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.
Work From Home Survey
One member asks the following, "We hope you can help us with a survey of GBEN members regarding ergonomics and the level of company financial support for home offices. We are hearing that some of the high tech companies are asking employees to work from home indefinitely. What are these companies doing to help employees set up a workstation at home? Below are our questions: Read More
Materiality Assessments
One member writes, "As we consider another refresh, we are questioning if others have come up with out of the box ways of conducting these assessments. The process of surveys, interviews, etc. seems antiquated and inefficient. What are some of the latest and emerging trends in conducting materiality assessments? In this period of increased business/NGO partnerships, business/customer collaborations, and emphasis towards ensuring ratings, rankings, and other reporting platforms are industry specific, are there other methods for ensuring companies are focused on material issues in lieu of the traditional materiality assessment approach?" Read More
Sustainability Education and Training
During a recent GBEN Happy Hour! we explored how members are educating themselves, their teams and other parts of the organization about sustainability. The discussions ranged from sustainability training during employee onboarding to engaging different functional teams, front line employees and senior executives. Read More
Scope 3, Category 6 Travel Emissions
One member asks, "Who is measuring scope 3 category 6 travel emissions? Of those measuring, is anyone looking to actively offset those emissions? If so, what is their strategy/approach for offsetting those emissions and how do they fund that in their company?" Read More
Employee Engagement Metrics
In sustainability circles, employee engagement is an evergreen topic. One member recently asked what kind of KPIs others have in place for employee awareness and engagement and how to gauge employees’ knowledge of a company’s sustainability priorities. Read More
Ratings, Rankings and the Rise of the S in ESG
The initial impetus for discussing rating and ranking organizations was a member’s question regarding how much the score given their company by Sustainalytics influenced investor sentiment. Opinions about the ratings organizations soon evolved into a discussion of how COVID-19 will get addressed in future reporting and member expectations that reporting on social issues will increase as boards and investors increasingly focus on ESG efforts. Read More
Ratings & Rankings
Has anything changed in your company's approach to the various ratings and rankings organizations? Which ones do you prioritize? As we head into reporting season, has your investor relations team reached out to you (especially about the "S" in ESG) and also in terms of COVID-19? This request came from a member specifically interested in how effective some of these ratings are, particularly citing Sustainalytics. Read More
Thoughts on a Virtual Earth Day
The 50th anniversary of Earth Day will take place on April 22, 2020. Given the projections for the apex of the coronavirus still weeks away, the world is going to look a lot different on Earth Day. While it may be best to tamper our optimism, with a few members suggesting pausing efforts until World Environment Day, other members are moving ahead, transitioning their efforts to a virtual engagement strategy. Read More
It’s just numbers: A ROSI view of corporate sustainability
How do you justify a company's sustainability investments? There's an app for that. Read More
Trend: The bots are coming (to ratings and reporting)
Automation and artificial intelligence are being leveraged to both generate and evaluate ESG data. Is that a good thing? Read More
