BDO RISE Private Limited’s Post

Small steps, big impact! - initiation by EY "At the recent CSR activity, we participated in creating core products as an eco-friendly alternative to plastic grow bags. It's inspiring to see how simple actions can make a significant difference in promoting sustainability. Let's keep the momentum going! 🌍 #EcoFriendly #CommunityImpact #SustainableLiving #CSR #Sustainability #EY #EYVolunteers"

  Are sustainability goals losing out to financial ones? And do they have to? With the news that Unilever is the latest company to dial back on their sustainability goals, from the initial intention to reduce their plastic usage by half by 2035 changed to reducing by a third by 2036, it’s easy to ask the question: Are more companies choosing profit over planet? And does it have to be one or the other? At Terrafend we work with customers who are serious about their sustainability goals, experts who know that making small, measured changes can have a huge impact, not only on plans to reach Net Zero, but on the bottom line too. A problem for many of these bigger companies is that very few of their initiatives see immediate results. That’s what we’re proud of when it comes to Ambimization® - the impact is instantaneous. By changing from damaging solvents in their cleaning processes, our customers see a reduction in VOCs, emissions and waste from day one. Sustainability is about working together towards our future – but it happens one day at a time. If you’re a sustainability expert in the manufacturing industry, we’d love to hear more about what matters to you, and how you’re making sure your goals are measured and met. #Sustainability #Unilever #EnvironmentalImpact #sustainability  #climatechange #reduceplastics #sustainabilitytargets #netzero #terrafend https://lnkd.in/eCpV-Di9

A good #case study for an interesting classroom discussion in #Sustainability related courses. #Unilever's challenge of being a #responsible #business : Balancing access to #capitalMarket and maintaining #corporatevalues #social #environmental #sustainability #leadership #industry #practice #

In my recent book Deeply Responsible Business I argued that it was all but impossible for a public company to pursue serious environmental and social responsibility because of pressures from the capital markets. Unilever seemed to be a partial exception. It even had a number of subsidiaries which were B Corps. Now under a new chief executive they have gone into reverse - and as the article says, it matters because the company is a huge polluter with plastic waste, among other things. How to combine values with access to the capital markets is one of the biggest challenges if we ever going to reverse the environmental damage of the last century.

Exploring MADE FREE’s ESG Initiatives At MADE FREE, we’re committed to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) standards and helping businesses support them through corporate branded swag. 1. Embracing Eco-Friendly Products We’re passionate about using organic cotton, recycled polyester, and eco-friendly materials in our products. 2. Cutting Down on Waste Our commitment to recycled materials and durable design goes beyond just minimizing waste—it’s about making a lasting impact. 3. Building an Ethical Supply Chain At MADE FREE, every product comes from fair trade-certified factories. This means fair labor practices and positive economic growth in the communities we’re part of. 4. Promoting Safety and Fairness at Work We strictly adhere to fair trade standards, which means no child labor and top-notch workplace safety. 5. Advocating for Fair Wages Providing fair, living wages is crucial for lifting individuals, families, and communities out of poverty and reducing inequalities. Get Started with MADE FREE Branding: https://lnkd.in/empMuCGt

So Nina Shank thinks that Unilever should “hang its head in shame.” I’ll take “Things a fascist ninny would say” for a thousand Alex! The effect on the economy of such a conpany going bankrupt would be profound. It is time we shove those stricken by mass psychosis and the rent seekers into obscurity and see them for how destructive they are. I have a serious question for dslistrubution: At this point of enlightenment, isn’t it about time to let legislators, CEOs and board members off the hook from the baseless, never ending, Marxist garbage ESG and Sustainability metrics so that we can prosper and lift ALL boats instead of forcing the industrial, economic and supply chain sabotage? The stress if this on culture, society, economy, and induviduals is getting worse and worse. Take the control back from the Malthusian fascists. Now.

In our latest post for the 'React with Impact' program, we're excited to present another impactful project supported by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action. Following the spotlight on the Mental Health Crowd, this week we take a closer look at WILDPLASTIC®, founded with the mission to rid the world of wild plastic waste. This is what WILDPLASTIC® say about working with us: “The main aim of the collaboration was to identify unique selling points for WILDPLASTIC®, understand customer needs and create buyer personas. During these six weeks together, the Deloitte team immersed themselves deeply in the structures of WILDPLASTIC® and quickly felt like part of the team. The network of experts they were able to provide was great. We were able to talk to different brand owners, sourcing experts, industry experts, etc. and received customized workshops. These insights gave us a lot of clarity and in some cases challenged our assumptions about the market and customer needs, which really helped us move forward. We appreciated the Deloitte team working with us especially for their radically honest feedback.” A big thanks to Tim Lampe, Christian Sigmund, Maiju Laamanen, Stella Frank from WILDPLASTIC® as well as Marie Burmann, Paul Cebella, Bogdan Furs, and Marko Mijatovic from our Deloitte Team.   Thanks to Elsa Hammerschmidt, Dr. Malte Adomeit, Virginie Briand, and Daniel Könnecke for coordinating the green brand experience program and supporting #GreenGrowth #ReactWithImpact #WILDPLASTIC # Recycle #Impact www.wildplastic.com   Photo credits © Bernd Westphal (slides 1, 2, 3, 4 (photo right), 5) © Katja Hanzl (slide 4 (photos left))

