In the year since the enactment of the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), more than $270 billion in private investments flowed into more than 80 domestic clean energy projects and manufacturing facilities. This surpasses the cumulative investments made in such projects over the previous eight years. 

At the same time, individuals are capitalizing on IRA-incentivized opportunities to enhance the sustainability of their homes. However, due to a technicality, many homeowners are constrained from accessing one of the most sustainable sources of heating and cooling available today: geothermal heat pumps.

Heat pumps use electricity to move heat in and out of a space. Refrigerators and freezers use heat pumps, but many building managers and homeowners are turning to the devices to heat and cool buildings, too. 

Geothermal heat pumps rely on the steady temperature found underground to pull heat into the home during the winter and as a place to dump heat from inside a home to cool it. Ground loops — plastic pipes filled with water and antifreeze — facilitate the heat exchange. With system lifetimes of 50 to 100 years, ground loops can provide cost-effective clean energy to a building for the long term.

Due to <a href="https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/geothermal-energy/" target="_blank">various constraints</a> like location restrictions, its potential to cause small earthquakes, and high start-up costs, geothermal electricity production is only possible in a limited number of environments around the world. But geothermal heating and cooling can be installed anywhere. 

“In order to get fossil fuels out of homes and businesses, we need to move to heat pumps,” said Heather Deese, director of policy and regulatory affairs at Dandelion Energy, a supplier of geothermal heating and cooling systems. “There are higher upfront costs to install a ground loop, but the returns come quickly with lower heating and cooling bills.” 

Homeowners in many parts of the United States would save hundreds or thousands of dollars in energy bills with a switch to geothermal heating and cooling, but current regulation is hampering widespread adoption. 

“Individuals can get tax credits if a geothermal business puts a system on the property, but the business owner needs to be able to claim the tax credit in order to make this deal work. There is currently a question about their ability to claim the tax credit for the ground loop installed on a property,” Deese said. “In the past, due to government policies and priorities surrounding climate and clean energy, the IRS has provided safe harbor, to reassure third-party system owners that they won't try to catch them on a technical detail. That’s what we are looking for from the IRS now.” 

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) allows third-party ownership programs for people who want to install rooftop solar panels but do not want to purchase their own system and pay for installation. These programs allow companies to use homeowners’ roofs and pay them for the electricity that their solar panels produce. Today, a third of all U.S. rooftop solar installations are governed by a third-party ownership arrangement. Geothermal providers want the same considerations for their geothermal heating and cooling systems. 

An IRS safe harbor guidance for these systems on top of the tax credits available through the IRA would be a boon for clean energy, Deese said. “If we can unlock third-party ownership, we project 40 to 50 percent faster growth,” she said. “Which means 90,000 new geothermal drilling and HVAC installation jobs and 64 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions saved.”

While manufacturers are constantly innovating heat pumps for greater efficiencies, the beauty of the geothermal heating and cooling system is in its simplicity, Deese said.

“I am so enthusiastic about working in this industry because in some ways this really is low-tech,” she said. “The geothermal ground loop is literally number two plastic made into a loop in the ground, with water and a little bit of antifreeze that is circulated to either pick up heat from the ground or transfer heat to the ground. It can feel like magic.” 

Image credit: <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/RFAHj4tI37Y" target="_blank">Dan LeFebvre</a>/Unsplash

The IRS Has the Power to Unlock the Future of Heat Pumps

Students in middle school today will build the technological breakthroughs that rival the science fiction of tomorrow. That future is built on the foundation of knowledge they gain now, yet many schools don’t have the funding for updated STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) programs. 

That’s where the San Francisco-based software giant Salesforce is stepping in. At a press event ahead of its annual Dreamforce conference in San Francisco last week, the company <a href="https://www.salesforce.com/news/press-releases/2023/09/11/salesforce-education-grant-2023-dreamforce/" target="_blank">announced</a> over $20 million in grants to support student success as new technology, like artificial intelligence, rapidly changes the future prospect of their careers. 

“As a tech company, we really start from a place of believing business can only really be successful if our communities are strong and our schools are strong,” Becky Ferguson, senior vice president of philanthropy at Salesforce and CEO of the Salesforce Foundation, told TriplePundit. “We know our future workforce is these young people today. How do we invest in and support their relevant learning and growth, so that they are set up for success?” 

School districts in San Francisco, Oakland, New York City, Chicago and Indianapolis received a total of $14 million. Workforce development and education nonprofits in the United States, France, Germany and the United Kingdom received a combined $6.8 million. 
<figure role="group"><img alt="Amy Weaver, the president and chief financial officer at Salesforce, speaks at the press event in San Francisco last week." data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="e74abfef-4357-42ea-b288-99f58a2ab836" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/SalesforceBacktoSchool_5.jpg" width="1500" height="1131" loading="lazy" /><figcaption>Amy Weaver, president and chief financial officer at Salesforce, speaks at George Washington High School in San Francisco last week. (Image: Taylor Haelterman)</figcaption></figure>A core focus of the program is providing STEM courses for middle school, but the recipients are in the driver’s seat when it comes to curriculum and policy decisions, Ferguson said. Funding use varies widely from advanced high-school courses and tutoring to preparing teachers to deliver relevant lessons. 

Students at George Washington High School in San Francisco, for example, can join a robotics program that competes with other schools around the country or an English class about science fiction and how technology like AI impacts the world. Students in Chicago can start earning college credits while in high school. And youth in the nonprofit workforce development programs can gain in-demand skills and career experience without needing to pursue a college degree.  
  
Accessing these opportunities early in life can spark interest, open new doors, and help young people envision different opportunities for themselves, Ferguson said. 

“We could probably all think back to when we were in middle school or high school and a teacher we had, or a course, or a thing you got to be a part of, was just like that little lightbulb,” she said. “When you look back like, ‘Wow, that really helped me go down a different path, or helped me think differently about myself and what I could see myself doing.’ So, we're hoping that we're igniting a lot of those different moments for a really diverse set of students.”

Student needs have changed a lot since Salesforce’s education grant program started in San Francisco 11 years ago. One of the biggest challenges isn’t the innovation itself but building enough trust that partners feel comfortable having honest conversations about what’s working and what isn’t, Ferguson said. The company wants to meet the areas of greatest need for each grant recipient, and that requires listening to them and evolving the program. 

“What we might have supported in the first year has grown and looks very different over time, as we adapt to the needs and realities of our partners and the challenges facing schools and young people,” she said. “Some of the early work was just about helping schools get wired to have internet access in the classroom, and then an acknowledgment of . . . that alone is not sufficient.”  

Today, at least 25,000 students (<a href="https://www.salesforce.com/news/press-releases/2023/09/11/salesforce-education-grant-2023-dreamforce/" target="_blank">about 50 percent</a>) in the San Francisco Unified School District have taken one or more computer science courses, according to Salesforce. And enrollment in computer science courses for Black, Latinx and Indigenous students has tripled.

The students taking these courses are a reflection of the diverse student body population, Ferguson said. Leveling the playing field that way is crucial to unlock opportunities for everyone, regardless of race or gender. 

Grants from Salesforce also allow the Oakland Unified School District to retain high-performing, diverse teachers, the company says. The district’s middle schools are at their lowest staff vacancy rate in four years. 
<figure role="group"><img alt="The football field at George Washington High School in San Francisco overlooks the Golden Gate Bridge." data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="f5a9f580-2af8-45f9-be42-95535b91d288" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/SalesforceBacktoSchool_2.jpg" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" /><figcaption>The football field at George Washington High School in San Francisco overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. (Image: Taylor Haelterman)</figcaption></figure>And George Washington High School was able to overcome its biggest challenge to implementing this type of program — funding, John Schlauraff, the school’s principal, told TriplePundit. Programs like robotics, which requires a lot of funding and new materials every year, might not exist without these grants. 

One thing educators don’t have to be concerned about is student interest. 

“Our students are very excited to be involved with this new wave of AI,” Schlauraff said. “We have a lot of ways to expose students to AI and technology. I think they find their niche at the school.” 

*Travel and accommodations in San Francisco were provided by Salesforce. Neither the author nor TriplePundit were required to write about the experience.

