Blog | Thursday February 25, 2021

Working Together to End Gender-Based Violence at the Generation Equality Forum

Preview

As the world grapples with the impacts of a global pandemic with women on the frontlines, the Generation Equality Forum (GEF) offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity for actors around the globe, including the private sector, to come together to build an ambitious agenda to empower women and girls. BSR, the B Team, and Women Win/Win-Win Strategies are working together to engage the private sector toward making meaningful commitments to promote gender equality at the Forum. We connected with BSR member Kering’s foundation to hear more about its role as a GEF Action Coalition Lead and what motivated it to take part in the Forum. 

Generation Equality Forum seeks to establish a roadmap for how to scale up and mobilize action to achieve gender equality within a generation. Why is it important for the private sector to support the Forum?

The Generation Equality Forum, which gathers a diverse set of players from around the world, is the perfect opportunity to mobilize the private sector to support accelerated progress towards gender equality.

We know that the private sector is directly affected by gender inequality, which can have a negative impact on a company’s growth and development. We also know that gender-based violence is a societal issue that impacts the professional sphere. Because of this, we strongly believe that companies have a responsibility to take action.

A One In Three Women network study done in 2019 found that 16 percent of women and 4 percent of men who responded had experienced domestic violence within the last 12 months. Over 50 percent said it had affected their work, while 24 percent needed to take time off. 37 percent of colleagues experiencing violence spoke to someone at work.

 It is absolutely key that survivors maintain their jobs and their financial autonomy. Domestic violence is a critical issue that needs to be taken on by the private sector, in order to support its staff and ensure a safe and supportive work environment for all.

A second area of action where the private sector can be impactful is through its expansive reach and influence. It can encourage its network—its own customers, supply chain, partners and more—to join together in order to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 5 and, more specifically, to end gender-based violence.

Why has the Kering Foundation decided to step up as a private sector leader on the Generation Equality Forum Action Coalition focused on gender-based violence?

It was a natural choice. As a Foundation, positioned between the private and nonprofit sectors, we take on a complementary role to governments and civil society. By identifying new initiatives that do not yet have financing from other funders or governments, we can test new approaches, support pilot programs, and then replicate these models throughout a specific country or even internationally. We have also seen how much we can achieve when we join forces with other committed players.

In 2018, the Foundation co-founded One In Three Women, the first European network of companies engaged against gender-based violence, with the FACE Foundation. We now work alongside the other network members—Korian, L’Oréal, Carrefour, BNP Paribas, SNCF, le Fonds de Solidarité OuiCare, Publicis, PwC France and Maghreb, and EPNAK—to share best practices and co-develop tools, including an e-learning course on domestic violence and its impact on the workplace.

Our ambition as a private sector leader in the Action Coalition on Gender-Based Violence is to share our experience and network, scale up our work, and mobilize a broader group of companies, organizations, and countries to join in this combat.

The Kering Foundation has been committed to promoting gender equality and addressing gender-based violence for many years. What drove the Foundation to focus on this topic?

Empowering women has always been deeply embedded in the Kering Group’s priorities.

In 2008, Chairman and CEO of Kering, François-Henri Pinault, founded the Kering Foundation to end violence against women after becoming aware of a staggering statistic: one in three women around the world is or will be a victim of abuse during her lifetime. It is a universal issue regardless of social class, culture, nationality, age.

60 percent of Kering employees and 80 percent of its customers are women. Mr. Pinault wanted the Group to focus on a cause where it could make a real difference. This commitment has developed into a strong strategy with key feminist partnerships at its center. The Foundation focuses on three axes of action: improving support to survivors, developing prevention programs with younger generations to put an end to the intergenerational cycle of violence, and finally, bringing other actors—particularly the corporate world—on board to take collective action, both externally and internally.

Our approach to our partnerships is centered around flexible funding to local nonprofit organizations, who have a deep understanding of the local context and needs.

What do you hope to see from the private sector to support the success of the Gender-based Violence (GBV) Action Coalition and the Forum itself?

The Generation Equality Forum marks the 25th (now 26th) anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, for women’s rights and empowerment. More than 25 years later, we need to define and develop new actions and approaches to respond to an ever-changing context and new challenges.

This Action Coalition—and the Forum itself—is the opportunity to bring together corporate groups, with different experiences and expertise to make effective and truly transformative change. As part of the GBV Coalition, we are working to develop a well-defined roadmap, accompanying tools, and global indicators. We would like to see the private sector join the Coalition as members and make concrete commitments in order to effectively combat violence against women.

More specifically, the private sector needs to focus on prevention programs to address the root causes of violence: changing harmful gender norms, engaging with men and boys on masculinity, and paying particular attention to the intersection of violence against women and with violence against children, in particular incest. In addition, providing sufficient resources to tackle the challenges of supporting survivors remains essential.

Of course, it is absolutely crucial to concentrate on our own teams as well: by raising awareness and training employees, including senior executives.

We are looking forward to bold, ambitious commitments from this Forum that will lead to a large coalition of diverse players, including many private sector members, all signed on to take concrete steps to putting an end to violence against women.

Blog | Tuesday February 8, 2022

Inside BSR: Q&A with Anna Iles

Preview

Inside BSR is our monthly series featuring BSR team members from around the world. This month, we connected with Anna Iles, a Futures Associate Director based in Hong Kong.

Anna chatted with us about her sustainability journey around the world and her work at BSR on futures thinking.

Tell us a bit about your background. Where are you from, and where are you based? What is your favorite hobby?

I’m from the north of England, and I have now lived in Hong Kong for five years after three in Singapore. We live on Lantau Island, which is mostly a national park rich in wildlife, beaches, and peaks—a far cry but only a short ferry ride from the city. I love getting out and about: my favorite sort of escape is touring with a bike and a tent—and I’m hoping we can find some way to do that with three kids (one toddler, twins on the way).

How did you first get involved in sustainable business?

