Bill Gate Secures Hundreds of Millions from U.S. Firms for Climate Fight

Bill Gates has raised hundreds of millions from seven large U.S. companies to develop clean technologies that could play a key role in the fight against climate change.

Breakthrough Energy, a non-profit founded by Gates in 2016, announced Monday that it has secured investments from Microsoft, BlackRock, General Motors, American Airlines, Boston Consulting Group, Bank of America and ArcelorMittal.

Corporate Bosses Called Out for Making Hollow Climate

The vast majority of companies in the world’s major economies are failing to make climate pledges that can be measured against meaningful yardsticks, according to the Science Based Targets initiative.

The upshot of the group’s research is that, despite reams of corporate announcements professing to value sustainability, most business leaders aren’t walking the talk. Only a fifth of the more than 4,200 companies based in Group of 20 economies have signed up to science-based reporting, according to an SBTi report on Tuesday. 

First Voluntary University and State-Level Reviews Demonstrate U.S. Engines of SDG Action

Carnegie Mellon University and the U.S. State of Hawai’i have launched voluntary reviews outlining their plans to implement the SDGs. The launches took place as part of an event on ‘American Leadership in Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals.’

The side event was organized by The Brookings Institution and the UN Foundation. It convened virtually on 16 September 2020. John Allen, President of The Brookings Institution, welcomed participants and announced that Brookings is creating a new Center for Sustainable Development. 

Scaling Energy Efficiency is the ‘Elephant in the Room’

Extreme weather events, exacerbated by rising temperatures, as well as mounting efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions have underscored the urgency of the climate challenge and the vital need for energy efficiency. We know that efficiency can halve emissions by 2050 and get the United States halfway to its climate goals. We also know that the actions utilities take to meet climate commitments are critical to those efforts. But how do we ensure progress? And can we achieve it equitably and quickly? 

Three Reasons Why CSR and ESG Matter to Businesses

As a family-owned business where legacy and pride are top of mind, [Carl Hung’s] company has always strived to be socially responsible. From sponsoring underprivileged children since 1999 and building schools in rural China to raising awareness for breast cancer, which has affected [his] people before, [they] take giving back to [their] communities seriously — as evident by [their] core values, which include “be[ing] kind” and “do[ing] what’s right.”

This makes the recent sight of social responsibility gaining traction in the corporate world a welcome one. Particularly, two terms emerge frequently in corporate discourse: corporate social responsibility (CSR) and environmental, social and governance (ESG). Both terms relate to the social responsibilities of businesses. While CSR holds businesses accountable for their social commitments in a qualitative manner, ESG helps measure or quantify such social efforts.