest to receive a
new collection.

For example, Floow2 enables sharing


of business equipment (such as
construction machinery and mobile
MRIs) and services.

Airbnb - the largest marketplace


for accommodation, with 1.5
million listings in over 190
countries

LE TOTE - Always have


something new to wear

In the physical world, a store in Athens


called Skoros allows people to give or
take used or unused clothes and
goods, to promote a spirit of
anti-consumerism.

Section II : Five Disruptions in Action | Maximize Resources

75

MAXIMIZE
RESOURCES

Upcycling
Enhancing the value of
existing products

The upcycling movement acknowledges that some value is lost


during recycling - for example, the energy, water, coloring or
labor used in creating the product. The upcycling approach
is to retain the current value of the product, and to enrich it to
give it greater value.
This is a nascent concept - but given its potential to create great
stories, it could become a popular one.

Recycling I call it downcycling. They smash


bricks, they smash
everything. What we need
is up-cycling, where old
products are given more
value, not less.
Reiner Pilz

PRE-LOVED, SALVAGED, REFURBISHED, UPCYCLED!

CREATING NEW PRODUCTS


AND SOCIAL GOOD

Artists are the natural champions of


the upcycling movement, finding
used or vintage products and
re-working them to create pieces
of art.

Southwest Airlines demonstrated the


potential of upcycling to create more
than just new products, with project
LUV Seat. The airlines spent a year
determining the best use of its stock of
43 acres of old leather seats, and
finally decided to use it for social good.

Communities like Remade in Britain


and, to some degree, Etsy offer a wide
variety of upcycled ware - ranging from
clothing and accessories to furniture
and 'unique gifts.

Some designers have also built


businesses that specialize in selling
products made from extra materials
rescued from factories and
manufacturers (like Looptworks).

Some of the leather was donated to


workshops in Africa, where
disadvantaged people were taught
how to convert it into footballs, shoes,
bags and wallets.

Project LUV Seat: Southwest


Airlines upcycled old leather
seats and added value to
communities in Nairobi, Kenya,
Malawi and the United States

These in turn were donated to local


non-profits. Some of the leather was
also given to Looptworks, to create
premium duffel bags, tote bags and
backpacks.

Section II : Five Disruptions in Action | Maximize Resources

77

MAXIMIZE
RESOURCES

Levi's Water<Less

In 2015, Levi Strauss & Co. continued to


reinforce its water stewardship through the
release of our new Lifecycle Assessment
(LCA) and the milestone announcement
that we had saved more than 1 billion
liters of water through Levi's
Water<Less process and other water
savings efforts.

Michael Kobori,
Vice President of Sustainability,
Levi Strauss & Co.
@KoboriGrillsCSR

The LCA announcement examined the


environmental impact of LS&Co. products,
probing into the environmental impacts of
cotton in key growing regions, apparel
production and distribution in a range of
locations, and consumer washing and
drying habits in key markets.

In conjunction with that announcement, we


launched a consumer education campaign
to help consumers understand the
environmental impact of their washing habits.
By taking the Are You Ready to Come
Clean? quiz, consumers were able to find
out how much water and energy they used
compared with average consumers in the
U.S., the U.K., France and China.
Between World Water Day and Earth Day,
consumers were encouraged to take action
and make a pledge to wash their jeans less
often. More than 25,000 individuals took the
quiz and pledged to wash their jeans
less often.
(More from Michael Kobori at page 96)

ARE YOU READY


TO COME CLEAN?
TAKE THE QUIZ
& PLEDGE TO WASH LESS.

START

The Levi Strauss & Co. quiz


enables consumers to find out
how much water and energy
they used, compared with
average consumers in the U.S.,
the U.K., France and China.

Section II : Five Disruptions in Action | Maximize Resources

79

2 CREATE POSITIVE
HANDPRINTS

Purpose
Create shared value
Net positive
Spotlight: Sodexo's
Better Tomorrow Plan

Traditionally, organizations have created positive


impact through CSR programs that promote local
communities in which they operate, or through
employee engagement activities that encourage
community or environmental actions. CSR
program continue to be important, and are
increasingly becoming more aligned to the
organization's raison d'etre - their purpose and
especially their core business.
In addition, businesses are exploring new ways
to create positive handprints: choosing 'better'
suppliers, creating shared value, leveraging new
social trends (like peer-to-peer lending), and
adjusting business models so that every consumer
purchase leads to a 'good' outcome. Some
businesses are also aspiring to achieve a net
positive effect, where they contribute more to the
environment and society than they take out of it.

83%

45

MILLENNIALS

MILLION

from around the world


who want business to
get more involved in
solving social issues

Pairs of shoes donated


by TOMS since 2006
as part of its one for
one model

MSLGROUP's
The Future of Business
Citizenship study

TOMS

Section II : Five Disruptions in Action | Create Positive Handprints

81

CREATE
POSITIVE
HANDPRINTS

Purpose
Aligning people and business

An important first step for a business or organization is to find a


purpose - one that is closely aligned with its core business and
its people. This common purpose can help align the
organization's activities and CSR efforts, and act as a rallying
force for stakeholders. Millennials in particular expect
purpose-driven activities from brands and are keen to
participate as 'citizen partners'.

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

PURPOSE, PEOPLE AND


BUSINESS

THE BUY AND GIVE MODEL

A clear purpose can provide a


strong narrative to a brand's story
and can act as a compass for its
vision and future goals.

Shoe-brand TOMS launched a


movement in 2006 with its Buy 1, Give 1
model - for every shoe it sold, TOMS
committed to giving a pair to someone
in need.

U.S. retail pharmacy CVS is a great


example. The company recently
demonstrated its commitment to the
healthcare business by changing its
name from CVS Caremark to CVS
Health, and by removing all tobacco
products from its shelves. CVS invited
smokers to quit with them and
mobilized thousands to try out smoking
cessation products and counselling.
Three months after it stopped selling
tobacco, CVS posted a 13% revenue
growth (for Q42014).
Similarly, food chain Panera Breads
commitment to good food has led it to
publish a No-No List of ingredients it
intends to phase out.

People can play a key role in


helping a brand fulfill its purpose.
For example, Starbucks community of
employees and customers help it meet
its ambitious goal of 1 million hours of
community service per year.
Ikea is realizing its sustainability goals
by providing people with access to
affordable energy-saving LED lighting
products - in fact, Ikea just completed
its switch to LED-only lighting
inventory.

TOMS expanded this model to its


subsequent businesses, and other
companies like Skechers followed suit.
The model has been tremendously
popular amongst consumers - it
guarantees that every purchase is
linked to an act of social good. But the
scale of success - millions of shoes
donated - raised a serious concern.

For some organizations, the original


Buy 1, Give 1 model might actually
be appropriate - at least for now.

A year after it stopped selling


tobacco in stores, CVS
conducted a study to determine
the impact of their decision on
sales of cigarette packages and
nicotine patch packages across
U.S. retailers

For example, social enterprise


Mealshare donates a meal for every
qualifying dish bought at participating
restaurants. Student-lending
marketplace Common Bonds funds the
education of a child in a developing
nation for every degree funded on
its platform.

Flooding disadvantaged markets with


free shoes would harm local shoebusinesses, and doesn't address the
core issues driving poverty in
those markets.
The model has thus evolved to Buy and
Give - with donations varying to meet
different needs. For example, TOMS'
eye-wear business now gives sight by
covering the cost of glasses, sightrestoring surgery or medical treatment,
and its coffee business gives safe water
to people in need.

Similarly, eye-wear seller Warby


Parker supports NGOs that provide
training in eye-care and affordable
glasses. Waterless car wash Wype
donates $1 to Charity:Water for
every transaction.
https://www.cvshealth.com/impact
-of-tobacco-removal/

Section II : Five Disruptions in Action | Create Positive Handprints

83

CREATE
POSITIVE
HANDPRINTS

Create shared value


Investing
in the future

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

CSV focuses on how we can mobilize capitalism for social


change It is not about balancing stakeholders or
behaving ethically, but rather seeing social problems as
representations of business opportunities yet to be met

Levi Strauss & Co.

Professor, Harvard Business School


and Co-Founder, FSG

- Michael Porter

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT:
AN INVESTMENT

TECHNOLOGY: A CATALYST

Shared value programs can be


extensive and cover vast operations
and geographies.

New technologies can help


accelerate the speed and scale of
social development.

Nestle has developed 38 CSV


commitments, accompanied by
policies, standards and auditing to
ensure compliance.

For example, mobile banking service


M-PESA, developed by Vodafone,
makes financial services more accessible
especially in rural areas. M-PESA has
been most successful in Kenya, where
20 million people use it to send and
receive money and to pay bills.

CSV programs are often designed


for long-term benefit.

Technology has also enabled large


scale peer-to-peer lending
across geographies.