My first internship was as a journalist with the environmental magazine Down To Earth in Delhi. This was a formative experience where I learned how intricately social justice is bound up with environmental challenges. Back in London, I worked for women’s health and social care nonprofits and edited the Women’s Environmental Network newsletter before becoming editor of the sustainable solutions magazine Green Futures, published by Forum for the Future.

I developed a passion for futures thinking as a way to support business and society in navigating complex and emerging challenges. In 2014, I relocated to Forum’s Singapore office to set up the Futures Centre, a collaborative platform for tracking change and thinking about its implications. Then, I moved to Hong Kong to run my own futures and innovation agency, working with UNICEF, UNDP, schools, and youth organizations, as well as businesses.

What are some interesting projects that you get to work on as part of your role at BSR? What do you enjoy about them?

I joined BSR’s Sustainable Futures Lab last year, leading our work on emerging issues and our publication The Fast Forward, as well as working with businesses to explore the implications of today’s changes and their capacity to address current challenges and work toward a more sustainable and equitable future.

I appreciate the wide range of topics we work on (recently nature’s rights, carbon capture and storage, the impacts of climate change on mental health) and the access to business leaders with both the power to influence their sectors and the ambition to do so.

It’s also terrific, particularly after four years as a solo ship, to have so many colleagues with diverse backgrounds, interests, and expertise to share ideas with about how critical changes today could play out and what they might mean for different sectors.

What issues are you passionate about and why? How does your work at BSR reflect that?

I’m interested in how we think and the life of ideas: How can we expand our perspectives and embrace new ways of understanding ourselves and the world? Before joining BSR, I published a book The Innovation-Friendly Organization, exploring how organizational culture can enable ideas to thrive (or not). The importance of diversity stands out, as well as the potential to indulge in curiosity.

More recently, I’ve been exploring how we can apply futures thinking to conflict situations, as a way to reframe perspectives and create new starting points for dialogue.

At BSR, my colleagues and our members are very open to trying out new ways of thinking. For instance, we’ve used fictional personas to explore the potential impact of emerging trends for stakeholders in the fashion and luxury industries, and we found this useful in cultivating an empathetic and human-centric approach to strategy and planning.

Adjusting to life during a pandemic can be complicated. What were the things that brought you joy amid the uncertainty and challenges of the past year? What are you looking forward to in 2022?

My son was born at the start of the pandemic, and the rise of flexible remote working has made it easier for me to juggle parenting and professional life. His cheeky, affectionate spirit is a huge joy: It’s the little things like him picking up a plum at the market the other day and biting into it, then lobbing it straight at the saleswoman when I explained we had to pay for it…

The sad thing is that our families and friends “back home” haven’t been able to meet him yet (a common story), given Hong Kong’s three-week quarantine period and intermittent bans on incoming flights. We’re expecting twins very soon, and so I’m most looking forward to welcoming them and then hopefully taking all three back to the UK.

Blog | Wednesday September 21, 2022

Beyond the Generation Equality Forum: One Year of Driving Action for Gender Equality

Preview

In June 2021, the private sector stepped up to set a new agenda on gender equality. The Generation Equality Forum called for all stakeholders to make clear financial commitments that address critical issues to the advancement of gender equality and the creation of a world free from gender biases and discrimination where all women thrive.

The forum resulted in a record US$40 billion in pledged commitments and new investments in gender equality across the following six Action Coalitions:

• Gender-based violence
• Economic justice and rights
• Bodily autonomy and sexual and reproductive health and rights
• Feminist action for climate justice
• Technology and innovation for gender equality
• Feminist movements and leadership

One year on from the launch of the Generation Equality Forum, we spoke to two commitment-makers—Tamara Dancheva from GSMA and Justin White from Mars—on how key commitments made at the forum have seen growing progress toward gender equality across their organizations.

GSMA on Equal Access to Digital and Financial Services

GSMA’s commitments include reducing the gender gap in mobile internet and mobile money services, as well as a pledge to provide one million women and girls with access to free training and e-mentoring by 2026 via the EQUALS Her Digital Skills Initiative.

Its Mobile Gender Gap Report, which is used by a wide range of stakeholders to better understand the size of the mobile gender gap to inform business choices, has shown that progress toward closing the mobile internet gender gap has stalled across low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and, in some countries, even reversed, highlighting a clear call to action. Internally, GSMA has committed to achieving a 50/50 gender balance across its Executive Leadership and Leadership teams by 2025, in line with the UN Women Empowerment Principles.

It tracks progress on these different commitments in various ways, including reporting on progress against targets to increase the proportion of women in mobile internet and/or mobile money services customer base, evaluation of beneficiaries’ experience, and ongoing learning through direct feedback mechanisms and reporting on diversity and inclusion metrics.

“GSMA is proud to be driving action across access, skills and leadership when it comes to closing the digital gender divide and this is reflected in our commitments to Generation Equality. We will continue to drive awareness, prioritization and action around the mobile gender gap including through our extensive research and our Connected Women Commitment Initiative, which supports mobile network operators in proactively reducing the gender gap in their mobile Internet and/or mobile money customer base. We are also equally determined to continue with our efforts to leave no woman or girl behind in an increasingly digital world as we work hard to empower emerging female young talent through our internal and external diversity and inclusion work. As we look to expand the remit of our Generation Equality commitments, support from our senior leadership team has been key and we hope to see many more companies follow suit by engaging their senior leaders directly.”

- Tamara Dancheva, Senior International Relations Manager, GSMA

Mars’ Focus on Economic Justice and Rights, Feminist Movements, and Leadership

Mars’ Full Potential platform brings thought leaders together to advance policies, practices, and partnerships that unlock opportunities for women across their workplaces, in sourcing communities, and in the marketplace to reach their full potential.

In 2019, the platform had a comprehensive set of ambitions, including reaching 100 percent gender-balanced business leadership teams, improving family support benefits, investing in women’s social and economic empowerment in sourcing communities, and working to remove gender bias and negative stereotypes in advertising.

In 2021, Mars launched its #HereToBeHeard listening campaign to inform a new set of priorities and ambitions. During the campaign, Mars asked one question: “What needs to change for more women to reach their full potential?” In total, more than 10,000 women from 88 countries responded.

