Francesca Rheannon is an award-winning journalist and managing editor for CSRwire’s blog, Talkback. Francesca co-founded Sea Change Radio and produced Sea Change Radio’s series, Back to The Future. She co-produced the Interfaith Center of Corporate Responsibility’s podcast, The Arc of Change. Francesca’s work has appeared at SocialFunds.com, The CRO and E Magazine, and she is a regular columnist for CSRwire. Francesca hosts the nationally syndicated weekly radio show, Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon.

Articles by Francesca

Report: Climate Change is “Risky Business”. Who is Best Positioned to Solve the Problem?

By Francesca Rheannon | Published: July 3, 2014

On June 24th, a panel composed largely of Masters of the Universe told the American business community that it was time to get serious about global warming.

Arraigned along the dais were former Goldman Sachs and U.S. Treasury potentates Robert Rubin and Hank Paulson, billionaire climate activist Tom Steyer, former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg, former U.S. Housing Secretary and real estate investment magnate Henry Cisneros, Cargill CEO Gregory Page and former U.S. HHS Secretary Donna Shalala, among others.

The occasion: a press conference to announce the release of the first in-depth report on the economic impact of climate change ever to be produced in the United States.

Posted in Capitalism 2.0, Climate change, Energy, Cities and Climate Change, Social and Environmental Impacts, Sustainable Agriculture, The Hub | Tagged agriculture, cargill, climate change, climate choas, donna shalala, energy prices, food riots, global warming, gregory page, henry cisneros, henry paulson, mike bloomberg, real estate, risky business, robert rubin, sustainability, tom steyer | Comments closed

Will The Trans-Pacific Partnership Create More Wealth Concentration?

By Francesca Rheannon | Published: February 20, 2014

[…the trade agreements could threaten attempts to improve wages and working conditions, pass protective environmental laws, promote renewable energy over fossil fuels or “green chemistry” over toxics and rein in climate change…]

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and its sibling, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), are supposed to be pro-business. They are being heavily pushed by pro-corporate political leaders, like President Obama, and huge multinational corporations like Walmart, Cargill and Chevron, who have been involved in the negotiations.

But not all business is on board. In fact, many in the sustainable business community are adamantly opposed, not only to the trade agreements the US is negotiating with Europe and the Pacific nations, but also to “Fast Track” authority the Congress might pass to strike the deals.

Posted in Business and Sustainability, Social and Environmental Impacts | Tagged business ethics, csr, environment, middle class, policy, sustainable, tpp, trade agreements, Trans-Pacific Partnership, triple bottom line, wealth gap | Comments closed

Sustainability from the CEO’s Office: Intel’s Leadership in Removing Conflict Minerals from the Supply Chain

By Francesca Rheannon | Published: January 29, 2014

The CES Gets More than Tech Talk

The Consumer Electronics Show is Las Vegas’ biggest trade show of the year. It’s the place where crowds go to swoon over the latest gadgets and tech toys and scope out what’s new and hot in TVs, watches and phones. It’s a far cry from the killing fields of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where warlords and rebel groups have killed, maimed, raped and kidnapped millions of people.

But Intel CEO Brian Krzanich wants everyone to know that those killing fields are actually no further than that shiny new gadget they may be holding in their hands. He’s been the motivating force behind Intel’s commitment to cleanse its supply chain of conflict minerals – the tungsten, tantalum, gold and tin that are mined and sold by armed groups in the DRC to finance their murderous operations. Since 1994, more than five million people have died in civil conflicts in the DRC.

Posted in Business and Sustainability, Conflict Minerals, Human Rights, Leadership, Leadership & Culture, Retail and Supply Chain, Social Impact, Sustainable Supply Chain, The Hub, Video, Workers Rights | Tagged audits, ceo, ces, cleantech, compliance, conflict minerals, congo, csr, Dodd-Frank, human rights, intel, reporting, supply chain, technology | Comments closed

Is Capitalism as we know on its way to Extinction? A Conversation about Capitalism 2.0

By Francesca Rheannon | Published: January 14, 2014

When John Elkington coined the term “the Triple Bottom Line [TBL],” many hoped it would provide the lodestar for steering capitalism into a more just, sustainable future. Twenty years have passed since and that future seems as far away today as it did then—while the time to make that transition before Total Systems Collapse grows ever short.

Elkington himself has moved beyond TBL to Zeronauts – a vision of a zero carbon emissions market economy – and called for “Breakthrough Capitalism” to bring about a “market revolution.”

It’s not that there hasn’t been progress toward this goal.

Posted in Behaviour Change, Capitalism 2.0, Interviews, Leadership & Culture, Organizational Change, sustainability trends, systemic change, The Hub, Video | Tagged capitalism 2.0, new economy, The Extinction Economy, The Sustainable Economy Project | Comments closed

When did citizens/taxpayers become a top-up mechanism to subsidize low wage workers’ pay?

By Francesca Rheannon | Published: December 18, 2013

[Editor’s note: Thankfully here in Canada we don’t have many of these issues but for low wage employees…it’s no paradise here either. The social component of corporate sustainability clearly has a role to play BUT will the system allow for the necessary change?]

Fast food giant MacDonald sparked widespread scorn recently when it was found to have provided its low wage workers with tips about saving money, like “Breaking food into pieces often results in eating less and still feeling full” and advice on applying for food stamps.

Posted in Business and Sustainability, Capitalism 2.0, Capitalism2.0, Ethics, Social Impact, systemic change, The Hub | Tagged business ethics, capitalism 2.0, corporate sustainability, fast food, living wage, Mcdonalds, minimum wage, poverty wage, shareholders, subsidies, taxes, taxpayer subsidies, yum brands | Comments closed

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Articles by Francesca

Is Capitalism as we know on its way to Extinction? A Conversation about Capitalism 2.0

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