Another example is Cisco whose


Networking Academy program trains
1 million people every year in ICT
skills, to help meet the demand for
ICT professionals. Cisco provides
course curriculum and learning
tools to educational institutions
in 170 countries and has reached
5 million students since the
academy's inception.

Last year, the HP Company


Foundation launched a five-year
partnership with Kiva to encourage HP
employees to get involved. The
foundation provides $25 credits to
HP's employees to lend to borrowers.
150,000 HP employees have
participated and have lent a total of
$9.7 million. (Via: Sustainable Brands'
The New Financial Metrics)

An overview of HP's Matter to a


Million program, it's partnership
with Kiva that encourages HP
employees to make microloans
to entrepreneurs

Since 2005, Kiva has enabled 1.3


million lenders to make micro-loans to
1.7 million borrowers in 83 countries.

Section II : Five Disruptions in Action | Create Positive Handprints

85

CREATE
POSITIVE
HANDPRINTS

Net positive
Amplifying the positive
impact of business

The Net Positive approach lies at the forefront of sustainability


and points to a future where business makes an overall
positive impact on environment and society. A bold approach,
Net Positive has already attracted several big businesses as
early adopters. Organizations like the Forum for the Future,
WWF UK and The Climate Group have created working groups
around this concept to develop supporting principles, strategies
and measurement.

10x

Inspire and enable


millions of customers to
live a more sustainable
life at home

The net benefit that Dell


intends to generate from
IT by 2020

Ikea

Dell

IN PURSUIT OF
POSITIVE IMPACT

TRANSFORMING
OUR FOOTPRINT

Dell embarked on its Net Positive


journey with research studies to
evaluate the potential of technology,
and guide its own - and its clients' investments in infrastructure and IT.

In its commitment to be People and


Planet Positive, Ikea considers the
footprint of its products all the way
from forests and fields, to its own
operations and the homes of
its customers.

For its first study, Dell partnered with


the Arizona State University to
understand the social, economic and
environmental benefits of online
learning, in terms of the graduate's
future earning potential, decreased
dependency on state welfare, and
footprint savings on travel and
university infrastructure.
Dell is now studying the benefits of its
own flexible work policies, and will
soon expand its methodology to
healthcare, logistics and
municipal operations.

With goals to be resource and energy


independent by 2020, Ikea is investing
heavily in renewable energy,
purchasing and managing its own
forests, and sourcing raw materials
from more sustainable sources. Ikea is
also introducing products that are
more energy and water efficient,
and products that help reduce or
sort waste.

Dell technology enables the


design and production of
sustainable products, like Green
Toys, which has recycled 24
million plastic milk containers to
create sustainable toys

Steve Howard, Chief Sustainability


Officer at IKEA Group discusses
the goal of becoming Forest
Positive by 2020.

Section II : Five Disruptions in Action | Create Positive Handprints

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

+ We Do - Our commitments and initiatives


+ We Engage - Dialogue and joint
collective actions with multiple
stakeholders
At Sodexo, we know that the only way to
optimize and achieve our corporate
responsibility commitments is to engage
with key stakeholders, so Sodexo
maintains an ongoing dialogue with our
stakeholder groups.

+ First, our 422,000 employees who are the


'face' of Sodexo with clients and consumers
and within their local communities. We know
that success
of our efforts depends heavily on our ability
to engage with them.
+ Second, our clients - by supporting their
sustainability strategies and contributing to
strengthening their efforts and reputations
- we are reaching beyond our own
'footprint' to make a real difference.
+ Likewise, as a company that touches the
lives of 75 million people every day,
we embrace the tremendous opportunity
we have to help our customers to
adopt more sustainable lifestyles.
+ Sodexo's collaboration with our suppliers
and throughout our value chain was cited
by RobecoSAM (in its 2013 Sustainability
Yearbook) as one of the hallmarks of our
continued sustainability leadership.

Reductions in waste that are


observable over a five day period
inspire continued actions and so
WasteLESS Week actually
encourages efforts all year long,
which is our ultimate goal.
John Friedman, Sodexo

Sodexo WasteLESS Week


Sodexo runs this five-day campaign for our clients (and our own
sites) around the world each October. It empowers consumers,
clients and Sodexo employees to reduce waste by celebrating the
benefits of wasting less food, water, energy, paper and raw
materials - including cleaner air more natural spaces and helping
share our planet's natural resources.

Through on-site materials such as posters, videos and


activities, we showcase the tangible benefits people
experience when they waste less. Using local information and
data, the materials can be customized to show people how
their actions have local as well as global benefits.

Section II : Five Disruptions in Action | Create Positive Handprints

89

3 COLLABORATE
ACROSS BOUNDARIES

Open Innovation

Partnerships

Spotlight: Levi's: The Race to the Top

As businesses and organizations dive deeper


into sustainability, it's quickly apparent that
no one entity can solve today's pressing
problems alone. Partnerships are key to
inventing solutions, maintaining costs, driving
scale and meeting common sustainability
goals. After all, no business is an island.
Businesses are striking partnerships with a range
of organizations, competitors, governments,
startups and individuals to achieve their
sustainability plans. Some businesses, like Tesla,
are embracing open source philosophy and are
forgoing patents to encourage adoption and
development of cleaner technologies.
It's an exciting time for sustainability,
we have many rules to re-write, together.

Image Credit: Tesla Motors

Image Credit: Tesla Motors

100
MILLION
If you want to go fast, go
alone. If you want to go
far, go together.

The number of new


vehicles produced
annually and globally,
much higher than
Tesla's capacity of
35,000 cars per year

African Proverb

Elon Musk, CEO, Tesla

Section II : Five Disruptions in Action | Collaborate Across Boundaries

91

COLLABORATE
ACROSS
BOUNDARIES

Open innovation
Crowdsourcing
sustainability

Ten years ago, GE proved its theory that businesses can


innovate faster if they partner with external experts, with the
ecomagination challenge. The challenge invited inventors to share
their best eco-friendly ideas for the chance to receive funding and
advice from GE. Ever since, collaborative social innovation challenges
have been vastly popular as consumer brands invited people to
co-create products and flavors, and corporations offered to fund
social enterprises.
In sustainability, collaborative innovation manifests itself as innovation
challenges, innovation communities and open source technologies.

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

INNOVATION CHALLENGES, FUNDS AND COMMUNITIES

OPEN SOURCE
TECHNOLOGIES

Businesses are increasingly


crowdsourcing ideas around
sustainability.

With the dangers of climate change


upon our doorstep, we need as
many people as possible working
on new technologies. So when it
comes to young clean technology patenting might not be the
best approach.

GEs open innovation challenges still


continue today, promoting energy
efficient technologies and affordable
health solutions.

Brands also partner with innovation


communities like Ashoka,
OpenIDEO and Greenathon, and
sometimes sponsor hackathons.
These events bring together software
developers, academics and other
experts to find answers to social
challenges in a limited amount of time.

Similarly, Unilever asks innovators to


focus on a specific set of challenges
and wants, such as better packaging
and water-efficient shower
experiences.

Mahindra inspires (and funds) Indians


to become social entrepreneurs with
its general Spark the Rise challenge
and its more-focused Rise prize.
H&M just announced a $1 million prize
for innovations that help close the loop
for fashion.

Coca-Cola, Dell, HP and several other


brands have organized innovation
challenges to encourage young minds
to address today's issues (more in our
People's Insights report on
Collaborative Social Innovation).

Indeed, Tesla decided to open its


electric car patents to accelerate the
industry's shift to electric cars.

The $1 million Mahindra Rise


Prize incentivizes people to
invent solar solutions tailored
for the everyday Indian

Soon after, Ford offered a licensing


option for its electric car patents, and
Toyota opened up patents around its
hydrogen fuel cell technology.

Challenges can vary greatly from


finding solutions for Cairos traffic
problems to helping reduce food
waste. In addition to funding,
businesses can offer innovators
a chance to pilot or scale
their inventions.
For example Coca-Cola Founders
program invites entrepreneurs to come
up with ideas that can leverage CocaCola's global infrastructure.

Another technology that has


benefited from the lack - or rather,
lapse - of patents is 3D printing.
3D printing technology was invented in
the '80s but only proliferated last year
when its original patents expired. The
technology is now largely open-source,
much more affordable and very
sustainability-friendly. 3D printing
eliminates the majority of waste from
the production process, and one of
its printing materials is recycled
plastic waste.

The Plastic Bank created the


world's first 3D printing filament
from ocean plastic, and made
the technology open source

Section II : Five Disruptions in Action | Collaborate Across Boundaries

93

COLLABORATE
ACROSS
BOUNDARIES

Partnerships
The amplifier effect

Public-private partnerships remain a significant piece of the puzzle. Non-profit organizations


offer a wealth of information, expertise, experience and local contacts. They are crucial
partners in implementing projects. Cities can be promising partners as well, especially as they
seek new solutions to tackle growing populations and rapid urbanization.
In the near future, we might even see businesses partner directly with concerned citizens.
People have used the internet to self-organize and to achieve scale - last year's Ice Bucket
Challenge and the recent Greek Bailout Fund indicate that people are beginning to realize
their potential as a collective force.