Applying results from the campaign, Mars has shaped refreshed ambitions around its three pillars: workplaces, sourcing communities, and the marketplace. Their commitments include:

• Spending USD$500 million with women-led suppliers
• Deepening their focus on women in sourcing communities by updating procurement guidance that is gender transformative
• Focusing on key issues such as maternal mental health through the Maltesers brand and leveraging the Dove/Galaxy brand to support women’s financial independence in cocoa sourcing communities

Mars has made progress toward their ambition of 100 percent gender-balanced business leadership teams and is reporting on gender representation in advertising. They are also currently working with leading monitoring, evaluation, and learning experts to design a set of metrics that allow them to better measure the impact of sustainable sourcing programs.

“In the world we want tomorrow, society is inclusive, and women are reaching their full potential. We believe we have an opportunity to unlock opportunities for women, to improve community and business outcomes, and address the key themes identified through our #HereToBeHeard campaign.”

- Justin White, Manager, Human Rights and Gender Equality, Global Sustainability, Mars

It is more important than ever to see commitments across various action coalitions and the engagement of different private sector players within the Generation Equality Forum. However, a year into the launch of multi-stakeholder action coalitions, we still observe limited investment and commitments from the private sector on crucial Action Coalitions—including Bodily Autonomy/Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) and Feminist Action for Climate Justice, which together represent a mere 10 percent of the total financial commitments to date.

For further insight on the private sector commitments and investments made across the six action coalitions, download BSR’s updated report here.

Blog | Thursday August 22, 2019

Business Roundtable Aims High, But Misses

Preview

In a very welcome—and long overdue—step, the Business Roundtable, America’s foremost CEO network, has recognized that a singular focus on shareholder value is the wrong “north star” for business leaders. While the Roundtable has usefully removed shareholder primacy from its statement of purpose, what replaces it falls short of what society and business truly need to thrive in the 21st century.

About shareholder primacy, the less said, the better. The concept has been distorted beyond all reality and has been often used to justify actions that hurt people, communities, and the environment and to enable lobbying that prioritizes short-term benefits over lasting investments needed for businesses to succeed and for a competitive economy.

As a result, while the pivot to the new statement of purpose is very welcome, it also falls far short of what the best businesses aspire to and are capable of.

Crafting this statement no doubt required a lot of horse-trading and the inherent caution that trade associations too often adopt. This approach is no longer fit for purpose. Our times demand vision, ambition, innovation, and risk-taking, and the new statement is sorely lacking on all fronts.

At a time when the very essence and value of capitalism are facing serious blowback, the role of the corporation, and corporate leaders, in America gets no attention.

To start, some key issues are missing. First and foremost, it is incomprehensible that the statement has no mention of climate change. It is increasingly clear that accelerating climate change presents a stark and growing challenge to economic and social stability. No responsible CEO or Board of Directors can steer his or her company without a climate strategy, yet it is invisible here. In addition, at a time when daily work lives and employment are changing rapidly and creating increased anxiety, there is reference only to helping workers “develop new skills for a rapidly changing world.” This is all good, but it does not signal the sense of urgency and disquiet in today’s world, let alone tomorrow’s. Climate and decreased economic security and mobility are not simply “today’s issues”—they reflect structural changes in our world and our economy that demand attention.

Second, the statement skirts the issue of the private sector’s role in our societies. At a time when the very essence and value of capitalism are facing serious blowback, the role of the corporation, and corporate leaders, in America gets no attention. Poll after poll shows that the public is deeply upset about the role lobbying plays in Washington. Employees are increasingly calling on companies to take a stand on issues from a woman’s right to choose, to the epidemic of gun violence, to respect for diversity in all its forms. The critiques of capitalism which are being heard across the political spectrum are a natural consequence of the sense by many that the system is deeply unfair and manipulated to benefit the few. This statement does little to address that, and to the degree it is intended to respond to the public challenge to capitalism, it is unlikely to succeed.

Finally, our times are calling for aspirational language—something that can excite people. This statement reveals a notable lack of ambition. Businesses commit to being good partners with their suppliers, but not to ensure alignment of values and commitments. There is no mention of innovation to meet the fast-changing world of the 21st century. Furthermore, the statement fails to make reference to the Sustainable Development Goals, which have been adopted by every country in the world—including the US— as the template for social and economic progress over the coming decade.

If business is to thrive, contribute to social and economic advancement, and secure the trust of the public, more is needed.

At BSR, we have been working with the world’s largest companies since 1992 to make serious commitments to promote human rights, take decisive action on climate change, generate access to economic opportunity for people who need it most, and create workforces in which all people can thrive. I know firsthand from the many CEOs that we work with that there is a genuine level of commitment to business as a powerful engine for social progress. This statement falls short of that ambition and is therefore a disservice to business and the public.

Credit is due to the Roundtable for updating a statement more suited to 2019 than 1969. Much more, however, is needed. If business is to thrive, contribute to social and economic advancement, and secure the trust of the public, more is needed. We celebrate business leaders who can deliver on big ideas that deliver big value and meet big needs. The Roundtable should go back to the drawing board and create a vision that reflects the best of this tradition.

Blog | Thursday May 31, 2018

Scaling a Renewable Future for Internet Power

Preview

Almost every business today—from tech to financial services and media to retail and healthcare—relies on online services and data. As more and more companies look to cloud services to support their digital needs, the internet’s energy demands will likely only continue to grow.  

This means internet use could jeopardize the planet if we do not take action. We cannot hope to create a climate-compatible internet without addressing its overall footprint, which includes data centers as well as the transmission, equipment, and code that make them work. Moreover, we cannot reach the ambitious objectives of the Paris Agreement without bringing the leading companies whose data use drives this energy demand into this conversation. That is one reason we founded the Future of Internet Power collaborative initiative in 2012—because in order to create an internet powered 100 percent by renewable energy, we need to work together.