Way More Than WiFi: This Program Upskills Students in Robotics and AI

Food production generates a third of greenhouse gas emissions, but spending to reengineer farming practices has yet to reach the levels needed to slow global warming, experts said at the <a href="https://www.concordia.net/annualsummit/2023-annual-summit/" target="_blank">Concordia Summit</a> in New York City this week. 
  
Climate-smart agriculture is on the agenda for the United Nations climate conference, COP28, in November, and sustainable development professionals in New York got a preview. 
  
“Right now, the food system … is about a third of the emissions. Business-as-usual takes it to being, by far, the largest source of emissions by mid-century unless we do something,” said Michael Doane, global managing director of food and freshwater systems for the Nature Conservancy. 
  
Far from a future threat, Doane pointed to a climate-related 20 percent reduction in food productivity and a correlating 50 percent rise in food prices worldwide since 2000. 
  
“We need to reinvest in better seeds, better inputs, but also reinvest in nature. That’s the opportunity,” Doane said, pointing to the conservancy's long-term research partnership <a href="https://www.nature.org/en-us/newsroom/usda-grant-methane-dairy-operations/" target="_blank">with the U.S. Department of Agriculture</a> and an <a href="https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/financing/mcdonalds-working-nature-conservancy-target-cargill-sustainable-beef" target="_blank">initiative with McDonald’s</a> to improve beef production practices in Nebraska. 
  
Doane joined Chavonda Jacobs-Young, undersecretary for research, education and economics and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s chief scientist, in applauding <a href="https://www.fsa.usda.gov/news-room/news-releases/2022/biden-harris-administration-announces-an-additional-325-million-in-pilot-projects-through-partnerships-for-climate-smart-commodities-for-total-investment-of-3-1-billion" target="_blank">sharply higher federal funding</a> for food and agriculture while cautioning that more spending is needed across the globe. 
  
“We have over 700 million people in the world today who don’t have enough to eat,” Jacobs-Young said, adding that <a href="https://www.un.org/en/global-issues/population#:~:text=The%20world%20population%20is%20projected,surrounding%20these%20latest%20population%20projections." target="_blank">by 2050</a>, there will be 2 billion more mouths to feed.  “The numbers are staggering.” 
  
The 20-year USDA veteran said centuries of data on regenerative agriculture can be applied to producing more food while using less water and safeguarding soil, including no-till farming for crops and biomass fermentation for proteins. 
  
“The practices exist,” she said. “Our producers need resources. They have to be able to make money.” 
  
Ahead of the COP28 climate talks in Dubai, 53 countries and 500 companies and partners have <a href="https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2023/05/08/aim-climate-summit-opens-global-food-systems-innovation-and-climate" target="_blank">pledged $13 billion</a> to a climate-smart agriculture coalition, <a href="https://www.aimforclimate.org" target="_blank">AIM for Climate</a>, started by the United States and United Arab Emirates to boost investment and innovation in agriculture by 2025.   
  
“One of the things that became clear this week in many conversations is how little the ag sector is getting in climate financing,” said Jon Banner, chief impact officer for <a href="https://corporate.mcdonalds.com/corpmcd/our-purpose-and-impact/our-planet/climate-action.html" target="_blank">McDonald’s</a>, who moderated the <a href="https://www.concordialive.com/AnnualSummit23/speaker/898899/jon-banner" target="_blank">Concordia Summit</a> panel. “There’s anywhere from $300 billion to $600 billion in climate financing, and only 3 to 6 percent is going toward agriculture.” 
  
With a presence in 120 countries, Banner said McDonald’s feeds 65 million people and is committed to using the company’s scale for good. 
  
“We know the benefits of climate-smart agriculture. We know the benefits of renewable electricity in trying to decarbonize the world.  We’re all trying to keep global warming to 1.5 degrees. We know that to feed a global population, that’s no small task.”

Image credit: <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/ruQHpukrN7c" target="_blank">Francesco Gallarotti</a>/Unsplash

Climate-Smart Agriculture Starved for Cash Despite Outsized Impact on Global Warming 

World leaders, business executives and activists are back in New York City for Climate Week and the United Nations General Assembly — and everybody's talking about California. 

In case you missed it: Last week California legislators approved a pair of bills that require all large public and private companies operating in the state to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions to investors and the public. Business leaders organized by the sustainability nonprofit Ceres <a href="https://www.ceres.org/sites/default/files/Asm%20Approps%20Major%20Companies%20and%20Institutions%20Support%20SB%20253.pdf" target="_blank">came out in support of the bill</a> before it passed. They say their progress in tracking and disclosing the full scope of their emissions proves it's possible for other companies to do the same. 

As lawmakers and business coalitions enjoy a victory lap at Climate Week, we're taking a closer look at the landmark legislation and the ripple effects it could send well outside the Golden State. 

<h2>Why corporate climate disclosure matters</h2>

"There was a billion-dollar weather and climate disaster event every four months in our country in the 1980s. By 2010, there was one every three weeks," Mindy Lubber, CEO and president of Ceres, said at a press conference on Tuesday. "This year, we've experienced more than a billion-dollar event every two weeks." 

Indeed, extreme weather cost the United States <a href="https://weather.com/news/climate/news/2023-08-08-billion-dollar-disasters-january-july-2023-noaa#" target="_blank">nearly $40 billion</a> in the first eight months of 2023 alone. But the impacts these disasters and other climate disruptions have on corporate bottom lines is less understood, because many companies don't calculate it. "People are operating in the dark," Lubber said. "I can tell you of the 700 investors we work with, they want to understand: What are the risks from climate [change], and what are the opportunities? They cannot make a decision about building a portfolio without adequate information." 

In 2022 surveys, <a href="https://www.citizen.org/news/survey-reveals-retail-investors-want-sec-to-require-climate-disclosure/" target="_blank">70 percent of U.S. investors</a> said they would support mandatory climate disclosure in the U.S. 

<h2>What the California climate disclosure rules require</h2>

The two recently passed bills — <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB253" target="_blank">Senate Bill 253</a> (SB 253) and <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB261" target="_blank">Senate Bill 261</a> (SB 261) — are on Gov. Gavin Newsom's desk, and <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/09/17/newsom-corporate-climate-disclosure-bill-00116439" target="_blank">he confirmed this week</a> that he will sign them. The bills require the California Air Resources Board to develop rules that mandate public and private companies with annual revenues exceeding $1 billion to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions. 

Crucially, the rules will cover emissions created upstream and downstream in a company's value chain (known as Scope 3). Though Scope 3 comprises <a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/focus/climate-change/zero-in-on-scope-1-2-and-3-emissions.html" target="_blank">around 70 percent of corporate emissions</a> on average, it's <a href="https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/charts/number-of-companies-in-the-s-and-p-500-reporting-energy-and-emissions-related-metrics" target="_blank">left out by many companies</a> that currently disclose. 

The rules will apply to around 5,500 companies doing business in California, lawmakers said. Companies will be required to disclose emissions from their direct operations (known as Scope 1) and those from the electricity they purchase (known as Scope 2) by 2026. Mandatory Scope 3 disclosure will come into force a year later, with financial penalties waived for three years as a transition period.

"SB 253 does not dictate how they should reduce their carbon emissions. But by making clear that within a couple of years these emissions are going to become public, the corporations have a huge incentive to innovate to reduce those emissions," said California state Sen. Scott Wiener, who represents San Francisco and parts of San Mateo County. "We're going to see in a few years who's walking the walk and who's just talking the talk. And I hope that after a few years before the implementation, the companies that are walking the walk are going to be a much higher number than they are today."
<figure role="group"><img alt="attendees at climate week 2023 clap as california governor gavin newsom says he will sign bills that mandate climate disclosure" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="c08014e2-3252-42b3-abdd-39d43a231ea2" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/attendees%20at%20climate%20week%202023%20clap%20as%20california%20governor%20gavin%20newsom%20says%20he%20will%20sign%20bills%20that%20mandate%20climate%20disclosure.jpg" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" /><figcaption>Attendees are all smiles during California Gov. Gavin Newsom's remarks at Climate Week. (Image: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/theclimategroup/53195269458/in/photolist">The Climate Group</a>/Flickr)</figcaption></figure><h2>Insiders predict a race to the top that goes way beyond California</h2>

Lawmakers say Californians will benefit directly from the new climate disclosure rules. "As a member who currently represents environmental justice communities who live near the harbor — who are seeing the emissions and feeling them every single day, the impacts of bad air quality, as well as the severe, tangible impacts of climate change — this will deeply, deeply benefit my constituents and constituents across the state of California," said state Sen. Lena Gonzalez, who represents Long Beach and Southeast Los Angeles. 

