Environmental stewardship, positive social impact and good corporate governance are necessary ingredients to achieve a blend between profitability and sustainability. Good corporate citizens have deepened the practice, integrating sustainability strategies into their corporate strategies. Like business strategies, these corporate strategies are improved upon regularly, and have set targets; performance is measured against targets and new targets set. More importantly, these good corporate citizens are bold to put their reports in the public domain in the interest of all stakeholders. These traits of good corporate citizenship are boldly engraved in the ESG reports under review – Scotiabank, Boston Properties and Scotts Miracle – Gro. From carbon neutrality to climate change; from diversity and inclusion to sustainable finance, these ESG reports tell tales of how these corporates are succeeding at their ESG goals. The reports also provide insight on the commitment of these corporates to ensure their ESG wins not only continues, but also gets better and becomes more impactful.
Scotiabank’s 2020 ESG Report
Download Scotia’s 2020 ESG Report to learn how Scotiabank is working to build a more sustainable business and create a more sustainable future for her customers, employees, communities and the natural environment https://bit.ly/3vxXAMc.
Highlights of the Report
- $120 billion of relief provided during global pandemic
- $63.4 million invested in training and development
- $5.9 billion in procured goods and services from third party suppliers
- About $85 million invested in communities through donations, community sponsorships, employee volunteering and other types of community investment
- Mobilized over $28 billion to reduce the impact of climate change
- Donated $16.6 million to support people and communities most at risk during the COVID-19 pandemic
- 168,962 hours volunteered by employees
- Achieved a 20% reduction in operational greenhouse gas emissions
- Achieved 20% reduction of Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions
Here’s what the bank’s CEO (Brian J. Porter) has to say about the bank’s ESG philosophy, “We remain committed to doing what we can to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to build a better life for themselves, their families and their communities”.
Scotiabank (The Bank of Nova Scotia), is a multinational banking and financial services company based in Toronto, Ontario. The Bank of Nova is Canada’s third largest bank by deposits and market capitalization. Scotiabank plays as a top-five universal bank in each of her core markets; the bank also ranks as a top-15 wholesale bank in the U.S., delivering superior advice and services to help customers get ahead.
BXP’s 2020 ESG Report
This report is designed to present information related to BXP’s sustainability, including environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance indicators. BXP’s reporting has been aligned with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the Sustainability Accounting Standards (SASB). Owen Thomas (CEO) and Douglas Linde (President) captured the thrust of the 2020 report in their joint address to stakeholders, “While the health crisis and social unrest dominated much of our attention in 2020, we maintained our focus on environmental, social and governance issues, which continue to shape how we conduct our business”.
Highlights of the Report
- $124.7M invested in Public Realm Improvements
- Named 2020 Best in Building Health award winner
- 41% decrease in energy use intensity
- Achieved 35.1% reduction in water intensity
- 942 hours of community service and 587 employee hours donated
- $31 million saved in annual energy operating cost
- 9% of office waste by weight is recycled or composted across BXP’s portfolio
The BXP 2020 ESG report also featured an independent assurance statement by DNV Business Assurance USA, Inc. Read the full ESG report here: https://bit.ly/3nG3GY2.
Boston Properties, Inc. (BXP) is a US-based publicly quoted real estate company founded in 1970. BXP is reputed as the largest publicly traded developer, owner, and manager of Class A office properties in the United States.
Scotts Miracle -Gro Set New ESG Goals in her 2021 Corporate Responsibility Report.
This report, which is the tenth in the company’s ESG series, has been prepared in accordance with the GRI Standards (Core options) and covers the company’s operations for the 2020 fiscal year. The 63-page report is segmented into 5 sub – themes, discussing – ESG Strategy and Governance; Products; Operations and supply Chains; Communities; and People. Each sus- theme details milestones covered in each respect and outlook for the new year and beyond. Jim Hagedorn, Scotts’ CEO, captures the spirit in the report in his address to stakeholders, “Our story in 2020 reflects those key elements reflected upon by my father—preparation and opportunity—but also resilience, strength, unity and the belief that we can rise to any challenge and achieve progress and lasting positive change. This is what drives our purpose to GroMoreGood everywhere, every day, for our associates, our communities, our planet and each of you”.
Highlights of ESG Achievements
- Invested $40m innovation and Research and &Development
- 2,148,635 Youths reached; 1.5million healthy meals provided
- Achieved 3% reduction in plastic materials used
- 3X recycled content used in plastic; 50% of packages recycled or recyclable
- 100% sustainably-sourced paper packaging
- Raised $2.6 million funds for cancer research
- 32,314,221 community enhancement partner organizations reached
- Diverted approximately 5 billion LBS of food waste from landfills
- 17,139,584 Square feet of habitat protected/preserved
- 696,867 people reached with environmental programs
- 4,800 Square feet of pollinator habitat established/restored
- 159,563,475 environmental improvement partner organizations reached
- 696 seedlings planted in preserves and coastal areas.
Read the full report here: https://bit.ly/3vEdQev.
Scotts Miracle – Gro has grown from a family general store to North America’s leader in lawn and garden as well as indoor and hydroponic growing products. Headquartered in Marysville, Ohio, the company is known for her consumer lawn and garden brands such as: Scotts and turf builder lawn and grass seed products; Miracle-Gro gardening and landscape products; ortho and home defense insect control and weed control products; and tomcat branded rodent control products. The company was founded in 1868 by war veteran O. M. Scott.
Epilogue
There is yet to be enough preaching on the need for business to embrace non-financial reporting regimes such as the ESG reports, Sustainability reporting or the all-in-one Integrated reporting (IR). Beyond adopting the sustainability principles and strategies, it is equally important to add these to the accountability purview of every modern-day corporation. Learn, Adopt, Improve and Report.
The CSR Arena is a CSR advocacy and sustainability-reporting-analysis champion. We encourage and celebrate effective CSR and positive social impact by responsible corporate citizens; we celebrate international best practices in sustainability reporting across different economic divides. Our goal is to realize the dream of development scholars that, ‘corporates, more than governments, would bring about the much needed sustainable development across the globe. We partner with FBOs, NGOs, CBOs, governments and corporates to spread the message of sustainable development and corporate sustainability. Our platforms bear tales of good corporate citizenship – grab the microphone that you may be heard. Contact: news@thecsrarena.com