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

Partnerships are vital to developing


global stewardship and advocacy
programs.

Beyond working with experts and


organizations, businesses are
partnering with each other to drive
industry-wide progress and to
shape their entire supply chains.

Most actions involved in sustainable


development are complex and take
years to implement. At the other end
of the spectrum, some actions are
straightforward and simple - easy
for everyone to do, but not
yet sustainable.

After fifteen years of working with


Conservation International, Starbucks
now gets 99% of its coffee from
ethical sources.

For example, businesses in the


apparel industry are collaborating to
reach zero discharge of hazardous
materials (ZDHC) and grow cotton in
a more sustainable manner (Better
Cotton Initiative).

Today, water conservation and


stewardship programs are a
key focus.
For example, Heineken is working with
the United Nations Industrial
Development Organization (UNIDO) to
develop water stewardship initiatives
at breweries in water-scarce regions.
Coca-Cola and WWF have
co-developed water sustainability
goals for 2020. Levi Strauss & Co.
is working with Water.org to raise
awareness about water issues,
inviting people to Go Water<Less.

Public private partnerships benefit


both sides. Businesses offer the
expertise, and cities offer the
chance for implementation.
A good example is IBM's Smarter
Cities Challenge. Since 2010, IBM
experts have worked on-ground in 116
cities, to find ways to make the cities
smarter and more effective.

They are also developing measures for


the supply chain (Sustainable Apparel
Coalition), and investing in building
safer factories (Bangladesh Accord),
to name a few.

Beyond apparel, companies like


PepsiCo, Red Bull, Coca-Cola and
Unilever collaborated to create
Refrigerants, Naturally! to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions from their
point-of-sale refrigerators and freezers.

Independent organizations like The


Sustainability Consortium, The
Partnering Initiative and Forum for
the Future help drive business
collaboration for sustainability.

Take for example the ALS Ice Bucket


Challenge. In 2014, a small group of
friends created videos challenging
each other to donate money to find a
cure for ALS or throw a bucket of ice
water on themselves.
By the end of the summer, 17 million
people had uploaded videos of
themselves taking the challenge and
3 million had donated to the ALS
Foundation. The Foundation received a
record $100 million in donations in
August 2014, up from the $2.8 million it
received at the same period in 2013.
Separately, in 2015, British citizen
Thom Feeney created a crowdfunding
campaign, the Greek Bailout Fund,
to help Greece pay off its IMF loan
installation of 1.6 billion. If every
resident in the E.U. donated 3,
he speculated, the campaign would
meet its goal. In the next 8 days,
108,000 people pledged 1.9 million
to the fund. Not nearly enough - but a
strong indicator of the power of people.
These early successes indicate an
opportunity for sustainability
leaders to harness the power of
people, and also a challenge how can we make this behavior
more frequent and reliable?

Starbucks' 15 Year Journey to


100% Ethically Sourced Coffee
by Conservation International

The Better Cotton Initiative (BCI)


is supported by global brands,
large farms and environmental
organizations. 11% of the world's
cotton is now Better Cotton grown with less pesticides and
less water.

Here's How the ALS Ice Bucket


Challenge Actually Started by TIME

Section II : Five Disruptions in Action | Collaborate Across Boundaries

95

COLLABORATE
ACROSS
BOUNDARIES

Levi's: The Race


to the Top
For many years, detractors have characterized
the apparel industry as being in a race to the
bottom. Historically, competition has been driven
by lowering costs with too many markdowns and
fast fulfillment, rather than by high-quality
products and value. When competition centers
solely on price and speed, integrity and ethics
become a lower-order concern. Environmental
and labor standards become a second thought.
Ultimately, in the race to the bottom, no one wins.

Michael Kobori,
Vice President of Sustainability,
Levi Strauss & Co.
@KoboriGrillsCSR

The good news is that some in the industry


have realized this issue and recognized it as
a business opportunity. Like-minded groups
have formed organizations that collaborate to
improve sustainability performance in the
industry, such as the Sustainable Apparel
Coalition. Similarly, the Better Cotton Initiative
reduces water and chemicals used to grow
cotton and to date has improved the livelihoods
of over one million farmers. The International
Labor Organization's Better Work program has
improved factory conditions and labor rights for
over one million apparel workers.

These collaborations are demonstrating that the


industry can act to slow the race to the bottom and
improve labor and environmental conditions. What
is even more encouraging is that some companies
are emerging from these collaborations to compete
on sustainability.
At Levi Strauss & Co., our Water<Less products
have saved more than 1 billion liters of water. And
our Worker Well-being initiative is helping our
vendors establish sustainable solutions to worker
needs such as financial literacy and reproductive
health and are reaching 50,000 workers.
Other brands are undertaking similar sustainability
initiatives. I believe this competition is the
harbinger of a race to the top creating better
working conditions, reduced
environmental impact, and financial
sustainability for vendors
and the people who make
our products.

What is even more encouraging is that


some companies are emerging from
these collaborations to compete on
sustainability. This competition is the
harbinger of a race to the top.
Michael Kobori, Levi Strauss & Co.

Section II : Five Disruptions in Action | Collaborate Across Boundaries

97

4 CHANGE BEHAVIOR

The cool factor


Gamification
Spotlight: Heineken: Brewing
a Better World

While products are made at factories and sold at


stores, they are ultimately used and discarded by
end consumers. Therefore - and perhaps more
so for some products - a significant footprint lies
with the people who use or misuse them. To be
truly sustainable, to reduce footprints and
establish a circular economy, it's important
to involve people in the sustainability agenda.
To inspire people to change their behavior and
adopt new habits, businesses need to educate
people about the consequences of their actions,
guide them towards new simple actions and
provide constant positive reinforcements. This
calls for a significant shift away from today's
communications in which people are used to
hearing they should buy more, own the latest,
and upgrade to the newest.

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

People surveyed believe


that we, as a society,
need to consume less
and consume better
to safeguard
the environment

Patagonia

BBMG, GlobeScan and


SustainAbility (2012)

Section II : Five Disruptions in Action | Change Behavior

99

CHANGE
BEHAVIOR

The cool factor


Enabling and inspiring
new behavior

The first step to changing behavior is defining the new


behavior - what we want people to do. This can range from
asking people to recycle, reuse or reduce their consumption,
to asking them to buy sustainable products. The simpler this
action and the cooler it is perceived to be, the more likely
people are to adopt it.

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

Marks & Spencer asks people to


Shwop, that is, to donate an item of
clothing or an accessory every time
they purchase something new from
Marks & Spencer. People can drop off
items at Shwop Drops which are now a
permanent fixture at Marks & Spencer
stores in the UK. These items go to
Oxfam who resells them, sends them
to developing countries or recycles
them to ensure the items stay out
of landfills.

Businesses and celebrities are


using the power of their brand to
create excitement and unlock
purchase intent around
sustainable products.

Similarly, H&M and Uniqlo too have


global garment collection and
recycling initiatives.

Similarly, musician Pharrell Williams


has released a line of denims made
out of recycled plastic, and musician
will.i.am partnered with Coca-Cola
to launch Ekocycle - a range of
products made from recycled plastic
and aluminum.

For example, Adidas recently


introduced a concept shoe created out
of plastic salvaged from the oceans.
The shoe looks great and has received
significant media coverage and
positive feedback.

Some brands, like Heineken,


ask people to buy less - to
encourage more responsible use
of their products.
Heineken launched a movement to
make moderate consumption cool
with campaigns like Sunrise
('Sunrise belongs to moderate
drinkers') and Dance More,
Drink Slow with DJ Armin
Van Buuren (nights are more
enjoyable when you are in control).

Marks & Spencer explains the


concept of Shwopping

Pharrell Williams presents RAW


for the Oceans

Nike collects worn out shoes,


shreds them and re-uses them in
new products.
Patagonia encourages people to swap
clothes directly amongst themselves,
through in-store events, apps like
Yerdle and even on eBay.

Section II : Five Disruptions in Action | Change Behavior

101

CHANGE
BEHAVIOR

Gamification
Rewarding
good behavior

Once people have adopted a new behavior, it's important to


reinforce it. Positive reinforcements include monetary incentives
like discounts, and elements of gamification like points, badges,
challenges and leaderboards. Dashboards and apps can help
people track their behavior, compare it with others and integrate
new behaviors into their personal or work life.
Actual games themselves can hook people in and spread
awareness or drive virtual behavior. After all, games are fun,
social and promote healthy competition.