But given California is the fourth largest economy in the world, the implications could stretch far beyond its own borders. "As disclosure becomes real, some companies are going to step up, clean up and really lead, and other companies are going to be forced to do the same," said Mary Creasman, CEO of <a href="https://envirovoters.org" target="_blank">California Environmental Voters</a>, which lobbies in support of climate and environmental legislation in the state. "There's going to be pressure out there like we've never seen to change business-as-usual." 

The fact that thousands of multinational companies will be compelled to disclose their emissions may also make it easier for other markets to pass similar legislation. "SB 253 marks a major advancement in detailed emissions disclosure, potentially revolutionizing corporate responsibility in combating climate change for the world, not merely California," said Kentaro Kawamori, CEO of the carbon accounting firm Persefoni. "As the global community confronts the pressing need for climate action, California's leadership might inspire comparable efforts in other states and countries."

Markets including the <a href="https://www.anthesisgroup.com/mandatory-tcfd-climate-risk-reporting/#:~:text=TCFD%2DAligned%20Disclosures%20become%20Mandatory,on%20Climate%2Drelated%20Financial%20Disclosures." target="_blank">U.K.</a>, <a href="https://www.ey.com/en_jp/sustainability/whats-next-for-japanese-sustainability-disclosure-standards#:~:text=Under%20the%20rules%2C%20all%20listed,%2C%20Governance%20and%20Risk%20Management)." target="_blank">Japan</a> and the <a href="https://www.cooley.com/news/insight/2023/2023-08-11-eu-adopts-long-awaited-mandatory-esg-reporting-standards#:~:text=Disclosures%20on%20climate%20change%20mitigation,gas%20emissions%20and%20transition%20risks." target="_blank">European Union</a> already moved to mandate climate disclosure within the past two years. While it's too early to say whether those rules amounted to this type of sea change, early evidence indicates it is a likely outcome. "We don't have a lot of data yet as to how it has changed things," Lubber told us. "But we do know when a company ... makes a declaration and commitment to doing it — and that's public and you're showing how you're going to do it and you're accountable — it drives behavior change. And it probably does that as well as anything else I can think of." 

<h2>What about the SEC? </h2>

Last year the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) <a href="https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2022/-sec-climate-change-denial/739811" target="_blank">issued draft language</a> for mandatory climate disclosure rules that would apply to all large publicly-traded companies operating in the country. The release date for the final rule has been pushed back several times and is now expected toward the end of this year. It's also still up in the air as to whether the final SEC rule will include mandatory reporting of Scope 3 emissions. 

But if and when the SEC does mandate climate disclosure, companies will be well positioned to translate the work they're doing in California to comply with the federal rules. 

"For us as an industry association, it's very important to have harmonization among reporting requirements," said Chelsea Murtha, director of sustainability for the American Apparel and Footwear Association, which represents more than 1,000 brands and <a href="https://www.aafaglobal.org/AAFA/AAFA_News/2023_Press_Releases/Industry_Groups_Support_CA_Climate_Data_SB253.aspx" target="_blank">came out in support</a> of the legislation. "We worked with Sen. Wiener and Ceres to get language in the bill that made sure that if you were reporting to the SEC and that was a substantially similar disclosure, it would work in California. We were really glad to see pieces like that come together and make this a process that was really designed to help businesses succeed."

<h2>The bottom line: Climate disclosure won't fix it, but it's a major step forward</h2>

Disclosure won't solve our climate problems, but in the spirit of sunlight as a proverbial disinfectant, transparency is a crucial piece of the puzzle. "There's no doubt that it's only a first step," Lubber told us. "Once companies analyze their risk and measure it, they can then manage it. It's very hard to come up with a climate plan to act without knowing what the problem is."

Ceres provides <a href="https://www.ceres.org/resources/reports/climate-transition-action-plans" target="_blank">toolkits</a> and direct consultation to help companies translate the data from their disclosures into time-bound <a href="https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2023/climate-transition-action-plans/783621" target="_blank">climate transition plans</a>, and it will continue to do so as California's rules come into force, Lubber said. 

"The public, investors and regulators want to know what is the risk to a company, and that's why they have been calling for climate risk disclosure," she told us. "Good information is just that — not the panacea, but it provides the base to make smart decisions about managing carbon emissions."

Get more coverage like this in TriplePundit's weekly Brands Taking Stands newsletter. <a href="https://www.triplepundit.com/subscribe" target="_blank">Sign up here</a> for new stories every Wednesday.

California's Climate Risk Disclosure Rules Are the Talk of Climate Week

Cancer is the leading <a href="https://www.alexslemonade.org/childhood-cancer/about-childhood-cancer/facts#:~:text=Childhood%2520Cancer%2520Facts%2520%25E2%2580%2594%2520United%2520States&amp;text=Cancer%2520is%2520the%2520leading%2520cause,survivors%2520in%2520the%2520United%2520States." target="_blank">cause of death</a> by disease for children. However, <a href="https://www.cancer.gov/types/childhood-cancers/research/pediatric-analysis.pdf" target="_blank">only about 4 percent</a> of federal funding for cancer research went to childhood cancers over the past decade. While <a href="https://www.childrenscancercause.org/blog/fy2022appropriations-signed-into-law" target="_blank">spending bills passed in 2022</a> provided a much-needed boost for childhood cancer research, funding is still far short of what’s needed, and private fundraising efforts remain critical. 

“Every day, <a href="https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/global-initiative-for-childhood-cancer" target="_blank">more than 1,000 children worldwide</a> are diagnosed with childhood cancer,” said Steve Radke, president of the <a href="https://northwesternmutual-foundation.com/childhood-cancer/" target="_blank">Northwestern Mutual Foundation</a>. “A childhood cancer diagnosis changes the lives of an entire family, not just the child undergoing treatment, forever. It’s important for these families to receive the support they need not only medically, but mentally and financially.” 

We know research has led to significant improvements in the survivability of childhood cancer. In the last three decades, mortality rates from cancer in children and teenagers <a href="https://www.cancer.gov/types/childhood-cancers/child-adolescent-cancers-fact-sheet#what-is-the-prognosis-for-children-and-adolescents-with-cancer-nbsp" target="_blank">fell by more than 50 percent</a>. However, there’s still an urgent need for new advances and continued research to help identify effective treatments necessary to further reduce childhood cancer mortality and identify treatments for rare and under-researched forms of cancer.

To help fill this gap, Northwestern Mutual and its foundation have contributed more than $50 million to the cause, funded more than 600,000 hours of research, and supported hundreds of research grants since 2012. Those grants include the Young Investigators Grant designed to support early-career physicians and scientists who are pursuing promising childhood cancer research ideas.

Dr. Erica Braverman, for example, is in the second year of her Young Investigator project. She’s studying ways to improve CAR T-cell immunotherapy treatments, which essentially reprogram a patient’s own white blood cells to find, attack and eliminate cancer cells. Her research on the role of immunometabolism in pediatric cancer will advance the field by improving response to immunotherapies in pediatric cancer patients. 

“We take pride in knowing there are kids today who are cancer-free thanks to the research we have helped fund,” Radke said.

Northwestern Mutual’s support of childhood cancer research grew out of a passion for helping to alleviate some of the financial anxiety that families face when dealing with a childhood cancer diagnosis. 

“Our mission as a company is to help relieve Americans of financial anxiety and invest in the future of our community,” Radke said. “For many families … the diagnosis and treatment associated with childhood cancer is an emotional and financial burden they did not anticipate. We recognize the financial implications and are uniquely positioned to help those families with the services we offer through our field of advisors, but also through our foundation.”

The company’s employees also support local childhood cancer organizations within the communities where they live and work, from galas to golf outings to music events, “they’ve helped greatly in fundraising efforts throughout the past 12 years,” Radke said.