In 2014, it was estimated that data centers consumed two to three percent of global energy use. While breakthroughs in efficiency and cloud technology have the potential to limit energy demand associated with data centers to a moderate increase by 2020, global estimates of data center demand in 2030 anticipate an increase of three to 10 times current levels, including projections that global data center electricity demand alone could reach 13 percent of global electricity consumption.

Telecommunications and wireless networks consume tremendous amounts of energy, although many of these companies have made ambitious commitments to reduce their emissions. To put the energy demand of these networks into context, the annual total reported energy use of AT&T in 2017 was more than twice that of Google.

The manufacturing of the equipment that makes the internet work, like servers, is also a major source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that some companies are looking to reduce. Hewlett Packard Enterprise, for example, has responded to this by committing to set science-based targets for its suppliers that will avoid 100 million tons of GHGs by 2025.

We know that code and software engineering could do much more to reduce environmental impact, too. Studies suggest that as much as 60 percent of code is written without green or energy efficiency principles in mind.

The Future of Internet Power has made great progress over the past five years:

• We have grown to include more than 20 companies in our community, which has made great strides in building common values, goals, and tools to realize those values and achieve our goals. These companies include not only ICT companies, but also data centers, financial institutions, and online retailers.
• We launched the Corporate Colocation and Cloud Buyers’ Principles, which set out six criteria that customers of data center colocation and cloud services expect of their data center service providers.
  • To put these principles into action, we created a toolkit to give companies a step-by-step guide to engaging with their cloud and colo providers on each principle.
• We have worked closely with the World Resources Institute (WRI) to produce a white paper addressing the issue of GHG emissions accounting, renewable energy procurement, and reporting in the data center sector
  • This work led to the creation of a template for customers and providers to use to guide them on the documentation that could support verification of zero carbon claims, which marks a step toward greater consistency in this sector.
• We continue work closely with our co-founders of the Renewable Energy Buyers’ Alliance (REBA): Rocky Mountain Institute’s Business Renewables Center, the World Wildlife Fund, and WRI.
  • Last year, REBA was awarded the Corporate Eco Forum’s C.K. Prahalad Award for demonstrating how collaboration is critical to widespread adoption of renewable energy.

While we are excited about the work we have done to equip companies to leverage renewable energy to power their data and internet use, this is a complex and complicated industry. Over the next month, we will be determining what comes next. We are excited to create a new and ambitious mission that drives us closer to a new definition of a sustainable internet. We see a real need to ratchet up our impact, enable greater transparency, and integrate climate considerations into companies’ data plans.

One thing is clear: The current group of companies tacking this problem needs your help. Almost every company will need a new blueprint to increase the climate-compatibility of its internet use. Our next step for the Future of Internet Power is to create that blueprint.

Now is the time for more of you to join us at this table—because changing how tech and data are powered not only helps individual companies in the space reach their environmental goals; it also lays a foundation for the organizations that use their products and services to be a part of the solution.

If you’d like to learn more about the Future of Internet Power and our efforts to create a more sustainable internet, I’ll be at Sustainable Brands in Vancouver next week and would love to continue the conversation.

Blog | Wednesday June 10, 2020

Today and Tomorrow: COVID-19 and the Increased Relevance of Corporate Sustainability

Preview

With the spread of COVID-19 creating a crisis that is unprecedented in living memory, there is not an element of our lives that has remained unaffected. And this is especially true for business. 

At GlobeScan and BSR, we spend our time working with some of the largest businesses in the world. We wanted to understand both the immediate effect on the sustainability efforts of the companies we work with and also to begin to understand what long-term implications they are anticipating as a result of the pandemic. 

To that end, we surveyed 102 companies across our global networks. 

In the short term, sustainability teams have been involved in the response to COVID-19 in a myriad of different ways. When we asked what was the most important role that the sustainability function has played so far, respondents highlighted community engagement (19 percent), providing advice and support to the business (14 percent), stakeholder engagement (13 percent), health and safety activities (10 percent), and philanthropy (10 percent). 

The survey results show that one of the biggest longer-term outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic may be a marked increase in the importance of corporate sustainability. Four in ten respondents (40 percent) say that the crisis will increase both the relevance and expectations for sustainable business. Moreover, over a third (36 percent) say that the agenda for sustainable business will change as existing priorities increase in prominence and new issues arise. 

Resilience is having its moment, as more leaders recognize the strategic value of sustainable business models which improve their company’s ability to anticipate and prepare for fast-moving, unexpected shocks. It will be worth watching the extent to which business leaders continue to see sustainability as a primary source of strategic advantage and as a driver for rebuilding the global economy. 

Resilience is having its moment, as more leaders recognize the strategic value of sustainable business models which improve their company’s ability to anticipate and prepare for fast-moving, unexpected shocks.

When asked which elements of their company’s sustainability strategy would be most affected, over four in ten highlighted supply chains (44 percent), with others mentioning inclusive growth (31 percent), climate action (29 percent), and philanthropy (28 percent). 

It is worth noting the reported impact on inclusive economic growth. In our 2019 annual State of Sustainable Business Survey, this area of the sustainability agenda has traditionally been a lower priority, behind climate, human rights, and workers’ rights. It will be interesting to see whether inclusive economic growth becomes a more important corporate priority given the monumental business and socioeconomic impact of the COVID-19 crisis. 

Given the significant impacts of the COVID-19 crisis, it is perhaps not surprising that almost half of respondents (47 percent) are anticipating budget cuts for their sustainability efforts within the next 12 months. By comparison, at the onset of the Great Recession in 2008, we asked a question to a similar cohort of businesses and just under a third (31 percent) said that they were expecting a budget cut. It will bear watching whether this downward pressure will be alleviated by the countervailing recognition of the increased relevance of sustainability to business longevity and success mentioned above. 

While many sustainability teams may be more challenged when it comes to resources, it comes at a time of great urgency for many of the sustainability issues that companies are facing. The crisis and its impacts will continue to create demands on companies to build more resilient businesses while also addressing systemic challenges facing society, including racial and income inequality, the transition to a net-zero greenhouse gas economy, the rise of automation and artificial intelligence (AI), human rights, and overall health and well-being.   

