As a sign of our appreciation for the work that the community of Sustainability Ambassadors and Innovators has been engaged over the last years, we were excited to host our first 2021 Sustainable Ambassador & Innovator Drinks in Shanghai last week.. Something we did regularly prior to COVID, the gathering has a single goal: bring together the community of sustainability professionals, entrepr…
While the process of developing, and executing CSR strategy is often focused on identifying the right partners, ensuring employee engagement, and measuring impact, through this post we would like to discuss the importance of engaging your legal, finance, and tax teams as a critical part of this process. Involving legal, finance, and tax teams in the process may be seen as time consuming or even…
As the work of NGOs in China has developed over the last 15 years, especially in the years following the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, the role of social media platforms critical to support public engagement in charitable activities. Like many areas of the wider economy where digital platforms disrupted traditional forms of engagement, while there were many upsides to the transitions, there were al…
Established by four fresh university graduates in Guangzhou, Shining Star was established in 2017 to help children and teenagers in gaining confidence and staying positive. An extension of a project they were working on as university students, over the course of the last three years they have built a grant program that supported 654 underprivileged students to finish their high-school education…
Following up from our previous post, "Leading Corporate Responses During COVID-19 Outbreak", we will look more deeply at Alibaba’s global program to provide a deeper analysis of their program, donations to date, and provide a few takeaways for readers. As a global leader in e-commerce, and one of China’s most prominent brands, the Alibaba Group announced that it would support other countries i…
For Chinese factories, particularly small to medium sized operators, this has been a very difficult time. Many have struggled with the loss of orders, cash flow shortages, and being straddled with ongoing operation and inventory costs that have led to the government announcing a series of relief measures early on. While preventing and controlling the COVID-19 outbreak has been the priority,…
With COVID-19 already infected millions of people, many companies have stressed the need to come up with a clear plan that can help the most affected and guarantee supply chain integrity to ensure businesses have enough measures for bringing workers back. During this time, many firms have looked to identify ways that they can give back to affected communities. Which was made more difficult as t…
For many firms who have invested significant time and resources into developing products where sustainable attributes are central to the offering, or have launched entirely new business units meant to deliver a sustainable solution, the market has proven difficult. Time and time again, consumers and stakeholders alike, will indicate a preference for supporting brands who are “more sustainable”,…
For many firms who have invested significant time and resources into developing products where sustainable attributes are central to the offering, or have launched entirely new business units meant to deliver a sustainable solution, the market has proven difficult. Time and time again, consumers and stakeholders alike, will indicate a preference for supporting brands who are “more sustainable”,…
With nearly 800 million urban consumers, the topic of food sustainability has been a great concern for many as the middle class have high quality standards. In China, r food security, affordability and safety are at their peak, the opportunities entrepreneurs and innovators to deliver innovations in product and process are growing by the day. To better understand the challenges, and the opport…
On May 17, 2019, Collective Responsibility (CR) brought together 20 executives together to learn about the work of David Yeung, Founder of Green Common, and Elaine Siu, APAC Managing Director of the Good Food Institute, to learn about the Future of Food Sustainability in China. To open the event, Richard Brubaker, founder of Collective Responsibility, provided some insights into the research an…
Ocean conservation is one of the major themes of environmental protection, but there are very few non-profit organizations in China that focus their efforts on this topic. Shenzhen Blue Ocean Environmental Protection Association is one of the very few, and we recently had the opportunity to speak with the Executive Secretary of Shenzhen Blue Ocean, Mr. Ma Haipeng to learn more about their work.…
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) in China is a concept that over the last 20 years has changed nearly as dramatically as its economy and skylines. Something largely seen as driven by the top, or as a result of Western influence, over the last 20 years Chinese firms have moved from follower to leader. It is a trend that has grown more noticeable as Chinese companies have begun to expand ov…
Hennes & Mauritz AB or H&M, the Swedish fashion giant, is in big trouble. According to its quarterly report released on 27 March 2018, the world's second-largest clothing retailer is now sitting on $4.3 billion of unsold garments and accessories. To reduce the stockpile, the company is planning to cut prices, slow expansion in stores, and boost its e-commerce instead. It may even get unsol…
One of the largest health disparities present in China is the inequality between rural and urban healthcare. In particular, rural patients face barriers to equal resources to healthcare access. There are less than half as many medical institution beds and licensed physicians per 1,000 citizens in rural areas compared to urban areas. In even more isolated areas where there are only small township h…
