Five Must-Subscribe Newsletters for the Educated Sustainability Leader
Time is money, and sustainability professionals rarely have enough of either, so let’s make this short and sweet. At Future 500, we strive to keep our fingers on the pulse of a wide array of environmental and social issues material to our corporate and NGO partners. But we’re busy, too, which is why we often rely on well-crafted newsletters and digests to help us monitor current trends and stakeholder activity.
Of course, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of sustainability content now flooding the digital marketplace. From climate change to water stewardship, brand advocacy to ESG disclosure, there is no shortage of well-crafted insights that can be delivered to your inbox on a regular basis. How to prioritize?
Never fear, Future 500 is here to help. I took a quick survey of our team to identify the content we find indispensable to our sustainability and stakeholder engagement work. In no particular order, below are our regular “must-reads.” Be sure the scroll to the end for tips on how to make your content digestion even more efficient. (NOTE: This is not paid content, we just genuinely like helping out our fellow green geeks).
1) Brands Taking Stands – by John Howell, Editorial Director at 3BL Media
What it is: Weekly data-driven insights and commentary on the emerging “brand advocacy” movement, where companies and executives are using their money and mouths to show stakeholders what they stand for.
Read it for: Data points, C-suite quotes, and new research you can use to make the business case for stakeholder engagement and a sustainability-centric communications strategy.
2) Clean Energy Review – by Clean Energy Canada, a climate and clean energy think tank based at Simon Fraser University
What it is: A weekly summary of “the week’s 10 most important climate and clean energy developments” (and not just from Canada).
Read it for: Compelling charts, graphics and stats you’ll want to steal for your next presentation.
You might also like: CEC’s well-designed reports summarizing original research and economic modeling on the shifting global energy landscape.
3) Innovation Forum Business Brief – by Innovation Forum, a London-based sustainability events and publishing company
What it is: Weekly coverage of emerging trends across five key issues – supply chain strategy, forests and agriculture, human rights and trade, business innovation, and seafood and oceans.
Read it for: Pithy but incisive analysis, interviews with sustainability leaders where the questions aren’t all softballs, and insight into what EU companies and NGOs are prioritizing.
You might also like: IF’s podcast and regular convenings on deforestation, sustainable ag, modern slavery, sustainable apparel, and other issues.
4) Morning Energy – by Politico, an American political journalism company
What it is: A daily digest of the latest in U.S. energy and environmental policy.
Read it for: It’s exhaustiveness, snarkiness, and occasional trivia.
You might also like: Daily Agriculture, Politico’s daily briefing on agriculture and food policy.
5) The Stream – by Circle of Blue, a water-centric non-profit journalism organization
What it is: A daily summary of the most pressing global water news.
Read it for: It’s conciseness – quick-and-dirty stats, quotes, overviews of recent research and reports, and a summary paragraph right at the top.
You might also like: CoB’s Federal Water Tap digest on U.S. government water policy, and their weekly What’s Up With Water podcast.
Honorable Mentions:
Want to understand the world view and priorities of influential campaigners and activists like 350.org, Greenpeace, Food & Water Watch, and NRDC? Check out EcoWatch‘s daily newsletter for unique perspectives and opinion pieces from leading advocates.
Few sustainability leaders recognize the influence that foundations and philanthropists can have on current environmental and social trends. Inside Philanthropy’s daily newsletter offers a peek into funder grantmaking and priorities across a wide array of issues, including the environment (note: there is a paywall if you’re reading more than a few articles per month).
Our marketing manager would kill me if I didn’t encourage you to subscribe to Future 500’s monthly newsletter, where you’ll find insights on stakeholder engagement trends we’re following, interviews with fellow sustainability advocates and corporate leaders, and discounts on upcoming sustainability events.
Still overwhelmed?
Consider signing up for Unroll.me, a free service that compiles all your subscription-based emails into a single daily digest, and that provides easy one-click unsubscribing from anything you’re no longer reading. For a more tailored approach, try auto-forwarding select newsletters past your inbox into a dedicated email folder.
This article was originally published on LinkedIn.
Future 500 is a non-profit consultancy that builds trust between companies, advocates, investors, and philanthropists to advance business as a force for good. Based in San Francisco, we specialize in stakeholder engagement, sustainability strategy, and responsible communication. From stakeholder mapping to materiality assessments, partnership development to activist engagement, target setting to CSR reporting strategy, we empower our partners with the skills and relationships needed to systemically tackle today's most pressing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) challenges.
Want to learn more? Reach out any time.
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