It is already becoming clear that going “back to normal” is neither likely nor desirable. The challenge for us continues to be meeting the moment while building for the future, and the work of sustainability teams remains essential. Sustainable business can be a catalyst for the change that is needed, and sustainability professionals will need to rise to the leadership challenge that is before them. We have seen it happen before. We hope it happens again. 

Blog | Friday September 20, 2024

Addressing the Conflict Between Growth and Sustainability: Q&A with Jo Swinson

Preview

Ahead of Climate Week NY, Jo Swinson, Director at Partners for a New Economy (P4NE), discusses the tension between traditional growth models and sustainability goals and how businesses can work together to explore new ways of measuring economic success.

Can you introduce yourself, and tell us how your background as a political leader informed your decision to lead Partners for a New Economy?

Since the earliest days of my political career, I have been convinced of the need for alternative measures of economic success. Back in 2006, I explored the flaws of GDP growth as an indicator of quality of life, and in 2009, I co-founded the UK Parliament’s cross-party group on Well-Being Economics. This idea wasn’t new—as far back as 1968, Robert F. Kennedy memorably noted: “It [GDP] measures everything in short, except that which makes life worthwhile.”

Later, I saw that the disconnect between the promise of economic prosperity and the precarity of people’s lives can lead to resentment of the current system. The ensuing backlash has torn at the fabric of our society and undermined faith in our democracy.

In 2020, I was looking for a new challenge. Combining my political experience with my long-standing desire to change economics, leading P4NE was a perfect match. The goal of an economy that serves people and the rest of nature is ambitious, but possible.

Growth is the foundation of our current economic system. How does our economy need to transform for humanity to thrive in the long term?

We’re primed to think of growth as a good thing—it’s deeply embedded in our economics and culture. As a society, we need to support the growth of many things—living standards and food security, health and well-being, the skills and creativity of our people, access to nature and green spaces.

For humanity to thrive, we need to understand and measure not just the quantity of growth, but also the quality of that growth: Is it in the sectors, regions, and countries where the growth is needed? What environmental risks is it driving or mitigating? How are the benefits being shared, both within our societies now and with future generations?

The World Economic Forum Global Risks Report (2024) cited the top risks over the coming 10 years as all being environmental: from extreme weather events to natural resource shortages.

We are biological creatures, and we depend on earth’s life-giving processes. We cannot survive without a thriving natural world: an economic system that destroys it is doomed to fail.

What we measure determines what gets done. Business knows this—it’s why KPIs exist.

We need a regenerative economic system where our success metrics include planetary health, equity and the well-being of all people, now and in the future.

In BSR’s recent report, The Elephant in the Sustainability Room, we explore the tension between growth and sustainability targets. Why is this topic so important for business right now?

We know business leaders are wrestling with this question. The competing demands of a science-based approach to sustainability and shareholder expectations of an exponential growth model create a genuine, systemic tension.

We know it’s hard. Business leaders are operating within the constraints of the current system, while looking ahead to a future that will inevitably be very different. We know from recent experience with the pandemic how rapidly so many aspects of the economy can be upended. That gives some insight into a future world of "polycrisis," with all the uncertainty that will bring.

The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries 2023 report The Emperor’s New Climate Scenarios said we could expect 50 percent of GDP destruction by between 2070 and 2090, given current rates of climate change. That’s a massive disruption, a huge loss of value, that will shape the coming decades. This is why this topic is so important now. Business needs to be ready to be part of the solution.

We often hear about regulatory and legal barriers to companies exploring alternative business models. What concrete actions can business take given these constraints? Are there different implications for companies in different sectors?

Business is increasingly scrutinizing its role in protecting our planet and the need to make a net-positive contribution to people’s well-being. There are many tools available across all sectors to build such practices: Climate Scenario Analysis with BSR, international standards of best practice from B Corp, and Doughnut Economics Lab’s Business Tools, to name a few.

Where there are legal or regulatory barriers, one of the most important things business can do is to advocate for change. When I was a UK Business Minister, it was so much easier to build the political momentum for legal changes—on corporate transparency on emissions, or stronger protections for vulnerable workers—when business voices were speaking out in support.

The key question is what does a successful business of the future look like? Anticipating a more volatile world with ecological crises now baked in, businesses need to think about whether their purpose, business models, governance and ownership structures are fit for the future. An example of a business with a future-focused purpose is Natura & Co, who have put their "Commitment to Life" at the heart of every aspect of their business targets. On governance, Faith in Nature have innovated by giving nature a seat on the board.

Much of the work being funded in this field is supporting economists, academics, and activists. What would you say to your peers in philanthropy about the need to mobilize the business sector to move “Beyond Growth?” What more can philanthropy do to galvanize bold action from companies?

To mobilize, we need to build understanding. Whilst everyone’s stake in the future is clear, even the words "beyond growth" can be divisive and misunderstood.

At the moment, it’s the most forward-looking companies and philanthropists who are taking the lead. Patagonia’s 2022 announcement that "Earth is now our only shareholder" signaled a reimagining of their corporate structure. Still unapologetically for-profit, they give 98 percent of those profits to The Holdfast Collective—a philanthropic nonprofit dedicated to defending nature.

Of course, no single business or person has all the answers. Philanthropy can create space for business to engage with going "beyond growth," to show leadership, and be celebrated for that. We need business to work with investors to shape a truly sustainable future, and we need legislative and regulatory changes to support and encourage the business sector in their collective efforts.

BSR works with its network of 300 members, as well as civil society, philanthropy, and government to advance bold, meaningful action on key sustainability issues at a systematic level. To explore this topic in greater detail, join BSR and Forum For the Future during New York Climate Week, where we will be hosting a dialogue between business and philanthropy on “Addressing the Conflict Between Growth and Sustainability.”

Blog | Friday April 10, 2020

COVID-19 and Our Future World

Preview

BSR has partnered with Polecat since 2017 to deliver real-time corporate reputation and ESG intelligence from global online and social media discourse.

