🍃The Sustainability Top 10: Pulling things out of thin air for a sustainable future

Welcome back 🖐,

Monday was my birthday, so I am sending this out from a birding hot spot where I decided to spend a few days for the occasion. I may share a couple of exotic 🐤 photos in the next edition. Coincidentally, this week in sustainability, I am sharing two other bird related stories… but also, green innovation from thin air, Mars coral restoration efforts, Blackrock partnering with New Zealand, two resources to advance your sustainability programs, UPS having a moment, employee engagement benchmarks, Disney’s AI balancing act, and more…

Here are The Green Tea's Top actionable, innovation, and hot sustainability stories this week! 👇

3. (Just Capital) In the wake of a new $30 billion union deal, job searches for open positions at UPS have spiked. Starting wages for part-time workers increased to $21/hr. read here

4. (Reuters) Meanwhile, failure to lift 'exploitative' wages tests fashion firms’ commitment to employee wellbeing. read here

5. (Just Capital) Gallup estimates that best-practice organizations (who focus on engagement, transparency, management) see 72% employee engagement – a 40-point differential versus the 32% average engagement! read here

6. (Just Capital) Disney's balancing act of progressing AI efforts and potentially cut costs though them while trying to avoid alienating employees. read here

+. (GreenBiz) A corporation was responsible for the disappearance of a bird species… It got crushed by a giant X 😅👇

9. (Bloomberg) Maybe you won't go vegan to reduce your carbon footprint, but maybe your pet will take one from the team? A number of startups are trying to convince pet owners to shift dogs and cats to a diet based on plants. read here

10. (ESG Today) New Zealand and BlackRock launch $1.2B climate infrastructure fund to accelerate energy transition goals. read here

+. (Sustainable Brands) Mars closer to goal of restoring 1M corals worldwide by end of 2023. read here

+. What happened in Maui makes me incredibly sad. You probably have read quite a bit on the Hawaii fires so I don’t want to be repetitive (you probably already know that it was likely a mix of land conversion issues – from crops to grass, climate change – ongoing drought, and wind from a hurricane), but I did want to share with you a story of hope that came out from among all the devastation and loss.

+. Billion-dollar disasters hit a new record in the first seven months of 2023. Considering we are only +1.2°C above pre-industrial levels (we are tracking for a ~+2.7°C increase), one thing is becoming abundantly clear: climate change adaptation efforts so far are severely lacking in the context of a rapidly changing world. 

Enjoy and reflect 💭. Warm regards / saludos,

Julio