Sustainability Initiatives on My Radar - December 2022

TRBusiness Magazine published its sustainability newsletter for December 2022. In this edition, spotlight is on recent sustainability initiatives. Below you may find the top 3 initiatives on my radar.

Ferrero - Supercharge Sustainability in 2023

• A top ambition (and challenge) for the company currently is increasing the circularity of its packaging without neglecting other relevant environmental impacts, such as reducing emissions from its own operations by 50% by 2030.
  
• To contribute to packaging circularity, they are designing all their packaging to be recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025.
• The company’s goal is to reduce its use of virgin plastic by 10% and boost the uptake of recycled content in its plastic packaging to 12% by 2025.

The full story: https://www.trbusiness.com/regional-news/international/ferrero-to-diversify-product-portfolio-and-supercharge-sustainability-in-2023/227914

Mondelez World Travel Retail - Support Cocoa Communities

• A dedicated mobility project is helping children and small businesses access tricycles as part of a collaboration between the Mondelez World Travel Retail team, the Cocoa Life programme and Child Rights International.
• The tricycles offer children a means of transport to and from school, improve their punctuality, reduce educational contact hours and helps students to enrol or even re-enrol.
• The activation includes a life-size tricycle that travellers can ride to better understand the project, pickup chocolate from Toblerone and even purchase activation-exclusive shopper bags. Proceeds from the sale of the shopper bags are being donated to the tricycle project.
• The company aims to help cocoa communities thrive and support community members with access to transportation and education – to help create a more sustainable future.

The full story: https://www.trbusiness.com/regional-news/international/mondelez-wtr-initiative-empowers-cocoa-communities-in-ghana/227321

Imperial Brands’ ‘spin and win’ game spotlights sustainable agenda

• Within the exhibition area at 2022 MEADFA Conference, the company showcased a sustainably produced booth that served to underline ‘the company’s commitment to a better climate’.
• During the event, delegates were being encouraged to spin a wheel to win one of a number of sustainable prizes, including an insulated cup, wireless charger, earphones or notebook and pen. At the same time, they had the chance to enter a prize draw for a holiday to Athens. The lucky holiday winner, announced at the end of the conference, was Nestlé ITR Key Account Manager Hanno Hellwig.
  

The full story: https://www.trbusiness.com/regional-news/middle-east/imperial-brands-spin-and-win-game-at-meadfa-spotlights-sustainable-agenda/227269

Looking forward to a healthy new year that allows us transforming for good, and driving positive change forward in a sustainable world!

No Price on Integrity

In a tweet on 29 May 2018, the “Roseanne” star Roseanne Barr referred to Valerie Jarrett as a product of the Muslim Brotherhood and the “Planet of the Apes.” Valerie Jarrett, the former senior advisor to President Barack Obama, said a racist tweet from actor Roseanne Barr should be used as a “teaching moment.” Roseanne was the biggest TV show in ABC (until May 2018) and The Walt Disney Company is the parent company of ABC.  

Without doubt, tone does start at the top. This is what we call “tone at the top” and the importance of tone at the top was highly mentioned in Corporate Ethics and Compliance Management Certification program (by Turkish Integrity Center of Excellence) that I completed last year. 

I have recently read “The Ride of a Lifetime” by Robert Iger, former CEO of Disney. In his terrific book, there is a reference to this “teaching moment” and how he led it. Let’s have a look at how former Disney CEO Robert Iger managed this situation from the top: 

I sent an email to the Disney board: “This morning we all woke up to a tweet by Roseanne Barr, in which she referred to Valerie Jarrett as a product of the Muslim Brotherhood and Planet of the Apes. We found this comment, no matter what its context was, to be intolerable and deplorable, and we made the decision to cancel Roseanne’s show. I don’t mean to stand on a high horse, but as a company, we have always tried to do what we felt was right, no matter what the politics or the commerce. In other words, demanding quality and integrity from all of our people and of all of our products is paramount, and there is no room for second chances, or for tolerance when it comes to an overt transgression that discredits the company in any way. Roseanne’s tweet violated that tenet and our only choice was to do what was morally right. A statement will be released momentarily.” 

It was an easy decision, really. I never asked what the financial repercussions would be, and didn’t care. In moments like that, you have to look past whatever the commercial losses are and be guided, again, by the simple rule that there’s nothing more important than the quality and integrity of your people and your product. Everything depends on upholding that principle. 

For me, Robert and the management team did what the top had to do to preserve the integrity of the corporation’s values. From investors’ point of view, there is no effortless way to quantify the level of integrity embodied in a company's DNA. Every company will say it prioritizes corporate responsibility. Actions speak louder than words, however. And this is a good example of how action towards integrity can be taken.