The Northwestern Mutual Foundation partners with charitable organizations and research centers to fund specific programs, such as the <a href="https://rmhc.org" target="_blank">Ronald McDonald House</a>, the <a href="https://childrenswi.org" target="_blank">Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin</a>, <a href="https://beadsofcourage.org" target="_blank">Beads of Courage</a> and <a href="https://www.teamconnor.org" target="_blank">TeamConnor</a>. 

In particular, the Northwestern Mutual Foundation shares a special relationship with <a href="https://www.alexslemonade.org/" target="_blank">Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation</a>, a national pediatric cancer nonprofit dedicated to changing children's lives through impactful research, raising awareness and supporting families to help cure pediatric cancer. Through this partnership, Northwestern Mutual has sponsored notable and future scientific leaders by funding grants for students, early career researchers, and scientists pursuing innovative approaches to some of the greatest challenges in pediatric cancer research. 

"With the help of Northwestern Mutual, we’ve provided life-saving grants, empowered the next generation of researchers and created programs dedicated to helping families affected by childhood cancer,” said Liz Scott, Alex’s mom and co-executive director of the Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation.

To further the cause, this year Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation and the Northwestern Mutual Foundation are reigniting the social media campaign <a href="https://www.northwesternmutual.com/life-and-money/lemontopchallenge-raises-awareness-for-childhood-cancer-heres-how-you-can-support/" target="_blank">#LemonTopChallenge</a>, encouraging followers and supporters to take a photo or video of someone balancing a lemon on their heads to raise money for research in honor of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. 

For every post shared to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn in the month of September, Northwestern Mutual will make a $10 donation to the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, up to $500,000. Participants must use the hashtag #LemonTopChallenge and tag @alexslemonadestandfoundation and @northwesternmutual. 

Radke hopes the result of the foundation’s ongoing fundraising will help inspire other business leaders to find their own philanthropic callings. 

“When it comes to finding a cause that is meaningful for an organization, it’s important to think with a long-term mindset,” he said. “The most impactful results happen over time, not immediately, but it is through funding and volunteer commitments from companies and organizations where change can happen. I hope that the work we and others are doing in this space sparks others to choose to get involved. As they say, it takes a village.”

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

Why the Fight Against Childhood Cancer Matters and How to Support the Cause

Reforestation pledges are perceived as a politically neutral, publicity-friendly way for corporations to demonstrate their commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the fight against climate change. But forestry experts have begun drawing attention to significant shortcomings in conventional tree-planting programs. Instead, they advocate for a new approach, called forest landscape restoration, that provides for overall ecosystem health and community well-being.

<h2>What’s right with planting trees</h2>

The benefits of trees have been part of the public conversation for generations, fostered in part by corporate tree-planting programs that emphasize soil retention, water conservation and runoff prevention.

In contrast, the carbon sequestration benefit of trees has not been on the public radar until recent years. Nevertheless, scientists dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries were already beginning to piece together the elements of photosynthesis, in which trees and other plants capture and store carbon dioxide from the air.

By the late 19th century, scientists also assembled evidence that human-related carbon emissions were producing a “<a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/Arrhenius/arrhenius_3.php" target="_blank">hot-house effect</a>,” leading to a rise in global temperatures. These early observations were finally quantified in the 1950s when methods to measure the impact of tree and plant growth on global carbon dioxide levels emerged.

Though it took another 60 years or so, the scientific quantification of <a href="https://www.fs.usda.gov/features/trees-are-climate-change-carbon-storage-heroes" target="_blank">tree-based carbon sequestration</a> set the stage for business leaders to champion large scale tree-planting programs as a climate action tool.

<h2>What’s wrong with planting trees</h2>

<a href="https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2020/mastercard-ceo-climate-action-about-survival-not-altruism/86286" target="_blank">Corporate interest</a> in tree-planting jumped in recent years alongside new research demonstrating that large-scale planting programs could become a powerful carbon sequestration strategy.

In 2019, for example, a Swiss research team estimated that an area of the Earth equivalent to the U.S. could be available for reforestation, <a href="https://ethz.ch/en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2019/07/how-trees-could-save-the-climate.html" target="_blank">capturing 300 billion metric tons of carbon</a> from the atmosphere as the new trees mature.

Corporate interest in tree-planting is also supported by high-profile environmental groups, non-governmental organizations and other groups such as the World Economic Forum, which set a <a href="https://www.1t.org/" target="_blank">trillion-tree goal</a> at the 2020 launch of its “1t” reforestation initiative. 

However, by 2020 red flags were already beginning to emerge. One key issue is WEF’s focus on planting trees to produce lumber, paper and other forest products. In that context, it is no surprise that the initiative <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/01/22/798644791/president-trump-climate-change-and-1-trillion-trees" target="_blank">received support</a> from former Republican President Donald Trump, despite his long record of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/19/world/asia/china-trump-climate-change.html" target="_blank">undermining climate science</a>.

In voicing support for the WEF initiative, the Trump administration also referenced <a href="https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/articles/president-trump-signs-one-trillion-trees-executive-order-promoting-conservation-regeneration-nations-forests/" target="_blank">forest commodities</a> and related key words like <a href="https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/trump-administration-furthers-commitment-one-trillion-trees-initiative" target="_blank">forest management and productivity</a>. Similarly, the 2020 “Trillion Trees Act” sponsored by Republicans in the House of Representatives <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/2639/text" target="_blank">commingled forest products with environmental goals</a>.

In July, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/climate-change-republicans-trillion-trees-01e455acce4397c0376e82bfa18b72c2" target="_blank">Associated Press reporter Stephen Groves</a> noted that the trillion trees bill, which is hung up in committee, “checks the right boxes” for Republicans. “It is friendly to the timber industry and touts a climate solution — sequestering a massive amount of carbon from manmade emissions — that would also partially alleviate the need to wean the country off fossil fuels,” Groves wrote.

<h2>The need for a more holistic approach</h2>

On Friday, The New York Times published an <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/15/opinion/wildfires-treeplanting-timebomb.html?unlocked_article_code=6Yh-kEGxW1PU4zsgfGMex2V319Dt7bubeg1qEWjwL_tRWvz4q-AvqUpOS6TXUNg0qLM2WPr8RglSj5SncGfGbvO4w5MbkNnZYl7Umnq81g6oVw6zV3r04GfaLQj5EFImcQQolc35eRuGAkf2kbG1No5fIEaaLGTUk-vJghO31RB9BYxvhm8lr8GW3_dUvbNuzaXDYU-tUPH2OU1pwKKUazLblVUbXJXJSh8tt76LcVEotISV5zFIgI-P9Ym8Ttr-Kt7l8Efs3A2fNKk2dw5NRIem7Q4bDMly7JoVQbJq3x9zX3WcII5Z7YEB3_yIMZsypTPJ19pXkVziHZ8IXygeO3dE4mccEw&amp;smid=url-share" target="_blank">op-ed by the essayist Claire Cameron</a>, who explained one good reason why entwining forest commodities with tree-planting initiatives does not necessarily result in an environmentally desirable outcome. That’s because commodities reforestation tends to focus on just one species, with an eye on future harvests.

“Forestry experts understand that a monoculture of trees — like the black spruce saplings we were planting, six feet apart in neat rows — has made wildfires <a href="https://www.bcfpb.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/SR61-Landscape-Fire-Management.pdf" target="_blank">more likely</a> and much worse when they occur,” Cameron wrote, in recollection of the summer she spent planting trees in Canada. The area had been clear-cut, and it would be harvested again once the new trees matured. 

“Much later, I learned that the trees we were planting, black spruce, are so combustible that firefighters call them gas on a stick,” she added. 

Cameron also drew attention to a June report released by the independent watchdog organization Forest Practices Board of British Columbia, which linked monoculture tree-planting programs to an <a href="https://www.bcfpb.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/SR61-Landscape-Fire-Management.pdf" target="_blank">increased risk of severe wildfires</a>.

<h2>A more sustainable approach: Forest landscape restoration </h2>

In a naturally regenerated forest, fire-susceptible trees would be cushioned by other fire-resistant species that retain more moisture. This type of consideration is at work in the emerging field of forest landscape restoration.