Yasmin Crowther, Polecat's VP of Strategic Insight, collaborated with Charlotte Bancilhon, Associate Director, BSR, to analyze the top ESG Issues and Sectors arising in global discourse about COVID-19 over the last fortnight. This blog post draws on the key findings:

1. Procurement of medical supplies is the top online media topic, followed by concern for impacted workforces and labor practices. Public opinion on social media indicates high expectations of businesses to play a positive role in the COVID-19 response, including to protect employees, provide fair benefits, and pay taxes.
2. Social media is also focused on potential healthcare solutions, but pays acute attention to issues of diversity and inclusion, with strong responses to the stigmatization of ethnic minorities and characterization of COVID-19 as "the Chinese virus."
3. The industrial sector receives most online scrutiny for the economic impacts of COVID-19 as well as for the ways in which business models are pivoting to provide solutions. Firms across sectors are making investments to support communities—from access to IT to ensuring food security and emergency relief.
4. Conversations about climate change have not been hampered by COVID-19 but reframed. The depth and scale of the current pandemic is being compared to the climate crisis, with a renewed focus on building resilient communities and businesses.
5. There is a new focus on biodiversity with growing attention to how wildlife carries infectious diseases and the risks of destroying natural habitats which force animals into ever closer proximity with humans.

Coronavirus coverage across leading ESG Topics and Sectors for the two weeks to 8 March 2020

The main headline in the Financial Times this weekend read: "Global economy set for sharpest reversal since Great Depression." Although businesses are not all equal in face of the crisis, it is clear from our review of online and social media discourse that businesses are being scrutinized for how they are considering the welfare of their employees, communities, and partners before profits. A recent survey found that 90 percent of respondents expect businesses to partner with governments and relief agencies to address challenges, while long-standing debates on climate and stakeholder capitalism are being powerfully reframed. There is an unprecedented opportunity for businesses to show leadership and purpose:

Response to Medical Imperatives

We are glimpsing what is possible when urgent social need comes first—when the imperatives are the procurement of ventilators, face masks, vaccines, and testing kits. Around the world, auto manufacturers like Ford, GM, Fiat, and Nissan are collaborating with healthcare specialists to deliver tens of thousands of medical ventilators in a matter of months. The pharma sector is investing billions to co-fund vaccine research and clinical testing, and some of the world’s best-known beauty brands and beverage companies, like Estee Lauder, LVMH, L’Oréal, and Pernod Ricard, are turning their facilities to the production of hand sanitizer for frontline medical staff. Meanwhile, the fashion industry, from luxury brands to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), are making facemasks, and household names like Unilever are donating hundreds of millions of dollars of soap, sanitizer, bleach, and food to support health organizations globally.

Support for Communities

After the medical imperatives, come the community concerns of ensuring care for vulnerable people in their homes; that we all have enough food and that we have the digital infrastructure – the networks, connectivity and data—vital to working from home and maintaining contact with family and friends whom we may not see for months. Food companies like Mondelez are donating tens of millions in financial aid and in-kind support to community partners advancing critical food stability and emergency relief. Retailers are setting aside dedicated time every day for the elderly to shop and providing free home deliveries for the most vulnerable. Tech companies are lifting data caps and promising not to cut off supplies if payments are overdue or missed.

Flexible work forces

At the same time as businesses strive to pivot to the realities of a world in lockdown, the longer-term consequences will reshape work life within many sectors. Employees around the world are being asked to adapt to working from home or being furloughed. A recent ILO report found that more than 4 out of 5 people (81 percent) in the global workforce of 3.3 billion are currently affected by full or partial workplace closures. But while some sectors, such as airlines, are registering massive layoffs, others, such as retail, are hiring. Around 40 percent of the world’s passenger jet fleet is now in storage, with firms like Air New Zealand reporting an expected contraction of at least 30 percent over the next year, as its revenue falls from just under US$6bn to US$500m. In the U.K., laid-off airline cabin crew with first aid training are being pursued by the NHS to work in support of nurses and doctors in hospitals across the country. It is hard not to wonder if the experience will compel a permanent change in career as the perceived value of frontline workers is set to soar, with UK political conversation on the need for better pay already igniting. Meanwhile in the U.S., the reduction in emergency departments and routine hospital programs to cope with COVID-19 means some frontline staff are actually getting pay cuts.

Science at the Center

Perhaps most powerfully, coronavirus has put expert opinion and scientific fact center stage. We do not want or need the opinion of literati—we care mainly for the epidemiologists, virologists, and medics who tell it as it is. Twitter has redefined its definition of harm to address content that "goes directly against guidance from authoritative sources of global and local public health information" and is removing tweets that spread dangerous misinformation about COVID-19. Facebook is investing an additional US$100 million in local journalism to support reporting on the pandemic.

Climate Change at the Fore

There is much that is positive, but what does it all bode for how we think about the future more widely? Many articles use the lens of climate change to consider future possibilities—balancing the immediate enforced environmental benefits of cleaner air and birdsong with longer-term choices. As The New York Times writes:

The efforts to revive economic activity — the stimulus plans, bailouts and back-to-work programs being developed now — will help determine the shape of our economies and our lives for the foreseeable future, and they will have effects on carbon emissions that reverberate across the planet for thousands of years.

In an interview with New Scientist, Greta Thunberg said:

If one virus can wipe out the entire economy in a matter of weeks and shut down societies, then that is proof that our societies are not very resilient. It also shows that once we are in an emergency, we can act and we can change our behaviour very quickly.

Reframing of Biodiversity and Disease

Conversations about climate change and biodiversity haven’t been killed by COVID-19, but they are being reframed. Tigers with COVID-19 make the front page, along with wide-ranging discourse about potential threats to and from other animals. Inger Andersen, head of the UN Environment Programme, has cautioned on the proximity of wild animals to humans as a cause of disease—with 75 percent of all emerging infectious diseases coming from wildlife. Her message is that failing to look after the planet is a failure to look after ourselves: global warming and the destruction of habitats for farming, mining and housing all drive wildlife into contact with people in ways that increase risk of cross-infection. Aaron Bernstein of the Harvard School of Public Health has said:

The separation of health and environmental policy is a dangerous delusion. Our health entirely depends on the climate and the other organisms we share the planet with.