Boosting Environmental and Social Change with Plastic Fischer – The React With Impact Series Contributing to the phenomenal 'React with Impact' program, has been a rewarding journey and fills us with pride and gratitude. Thanks to the sponsorship by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Deloitte could support startups, that are championing great causes in fields such as sustainability, inclusivity, and social accessibility. In our spotlight feature today, we take enormous pleasure in highlighting the notable German startup - Plastic Fischer GmbH; a pioneering social enterprise committed to cleaning rivers, safeguarding oceans and livelihoods, and opening pathways for sustainable growth. By 2050, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. 1,700,000 tons of plastic end up in the ocean every year, of which over 80% comes from rivers. Discarded plastic pollutes river and coastal communities, kills marine life, and enters our food and bodies as microplastic. With their TrashBoom low technology and low cost barrier solution, Plastic Fischer empowers their local full-time employees to clean up rivers while at the same time preserving biodiversity and protecting clean and healthy environments. The operations are financed through individual or corporate sponsors that finance the work per ton of river plastic collected, processed and third-party verified. In return sponsors receive an individualized, digital certificate that can be understood as a “Plastic Footprint Compensation”. Our team's mandate encompassed vetting the viability of potential revenue streams like carbon credits, crafting meaningful content for our client's ESG reports, and calibrating their positioning vis-à-vis current and future regulatory landscapes. Delving into the strategic preferences of Corporate Social Responsibility professionals and evaluating the need to tweak Plastic Fischer's offerings to harmonize with their target customers' financial processes, we were successful in formulating a persuasive client pitch deck and a robust strategic roadmap. These optimized strategies are composed to enhance Plastic Fischer's offering value significantly. Here's a video you can watch: https://deloi.tt/3vhVhTf #ReactWithImpact #ImpacThatMatters #BetterBusiness #Zerowaste A special shout-out to Karsten Hirsch and Selina Herzog from Plastic Fischer GmbH and our Deloitte team – Birte von Zittwitz, Cosima Doernte, Nicole Saleh, Elsa Hammerschmidt, Dr. Malte Adomeit, Virginie Briand, and Daniel Könnecke. With remarkable creativity, knowledgeability and excellent collaboration you showcased how fostering #greengrowth #socialgood #csr Keep an eye out for future posts in our React with Impact series to learn more about similar inspiring projects. https://deloi.tt/4a6e3vH

So, now it is Unilever's turn to ditch their environmental and social commitments. The company, one of the world's largest producers of plastic packaging and consistently ranked among the top 5 plastic waste producers, is now announcing it is abandoning its commitment to cut the use of virgin plastic by 50% by 2025. Instead, it promises (let's see for how long) to reduce virgin plastic usage by a third by 2026. What do we learn from that? 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 - just ahead of the UN Plastic Treaty negotiations, sending a strong message about the corporate failure to address the goals and positioning environmental commitments as a trade-off with economic success. Sort of "If Unilever cannot do it, no one can." 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐲𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 - Unilever’s focus on optimization and recycled content in its targets shows that we cannot recycle our way out of this crisis. It is operationally and economically not feasible. Unilever's efforts, for the most part, did not include (except a few pet projects on the periphery) an attempt to reimagine their business model or the concept of packaging, but rather a race after recycled content percentages and efficiency gains. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐒𝐆 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 - Along with scaling back on its plastic pledge commitments, Unilever is also abandoning some of its notable social and business ethics commitments, including: - A pledge to pay direct suppliers a living wage by 2030, instead proposing 'fair pay' for suppliers accounting for half its annual spend on goods and services by 2026. - Dropping the promise to spend €2 billion a year with diverse businesses by 2025 - Abandoning its commitment that 5% of its workforce will be made up of people with disabilities by 2025. This reversal goes to show that the 'do less harm' approach, which is the overwhelming focus of the ESG measurement, rather than 'generating a sustainable value proposition through the core of the business', simply doesn't work at scale. Once the low-hanging fruits, the efficiency gains, and the PR opportunities have been exhausted, the race down to the annual sustainability KPIs in an inherently unsustainable business starts to cost money, and that's where the shareholders start to revolt, as is now happening at Unilever and in similar companies worldwide. IMHO, this space will be very interesting to watch in the coming year as it might mark the beginning of the end of the ESG approach. Companies will have to choose: either they genuinely transform their business into a sustainable one (which will not be easy to do), or they do not, as the current 'eat your cake and have it too' approach is starting to run its course. https://lnkd.in/difN9mqR

Any retreat from goals ignores the facts of the environmental situation. Is it more important to balance ESG goals with corporate profit? Or to balance them with the state of the planet? I would love to hear the opinion of Hunter Lovins (she sets THE standard for corporate action) and Hunter Pence (my new sustainability buddy).