Corporate Social Responsibility

Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance just published the top 10 corporate sustainability priorities for the back half of 2025 (via The Conference Board). A few things stood out to me: 1/ ESG must be embedded. I’ve said this before (and I may never stop saying it): ESG can’t be siloed off. To be successful, it needs to live inside core business functions. At Atlassian, for example, our Sustainability and Procurement teams partner closely on supplier engagement goals—because that kind of alignment drives real outcomes at scale. 2/ Supply chain transparency is rising. With new due diligence laws and increasing reputational risk, we’re seeing more customer questions about ESG commitments during deal flow. If your sustainability strategy doesn’t include your customers, you’re missing a critical piece. 3/ Climate strategy now influences financial decisions. In FY26, we’ll be preparing for Australia’s ASRS regulation—which goes beyond disclosure, asking companies to demonstrate how climate-related financial risks and opportunities are integrated into business decision-making. (Think: beyond TCFD.) 4/ The regulatory demand is real. We’ve tackled California. Next up: ASRS which will be followed by CSRD and CSDDD. Of course we also know some of the guidelines here will change and new regulations will emerge. The fragmentation makes compliance a moving target—and keeping up requires serious agility and focus. 👉 The takeaway: Sustainability priorities are evolving quickly. The companies making real progress are the ones embedding it across their operations, supply chains, reporting, and decision-making. https://lnkd.in/gGJCy-kT

Very interesting results on the back of a global survey of 23,000 people: - Consumers globally are willing to pay more for products with a lower environmental impact. -Consumers are expressing increasing concern over climate change and environmental sustainability, highest numbers in emerging markets (!) - Sustainable consumption today comes at a 28% markup on average. - That leaves a substantial gap between the 12% premium comsumers are on average willing to pay and the 28% currently charged by companies. - Interestingly, the study also indicated a disconnect between definitions and criteria for sustainability between consumers and businesses, finding that while most companies focus on how products are made, such as the sustainability of ingredients and production methods, around half of consumers focus instead on how the products are used in their sustainability considerations, looking at aspects such as product reusability, durability, and waste minimization. - While the majority of consumers in almost every market expressed concerns about environmental sustainability, those in fast growing markets appeared to have higher concern levels than those in developed countries, with 85% in India, 81% in Brazil and 73% in China, for example, reporting being very or extremely concerned, compared with 53% in the U.S., 54% in Germany and 56% in the UK. I found the difference between generations (less surprising) and between market maturity very interesting. Also some great tips for marketing and communication strategy improvements for companies focused on regenerative and more sustainable products. Thanks Bain & Company for another great market insights report 🙌

Microsoft just bought over $1B worth of human poop. Yes, seriously. And it might be one of the smartest AI investments they’ve made. Here’s what actually happened: Microsoft signed a 12-year deal with Vaulted Deep, paying to remove 4.9 million metric tons of human and agricultural waste. Why? To offset the carbon emissions its data centers,and AI ambitionsare generating at massive scale. Because GenAI isn’t just an innovation race. It’s an infrastructure war. Every prompt. Every training run. Every inference. They all burn compute. And compute burns carbon. So Microsoft’s move to bury waste and earn carbon credits? → A hedge against regulatory heat → A message to Wall Street → A roadmap for anyone building in AI Here’s what most teams get wrong about scaling GenAI: Ambition grows faster than infrastructure Shipping AI ≠ Scaling it Outcomes matter more than acronyms The lesson for founders, CMOs, and GTM leaders? If your AI story doesn’t include sustainability, you’re shipping half a strategy. And it’s not just Microsoft. Top GSIs like Accenture, Deloitte, Capgemini, and Infosys are investing billions to align AI growth with governance, ESG standards, and infrastructure constraints. And the same goes for agencies. From Publicis Sapient to WPP to agency-integrators like Accenture Song. AI is forcing a shift from storytelling at scale to sustainability at scale. Because if creative platforms are powered by LLMs, clients will ask not just how it performs, but what it costs the planet. Their clients are no longer asking: “Can we use GenAI?” They’re asking: “Can we trust it?” “Can we report on it?” “Can we scale it without breaking the planet, or the brand?” - The result? A new partner mandate: → Help me build smarter → Help me scale responsibly → Help me report transparently Because if Microsoft is already solving for carbon scrutiny... How long until your customers, partners, and investors start asking too? #ArtificialIntelligence #Sustainability #TechNews