The emerging imperative is for more joined-up thinking and fewer artificial silos, for business strategies to go beyond just cutting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to the delivery of resilience in the face of a global crisis.

The Battle for Hearts and Minds

The political message to societies in lockdown is that we are "all in it together"—that our individual sacrifices are essential for the greater good and to safeguard the vulnerable. On social media, there are strong reactions to behaviors that undermine diversity and inclusion, particularly when it comes to stigmatizing minorities and characterising COVID-19 as "the Chinese virus." Online, the emphasis is largely that "we are all in it together." We are, but there is also an abyss being observed between the experiences of haves and have-nots. Social isolation in a roomy home with a garden is very different from lockdown in a high-rise block, let alone the difference between established and emerging economies. COVID-19 is shining an unforgiving light on how we are all the same and also how lives are so different and that we turn our backs on one another at our collective peril.

Our Post-COVID-19 World

The tension that seems to be strongly in play when it comes to imagining a world after COVID-19 is whether the impetus to collaborate and put science and society first endures or whether more protectionist and nationalist policies assert themselves. Conversations to build back better are emerging, as demonstrated by the group of French parliamentarians who have launched a national consultation to prepare “the day and the world after” COVID-19 under the hashtag #LeJourdAprès, in reference to the Hollywood hit The Day After Tomorrow. BSR is inviting member companies to engage in thinking ahead to build a different future.

Already, multiple corporate conversations are trying to scope the future landscape, with speculation that flexible working and reliance on digitization will not spring back to the status quo—that the future has somehow been rapidly accelerated—and that new priority and investment will need to go towards ensuring more inclusive and resilient economic strategies if we are not to bear the cost of more damaged societies.

As Arundhati Roy wrote in the Financial Times over the weekend:

The Pandemic is a portal. We can choose to walk through it with our dead ideas. Or we can walk lightly, ready to imagine another world.

This blog was written and produced in collaboration between Polecat and BSR.

Blog | Tuesday April 20, 2021

Science: A Human Right for Our Times

Preview

Science is having a moment.

Despite extensive misinformation about COVID-19, vaccines have been developed at an extraordinary speed.

Despite continued skepticism about the science of climate change, new energy technologies are positioned to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels.

And despite myths about health impacts, a fifth generation of mobile network technology (5G) will make possible new internet of things and machine-to-machine applications.

Each of these cases demonstrates how significant science is to the role of business in enabling the realization of human rights and how it will likely grow substantially over the decades to come.

There are two key forces shaping the growing importance of the right to science for business:

• The expanding role of the private sector in all types of scientific research, which includes artificial intelligence, agricultural research, food science, biotechnology, nanotechnology, energy, genetic engineering, and communications technology.
• The undeniable significance of science in addressing or contributing to global challenges such as climate change, public health, and access to information.

The right to science is found in Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which sets out the right to “share in scientific advancement and its benefits,” and Article 15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, which sets out the right “to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications.”

However, while these Articles are written for states rather than the private sector, we were struck by the lack of literature exploring the right to science and the role of companies.

Further, while the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) clearly apply to all business activities, the focus of the business and human rights field to date has largely been on business operations and value chain relationships rather than on research and science. In this context, the publication last year of a new General Comment No. 25 on the Right to Science by the UN Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights was a significant development.

For this reason, and using General Comment No. 25 as a foundation, today we are publishing a new BSR primer on the right to science and the role of companies. The BSR primer sets out the following seven priorities for business:

1. Science should be deployed in the service of the universal enjoyment of human rights.
2. The right to science applies to everyone.
3. Human rights due diligence should be undertaken on research, including whether research should be undertaken in the first place.
4. Companies need diverse research teams and relationships.
5. Companies should provide the public with accessible information concerning the risks and benefits of science and technology so that informed decisions can be made.
6. Companies should deploy approaches based on informed consent.  
7. The right to science has limits, especially when it may be deployed or misused for nefarious purposes.

These seven priorities will become important as new dilemmas about science emerge over time. For example: 

• When is it right to abandon research priorities on account of potential future harms arising from use of the research, even if the same research has the potential to bring benefits too? If the research continues, what are the right mitigation measures to address potential future harms?
• How should responsibility for addressing adverse human rights impacts be distributed between the entity undertaking the research and the entity using it?
• What responsibility do scientists have to explore the human rights risks and benefits of their research?
• How much research should be published openly in the public domain when there is risk that the research may be abused to cause harm?
• What incentive structures will both respect the material interests of the author and spread the benefits of scientific research?

These are not easy questions, and we believe they will benefit from further exploration, debate, and dialogue using both the spirit and the letter of the UNGPs.

The right to science is a right for our times. We hope that our new primer becomes the basis of exploring in more depth how this right can be respected, protected, realized, fulfilled, and enjoyed.

Blog | Wednesday April 21, 2021

Joining the UN Generation Equality Forum is Smart Business

Preview

As the world grapples with the impacts of a global pandemic with women on the frontlines, the Generation Equality Forum (GEF) offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity for actors around the globe, including the private sector, to come together to build an ambitious agenda to empower women and girls. BSR, The B Team, and Women Win/Win-Win Strategies are working together to engage the private sector in making meaningful commitments to promote gender equality at the Forum. We connected with BSR member PayPal to hear more about its role as a GEF Action Coalition Lead and what motivated it to take part in the Forum. 

There’s been a lot of excitement for the Generation Equality Forum, for which PayPal is a private sector lead. Can you tell us more about the Forum and why companies should engage?

The Generation Equality Forum (GEF) is a civil society-centered, multi-stakeholder global gathering for gender equality. Part of the Forum includes the launch of six innovative and multi-stakeholder Action Coalitions. The Action Coalitions engage governments; women’s, feminist, and youth-led organizations; international organizations; and the private sector to catalyze collective action, drive increased public and private investment, and deliver concrete, game-changing results.