$1

47.6

BILLION

MILLION

the amount that Opower


customers saved in their
energy bills, after
learning how their usage
compared to that of
their neighbors

the number of times


Starbucks customers
brought their own
tumblers or mugs into
stores - about 1.8% of all
beverage transactions

Opower

Starbucks

POSITIVE REINFORCEMENTS

Initiatives that help people save or


earn money can be quite effective.
Starbucks offers customers a 10 cent
discount for using their own re-usable
tumblers or mugs for beverages, and
has seen tremendous success. But it
has struggled to boost customer
adoption beyond 2% - proving just how
difficult it can be scale up behavior
change.

It helps if the pay-off is higher.


For example, Recyclebank and Keep it
Clean collect people's recyclables and
reward them with points which can be
redeemed for shopping vouchers.

Opower analyzes people's energy


consumption, and compares it against
their neighbors and neighborhoods.
This tactic has encouraged people to
reduce their energy consumption by a
total of 6 terawatt-hours for total
savings of $1 billion.

ENGAGING
EMPLOYEES

WaterSmart replicates the Opower


model, but focuses on water. As home
automation picks up, this model could
be applied to more specific areas
of consumption.

Chevrolet Volt encourages people to


drive in a fuel-efficient manner with a
widget on the car's dashboards.
Drivers know they are driving well, in
real-time, if a green ball stays in the
center of a rectangular gauge. Honda,
Nissan and Ford offer similar features
in their cars.
Other interesting models include the
Speed Camera Lottery which seeks to
reward drivers that are obeying speed
limits (instead of penalizing
bad behavior).

Some companies use gamification


to engage employees around
sustainability and CSR.
WeSpire builds employee social
networks to support corporate
initiatives and promote positive
impacts. The WeSpire dashboard lets
employees track their own resource
consumption or CSR actions, compare
this against their peers and see who is
leading in the group.

MGM Resorts International uses this


platform to encourage green actions
among its employees and to organize
competitions between its 17 resorts.
The company has tracked considerable
positive impact - 19,500 employees
(about one-third) have participated and
carried out 1.4 million green actions. To
reward these actions, participation is
linked to the employee bonus pool.

Alex Laskey, Founder of


Opower, explains how
behavioral science can lower
energy bills

WeSpire inspires employees


and organizations to drive
measurable, positive impact

Section II : Five Disruptions in Action | Change Behavior

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

As part of it corporate social responsibility


strategy, Brewing a Better World,
HEINEKEN is addressing today's big
issues across its global network,
identifying successful solutions
and finding ways to scale up.

There is a close link between what our


business is, what our stakeholders expect
from us, and where we focus our efforts.
Our CSR strategy is aligned to support our
business for the short, mid and long term,
and to do so in an authentic and credible
way. We can solve the big issues of our
time only through partnerships.
Partnerships offer an amplifier effect,
where one plus one equals three.
Tackling Water Scarcity
Worldwide:
A partnership between
HEINEKEN and the UN
Industrial Development
Organization

- Michael Dickstein, Heineken

Gss Brewery in Austria:


The world's first large brewery
with net zero CO2 impact

Dance More, Drink Slow:


An experiment promoting
moderation, with DJ Armin
van Buuren

Wieckse Beer:
Produced entirely by Solar Energy
from 3,000 panels on the rooftop of
the brewery in Den Bosch,
Netherlands

Section II : Five Disruptions in Action | Change Behavior

105

5 MAKE CLEAN ENERGY

A cleaner today
Energy of tomorrow
Spotlight: UGE - Opportunity China
Spotlight: Chevrolet's
#CleanEnergyU

The majority of our energy today is used for transport, electricity


and heating, and comes from fossil fuels (oil, coal and natural gas).
Fossil fuels are far from sustainable - they are a limited resource
that we are consuming at an accelerating rate and they are the
major source of carbon emissions. That's why clean energy is top
of the agenda. For the sake of people, planet and profit, it's
crucial that businesses develop a reliable supply of renewable
and clean energy.
Savvy businesses (and governments) are making significant
investments and steady progress in this area. But it's important to
note that the switch to clean energy will take time. In 2013,
renewable energy provided just 19% of global energy consumption,
according to REN21 (the figure is much smaller for wind and solar).
Yes, investment, capacity, awareness and tech efficiency are
growing - but amidst an environment of uncertain policies and
low oil prices.
The mandate for business (and governments) is thus two-fold:
invest in developing clean energy. But also find ways to make
fossil fuel usage much more efficient and cleaner during our
larger transition.
Last, businesses must acknowledge public concerns around fossil
fuels. There is a strong movement led by activists and
concerned citizens to pressure businesses and funds to divest
from fossil fuels. In addition to pushing several prominent institutions
and individuals to divest, this movement has prompted some to
reinvest - to pledge funds to address the threat of climate change.

$250
BILLION

24.2%

New global investment


in renewable power in
2013 (investments are
predicted to stay at high
levels through 2020)

Walmart's global electricity


needs that are currently
supplied by renewable
sources. Walmart's goal is
to get 100% of its energy
from renewable sources
by 2020

International
Energy Agency

Walmart

$2.6
TRILLION
Fossil fuel assets
that over 460 institutions
have committed
to divest

Go Fossil Free

Section II : Five Disruptions in Action | Make Clean Energy

107

MAKE
CLEAN
ENERGY

A cleaner today
Reducing
negative impact

Innovative businesses and start-ups are investing in methods


to lower carbon emissions, increase energy efficiency and
capture carbon for storage or re-use. Meanwhile, readily
available products like hybrid and electric cars, LED lighting
and recycled products are becoming increasingly popular.

72,000

8
MILLION

The number LEED


certified building projects
across 150 countries.
(LEED buildings are
designed to make efficient
use of energy, water
and materials)

The number of hybrid


cars that Toyota has sold
since launching the
Prius in 1997

LEED

Toyota
(August 2015)

FOSSIL FUEL DIVESTMENT

TRANSITION TO A
LOW-CARBON ECONOMY

The United Nations is pushing


governments to peak their carbon
emissions in the next few decades,
and is supporting an activist-led
movement to Go Fossil Free.

Industries as diverse as energy,


transport, steel, built environment
and food & beverage are investing
in projects to increase their energy
efficiency and lower emissions.

Activists are targeting big businesses,


funds and prominent individuals to
freeze any new investment in fossil
fuel companies and to divest from
fossil fuel equities and bonds.

For example, steel companies such as


China Steel and Arcelor-Mittal are
working with carbon recycler
LanzaTech to capture carbon rich
waste gases produced in the
manufacturing process.

The movement scored a big win


earlier this year with Norways
Government Pension Fund Global
agreeing to divest $8.4 billion from
coal companies.

People-led movements are catching


steam in other areas related to
climate change.
In 2015, 900 Dutch citizens and the
Urgenda Foundation successfully sued
the Dutch government for not taking
enough measures to prevent
climate change.

LanzaTech converts this waste into


biofuels and chemicals, and also uses
the carbon to create plastic, nylon
and rubber.

Some companies are creating


circular economies to meet some
of their energy needs.
For example, the Ben & Jerrys factory
in the Netherlands converts ice-cream
waste into biogas, which powers the
production of more ice cream.
Similarly, Heinekens Gss brewery
in Austria uses spent grain to
create biogas. Nestle Water is
currently building a biogas plant in
Switzerland, which will be partially
fuelled by used coffee from sisterbrands Nescafe and Nespresso.

LanzaTech recycles carbon for a


cleaner tomorrow. In addition to
creating biofuels, LanzaTech
sequesters carbon into new
products like plastics and rubber
promoting a circular economy.

Six major oil companies recently wrote


an open letter to the United Nations,
urging a global system to price carbon
and offering their expertise as support.
Businesses are also engaging policy
makers to introduce global standards
and policies.

Concerned citizens gathered at 450 events in 60 countries to show their solidarity for
the fossil free divestment movement (photo: 350org on Flickr)

Section II : Five Disruptions in Action | Make Clean Energy

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

MAKE YOUR OWN ENERGY

Business that are leading the pack


include large retailers like Walmart,
tech giants like Apple and Google,
and partners of the RE100
movement like Marks & Spencer,
Ikea, Unilever and Infosys.
These businesses have visions
to go 100% renewable across
their global sites.
They are achieving this through a mix
of procuring clean energy, installing
solar panels on their rooftops,
operating their own wind turbines,
investing in solar and wind farms,
and - depending on their locations setting up geothermal and
hydropower projects.
Some, like Infosys, are also
investing in carbon offset initiatives
to achieve ambitious carbon
neutral goals on schedule.

Companies like UGE and SolarCity


help businesses, organizations and
governments develop their own
clean energy infrastructure.

TOWARDS BETTER
ENERGY STORAGE

The global aviation industry is also


inventing and investing in alternate
sources of energy, as airlines seek
to reduce their emissions.

Batteries that are good at storing


energy - and particularly solar
energy - can play a huge role in
the future of clean energy.

Cathay Pacific and United Airlines


have invested in biofuel producer
Fulcrum, which converts waste into
low-carbon biofuel.

Companies like Solvay are pushing


the boundaries of today's batteries
with projects like Solar Impulse 2.

