… the business. AXA’s business had grown rapidly over the previous decades. The company was formed in the 1980s through the merger of a few mid-sized French insurance firms. From the … new metrics was a tall order, but would be another step to establishing CR inside AXA. Eventually, the company aspired to produce an “integrated report” that would define the … new metrics was a tall order, but would be another step to establishing CR inside AXA. Eventually, the company aspired to produce an “integrated report” that would define the …
… In 2014, the four largest palm oil trading companies signed an agreement to end deforestation, development of peat lands and exploitation of locals not only with their own … to support their land claims and look away when it came to environmental regulation. In 2013, environmental campaigners believed they had found leverage to help change the palm oil … many environmentalists believed that the agreement represented a breakthrough. The events of 2015 suggested otherwise, forcing businesses, NGOs and sympathetic government …
… most heavily traded edible oil in the world. Golden Agri Resources (GAR) has been in the forefront of this palm oil boom in Indonesia. Founded in 1996 by the influential Widjaja family (operators of the Sinar Mas business group), GAR became the holding company for the family’s agribusinesses, including its Indonesian subsidiary PT SMART. The company … would spur other companies and environmental groups to embrace higher standards. But in 2013, obstacles to this goal remained. The Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), an …
… financial backing, buy and erect the turbines, and begin generating electricity by 2010. For Walmart de México, becoming the wind farm’s off-taker accomplished a number of important … electricity at below the rates charged by Mexico’s state-controlled utility, shaving costs for the famously thrifty retailer. In addition, the project allowed Walmart de México to get … Walmart de México consumed in Mexico in 2010. The wind farm was just one part of the efforts Walmart de México was undertaking in the sustainability area. The company had pledged …
… In early 2014 Alcoa announced that Ford's F-150 pick-up trucks, the best-selling vehicles in the U.S., would use … planned another $150 million on facilities in Tennessee to meet the demand generated by the Ford contract. The aluminum industry's growing success in the automotive sector reflected … the response of auto manufacturers to the increasingly rigorous fuel economy standards for U.S. vehicles and consumer preferences for high mileage vehicles. To meet those …
… hail insurance, the most common policy in agriculture. In years when crops were damaged before they could be harvested and sold, crop insurance provided resources that allowed … expertise and decades of weather-related data to estimate the frequency of major weather events. It was widely acknowledged that climate change was likely to increase the frequency of major events, but it would take years for the changes to show up in actuarial models. Nonetheless, …
… products we buy. However, it is not something that consumers can easily spot or screen for. When, in June 2015, France’s Ecology minister, Segolene Royal, called on her country to … oil palm, and the oil derived from it has become a multibillion-dollar ($44 billion in 2013 according to Bloomberg ) industry that supplies 39% of the world’s vegetable oil. This … literature, news articles, and reports, and to particularly relevant sections of the Yale School of Management’s (SOM) palm oil case. These materials can be read on their own, …
… finally produce a workable, global scheme to reduce greenhouse gasses in the environment. Unfortunately, the conference produced little concrete action and most agreed that the final … gas emissions were contributing to global warming. Over the next 11 years, the panel - formally convened as the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - issued … more climate change assessment reports, pointing to human activity as the primary reason for the increase in greenhouse gases and the rise of global temperatures. The IPCC's …
… to the greenhouse effect was underway and could have potentially devastating consequences for the ecology of the planet. Since automobiles were a substantial contributor of CO2 to … The wide-ranging discussions within GM had led to an ambitious program to improve the efficiency of internal combustion engines (ICE) and to seek an alternative powertrain that … more efficient diesel engines on the U.S. market. Meanwhile, international efforts to prevent global warming had accelerated. A series of UN-sponsored conferences, bringing …
… Harish Hande and the company he founded, SELCO, provide solar electricity for lighting and power to India's poor. For the work of his company, Hande has received numerous recognitions; he is frequently cited as one of the top social entrepreneurs in India and an example for the entire developing world. The road to SELCO’s success, however, has not always been …