Adidas drops suppliers, meaningful brands profit, Bank of America launches low carbon strategy and Apple tops green index

Adidas cuts ties with non-compliant suppliers 

Adidas has cut business ties with 13 of its Asian suppliers following non-compliance with the company's workplace standards at factories, covering labour-related or health and safety non-compliance, among others. As stated in the German sportswear maker’s 2014 sustainability report, despite working closely with suppliers to improve performance and compliance, in cases where non-compliance was severe or repeated, Adidas has termi-nated business agreements.

In addition to cancelling agreements with the suppliers in Asia where 60% of Adidas supplier factories are located, the company also issued 65 warning letters to suppliers in 13 countries about ongoing non-compliance issues.

The warnings targeted problems surrounding poor management commitment, excessive working hours, the non-payment of wages and benefits, poor electrical, fire or chemical safety, as well as poor communication and transparency issues.

‘Meaningful Brands’ enjoy 46% higher ‘wallet’ share 

The “Meaningful Brands” study, Havas Media Group’s index that measures the potential business benefits gained by a brand when it is seen to improve consumer wellbeing and quality of life, has revealed that top ranking companies on average enjoy a 46% higher share of wallet – a marketing metric used to measure the percentage spent with a brand versus the total annual expenditure within its category – than low performers.

Under the global study which spans 1,000 brands, 300,000 people, 34 countries, and 12 industries, brands are ranked under four marketplace criteria including quality of products and innovation, four personal wellbeing factors including making life easier and contribu-tion to a healthy lifestyle, and finally, two collective wellbeing factors: being a good place to work and an ethical brand.

Top global performers for 2015 include Google, Ikea, Nestlé, Samsung and Sony, along with three Unilever brands, Dove, Knorr and Ariel.

Serving society with soup

 

Bank of America moves away from coal

Bank of America (BoA) has released a new coal policy unveiling plans to cut back lending to coal extraction companies and coal divisions of broader mining companies.

In a bid to combat climate change and aid the transition to a low carbon economy, BoA said that as one of the world’s largest financial organisations it had a responsibility to help mitigate climate change by leveraging its scale and resources to accelerate a transition from a high-carbon to a low-carbon society, and from high-carbon to low-carbon sources of energy.

The new policy focuses on three areas: reducing exposure to coal extraction companies, promoting the use of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology from new and existing plants, and adopting superior practices for managing the environmental impacts of coal within its financial services division.

Black mark against coal investments

 

Apple leads on greening the internet

According to Greenpeace’s latest Clean Energy Index, Apple continues to lead on a green internet, with several major renewable energy investments announced in the past year, including a £540m deal to power its operations in California – the largest ever non-utility solar deal.

According to “Clicking Clean: A Guide to Building the Green Internet”, among the 13 tech companies listed, Apple is the only company to score 100% on the index, maintaining its claim of a 100% renewably powered cloud for a further year.

Yahoo, Facebook and Google scored 73%, 49% and 46% on clean energy respectively. Amazon and eBay scored lowest with an energy mix of 23% and 10% renewable energy for their operations.

While tech companies continue to move towards renewable energy to power the internet, the report urges improved transparency from companies such as Amazon, also stating that companies’ efforts towards 100% renewable energy are threatened by monopoly utilities and power companies.

Applause for Apple 
Adidas  Adidas supply chain  factories  factory conditions  Bank of America  coal  divestment  Apple  internet 

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