We surveyed 500 #10KSB small business owners on the challenges of childcare for their businesses. Here’s what they had to say: 48% of small business owners cited childcare availability and affordability affecting hiring and keeping talent. 52% of small business owners have made adjustments to their business operations or policies to accommodate employees child care needs. 57% of small business owners with children in childcare reported spending $1,000 or more per month and cited detrimental effects to productivity, revenue, and business hours. Meet Megan Metzger, a 10,000 Small Businesses alum, and domestic staffing agency owner from North Carolina. From guiding over 400 agencies on starting and scaling their businesses, her insights help illuminate solutions to small business childcare needs. Megan's Tips for Small Businesses Offering Childcare Benefits: Cost Sharing: Share the cost of childcare services with employees, whether it's a nanny agency or daycare. Childcare Benefit "Bank": Create a benefit structure where the employer provides a set number of covered days (or hours) each year for childcare, which can be distributed among employees. Local Childcare Agencies: Partner with a local childcare agency. They're well-acquainted with the community's unique needs and can provide flexible benefit arrangements while avoiding hefty fees. #Childcare #SmallBusiness #WorkplaceWellness https://lnkd.in/en4Q7KM6

What if green finance could scale decarbonization for SMEs? 🚀🌱 Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) contribute about 40% of business sector emissions. However, many face significant barriers in accessing the necessary tools or funds to transition to Net Zero. Today, we are proud to have partnered with HSBC in the UK to help accelerate their transition ! Taking a step back, here is an overview of various ways in which finance can help scale the energy transition 🌱🚀: 💰 Green Loans and Equity Financial institutions are now offering tailored green loans & equity investments to invest in projects like renewable energy installations and energy efficiency upgrades at favorable terms. In 2022, green loans in Europe alone totaled over $150 billion, showing a substantial increase in availability. Green equity is rapidly growing, with venture capital for green projects reaching $10 billion in 2023. 🤝 Public-Private Partnerships Public financial institutions can offer credit guarantees and direct financing, which reduce the risk for private investors. For example, the European Investment Bank (EIB) provided over €5 billion in guarantees for green projects in 2022, mobilizing an additional €20 billion in private investment. 🌍 ESG Integration In 2023, about 60% of global asset managers incorporated ESG criteria into their investment processes. This includes exclusionary screening, where investments in industries harmful to the environment are avoided. 🔧 Innovative Financial Instruments Transition Bonds help high-emission industries ("brown" sectors) transition to greener operations, unlike green bonds, which fund entirely green projects. They support incremental improvements towards sustainability in sectors such as mining, heavy industry, and utilities. In 2022, their issuance reached $20 billion. It works for SMEs too Blended Finance: This involves using public funds to attract private investment in sustainable projects. By pooling resources, private investors reduce risks, unlocking significant capital for green initiatives. In 2022, blended finance transactions mobilized over $30 billion for sustainable development projects globally. 📚 Non-Financial Support SMEs often lack the expertise and resources to navigate sustainable finance. Public and private institutions can provide essential non-financial support, including training, information on sustainable technologies, and tools for measuring and reporting environmental performance. For instance, the SME Climate Hub offers resources and training programs that have reached over 10,000 SMEs worldwide. This is also where Greenly | Certified B Corp comes in, now offering HSBC's customers in the UK a rapid way to track their emissions. Thank you for your trust Emily Bailey Pedro Anaya Natalie Blyth ! Of course, green finance still needs to grow 100X fold, so join the movement now... https://lnkd.in/eW53NhYs

Workiva has an excellent podcast series about sustainability. Topics have included double materiality, the role of the CFO in sustainability, navigating all the various ESG reporting standards, and understanding the TNFD and TCFD frameworks. I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Mandi McReynolds for their most recent episode. The basis of our conversation was the Harvard Business Review article, "The Evolving Role of Chief Sustainability Officers," (https://lnkd.in/eqNiJ2iB) that I wrote with Alison Taylor. We discussed how this role has gained in strategic importance, driven in part by the development of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) and, in the U.S., the ESG Culture Wars. CSOs now need to have a strong knowledge of the industry in which the company operates and a deep understanding of the relationship between sustainability performance and financial performance. Internal management and control systems for sustainability reporting will have to be improved in order to have the same quality as systems for financial reporting. Sustainability will need to be factored into corporate strategy and the capital allocation process. Trade-offs must be recognized and dealt with. CSOs and CFOs need to engage in joint conversations with investors. My thanks to Lorna Kiewert of FINN Partners for all of her help in making this happen. https://lnkd.in/evmTaGPv

It's clear that we’re moving beyond the very early days of generative AI—we’re now in the midst of an exciting and game-changing technological evolution. As new AI applications emerge and scale, responsible AI has to scale right along with it. Yet, more half of the 756 business leaders we surveyed say that their company does not have a team dedicated to responsible AI. Here are the top four best practices I give executives looking to get started to put this theory into practice: 1. Put your people first and deepen your workforce’s understanding of generative AI. 2. Assess risk on a case by case basis and introduce guardrails such as rigorous testing. Always test with humans to ensure high confidence in the final results. 3. Iterate across the endless loop that is the AI life cycle. Deploy, fine tune, and keep improving. Remember, innovation is an ongoing process, not a one-time goal. 4. Test, test again, and then test again. Rigorous testing is the secret strategy behind every innovation. Finally, remember there is no one central guardian of responsible AI. While the commitment of organizations and business leaders is vital, this effort is a shared responsibility between tech companies, policymakers, community groups, scientists, and more. https://lnkd.in/gg8anUWn