British Airways is building a similar


plant to convert waste into biofuel.
Virgin Atlantic is developing a jet
biofuel that uses recycled carbon.

Tesla is leveraging its know-how in


electric car batteries and moving into
the energy storage space with batteries
that look good and are simple to use.
These batteries are available for both
industrial and residential use and can
store solar and also conventional
energy. This could open up new
opportunities for utility companies
who can use the storage for backup
power, load shifting or peak
load management.

Brazilian airline Gol and Lufthansa are


experimenting with fuels that are
blended with farnesane, a renewable
fuel developed from sugar cane.

Southwest Airlines and FedEx Express


are purchasing low-carbon fuel
developed from woody biomass. Some
companies are also conducting early
stage experiments in the future of
clean flight - with electric-powered
planes (Airbus E-Fan) and solarpowered planes (Solar Impulse).

Mercedes-Benz and Daimler AG have


also announced their entry into energy
storage with solutions for personal use
and for small business use.

Solar Impulse 2 is an aircraft


powered only by the sun. It is
attempting the First #RoundThe-World Solar Flight, to prove
that the impossible is possible.
Solar Impulse 2 has made it
halfway to Hawaii, but due to
damaged batteries
will recommence flight in 2016.

In May 2015, Tesla Introduced


Tesla Energy with Powerwall
and Powerpack - residential and
industrial batteries that can store
solar or conventional energy at
peak sunlight or at lowest utility
rates - for use during peak hours
and evenings.

Section II : Five Disruptions in Action | Make Clean Energy

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

These are safe, emit lower sounds and


are higher in efficiency. Recently, we
pivoted to offer broader end-to-end
solutions for renewable energy - wind and
solar. UGE services include financing,
turnkey solutions, assessments,
installation and maintenance of renewable
energy assets.
In China, I work with Fortune 500
companies to help them meet global
green standards through solar rooftop and
solar lighting solutions. The opportunity
in China is enormous. From a policy
perspective, the government has made
much progress in the last year and a half.
There is significant support for
businesses that want to generate
renewable energy here.

Here are two tips to get you started:


1. Explore the costs involved and understand
that zero cost financing for renewable
energy is available in China, even in B2B.
There is a need for much more education
to support decision makers in choosing
renewable energy.
2. Understand that the Chinese market can
help you meet your global sustainable
goals. For example, Walmart has a goal to
go 100% renewable - solar in China can
help achieve this goal.
China is more than just the biggest provider
of materials; it is also a big market for
generating and consuming solar energy.
There is tremendous opportunity - the market
is uncaptured.
To learn more about setting up renewable energy projects
in China, contact Rosie at rosie.pidcock@ugei.com

Bayer Material Science's custom


solar system at its Shanghai office
was designed by UGE. Combined
with three off-grid solar streetlights,
the system eliminates 874 metric
tons of carbon dioxide from Bayer's
annual carbon footprint.

Image Credit: UGE

Section II : Five Disruptions in Action | Make Clean Energy

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 initiative gave Chevrolet an opportunity


to engage with its communities, change
perception of the brand, and spark
conversations among millennials on issues
they care about, through the hashtag
#CleanEnergyU.This conversation
uncovered why a clean energy future
matters to millennials and how they are
helping us get there. It gave students a
voice and provided Chevrolet with
great insights.

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.

David Tulauskas, Sustainability Director, General Motors at our panel on


climate change at Sustainable Brands 2015

That's what we helped demonstrate with Chevrolet's #CleanEnergyU


conversation-we got students talking about their personal vision for
a cleaner energy future and what they plan to do to help us get there.

Image Credit: Chevrolet

Section II : Five Disruptions in Action | Make Clean Energy

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

Master in European Affairs,


Sciences Po Paris

Master in European Affairs,


Sciences Po Paris

Master in Politics and Science


of the Environment,
Sciences Po Paris

On behalf of the student team who organized the Make it Work simulation

While the Conferences of the Parties


(COPs) have given rise to high hopes,
they have failed to live up to these
expectations while continuing immense
deceptions regarding the difficulties
we face collectively with respect to the
climate challenge negotiations. We
emerged from our simulation with clear
recommendations and also serious
questions about the potential of the
current UNFCCC negotiation framework.

Recommendation #1

Recommendation #2

Flexibility will make space for


'Real' Negotiations

A more Holistic Approach that considers both


Cause and Consequence

The UN system of governance


has become a very slow
machine, unable to deal with
the major crises,
transformations and
accelerations that the world is
facing. We believe this to be
partly due to the rigidity
within the UN system; the
procedures and protocol are
not flexible thus preventing
any advances. Procedure and
protocol take over substantial
issues.

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?

Within our simulation, we


began with a formal structure
but allowed delegations the
possibility to move away from
it if they believed it fit to do so.
Flexibility, according to us, was
key to leave space for real
negotiations to take place.
This went as far as to allow
delegations to negotiate
without the participation of the
UN secretariat for 2 days!

Image Credit: #MakeitWork

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?

Image Credit: #MakeitWork

We wanted to add a level of complexity in the simulation so


as to better represent how climate change issues are dealt
with. By having various stakeholders and interests
represented within each delegation, we wanted to bring
together all levels of negotiations in one forum (i.e.
national, regional, and bilateral). On the second day of
negotiations, delegates representing the U.S. government,
an ocean expert group and an NGO from the Stranded Oil
Assets delegation were, for example, negotiating on the
future of fossil fuel extraction in the arctic.

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

The solution is not so simple as a New


Framework
Many participants were frustrated by the procedures. Their newness to the
UNFCCC negotiations allowed them to be critical with the procedures,
something which we suspect most professional negotiators at the UNFCCC
are no longer able to do. However, moving away from the traditional
UNFCCC framework was not consensual. Neither was the work on
finding convergence between the visions of the parties. While some
wanted to innovate within the model, others thought it was necessary
to destroy it to be able to move forward. The fact that we were young
meant we were optimistic and still quite driven by the idea that we can still
change things for the better.

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.

What we really need is for the entire


world to be connected through
innumerable interconnections on any
imaginable level, and we are excited
about other actors joining this dynamic.

Image Credit: #MakeitWork

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)

While some wanted to innovate within


the model, others thought it was
necessary to destroy it to be able to
move forward. The fact that we were
young meant we were optimistic and still
quite driven by the idea that we can still
change things for the better.

Image Credit: Shutterstock

Section II : Re-negotiating the UNFCCC framework: Recommendations from Sciences Po's student negotiators

121

It's Time for Transformation:

Everything needs
to be questioned
Pascal Beucler,
SVP & Global Chief Strategy Officer, MSLGROUP

The Future of Business and the Future of Sustainability are the


two sides of the same coin: it's all about combining profit and
purpose to deliver a better performance and value for all.
Over the past two decades, sustainability has become a core
business concern that is fundamental to long-term objectives
and value creation. Businesses that address global
concerns and put sustainability at the heart of their overall
strategy will benefit from improved cost margins and an
enhanced corporate image.
I am deeply convinced that there's no better Reputation Shield
than this, which actually insulates the organization from future
risks and fosters robust relationships with customers,
employees and communities.
@pbeucler

Over the past two decades,


sustainability has become a
core business concern that is
fundamental to long-term
objectives and value creation.

There's no doubt that sustainability challenges,


strategies, trends and perspectives are shaping
all business models. The circular economy,
shared value, net positive these are
innovative ways to combine business
performance and global citizenship, and to
create a new dialogue on the role of business
in society.
It's anything but easy for long-established
businesses to transform their way of working and sometimes radically. The transition from
a classical profit and shareholders first
approach to a 'value-for-all' approach is a
complex one, and involves everything from
tackling resource wastage and climate change,
to enabling management to engage with
society and prepare their departments for
future threats and opportunities.
Everything needs to be questioned, in a
context where the combination of digital
transformation and environmental changes
place serious pressure on all businesses.
All the disruptive and effective innovations,
and new business models we've shared in this
report show the way, brilliantly. There's a race
to the top and this is widening the gap
between the businesses that already focus
on sustainability and those that do not:
revealing a hard journey ahead for the latter,
when the time comes to try and catch up.

Section II : It's Time for Transformation: Everything needs to be questioned

123

The first and main obstacle is cultural:


changing mindsets is difficult.
If a minority of companies have already started embracing
change, a vast majority remains uncertain, cautious, and
conservative in their approach: Why should we do things
differently? Why should sustainability have anything to
do with producing and selling?
The answer is that sustainability is not just a nice-to-have, an
external constraint: it's actually the biggest opportunity
corporations can seize to innovate, transform their business
model, and create real differentiation and value for all.

To make this happen, to build a more sustainable and better


performance, businesses need to connect the dots between
all their assets. Businesses need to break down all traditional
silos and internal boundaries between sales, marketing,
financial, CSR, communications and HR departments. From
this standpoint, engaging the top leadership is essential. At the
end of the day, it's all about protecting growth and profitability
over time, but in a manner which simultaneously protects the
world around.

