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the ESG Minute: Volume 2

Updated: Jun 30, 2021

bringing sustainability to life

This week's focus is on Water - water pollution in both ocean water and fresh waters. How polluted are our waters now? What are the primary contributors? and how do we improve water quality? Does water quality pose a risk to your organization in the future? Is your water supply sustainable for the long term? When you dig into the supply chain, you quickly recognize why WATER is such a critical resource to protect and save for the long term and why ESG issues are business issues. Our Earth Day Webinar: Spotlight on "E" in ESG is on April 22nd at 10 AM CDT. Read our spotlight on panelist - Amy Antoniolli, environmental lawyer and advocate for our earth. Check out our "ESG in the News" section, focused on ESG headlines from the week!

 

By 2050 it is predicted that there will be more plastics in our oceans than fish! In addition to plastics, 80% of ocean contamination is a result of run-off from inland pollution sources such as farms, factories & cities. Contaminants include: petroleum, mercury, pesticides, and other manufactured chemicals such as flame-retardants and pharmaceutical waste. Cleaning ocean waters is a monumental task, but we can all take Nat Geo's Plastics Pledge and help do our part by reducing single use plastic products.


 

Plastic Alternatives: Seaweed Single-use packaging now a reality! Companies like Loliware & Notpla are creating straws and containers made of seaweed and are edible! So, if you choose not to eat your plate, no worries, it will bio-degrade like a fruit!


 

Fresh water or inland waters are polluted by a lot of the same contaminates as our oceans, but also are severely impacted by human waste and lead. Access to clean, safe drinking water is, of course, imperative and is one of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG's). Learn more about all 17 SDG's and the UN's 2030 agenda


 

MEET EARTH DAY WEBINAR PANELIST Amy Antoniolli Amy Antoniolli, Counsel in the Schiff Hardin Environmental Group, will be joining our ESG discussion on Earth Day. With more than 20 years of environmental experience, she will provide insight into environmental legal pressures and opportunities all stakeholders face. In addition, she will talk with Maggie Rice, legal counsel with NiSource, about challenges organizations are facing on the road to reaching their ambitious ESG environmental and sustainability goals, like reducing greenhouse gas emissions and transitioning to a clean energy future.

 

ESG IN THE NEWS: Learn how to Integrate the SDG's goals into your Sustainability Reporting with the Global Reporting Initiative standards. What is "Greenwashing"? Disinformation disseminated by an organization so as to present an environmentally responsible public image. Former BlackRock Sustainability Lead, Tariq Fancy, spoke out this week warning that as companies try to ride the green-wave and profit from sustainability, it will require governments to step in an hold corporations accountable. "Financial world greenwashing the public with deadly distraction in sustainable investing practices" Read "The Rapid Growth of Sustainability-Linked Debt Products", by Jeff Cohen. According to Moody's forecast, sustainable bonds may represent 8 to 10 percent of total global bond issuance in 2021. The sustainable debt market is growing fast up 5.5 percent of total issuance in 2020.


#ESG #Sustainability #AirPollution #EarthDay #LeadWithPurpose #AirQuality #Covid-19 #plasticpledge #cleanwater #oceanlife


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