“More than just planting trees, forest landscape restoration aims to restore the natural functioning of ecosystems in deforested and degraded landscapes, while also supporting the livelihoods and well-being of the people who live there,” Fran Price, who leads the WWF's Global Forest Practice initiative, <a href="https://sdg.iisd.org/commentary/guest-articles/turning-commitments-into-leadership-through-forest-restoration/" target="_blank">wrote in an op/ed</a> for the International Institute for Sustainable Development.

Forest landscape restoration does not preclude human activity in forests. Instead, the focus is on engaging local communities in long-term, <a href="https://www.iucn.org/our-work/topic/forests/forest-landscape-restoration" target="_blank">sustainable forest management practices</a>, aided by the latest science as well as Indigenous and traditional experience.

Among other case studies, WWF cites a <a href="https://wwf.panda.org/discover/our_focus/forests_practice/forest_climate/forest_climate_publications/?3449441/Inspiring-Practices-Local-Livestock-Farmers-Lead-the-Way-in-Implementing-Sustainable-Land-" target="_blank">pilot program</a> in the Amazonian province of Tahuamanu, Peru, where to livestock farmers are implementing practices aimed at reducing the rate of deforestation while increasing productivity.

<h2>Challenges and opportunities: It’s all about the seeds</h2>

Corporations seeking to support forest landscape restoration initiatives should be aware that there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

“Community-based forest management is widely recognized as one of the more effective measures for stopping deforestation,” <a href="https://forestsolutions.panda.org/case-studies/community-forestry-in-the-mekong" target="_blank">WWF observes</a>. “However, the effectiveness of community management is dependent upon the broader socio-economic context, including tenure type, community governance, local capacity, opportunity cost and incentives.”

Business leaders can ensure the success of reforestation initiatives by raising the engagement of these under-represented local communities.

For example, one key factor in a successful, large-scale landscape restoration initiative is the availability of a <a href="https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2023/native-seeds-shortage/765596" target="_blank">sufficient supply of native seeds</a>.

A research team recently <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/15/9/981" target="_blank">studied the challenges</a> besetting seed supply systems in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana and Kenya, which  set a collective commitment to restore 24.1 million hectares (more than 93,000 square miles) of degraded land. Challenges they face along the way include a “lack of policies, capacity building, financial investment and involvement of local community members,” the researchers observed. 

“A greater involvement of stakeholders from different societal levels and sectors would be an important step in building a better foundation for further capacity development,” they added.

They identified building up a community supplier network for natives seeds as a key step toward achieving successful restoration initiatives. That provides several opportunities for corporate involvement, including help with procuring digital tools and mobile phones. 

In addition to increasing the supply of high-quality native seeds, the network would provide new income opportunities for local communities and incentivize the conservation of native species. 

As the forest landscape restoration movement grows, business leaders have new opportunities to demonstrate that their understanding of tree-planting has also matured into a more sustainable model that avoids the environmental mistakes of the past and focuses on community well-being.

Image credit: <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/3BlVILvh9hM" target="_blank">Olena Bohovyk</a>/Unsplash

The Forest Landscape Restoration Movement Fills the Tree-Planting Pledge Gap

Most people wouldn’t see corporate advocacy as a source of great hope for the world, as stories about business efforts to block change continue to make headlines. <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/a7d272c8-a1e0-4975-92de-88c99d763157" target="_blank">The Financial Times</a> reported that major chemical and plastics manufacturers are lobbying to weaken a proposed U.N. treaty on plastics. <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2022/04/22/google-facebook-apple-eu-lobbying-report/?guccounter=1&amp;guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&amp;guce_referrer_sig=AQAAABlpcOnp2pY6A3UA5qxB9b2IO8-JsWEK_qVcrn38vmIC-e65F4yF837XzaZjLfNWxTM4CNOlGIEuXq-0hnObKgWhp68aoQ8RWw8gQn6xkQIFGFbvBEwPJAiQUX3WZ7WX2MUZ4GRN6YL6XsWvza76bG_eumrYyTX2yad126zgB1VB" target="_blank">TechCrunch</a> reported a concerted push by the major tech firms to "weaken EU rules" on data and consumer privacy. <a href="https://qz.com/ipcc-report-on-climate-change-meat-industry-1850261179" target="_blank">Multiple outlets</a> described how lobbying from the meat industry caused the removal of plant-based policy recommendations from the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report.

This is everything people distrust about business: working to serve its own direct interests and delay action, block change and dilute progress on major societal issues. And it lays the ground for populist rallying cries to "drain the swamp."

Unsurprisingly, this isn’t the kind of corporate advocacy we’re recommending. In our new book, "The Activist Leader," we describe how businesses can take action to make a meaningful impact on societal issues — and can draw on that experience to add their voice to the public discourse in order to mobilize further action. When this happens, advocacy becomes an important contribution that a business can make. The way businesses have spoken out on LGBTQ+ inclusion shows how this can work in practice. 

<h2>LGBTQ+ rights: Businesses speaking out to advance inclusion </h2>

Against a backdrop of steady progress toward inclusion globally, millions of LGBTQ+ people are experiencing a new intensity of discrimination, harassment and violence. In some regions, LGBTQ+ rights have become a geopolitical wedge issue, an assertion of national values in opposition to a global culture: in Eastern Europe, for example, or some African countries. Against this backdrop, many global businesses struggle to reconcile how they operate in these territories with their vocal support for LGBTQ+ inclusion as a company.

As this situation developed, we heard from business leaders wanting to speak out but finding it hard to do so — not only because of the potential impact on their business, but also because of the safety of their employees. To help find a coherent and collective business voice on this subject, Brunswick established <a href="https://www.brunswickgroup.com/open-for-business-i5372/" target="_blank">Open For Business</a> as a coalition of global companies working to advance LGBTQ+ rights even in challenging countries. 

The Open For Business approach centers on data-driven advocacy: Rather than become embroiled in a clash of moral systems, the coalition makes the case that open, inclusive societies are better for business and better for economic growth. Marshalling evidence that shows how open, inclusive policies are associated with increased levels of entrepreneurialism, stronger high-value business sectors, greater foreign direct investment and, ultimately, greater economic competitiveness and resilience resonates with economic policymakers. The coalition has grown to more than 40 high-profile global companies that include Accenture, Burberry, Diageo, Facebook, GSK, Google, Lego, Mastercard, McKinsey and Unilever. 

The data-led approach has delivered a track record of successful advocacy. Used by local frontline nonprofit groups, highly vocal global LGBTQ+ champions and business leaders alike, Open For Business reports have become part of court proceedings in Uganda, Hong Kong and India, each with positive rulings for LGBTQ+ equality. They’ve been part of winning campaigns for marriage equality in Costa Rica, the Czech Republic and Taiwan. The reports on the economic case for LGBTQ+ inclusion have made headlines and changed the conversation in countries in East Africa, Eastern Europe and the Caribbean. 

But why would the global drinks business Diageo, or the tech giant IBM, or the cosmetics brand L’Oréal speak out on LGBTQ+ rights? At first pass, it might seem somewhat random. However, for these companies and others in the coalition, their advocacy is grounded in strong positions and hard work to establish an inclusive culture for their own workforce, often built up painstakingly over years.

It’s not a sudden response to media headlines. They know their employees want to know where they stand on this issue, in the light of their stated principles as global companies. They feel conflicted by the rise in anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment and policies in some places that are dissonant with their long-held principles and are seeking mechanisms that enable them to speak up.

The power of the collective voice elevates the potential of each individual company to advocate for inclusion to policymakers and other influential corporate stakeholders. 

Stepping into the public arena, armed with data and standing in common cause with partners, underpins the credibility of the company’s voice – on any subject from net zero to inclusion – and makes issue-led advocacy an impactful element of activist leadership. 