Sustainability is not just a


nice-to-have, an external
constraint: it's actually
the biggest opportunity
corporations can seize to
innovate, transform their
business model, and
create real differentiation
and value for all.
Pascal Beucler,
MSLGROUP

Section II : It's Time for Transformation: Everything needs to be questioned

125

Section III:
Humanizing
Sustainability:
Making
it Matter

Symbols for
the Future

UGE's wind turbines are


often the center piece of
our installations. They
look great and our clients
love them. In fact, our
projects are usually
designed to make them
stand out.
Jan Gromadzki
Senior Product Manager, UGE

16 UGE wind turbines line the highway near


El Paso International airport in Texas.
The turbines are mounted atop customfabricated steel towers that light up brightly at
night, and are designed to make the turbines
stand out. The result is a visually stunning
symbol for the El Paso Transportation
Authority's commitment to the environment.

Images Credit: UGE

The Lincoln Financial Field, home of the U.S.


football team the Eagles, sports 14 wind
turbines and solar panels that generate all of
its energy onsite. The UGE turbines are
strategically placed at opposing ends of the
field as a visual statement.

@JanGromadzki

Section III : Humanizing Sustainability: Making it Matter

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.

Experts in the industry are aligning to


10 common principles
IMMERSE

CSR teams into marketing


departments

VISION

Aim to unite employer,


customer, brands

SHARE

Bring marketing into CSR

UNIQUE

Make the story yours only

EMPOWER

Youth, with digital

INNOVATE

Sandbox for projects at the


sustainability/marketing
intersection

ALLOCATE

A fixed portion of budget to


brand substance

ONGOING

Audit existing touch points


for opportunities; make it
ongoing

TARGETS

Set longer term objectives for


brand substance marketing

RELATE

Focus on what matters to


the consumer; be relevant

Section III : Me, My World, The World

129

A new era for brand building


If sustainable business
practices are going to play
a core role in the future of
brands, it's critical that brand
building becomes integrated.
For those of us who work
in sustainability, we know
that sustainability provides
so much business value.
We just have to do a better
job at defining that value.
We need to move from niche
audiences to mass consumers.
There is tension around the
fact that sustainability doesn't
seem to fit into the traditional
Marketing 101 playbook, so
we must find common interest.
The commonality for both
marketing and sustainability
is brand substance.
All industries need to converge
and bridge the gap between
marketing and sustainability.

Marketing campaigns would


start with the inner circle: Me the consumer. The next layer
would explain a brand's impact
on My world - the people and
places that
matter to the customer.
Lastly, the message would
expand to how the company
impacts The world - the
social and environmental
impact of the brand.
Me, my world, the world - it's
a more holistic and authentic
approach to speak to today's
consumers.

THE
WORLD
my social and
environmental impact,
through my
association with
the brand

MY
WORLD
what matters
to me

ME

the customer

Me, my world, the world


A more holistic and
authentic approach to
speak to today's consumers.

Section III : Me, My World, The World

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.

The impacts are


overwhelming, distant,
hard to visualize and
pegged to varying
scientific projections
(is it 2 degrees, 3 or 6?).

The last few years have


shown us unprecedented
natural disasters and record
temperatures, resulting in
increased acceptance by
many that our climate is
undoubtedly changing.
However, real change only
happens when awareness

and understanding energize


people to act.
Earlier this year, I moderated
a panel at Sustainable Brands
on 'Humanizing Climate
Change' on this very topic how brands need to reach
people about key

sustainability issues in order


to incite the changes we need
for a more sustainable future.
One key element that
seemed to resonate with
the room full of
sustainability leaders was
the tremendous opportunity
of getting it right.
Section III : Humanizing climate change: Making communications more relevant

133

Brands that move away


from brand-focused
communications to issuefocused communications
stand to be recognized as
leaders in transparency
and authenticity.
There's certainly no one
formula that fits all
businesses and their
respective sustainability
goals and initiatives.
However, we are seeing
good examples of how
companies are using
purpose, meaning, relevancy
and language to make
incremental steps.

Here are some takeaways from the panel, and from


our recent research and work around sustainability:
Develop your sustainability credentials
Aligning business practices to meet sustainability goals can be challenging. Getting your language right is
one way to tackle it - especially when you're addressing millennials.
In our global survey of 8,000 millennials last year, we learned that 79% wish it were easier to know which
companies are doing good. In other words, 4 out of 5 young adults are not familiar with brands'
sustainability practices and are interested in learning more.

Find relevancy in sustainability communications


Sustainability encompasses many issues and sub-topics. Find the topic most relevant to your business, your
brand and your customers. Create human stories around these to drive advocacy across social networks
and inspire more participation.
Salterbaxter MSLGROUP's Social Influencers study in 2014 revealed that what is missing from almost all of
the organizations in the index are social communications that create personal resonance with the individual
fan or follower, which then inspires them to implement personal changes in their perceptions and behaviors.

Transform millennials into citizen partners


Another key finding from our millennial survey was that the majority (69%) want businesses to create simple
ways for them to get involved in societal and environmental issues. The crux here is simple - how can we
take the homework out of sustainability and create easy ways for people to make positive contributions. In
the long run, how might we positively influence their behavior and lifestyles to be more sustainable.

We can count on COP21 to drive public


awareness around the topics of climate
change and sustainability. It's up to us
and our communications strategies to
sustain people's attention and inspire
them to act with us.

Section III : Humanizing climate change: Making communications more relevant

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

I love Elefant's Read


A Tree! The idea is so
simple, I wish I had
thought of it. It's a very
creative and effective
way to tell people to
save trees while also
making them a part of
I love Elefant's Read A Tree!
The idea is so simple, I wish I had
thought of it. It's a very creative
and effective way to tell people to
save trees while also making them
a part of the solution.

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

Executive Creative Director


MSLGROUP Creative+

@sachinkarle009

Section III : Simplify, Inspire, Engage

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.

Its interesting how a fastfood chain like Chipotle


Mexican Grill chose to raise
awareness about the
harmful and toxic effects of
industrial food production on
animals, workers rights and
overall human health.

Melanie Joe
Consultant, Research and Insights
MSLGROUP

A part of its Food with


Integrity sustainable
farming campaign,
The Scarecrow is an
animated short, with
an accompanying
mobile game.

@melanie_joe

Section III : Simplify, Inspire, Engage

139

#insight

Follow the Frog


is hilarious and
the insight about
people's guilt is
spot on. It's like
they read my

I
E

Follow the Frog is hilarious


and the insight about people's
guilt is spot on. It's like they
read my mind and made this
ad just for me!

Nidhi Chimnani

Director, Research & Insights


MSLGROUP

@nidhichimnani

A desk-worker, family man


and all-around good guy's
ambitious journey to the
heart of the rainforest to do
something about
deforestation does more
harm than good. There's a
better way to do good says
the Rainforest Alliance look for Rainforest Certified
products, marked by a
green frog.

#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

Senior Sustainability Consultant,


Salterbaxter MSLGROUP

Greenpeace's parody video


of the LEGO Movie's theme
song Everything is
Awesome is set in the
Arctic. It shows an oil spill at
a rig made from LEGO and
Shell co-branded products
and urges people to ask
LEGO to end its partnership
with the oil company. 7.4
million people signed the
petition, and LEGO
announced it would
not renew its contract
with Shell.

@kjoss

Section III : Simplify, Inspire, Engage

141

happen every day in


South
Asia
or
sub#relevance
Saharan Africa, it is
difficult for us to
identify with these
victims. Stop the
Wedding creatively
managed to channel
eople's empathy for
Even though most of us are aware that
widespread and serious abuses of children
happen every day in South Asia or
sub-Saharan Africa, it is difficult for
us to identify with these victims.
Stop the Wedding creatively managed
to channel people's empathy for Thea's
false marriage into real cases in the world.

Did you know that 39,000


girls become child brides
every day? Plan Norway
created a fictional wedding
blog tracing a 12-year
Norwegian girl's journey to
marrying someone three
times her age. The
campaign was successful
in highlighting the issue,
urging Norway to lead
global change and
mobilizing people to
#stopthewedding.

Luna Atamian

Senior Account Executive,


Corporate & Brand Citizenship
North America, MSLGROUP

@Lunatamian

You can only reach a


broad set of audiences
if you make your
communications
easy to digest.
Michael Dickstein
Director Global Sustainable Development,
HEINEKEN
@MichDickstein

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.

Section III : Simplify, Inspire, Engage

143

Break down the


complexity.
In politics and in business, global citizenship and sustainability are often
seen as another thing we must do or a second order issue competing
for resources rather than complimentary to primary objectives.
For example, in addition to environmental risks, the World Economic
Forum maps out four other global risk priorities: societal, economic,
geopolitical and technological (Global Risks Report 2015).
In each of these four categories, CSR issues such as water supply
crises, extreme volatility in energy and agriculture prices, global
governance failure and mineral resource supply vulnerability
are at the nexus of impact and likelihood.

