John Davies
John Davies leads the Trellis Network, a member-based, peer-to-peer learning forum for sustainability professionals. The network is made up of senior executives from $1 billion-plus corporations working together to share best practices and lessons learned for implementing sustainable development programs. Davies is an experienced entrepreneur and innovator who has applied his business and management skills to launching start-ups as well as improving the operations of existing businesses. Davies is a frequent keynote speaker at international events, is well-known for his supply chain and sustainability expertise and is the author of numerous articles in business, industry and educational publications. John received his bachelor’s degree from SUNY at Fredonia and his master’s degree from the University of Delaware.
Reporting Assurance
One member asks, "We have been struggling with finding responsive organizations that do verification of data (providing limited assurance) used in our Sustainability Report and we are at the same time trying to get more information on organizations that do limited assurance of the entire sustainability report and what is involved from a time and budget standpoint. Can you poll the group with these questions: 1. Does your company/organization seek external assurance or data verification as part of the reporting of material issues associated with the sustainability report? 2. If you are not seeking external assurance/verification, what is the reason? 3. What channel do you use to disclose sustainability performance: Sustainability reports, annual reporting packages (during proxy season) or integrated reports? 4. Do you have plans to move towards an integrated report? Explain why yes or no. Read More
Monitoring Media Coverage
One member asks, "With many companies making new environmental announcements this month, we are looking to do some topline media coverage review to gauge the response/sentiment from environmental and general press. I know this is something many other companies are often interested in as well. We all try to gauge how certain announcements and new goals are received to set our own expectations and help craft our goal language and communications. Does anyone have a strategy to track this or contract with an organization that helps track this?" Read More
Operational Maturity Assessment
One of our members asks, "We are looking to do an assessment of our sustainability program for operations on the maturity of the program. Have you any knowledge of a tool or company who helps with this? Read More
TCFD Resources
One member asks, "Has your company conducted climate scenario analysis (of the sort that would provide insight on climate risk across the value chain and satisfy TCFD reporting)? How did you scope the work? Could you share what external group/consultant you worked with if any, and an approximate budget?" Read More
Carbon Neutral Goal
One member asked, “[We] have committed to a SBT and we are contemplating a carbon neutral goal. We know that you have to account for all of your emissions in this: Scope 1, 2 and 3. Scope 3 is a heavy lift for [us]. What we are trying to determine is what strategies others are thinking about on how they plan to achieve carbon neutrality. Do you have any insights or is this something that can be a member poll? We know companies are working with their suppliers but this will get them only partially there. We also do not know if carbon offsets are a possibility. We want to look at what others are contemplating in this area.” Read More
Sustainable Packaging Consultant Recommendations
A member is interested in recommendations for a consultant to advise on sustainable packaging, including a review of the customer-facing and operational packaging that is currently being used, the definition of KPIs and recommendations on more sustainable alternatives. Any advice from others who have pursued a similar project would be much appreciated. Read More
ESG Reporting Teams
In our State of the Profession report, we ask about sustainability team size but this member asks a more granular question, "Does anyone have a dedicated position responsible for managing ESG reporting and if so, where do they sit in the organization (Investor Relations, Comms, Sustainability, etc.)?" Read More
Human Rights Leadership
One member asks, "If Human Rights is a focus for your sustainability work, where does leadership/coordination for those efforts sit in your organization? Human Rights issues are likely managed by a number of groups across an organization such as HR, Legal and Supply Chain. Do you have a person or team who coordinates and aggregates that work and if so, where does that person reside (in Sustainability or somewhere else in the org)?" Read More
Leading the sustainability transformation
GreenBiz Group is pleased to announce the Leading the Sustainability Transformation professional certificate program in partnership with WholeWorks. A completely online, team-based, global program, it is designed to accelerate leadership competence and confidence regarding sustainability through a 10-week learn-practice-apply cycle. It is designed for sustainability professionals interested in advancing their careers and business leaders who need to understand the impacts of sustainability on the success of their companies and organizations. Read More
ESG Investor Trends
We recently hosted a GBEN Happy Hour! call and invited Mike Wallace from ERM to present what he is seeing in the market. As Mike said, “Understanding how the financial markets conduct their ESG due diligence on public companies will be crucial for accessing capital in a post-COVID. In fact, it provides clues for how companies will be viewed by customers, lenders, insurers and credit rating agencies.” Read More