One of the biggest global trends has been an increased focus on food security and food self-sufficiency. Much of the focus has been on new technologies to improve crop yields (breeding and crop inputs), new protein sources (plant-based, precision fermentation, cultivated and insects) and new production methods (automation & robotics, digital agriculture, and indoor farming). Too often we overlook the role of subsidized water in our underestimation of the threat to future food production, given that 70 percent of freshwater withdrawals annually are used by the agriculture sector. As climate change accelerates and water availability decreases, farmers will be forced to produce the same or more food using less water. With this as a background, I appreciate that Global AgInvesting is publicizing Citi’s GPS report: “Food, Water and Climate Change: Solutions for Tacking this Critical Nexus”, which I helped to draft. It talks about the challenges society faces in producing enough food while using fewer resources (crop input, land & water) and implementing technologies that can use water more efficiently throughout the agriculture sector to preserve this valuable resource for more generations into the future. https://lnkd.in/enqPzW9j Ponsi Trivisvavet Lara Smith Weber Clay Graham Eran Pollak Chris Abbott Karsten Temme Jane Franch Mitchell Craft Arama Kukutai Richard Smith Dan Malech Dana Worth Richard Klapholz Eran Ezra Jon Baravir (Zonabend) Wei Xu Ezhil Subbian Vinod Kumar Matt Carstens Dennis Donohue Walt Duflock Lynda Kiernan-Stone Greg Mellinger Kate Westfall Sarah Linn Pepper Jared Rose Susan Mellinger Michelle Pelletier Marshall Inari Landus N-Drip Gravity Micro Irrigation Pivot Bio Plenty® Rivulis Irrigation String Bio Private Limited Western Growers #sustainability #sustainable #climate #climatetech #climatechange #cleantech #agtech #foodtech #agriculture #food #sustainableag #sustainabledevelopment #dripirrigation #biologicals #controlledenvironmentagriculture #indoorfarming #cropbreeding #crispr #desalination #digitalagriculture #precisionagriculture #finance

“Will the company sponsor my granddaughter’s 5K Turkey Trot school fundraiser?” 🏃♀️ I got a call from an employee with this question years ago. This summed up the state of the company’s foundation and sponsorship program. When I took on the corporate foundation and community grants portfolio, there was… No clear vision. No defined strategy. No data-driven practice or operational playbook. I saw an opportunity to turnaround the corporate foundation and community giving program. But where do I begin? It felt like we were behind the eight ball with our competitors having bolder vision, bigger budgets, and better PR game. 🎱 But we had to start somewhere and I started by rolling up my sleeves to: ✅ Perform an internal assessment- What has our corporate foundation and community giving program done to date? What are the “must do’s”? Any learnings and/or ROIs? ✅ Conduct a competitor landscape review- Do our competitors have a corporate foundation, community giving program or both? What are the competitors funding? Where can we differentiate? ✅ Review Best-In-Class companies and other industries- What do other regulated companies, like banking, do in corporate philanthropy? What are some best practices? How do they communicate their work? We put a stake in the ground of what we will and will not fund. We aligned the community giving strategy to the company’s business, mission, and goals. And that being the business of healthcare. We could never compete with big budget companies. But we needed to differentiate with our finite dollars. We focused and went deep with our stakeholders and community partners. We directed about $2M annually towards expanding healthcare access, improving patient health outcomes, and serving low-income, underserved communities. So no more calls about Suzy’s school fundraiser. No more calls about saving blue whales or tigers (though important). 🐳 🐅 And no more calls about golf tournaments. One more thing, corporate philanthropy isn’t about making companies feel good. It’s actually about creating social impact and building brand equity. Because the truth is we have a lot of hard, human problems to solve. ________________  If you’re looking to make an impact not just “checking off the box” of corporate citizenship, let’s connect and collaborate. #socialimpact #changemanagement #ShastaAdvisory

I'm happy to see The Wall Street Journal cover Microsoft's record-breaking investment in restoring degraded landscapes in Brazil … BUT there is so much more to this story. This effort, a collaboration between Conservation International and BTG Pactual Timberland Investment Group, mobilizes private capital on a large scale, proving that we can protect nature without sacrificing economic production, all while boosting biodiversity, local livelihoods, and fighting climate change.   For decades, conservationists have had two models for doing our work, and neither has stood the test of time: either beg for people's money to buy and protect land or lobby governments to change rules. Neither kept pace with the climate crisis or the biodiversity crisis.   Now, we can finally start tapping into the financial markets to underpin and underwrite what we have always known: that nature in the future will be more valuable than it is today. That's the most exciting thing of all, and that's the story I'd like to see covered. https://lnkd.in/ejRpYjPm