Mark Newton
Head of Environmental and
Regulatory Affairs,
Samsung Electronics America
@newton_csr

Clearly these are complicated and interconnected issues.


They are viewed as externalities to the mainstream public
(and unfortunately to too many policy makers) because we are
only indirectly connected to the impacts and because the
timescales of these impacts are not immediate or certain.

Messaging has been too


centered on the big picture and
it is too overwhelming for most.
Mark Newton,
Samsung Electronics America

Andrey Bayda / Shutterstock.com

To overcome this complexity, I suggest a few guiding principles:


Keep it simple and fair.

Make it matter personally.

Make it kid-friendly.

This stuff is way too complex


and polarized. Acknowledge
both sides of the issue to
gain trust.

Contrary to the old adage


don't lose sight of the forest
for the trees we must help
the public look into the forest
to see the trees that they
care about. Messaging has
been too centered on the
big picture and it is too
overwhelming for most.

This stuff is scary. Too scary


and apocalyptic to discuss
with your young children.
No need to be Pollyanna-ish*
but no need for it to be
Brothers Grimm* either.
*Pollyanna is a fictional character in a children's book who excels at the glad game - finding the positive in every situation
*Brothers Grimm refers to the original modern day fairytales, which were aimed at adults and dark in nature

Section III : Simplify, Inspire, Engage

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.

3 elements are critical to creating or changing


habits of mind & behavior
CLARITY

CONSISTENCY

CONTRAST

of message

of actions and behaviors,


starting with leaders

showing a visual element that


makes people take notice

Section III : Engaging Employees around CSR

147

Often, our clients need to drive employee engagement


around a specific program such as a CSR or a giving
back initiative. This is a particularly effective approach
with two clear advantages
CSR programs often need or
want employee participation to
be successful, which means
employees can bring life into
work vs. the more familiar
bringing work home into life.
When employees are granted time
off to participate in giving back
programs, it proves that the
company aligns values with
actions. Employees who might
otherwise set time aside on a
weekend or holiday to give back,
can instead take their personal
time into their work time to do
something that matters to them.
This reinforces that the employee's
values are shared with their
employer, thus creating a deeper
connection and inspiring
greater loyalty.

CSR programs often appeal to employees across a wide


demographic
It has been well-documented that millennials are shaping the
workplace of the future immensely and that they greatly value a
company's CSR activities - so much so, that it is a consideration for
them in employment decisions. What's less discussed is the value
older workers also place on giving back.
It's these Baby Boomers and Gen Xers, like myself, who have or are
successfully navigating their career path and then pausing to reflect
on the need to not just work with purpose, but to do purposeful
work. For some, this means abandoning corporate careers.
For others, it means engaging as fully as they can in their
company's giving back programs.
By meeting the needs of different demographics, there is a
compelling communications message for all audiences that goes
directly to the heart of what matters to all.

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

Section III : Engaging Employees around CSR

149

Section IV:
A Rising
Business
Priority:
Human Rights

Businesses have a responsibility to


respect universal human rights in their
operations and supply chains. Human
rights are crucial to building the
resiliency of people, communities and
businesses.

Section IV : Human Rights is at the Center of Business Sustainability

151

Human Rights is at the

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

Third, technology is driving transparency and change in this, as in many other


fields. According to The Economist, today half the world's adult population
owns a smart phone; and 80% will by 2020. In the human rights context,
digital evidence of shortcomings or abuse is increasingly being recorded and
shared, from deep in the supply chain and from office and retail operations.

Walk the human


rights talk
The upshot of these developments
is that companies need to know
and show what their human rights
risks and impacts are, and what
they are doing to address those.
This involves four main steps:
Conducting a formal impact
assessment across the value chain
Creating a statement of
commitment
Integrating human rights in all
relevant functions and processes
Reporting regularly on
performance

Since 2011, many large companies have issued


Human Rights policies and increased disclosure
on issues such as supplier auditing and workforce
diversity. Some have also pioneered issue-specific
approaches, such as Intel on conflict-free minerals and
Coca-Cola on 'farmers land rights. But holistic,
company-wide approaches have been rare, until now.
Earlier this year, detailed guidelines for implementing
and reporting on the UN Global Principles were
launched and six companies have stepped forward as
early adopters: Unilever - the first adopter, ABNAmro,
Ericsson, H&M, Nestle and Newmont Mining.
These companies are not simply expanding the
coverage of human rights in their annual sustainability
reporting; they are also pioneering new due diligence,
impact assessment, business integration, training and
communication methods, and being open about the
challenges, dilemmas and benefits involved.
Indeed, Unilevers comprehensive Human Rights
report and Nestls report on impact assessments
are invaluable 'how-to' guides for others in their
sector and beyond.

This is much needed as the Danish Institute for Human


Rights, an adviser to Nestle, has observed. There are
an estimated 80,000 multinational companies in
the world, of which an estimated 400 have a human
rights policy and fewer still have done human rights
impact analyses.
Further stimulus to action and transparency is
expected to come from the new Corporate Human
Rights Benchmark being prepared by a coalition of
investors, NGOs and governments. This will rank the
top 500 globally listed companies on their human rights
policy, processes and performance. Importantly, it will
be based mainly on already published information,
providing a competitive incentive for transparency.
In sum, we are in a new era for human rights as a
business priority. Leaders are already seeing
reputational and financial benefits. Laggards, on the
other hand, will find it increasingly hard to be viewed as
responsible or sustainable companies if human rights
remain marginal in their strategies and actions.

Section IV : Human Rights is at the Center of Business Sustainability

153

Building the Resilience of

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.

ENSURE SUSTAINABLE EMPLOYEES


Besides following national labor laws and the conventions of the International Labor
Organization, many companies are taking initiative to promote a safe, diverse and friendly
workplace for their employees. For example, when I was engaging with the Global Fund to
Fight against AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis (GF) in 2010, a private sector representative
on the board shared that his company in South Africa provides free AIDS treatment to their employees.
In a country where the rate of HIV infection among the general population is more than 60%,
providing AIDS treatment to its employees is crucial in achieving a sustainable labor force
within the company.

Averting HIV and AIDS, South Africa HIV & AIDS Statistics, http://www.avert.org/south-africa-hiv-aids-statistics.htm.

Section IV : Building the Resilience of People and Communities

155

BUILD SUSTAINABLE CUSTOMERS

CREATE SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES

In order to build sustainable customers,


it is important for businesses to ensure that their
products are based on current regulations with
respect to quality and quantity, so that their customers come
to no harm while using them. But businesses can go
further, to match their actions to their own principles
and their customers' values. For example, several of the
world's top 500 companies are strong supporters of gay
rights, giving them access to a loyal and engaged
customer base.

Increasingly, companies care about creating sustainable


local communities in the areas in which they operate.
Traditional strategies to improve living conditions include
charitable contributions to local communities, volunteerism among
their employees, and establishment of foundations to support nonprofit projects. But often it is difficult to sustain these efforts.
In recent years, with the emergence of public private partnerships
(PPP) and co-creation, business have started to work together
with local authorities, NGOs and local communities to implement
innovative models - such as community investment funds, income
generation activities and promotion of sustainable technologies
among local households.

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

Human rights are crucial to building the


resiliency of people and communities,
and also of businesses.
Liping Mian, Human Rights Advocate

Section IV : Building the Resilience of People and Communities

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

The belief that human rights are relevant to the economic,


social and environmental aspects of corporate activity hasn't
always been very popular, which can be surprising given that
human rights common norms have existed for 67 years. The
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHD) adopted by
the U.N General Assembly in 1948 does not call out
businesses' responsibility specifically, but applies to all
parties including corporations.
It only takes a quick glance at recent companies' CSR reports
to understand the increased responsibility and opportunity for
businesses to make real societal change. Yet, despite
corporations' encouraging efforts, understanding what it
really means in practice for a company to respect human
rights is still a challenge that companies face. Here are
three tips to change that.

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.

For instance, analyzing direct short


term results such as local job
creation can overlook human rights
violations embedded more deeply
in a community, such as
discriminatory hiring practices
based on gender or ethnicity.
Collaborating with human rights
experts can help companies face
these challenges through careful
impact assessments, training,
monitoring and reporting
mechanisms, providing actionable
tools to positively impact local
communities in holistic and
meaningful ways.

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.

In a nutshell, a closer collaboration with


human rights experts, analyzing different
human rights issues and how they're
dependent on each other as well as the
implementation of a formal company policy
statement explicitly referring to human rights
would provide corporations with the agility to
pursue real impact, which will reflect tangibly
on their corporate citizenship.