PayPal is proud to be a private sector leader in the Action Coalition on Economic Justice and Rights. We believe there’s a strong case for other companies to join us and engage with the GEF.

First, engaging with the GEF is an efficient way to send a strong message to your investors, board, customers, government stakeholders, and employees that your company is committed to ESG outcomes for a more just, equitable, and prosperous future.

Second, without the expensive membership fees of many global communities, your employees will have an opportunity to engage with a dynamic, multi-stakeholder set of actors jointly dedicated to turbo-charging practical change in the world on gender equality and the rights of women and girls. You can join others at global and regional events to amplify the Commitment Maker’s role and contribution in accelerating results on the SDGs.

Third, it is a unique learning exchange and collaboration opportunity across the Global North and Global South. You can learn about what works to advance change on gender equality and women's and girls’ rights. Once you develop the muscles of gender equity, you can cross-apply this acumen to other types of equity and diversity, whether it’s race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or beyond.

And this is on top of the deep, evidence-based, and data-driven business case. Gender equality is a critical component when considering that closing the gender gap could increase global GDP by 35 percent.

Why has PayPal chosen to engage with GEF and the Economic Justice Action Coalition?

At PayPal, we believe that now is the time to reimagine money and democratize financial services. Every person has the right to participate fully in the global economy. We feel an obligation to empower people to exercise this right and improve financial health. As a leader in digital financial services, we believe in providing simple, affordable, secure, and reliable financial tools and digital payments. With this company mission, it was a no brainer for PayPal to apply to serve on the leadership group of the Action Coalition on Economic Justice and Rights.

I was barely six weeks into my new role when I pitched the opportunity to PayPal senior leadership. It was a Friday night, and before Monday morning, I received not only a green light, but also strong support from our senior leaders (including our President and CEO, Dan Schulman) to submit our letter of interest. We are honored to have been selected to serve on the leadership group of this Action Coalition and to be among a small group of private sector companies that are engaged in the overall Generation Equality Forum.

Advancing gender equality, specifically on the topic of Economic Justice and Rights, is not new to PayPal. We have pursued opportunities to improve outcomes across our stakeholders, including our employees, consumers, merchants, and supply chains. We have made progress in areas like gender pay equity and championing policies that promote workplace and economic equality for women. We are excited to explore the potential of leveraging our products, data, and platform for further impact.

The decision to get involved aligns with our values as an organization and allows us to bring focus and prioritization to the urgency of the gaps, especially as we all strive to overcome the setbacks of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Engaging with the Generation Equality Forum is an efficient way to send a strong message to your investors, board, customers, government stakeholders, and employees that your company is committed to ESG outcomes for a more just, equitable, and prosperous future.

What kind of recommendations are the Action Coalitions making?

Launched at the Mexico City Generation Equality Forum, the draft Action Coalitions Global Acceleration Plan includes recommended actions, and you can add your thoughts to influence the objectives of the Action Coalitions.   

To give you an example, one of the four subthemes of the Action Coalition on Economic Justice and Rights is on productive resources. Namely, the Economic Justice and Rights Action Coalition urges action to expand women’s access to and control over productive resources through increasing access to and control over land, gender-responsive financial products and services, and the number of firms owned by women by 2026. Under this action, we've identified three strategies to advance this ambitious goal:

• First, we must eliminate gender-discriminatory policies, adopt and implement laws and policies, and ensure strategies and investments are underway that realize women’s and girls’ access to and control over productive resources and assets.
• Second, we must support platforms representing women’s groups and scale infrastructure that measurably expands women´s access to and use of productive resources, including affordable capital, financial services, digital products, internet, energy, and equitable access to government services and benefits.
• And third, we must identify and challenge harmful social norms, stereotypes, and practices impeding women and girls from equitably controlling and benefiting from productive resources while fostering positive attitudes validating women’s empowerment and economic contributions.

I really want to emphasize the unique and far-reaching impact of the digital opportunity. Gender-intentional investments in digital payment and ID infrastructure are key to building forward, differently. We imagine more inclusive, resilient, and gender-intentional financial systems that enable women's financial inclusion and women's economic empowerment. Digital payments help women manage time poverty, give women agency, and provide more privacy and increased safety than cash.

Gender-intentional investments in digital payment and ID infrastructure are key to building forward, differently. We imagine more inclusive, resilient, and gender-intentional financial systems that enable women's financial inclusion and women's economic empowerment. Digital payments help women manage time poverty, give women agency, and provide more privacy and increased safety than cash.

These Action Coalition commitments sound inspiring. How are companies thinking about the commitments they can uniquely contribute to support the Generation Equality Forum outcomes?

In a panel hosted by The B Team, BSR, and Women Win/Win-Win Strategies to explore how companies can accelerate gender equality, Celine Bonnaire (Kering Foundation) and Michelle Milford Morse (UN Foundation, Girls and Women Strategy) joined me in a clarion call for the private sector to seize this moment.

The ask is to do something, and the opportunity to draft your corporate commitment is now. The private sector has so much to gain by participating, and we have an astounding level of capital, well beyond the financial commitments when we engage our employee base, our consumer base, and our collective might.

I would push us to think creatively about our different types of capital. For example, the private sector can leverage other types of capital beyond financial capital to help women businesses grow.

• Network capital—we can help women-owned businesses get to market
• Human capital—we can form partnerships to mobilize capacity building of skills specific to their business models and sectors
• Intellectual capital—we can enable technical assistance to support evidence-based and data-driven decision-making  
• Reputation capital—we can share the halo of our brands and voice

I would also leverage the Generation Equality Forum to be the action-forcing enabler to not only put gender equality on the list of company priorities, but also to raise it to the top of the list. Create urgency with fear of missing out on this global movement. Mobilize your employees and customers so the decision-makers say yes quickly to unleash funding, evolve policies and processes, sex-disaggregate the data, and mainstream gender transformational interventions.

There are multiple ways for interested companies to get involved in the Generation Equality Forum. This includes: becoming a Commitment Maker; participating in the Generation Equality Forum Public Conversation; and taking part in the Paris Generation Equality Forum (June 30-July 2).