This story was adapted from "<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Activist-Leader-Mindset-Doing-Business-ebook/dp/B0B4HSMLXT" target="_blank">The Activist Leader: New Mindset for Doing Business</a>" by Jon Miller and Lucy Parker, published this week by HarperCollins. Copyright © 2023 by Lucy Parker and Jon Miller. Reprinted courtesy of Harper Collins Inc 

Image credit: <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/i6cYSbuyYmk" target="_blank">yyananran</a>/Unsplash

LGBTQ+ Inclusion and a New Form of Corporate Advocacy 

As the <a href="https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2023/business-leadership-climate-change/770991" target="_blank">material business risks</a> from climate change become increasingly clear, <a href="https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insights/sustainability/reaching-net-zero-by-2050#:~:text=More%20than%20a%20third%20(34,sophisticated%20measures%20cut%20even%20faster." target="_blank">more than a third</a> of the world’s largest 2,000 companies have set goals to reach net zero emissions by 2050 or sooner. Many companies have gone even further, setting emission reduction targets that are in line with what the latest climate science says are needed to meet the goals of the Paris Accords and limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. They are also <a href="https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2023/corporate-climate-disclosures/777106" target="_blank">disclosing information</a> about the impacts of their business on carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions, water quality and scarcity, and nature.  
  
This is tremendous progress and highlights that companies see opportunities to be had in tackling these risks. But awash with targets and goals, investors and other stakeholders still have one core question: What meaningful and measurable actions are companies taking today, and in the near-term, to meet these targets?  
  
Climate transition action plans have emerged as a leading framework for companies to identify, plan, and implement strategies that reduce climate-related risks and maximize opportunities.  These actions should be specific, time-bound and, if possible, quantified to detail the emissions reductions that companies expect to achieve.  
   
While targets and disclosures are both deeply important, too often companies lack a forward-looking strategy that defines how they will work to achieve these targets in the next three to five years — both within and beyond their operations.   
  
In fact, organizations that analyze and track climate action — such as the Science-Based Target initiative, Net Zero Tracker, Transition Pathway Initiative and CDP — have found that an alarming number of companies have yet to develop these plans. For instance, out of nearly 19,000 companies that annually report their climate impacts to CDP, <a href="https://www.cdp.net/en/articles/climate/new-cdp-data-shows-companies-are-recognizing-the-need-for-climate-transition-plans-but-are-not-moving-fast-enough-amidst-incoming-mandatory-disclosure" target="_blank">only 13 percent</a> have disclosed a sufficient number of indicators to be considered a credible plan — and only 0.40 percent of companies met all 21 of CDP’s key indicators.  
  
Every company knows that delivering on a goal takes a plan. Just as companies set goals and develop detailed plans for driving sales, investing in new markets or recruiting talent, they also need a detailed climate action transition plan for delivering on their goals for slashing emissions and addressing their exposure to climate risk.  
  
And the pressure on companies to deliver these plans is ramping up. In 2022, Ceres counted just nine investors asking companies they held to publish transition plans via shareholder resolutions. In 2023, that number jumped to 61.  
  
Addressing the Ceres Global climate conference in March 2023, Mary Schapiro, vice chair for global public policy at Bloomberg and vice chair of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero, said: "If 2021 was the year of mainstreaming net-zero commitments and 2022 was the year of target-setting and developing the frameworks to operationalize these commitments, we are now calling 2023 the year of transition plans."  
  
The momentum is building as investors are already implementing transition action plans to mitigate the risks climate poses to their portfolios. To help companies create and implement these plans to achieve their emissions reductions targets, <a href="https://www.ceres.org/climate/ambition2030" target="_blank">Ceres’ Ambition 2030 initiative</a> and our partners have developed action-oriented guidance and tools. At a high level, we outline four components for every transition plan:  

<ol><li>Actions a company will take to reduce its Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions, covering its entire supply and value chains, in line with limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. </li>
	<li>Actions to identify, manage, and address climate risks and opportunities and incorporate these considerations into core business strategy and governance. </li>
	<li>Actions to advocate for public policies that support and enable the achievement of corporate climate targets and economy-wide emissions reductions.</li>
	<li>Actions to consider and support workforces, suppliers, customers, impacted communities and other stakeholders in the transition to a net-zero-emissions economy. </li>
</ol>The time for action is now, and we encourage all companies to follow these guidelines as they develop the plans to make their targets a reality. 

Image credit: <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/0w-uTa0Xz7w" target="_blank">Karsten Würth</a>/Unsplash

Moving Beyond Targets: The Time is Now for Climate Transition Action Plans 

“Desperation is inspiration,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said today as he convened multiple sustainability events running parallel to the United Nations General Assembly.  

At the Concordia Summit, a gathering of cross-sector social impact professionals, the mayor of the nation’s largest city alluded to his own diabetes diagnosis as he urged action on climate, immigration and social inequity. 

“My body looked fine but was breaking down internally. I was too busy taking selfies. I should have taken internal selfies,” Adams told a standing room crowd at a Sheraton New York Times Square hotel ballroom. “It is, to me, the analogy of our globe. Our planet is our body.”
<figure role="group"><img alt="nyc mayor Eric adams speaks at climate week" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="d90adb80-e531-4f0b-a835-f5730d52071e" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/eric%20adams%20climate%20week.jpg" width="1579" height="1999" loading="lazy" /><figcaption>New York City Mayor Eric Adams speaks to the press along the sidelines of Climate Week and the United Nations General Assembly. (Image courtesy of the author)</figcaption></figure>Adams, who said he overcame diabetes by adopting a plant-based diet and losing 30 pounds, took a bow for introducing a vegetarian menu to city-owned hospitals, and to public schools on Mondays and Fridays. 

The first-term Democrat used the Concordia address to take aim at stable, affluent nations for failing to fight harder to slow global warming, referencing smoke from Canadian wildfires and mass migration from weather- and war-ravaged nations as symptoms being felt in New York. 

“Walls, boundaries and geographic lines are not going to curtail the crises,” he said.

In addition to the Concordia Summit and the U.N. General Assembly, New York is host this week to the Clinton Global Initiative, Sustainable Development Goals Leaders Summit, numerous Climate Week events and the Global Citizen Festival. TriplePundit and its parent company, 3BL, will be there and bring the relevant news to you across our channels.

NYC Mayor on Climate Crisis: ‘Desperation is Inspiration’

Textile production uses an enormous amount of water. At <a href="https://archive.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/assets/downloads/A-New-Textiles-Economy.pdf" target="_blank">93 billion cubic meters each year</a>, that’s 4 percent of all freshwater utilized worldwide. From the farm to the manufacturing plant, water is an integral part of the textile industry. If not managed responsibly, this can cause scarcity and competition for limited resources in regions where textiles are produced.

<a href="https://www.welspunindia.com/" target="_blank">Welspun India</a>, a home textiles supplier for numerous brands on the international market, has taken an innovative approach. As a result, it uses zero fresh water during the manufacturing process. And while the same method could be utilized by more manufacturers worldwide, it’s unlikely to be emulated on a large scale so long as quarterly earnings take precedence over long-term sustainability.

“You might say that you created a sustainable product, but it's not a sustainable product when you create it in a facility which is not sustainable,” Dipali Goenka, CEO of Welspun India, told TriplePundit. 

<h2>Socially responsible water usage</h2>

The road to freshwater-free textile manufacturing began in 2003 with the need to get factories up and running in an area that had been devastated by an earthquake years earlier. Supporting the community was also imperative to Welspun's operation in the Kutch region of Gujarat. “Organizations cannot work in isolation, they need … everybody together,” Goenka said. “So that's what we did. We built up communities, setting up schools there, empowering women.”

Welspun also recognized that it couldn’t monopolize the water supply in such an arid region. “Textiles are a big guzzler of water,” she explained. “There's one river that feeds that area." The Narmada River is known as a "<a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/narmada-gujarats-lifeline-that-defines-political-currents/articleshow/96044314.cms" target="_blank">lifeline</a>" for the Indian states of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, stretching more than 800 miles and providing water to hundreds of communities. "We realized as, an organization, we had a huge responsibility," Goenka said. "If we are going to guzzle that much water and the communities will go without water, how fair is that?”

In order to solve the water problem, the company built a sewage treatment plant to process wastewater from three towns in the Kutch region. On top of the potable water that comes out of it, the municipalities are also paid a commission. It’s a win-win situation for the company, local communities and the region’s farmers.