For instance, Johnson Controls


supports human rights norms such
as the Ten Principles, the U.N.
Framework on Business and
Human Rights and the Guiding
Principles for the Implementation
of the U.N.'s 'Protect, Respect and
Remedy' Framework. Yet, the
company has gone a step further it sets commitments and
expectations for itself as well as
accountability and reporting
mechanisms.

It also incorporated such norms in


supplier contracts in the fields of
labor, health, safety and
environment. As a result, the
company saw an improvement
in its long-term business
performance, reputation,
productivity and employee retention.

Despite corporations' encouraging


efforts, understanding what it really
means in practice for a company
to respect human rights is still a
challenge that companies face.
Luna Atamian, MSLGROUP

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

It might seem reasonable to say that individual freedoms are


being violated because the core concept of human rights is yet
to penetrate remote and regressive places in the world. But
one cant look away from the fact that thousands of people
continue to be denied fair and just treatment even in
developed regions of the world. Where are we going wrong?
In an effort to compartmentalize each of our rights, have
we overlooked what human rights collectively means
in a world thats constantly evolving socially, culturally,
and politically?

Our world is evolving, and so are our human rights


With technology, the internet and social media, our shrinking 'global village' has become more local than ever. The
internet has become one of the most powerful platforms for the exchange of ideas, thoughts and opinions between
people. As people are exposed to the way of life and rights of their counterparts in other societies, they're inevitably
going to expect the same for themselves. And, as we all adapt to today's changing technologies and political
landscape, what we perceive as our rights also keep changing.
In these scenarios, the 30 rights officially recognized by the United Nations may not always be comprehensive
enough. These rights may have seemed exhaustive when they were drafted seven decades ago, but it is now time
to redefine what each of our rights really means today, and what they could mean in the future.

Section IV : The Ever-Evolving Definition of Human Rights

163

The shifting lens through which we


view our human rights
Individual freedoms today are viewed in a much different light than they
were until a few years ago. The same rights that have existed through the
decades hold new meanings today, like some of them below:

2 For digital users (not just Gen Z and Millennials, but all other

generations), the right to privacy translates into the right to digital


privacy and data protection. The AshleyMadison hack, for example,
raised important questions - does moral vigilantism justify the public
shaming of an individuals personal choices? How can we protect
peoples digital privacy from both hackers and by journalists and society?

The right to freedom of


3expression
for many millennials

1 Freedom from discrimination can encompass everything from equal

pay at the workplace, to the right to be served without prejudice from


businesses. This was famously highlighted this year by the international
outrage over a homosexual couple being denied service by a local baker
in Oregon, USA.

translates to the freedom to enjoy


open dress codes, flexible working
hours, and so on. This has
launched a serious debate in
society around how employees
should behave and be treated.
The recent NYTimes feature on
tough work practices at Amazon
(both in its factories and its
corporate offices) received many
strong reactions, as people argued
about the importance of work-life
balance, and the treatment of
parents in the workplace. People
are beginning to view a good
work-life balance as an essential
basic foundation for any job and
a basic human right.

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.

Section IV : The Ever-Evolving Definition of Human Rights

165

The road ahead


There has been no better time than now, to discuss what it means to be a human being with rights. Technologically,
were at our most progressed state. Socially, were at a better place than we have ever been: more accepting,
inclusive and humane (although we do have a long way to go still). At this crossroads, its necessary to ask
ourselves some crucial questions:
How do we plan to equip ourselves to ensure a fair and just world for ourselves and our future generations?
How do we do justice to the right in human rights?

Heres what I would like to see us do, as a society:


Recognize the flexible
nature of human rights

Make human rights laws


translate across borders

Societal and technological


evolution is only further going to
push the boundaries of what we
consider as our basic rights. For
example, the internet has long
ceased to be a luxury. Today, its a
need that plays a vital role in the
economic and social upliftment of
people. It could therefore be fair to
say that the right to education must
also include the right to have
access to the internet. Despite all
the reservations surrounding it,
Facebooks Inetrnet.org is a
significant step by the social
network in meeting this rising
human right.

It should be our priority to ensure


that our human rights legal
framework takes into consideration
the political, cultural, economical,
even environmental differences
between societies for fair
application of our existing laws.
In other words, while we look at
modernising our human rights, we
should also not ignore that
countless people across the world
lack basic human rights. In a world
where practices like child marriage
continue to thrive, we need to
re-evaluate how international
efforts can be more effective in
preventing these violations at the
grassroots level.

Give people a voice


States and other law enforcement
agencies have a responsibility to
listen to peoples needs, and this
couldnt be more relevant than in
the case of human rights. Policymakers would do well to work with
civilians to better understand their
expectations and hopes
surrounding their basic rights. For
example, Finland crowdsourced its
legislation from everyday people
through Open Ministry. Using an
inclusive, people-centric model like
this to redefine our human rights
where needed, will ensure that
people have a say in the rights
they enjoy as human beings.

Finally, we must wave goodbye to political associations


that so strongly seem to influence the opinions and
decisions of policy-makers when it comes to
individual freedoms.
Its interesting to note that in an age where were excited about self-driving
cars and experiments to colonize other planets, were still ambiguous about
basic rights like the freedoms of individuals to decide what to do with their
bodies. Its disconcerting that things that should be basic rights or at least
individual choices like abortion, maternity health plans, maternity and
paternity leave are still being debated in the political space in countries as
advanced as the U.S.!

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.

Section IV : The Ever-Evolving Definition 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/

I think people now accept that


our behavior on social media is
being monitored. What they are
not aware of is how that is being
done. For most citizens who are
more or less aware that their
conversations, their emails and
their metadata can be accessed,
the issue is really, is their data
being accessed for good reasons?
Is it to protect us from terrorism
threats and so on?1
Claude Moraes, chair of the Civil
Liberties committee at the
European Parliament and British
MEP for the Labour party,
summarizes well the sensitivity of
European citizens to data

protection, while recognizing the


value of our always more
connected digital society.
The right to privacy and personal
data protection are safeguarded
by the Treaty on European Union
and the Charter of Fundamental
Rights of the EU2. Beyond the
older and traditional citizens
rights and freedoms at the basis
of every democracy, the EU
Charter is updated in the light of
changes in society, social
progress and scientific and
technological developments. It is
legally binding for public bodies
as well as for private
organizations across the
28 European member States.

The recent ruling of the Highest


European Court of Justice,
originated by the concern of an
Austrian student on the use of his
personal data by Facebook, has
reaffirmed the primacy of the
right to personal data protection,
nullifying the EU-US agreement
on data transfer across the
Atlantic3. The hundreds of
companies relying until last 6
October on the safe harbor
agreement for their operations
should re-asses carefully and
without delay their data
processing systems within
the own organization and in third
party relations with their
service providers4.

The right to privacy and personal data


protection are safeguarded by the
Treaty on European Union and the
Charter of Fundamental Rights of
the EU.
Leonardo Sforza, MSLGROUP

Section IV : The Ever-Evolving Definition of Human Rights

169

About People's
Insights

Our other titles include:


Data In. Data Out.
(our experts explore
the transformation
of Big Data into
smart ideas)

People's Insights is a collection of inspiring initiatives, insights and foresights


shared by MSLGROUP's SPRINTers - our global team of 100 strategic
planners, researchers and insights experts.
We feature the best of these initiatives as People's Insights monthly briefs,
and original insights and foresights from our SPRINTers and other experts in
our People's Insights reports.

The Future of Creativity


(15 drivers to engage
creatively in 2015)

Big ideas that are rooted in strong


insights and foresights have never
been as important, and conversations
and communities have become the
most important sources of insights.

Follow us on Twitter at @PeoplesLab or subscribe to our newsletter


to receive our monthly briefs and insights reports.

The Future of Business


Citizenship
(findings from our survey
of 8,000 millennials in
27 countries)

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+

Special thanks to:

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

Shraddha and Priya are volunteers at the Ahmedabad-based NGO


- Laddoo Foundation. They are extensively involved with children
at the foundation, helping them learn art styles like paper quilling,
origami, clay art etc. Together with their students, they helped
create several quilling artwork that have been photographed and
featured across this report.
About Laddoo Foundation
Laddoo Foundation is an NGO based in Thaltej, Ahmedabad. The
foundation engages in bringing a positive change amongst
children living in marginalised communities by organising sports &
cultural activities for them and providing them with necessary
school supplies. Laddoo's main objective is to facilitate holistic
development of children, especially those living in underprivileged
communities.

Write to us to start a conversation on how we can help you distill actionable


insights and foresights from conversations and communities.

Pascal Beucler
SVP & Chief Strategy Officer
(pascal.beucler@mslgroup.com)
Nidhi Chimnani
Director, Research & Insights
(nidhi.chimnani@mslgroup.com)

Designed by MSLGROUP CREATIVE+

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.

Some images from shutterstock.com

MSLGROUP is Publicis Groupes strategic communications and engagement


group, advisors in all aspects of communication strategy; from consumer PR to
financial communications, from public affairs to reputation management and from
crisis communications to experiential marketings and events.

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