“We can take the sewage from the communities and recycle it and use it back into our operation, so we don't use a drop of fresh water in our operations,” Goenka said. “We are really proud of it.”
<figure role="group"><img alt="Dipali Goenka, CEO of Welspun India" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="b382247e-3d41-477d-bdd0-f5ed3595d132" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/Dipali%20Goenka%202.jpg" width="800" height="1200" loading="lazy" /><figcaption>Dipali Goenka, CEO of Welspun India.</figcaption></figure><h2>A community mindset</h2>

It’s a refreshing perspective that is a product of Welspun’s <a href="https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2023/busting-myths-esg/781471" target="_blank">environmental, social and governance (ESG)</a> policy to become an agent of change. And the stance is going strong since, keeping pace with the company’s growth. “The capacities that we have today, the magnitude is huge,” Goenka explained, adding that the company makes 1 out of every 5 towels in the U.S.

While the tactic sounds like a simple way for manufacturers to make a huge difference in developing regions where <a href="https://inweh.unu.edu/toward-a-world-free-of-untreated-wastewater-breaking-the-catch-22-situation-faced-by-developing-countries/" target="_blank">wastewater treatment is lacking</a> or insufficient, it also takes a substantial amount of purpose to put the future well-being of a community over immediate profit. And that’s something too many businesses still aren’t willing to do.

“It's a very heavy investment,” Goenka said, pointing to the need for a change in mindset. “Everybody has to look at becoming agents of change.” Instead of doing business for the sake of business itself, she wants to encourage companies to consider everyone involved and take the bigger picture into account.

Beyond the water treatment plant, Welspun also supports cotton farmers through teams and artificial intelligence (AI) dedicated to improving the sustainability of their agricultural practices. It also promotes certification with groups like the <a href="https://bettercotton.org/" target="_blank">Better Cotton Initiative</a>. “Better Cotton Initiative uses far lesser water than what a regular cotton crop would use,” she explained.

<h2>Community betterment doesn’t end with water</h2>

The company’s ESG initiative also seeks to uplift women in the community by providing village work centers where they can earn an income and gain financial literacy. Another initiative helps women make use of their backyards for income. “We help them learn how to use those … for kitchen gardens where they can sell and earn their livelihoods as well,” Goenka said, explaining that more than 45,000 women have been impacted through the company’s efforts.

“In the communities, we have two schools as well. But we also are reaching out to communities and impacting around 100,000 children,” she said, noting that Welspun reaches out with digital education as a part of its efforts.

Welspun India is demonstrating its dedication to ESG by focusing on the community as a whole. And where many corporations would have no problem using up scarce water resources to the detriment of the local people and farmers, the company’s refreshing perspective on corporate responsibility and long-term outcomes versus short-term profits has instead benefited those stakeholders.

Image courtesy of Welspun India

Looking Toward the Long-Term With Zero Fresh Water Textile Manufacturing

The <a href="https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/chocolate-market" target="_blank">$100 billion</a> chocolate industry is at a crossroads. Rising global demand for chocolate and other cacao products has <a href="https://www.foodpolitics.com/2020/12/the-cocoa-industrys-big-problems-farmer-poverty-and-child-labor/" target="_blank">failed to improve the livelihoods</a> of farmers in the main cacao-growing regions of West Africa and Southeast Asia. With increasing consumer demand for sustainable sourcing, along with growing awareness of labor and climate risks linked to tropical agriculture, the industry needs to shift, and fast. 

“Consumers are becoming more and more aware about sustainability,” says Alexi Ernstoff, global science lead at the sustainability consulting firm Quantis, who works with many companies in the cacao sector. “The longer companies wait, the more expensive and difficult it's going to become.”

Revelations about the <a href="https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2023/address-child-labor-cacao/780171" target="_blank">prevalence of child and forced labor</a> on cacao farms in West Africa, driven primarily by low prices, forced a reckoning around ethical sourcing across the industry. Media coverage of this made for embarrassing headlines for brands. And for parents, the thought of the chocolate they give their children being produced by another child living in poverty was powerful. 

“There are several reasons why cacao sourcing is challenging,” says Troy Pearley, executive vice president at the U.S. branch of fair trade chocolate purveyor <a href="https://www.divinechocolate.com/divine-world/us/our-story/" target="_blank">Divine Chocolate</a>. “One, it’s very difficult to earn a living income as a cacao farmer. They often struggle to meet their basic needs, and this creates challenges for farmers to properly maintain their family life and the upkeep of their farms.”

In the traditional model, most chocolate companies, and any users of cacao, purchase the ingredient from one of the big trading companies: Cargill, Olam and Barry Callebaut. Those companies collect cacao from countless farmers, often via a network of traders, meaning there is often limited visibility into their supply chains.

The truth is, brands are often as surprised as consumers when allegations of child labor, deforestation or human rights abuses are found along their supply chains. It’s a feature of a broken system, where price was the key factor, not sustainability, and due to brands lacking relationships with farmers.

But some companies, big and small, are returning to the field and finding ways to source directly, with real benefits for farmers. One is Divine Chocolate, a high-end chocolate brand founded in 2016 with the goal of doing business radically differently. From the start, it's taken a completely novel approach, eschewing the big traders entirely. To enable better sourcing, transparency and communication with cacao growing communities, Divine Chocolate works with groups like Fairtrade International, who work directly with farmers to meet a set of strict social and environmental standards. 

“Change cannot be made unless key stakeholders are engaging and recognizing that it’s our responsibility to be a catalyst for positive change within the cocoa sector and confection industry,” Pearley says.

Divine Chocolate started not in a factory in the U.S., but in the cacao farms of Ghana. The company's experts trained farmers to stop using pesticides, encouraged eco-friendly cultivation, and set up special units to ensure child labor could be prevented and that children could receive proper education. In recent years, they’ve started to promote agroforestry, growing cacao alongside natural forests in a mixed ecosystem. It’s far beyond the basic requirement of not sourcing from farmers using child or forced labor.

“You must be proactive, because the root cause of these issues within the supply chains is poverty,” Pearley says. 

Divine Chocolate is a relatively small player, and while its work has had an impact on communities, it’s not enough to shift the industry. But on the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia, the major chocolate manufacturer Mars is showing that even big brands can source directly, with clear benefits for both profit and sustainability. 

Mars set up its own cacao gathering and processing facilities in Sulawesi over recent years, buying directly from farmers, not traders, as it had done before. This allows the company to help farmers invest in better-quality cacao — for example by purchasing better agricultural inputs or training in new techniques, says a spokesperson for Mars Indonesia. It also means Mars can ensure farmers are meeting <a href="https://gbr.mars.com/sustainability-plan" target="_blank">the company's policies</a> around sustainability and human rights.
<figure role="group"><img alt="cacao farmer indonesia" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="20dfe92e-0f17-4c15-a9d3-06895c65bc4b" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/cacao%20farmer%20in%20indonesia.jpg" width="1024" height="768" loading="lazy" /><figcaption>A farmer photographed with unprocessed cacao on the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia, in 2005.</figcaption></figure>The consumer goods giant is already seeing financial results. It was able to grow its sourcing from Sulawesi even as overall cacao production in the region fell, due to the ability to pay a higher price and the relationships built with growers. 

Meanwhile, in West Africa, Divine Chocolate is taking things a step further, not only sourcing directly from farmers in Ghana via Fairtrade, but also giving them ownership. The Kuapa Kokoo farmers union are not just suppliers, but also co-owners of Divine Chocolate. That means they benefit from every bar sold in grocery stores around the world. 

“Divine Chocolate believes in farmer ownership,” Pearley says. “It has enabled the folks that are most affected negatively in the supply chain to make good decisions for themselves that have long-lasting benefits.”

There is a strong need for more brands to look to innovative models like these and learn from how they engage with farmers, says Ernstoff of Quantis.

“One thing that is helpful is when companies see their peers moving,” Ernstoff says. “Really the goal is to reach that middle 60 percent of companies, bring the evidence [to] show them they need to make changes, and convince them that this is extremely important.”

For Pearley, Divine Chocolate’s success shows there is a way to source cacao sustainably and ethically, but it will require companies to think differently. If they don’t, they’ll pay the price later.

“Cutting corners will always put you at risk of participating in reckless behavior,” Pearley says. “Companies that have more focus on the bottom line will always be at risk for committing unintentional, unthinkable acts.”

Image credits: <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/evRB-x0TJkM" target="_blank">Michele Blackwell</a>/Unsplash and <a href="https://flickr.com/photos/hartanto/307322887/in/photolist" target="_blank">hartanto</a>/Flickr

The Chocolate Industry Has A Lot of Problems. Could Direct Sourcing Help Brands Solve Them? 

The artificial intelligence boom is in full swing, as generative AI tools like Jasper and ChatGPT take over our workplaces and AI-based chatbots play feature in everything from the way we shop to the way we learn. Globally, <a href="https://www.ibm.com/downloads/cas/GVAGA3JP" target="_blank">77 percent of businesses</a> are using or exploring AI, but smaller companies with fewer resources tend to be slower to adopt. The technology giant Salesforce is looking to extend the potential of AI to another group at risk of falling behind. 

Nonprofit organizations provide a vital lifeline to underserved people and communities worldwide, but many are understaffed, strapped for budget and could use some help of their own. AI technologies have the potential to automate mundane tasks and support dynamic new tools for the people and communities nonprofits serve. But nonprofit leaders aren't exactly known as technology trailblazers, and lack of resources when it comes to tech means that many miss out on the opportunities emerging technologies can afford.

"When we think about digital transformation and the AI revolution that we're in right now, how the world is undergoing this incredible shift, we want to make sure the organizations that are serving our communities — those on the front lines, working day in and day out — really have the tools they need to do that work," said Naomi Morenzoni, SVP of philanthropy for Salesforce.

Indeed around 74 percent of nonprofits consider digital transformation a “need-to-have” or “must-have,” according to <a href="https://www.salesforce.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/salesforce-nonprofit-trends-report-5th-edition-120822.pdf" target="_blank">2022 Salesforce research</a>, but many struggle to move beyond the row of dusty desktop computers donated in decades past.

<a href="https://www.salesforce.com/news/stories/ai-grants-for-nonprofits-2023/" target="_blank">Salesforce's newest accelerator</a>, AI for Impact, is looking to change that by providing funds, technology and coaching to help nonprofits unlock the potential of AI to further their missions. 

"I think of AI, and generative AI in particular, as augmenting the superpowers of nonprofit staff and leaders. It helps them do what they do best in a more efficient or effective way," Morenzoni said. "The AI for Impact Accelerator brings together unrestricted funding, donated technology, as well as one-on-one coaching from Salesforce experts and staff to help them as they're shaping and developing those strategies." 

<h2>From skills-matching to teacher simulations: Inside the AI for Impact Accelerator </h2>

The first round of the AI for Impact Accelerator will distribute $2 million in funding to help six nonprofits develop new solutions using AI.

The organizations vary in their size and approach, but all focus on education and workforce development. The U.S. organization <a href="https://perscholas.org/about-per-scholas/" target="_blank">Per Scholas</a>, for example, connects people with the skills and resources they need to switch careers into technology. That takes the form of free technical training, as well as coaching and consultation. It's highly impactful work — with more than 20,000 graduates moving on to successful tech careers — but it often relies on individualized services that can be difficult to scale. 

"These are often individuals who've maybe been a cashier at Walmart or a floor manager at Chipotle. They have a lot of skills and experience managing a high volume of customers, doing operations or dealing with complex situations, but it's hard to translate those skills directly to a traditional tech resume," Morenzoni explained. 

Per Scholas' career coaches work with learners one-on-one to build resumes and cover letters that clearly connect their skills to what's needed by technology employers. "But that's really time and labor intensive," Morenzoni said. 

Through AI for Impact, Per Scholas is looking to automate the first pass of the process with an AI tool that matches each learner's experience with in-demand skills, allowing career coaches to spend more time on the nuanced conversations that can really set learners up for success. 

The nonprofit is definitely onto something: Surveys suggest <a href="https://www.resumebuilder.com/3-in-4-job-seekers-who-used-chatgpt-to-write-their-resume-got-an-interview/" target="_blank">nearly half of all jobseekers</a> now craft their resumes and cover letters with the help of generative AI tools like ChatGPT, so it's easy to see how a custom AI solution could make this crucial step of the job search faster and easier for Per Scholas staff and the people they serve.  

<img alt="Salesforce AI for Impact" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="502ecfd5-63aa-442c-91ff-29b1995b0d60" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/Salesforce%20AI%20for%20Impact.JPG" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" />

Meanwhile, in the U.K., the nonprofit <a href="https://tdtrust.org" target="_blank">Teacher Development Trust</a> is looking to mirror the success of another industry to help educators do their jobs better. "Flight simulation has transformed the way that pilots fly," Morenzoni explained, and the nonprofit hopes to do the same with teacher simulations.

As a former teacher, Morenzoni knows all about the difficulties that come with managing a classroom and the doubt that can creep in after facing difficult situations. "Being in the classroom can be a really lonely experience, and classroom management is really, really hard," she said. "I used to leave a situation and and think, 'Oh gosh, how could I have handled that differently?' Maybe I'd talk to my department chair, and they would give me some coaching." 

The Teacher Development Trust aims to automate this process for the 4,000 educators it serves annually across the U.K. "Their idea is creating an on-demand, chat-based simulation for teachers where they can put in their exact environment, what happened in the classroom, what their mix of students are, and get fed back a real-time simulation — based on the pedagogy we know is trusted from the Teacher Development Trust — to help guide those teachers in the process of responding," Morenzoni said. "Again, it's taking that superpower of one-on-one coaching and making it scalable and making it faster so those teachers can really get the support they need." 

Likewise, the U.S. organization <a href="https://collegepossible.org/about/" target="_blank">College Possible</a> is developing an AI-driven platform to assist coaches as they work to get students from underserved communities into college, while the global organization <a href="https://www.careervillage.org" target="_blank">CareerVillage.org</a> aims to leverage AI to "put the world’s greatest career coach in the pocket of millions of young people."  

The organizations will be incubated in a six-month cohort, where they'll receive coaching from Salesforce experts about how to build their solutions effectively and <a href="https://blog.salesforceairesearch.com/meet-salesforces-trusted-ai-principles/" target="_blank">ethically</a> in order to maintain user trust. More than 300 Salesforce employees signed up to provide pro-bono coaching to nonprofit partners. Six will ultimately serve as coaches, with their skills closely matched to each nonprofit's needs. 

"One of the things we hear consistently from our nonprofit partners is that the talent gap and being able to access top talent around technology is a real challenge," Morenzoni said. "Being able to connect them with our developers, architects, and data scientists to provide one-on-one coaching and support is invaluable for those organizations." 

Coaches will be available for another six months after the cohort wraps, and the nonprofits will have free access to Salesforce products for two years to support the development of their AI solutions. 

<h2>More work is needed to help nonprofits unlock the power of AI</h2>

While it's too early to tell how an accelerator model like this can work for nonprofits, Salesforce is already seeing promising results from its first nonprofit accelerator launched last year. The four nonprofits incubated in Salesforce's <a href="https://www.salesforce.com/news/stories/salesforce-accelerator-for-nature/" target="_blank">Accelerator for Nature</a> are already starting to implement new solutions using technology — including the nonprofit <a href="https://rfcx.org/our_work" target="_blank">Rainforest Connection</a>'s AI acoustic monitoring tool that can pick up the sounds of illegal deforestation.

Results like these demonstrate the untapped potential of AI for nonprofits, but much more work is needed in order to help them realize it. "During this moment of an AI revolution where everyone is moving as fast as possible, we need to make sure that these organizations are not left behind," Morenzoni said. 

Salesforce pioneered the <a href="https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2017/salesforceorg-corporate-philanthropy-social-enterprise/56126" target="_blank">1-1-1 model of philanthropy</a>, donating 1 percent of corporate equity, 1 percent of product and 1 percent of employee time to community causes since its inception. Thousands of companies have signed up to do the same through the <a href="https://pledge1percent.org/pledged/" target="_blank">1% Pledge</a>, and Salesforce is looking to get more leaders on board. 

"Every company should be stepping up with its technology, its products, its services, and its people to serve our communities," Morenzoni said. "And to do that effectively, they have to start with listening. They have to start with trust, and they have to be led by the organizations who are doing the work day in and day out."

Image credits: terovesalainen/Adobe Stock and Salesforce

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We report the business case for sustainability.

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