Jeff Bezos

CEO of Amazon
Net worth:* $201 billion
True tax rate:** 0.10%
Average warehouse worker salary: $31,329
Average worker tax rate (federal):*** 14%

Elon Musk

CEO of Tesla
Net worth: $297 billion
True tax rate: 3.27%
Tesla technician salary: $62,520
Worker tax rate: 18%

Warren Buffett

CEO of Berkshire Hathaway
Net worth: $100 billion
True tax rate: 0.10%
Worker salary at Coca-Cola:**** $46,532
Worker tax rate: 34%

Michael Bloomberg

CEO of Bloomberg
Net worth: $70 billion
True tax rate: 1.3%
Average reporter salary: $101,664
Worker tax rate: 22.54%

Mark Zuckerberg

CEO of Meta (formerly Facebook)
Net worth: $116.1 billion
True tax rate: unknown
Meta employee salary: $124,000
Worker tax rate: 24.17%

Tim Cook

CEO of Apple
Net worth: $1.4 billion
True tax rate: unknown
Apple software engineer salary: $174,369
Worker tax rate: 25.36%

*All dollar amounts are U.S.
**To calculate CEOs’ true tax rates, ProPublica compared the federal taxes they paid from 2014 to 2018 to how much Forbes estimated their wealth grew during that time.
***Average worker tax rate includes federal income tax, social security and medicare taxes.
****Top holding

The post Knight Bites: Mind the billionaire wealth gap appeared first on Corporate Knights.

Hard-pressed bosses who had trouble recruiting talent before the COVID-19 pandemic are now scrambling to cut turnover, reduce employee stress and make their businesses magnets for talent.

Fortunately, there’s one solution to all three problems: converting your company to employee ownership. In an era when business success depends on having caring, creative employees, there’s no team like a group of peers who trust each other, set objectives together – and share the rewards.

In the U.S. and the U.K., enthusiasm for employee ownership is well established. In Canada, which has no special legal mechanisms to promote employee ownership, support is mainly theoretical. A survey last spring by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business found that 59% of business owners favour introducing policies similar to those in the U.S. and U.K., and 53% said they’d be more likely to sell shares to their employees if such policies are introduced.

The U.K. began prioritizing employee share ownership plans following a 2012 report, by the Yorkshire-based Employee Ownership Association, that said modern British business just wasn’t working: “Excessive profit-chasing, failures of accountability, low levels of employee engagement have damaged many British businesses, and undermine their capacity to deliver value to customers and high quality jobs.” By contrast, employee-owned firms emphasize quality of life, accountability and transparency.

Now employee ownership is growing fast. The White Rose Centre for Employee Ownership says the number of U.K. firms with employee ownership plans jumped 30%, to 730, between June 2020 and June 2021. With the pandemic pressuring businesses to become more innovative and resilient, experts expect another record year in fiscal 2022.

If you have employees who feel safe, honoured and respected, they’re going to give their best.

-Barbara Fagan-Smith of ROI Communication Inc.

The U.S. has long supported employee ownership through legislation that allows business owners to transfer shares to their employees, and be compensated over time through the earnings of the company. About 6,300 U.S. companies now have employee-ownership plans; 260 new firms make the transition every year. Surprisingly, the total number of companies with employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) has declined in recent years. But one observer tells Corporate Knights that’s because employee-owned firms have become popular targets for other companies trying to grow through acquisitions.

Toronto-based Social Capital Partners is heading a campaign to convince Ottawa that Canada needs more employee-ownership mechanisms, but change could take years. In the meantime, one San Francisco entrepreneur says business owners should do all they can to put their employees in charge. Barbara Fagan-Smith of ROI Communication Inc., which advises corporate clients on internal communications, says she founded her consultancy 20 years ago with an employee-first culture. “If you have employees who feel safe, honoured and respected, they’re going to give their best,” she says. She says converting to ESOP status last summer had immediate impact. As employees began thinking like owners, they took more interest in the business and identified more with its goals. They worked more confidently, collaborated more smoothly and started engaging with strategies and financial statements.

Ownership mythology says an ESOP’s first year can be a big growth year, and Fagan-Smith confirms that’s been the case at ROI, which recorded three of its best months ever in 2021 and hired 15 new people.

While business owners get paid over time for the shares they give up, Fagan-Smith says she could have made more money selling ROI to one of several consulting firms that offered to acquire it. She turned them all down, knowing no buyer could preserve ROI’s special culture.

Fagan-Smith says she’ll net less from the ESOP, but she takes more joy in knowing the organization she built will survive intact. And she’ll be there, too, working alongside her colleagues as one of 200 employee-owners.

The post Is employee ownership a better way for businesses to beat the Big Quit? appeared first on Corporate Knights.

After 70 years of frustration with government-led fusion projects, a British Columbia company, General Fusion (GF), says it’s finally developing the world’s first fusion power plant. Sure, cynics say fusion is always 10 years away. But some major investors are now showing up, including Jeff Bezos and Tobi Lütke, founders of e-commerce giants Amazon and Shopify. Proponents say this technology, in theory, can create energy that’s cheaper than nuclear, solar or wind by fusing the nuclei of two hydrogen isotopes. Founded in Burnaby in 2002, GF just announced it has raised US$130 million, bringing its total capital to $300 million. That’s enough to start construction of a demonstration fusion plant in the U.K., in partnership with the U.K. Atomic Energy Authority. GF hopes the technology will be commercialized by decade’s end, calling it “the vaccine of climate change.”

A better way to mine lithium

The electric vehicle revolution rests heavily on lithium as the key component of massive EV battery packs. It’s “mined,” mainly in Chile and Australia, through an arduous process of pumping underground saltwater into massive evaporation ponds, then waiting months while the lithium slowly extracts itself. Now a Calgary-based company, Summit Nanotech, has a faster, greener way that should help stabilize North America’s supply. Summit uses advanced materials to directly extract lithium from natural brines, a process that doubles the yield, requires no fresh water, and reduces chemical use and waste by 90%. It’s now beginning trials with six mining partners in Chile. Meanwhile, Summit founder Amanda Hall just won the Women in Cleantech Challenge, a national start-up competition, accepting the $1-million prize from fellow futurist Margaret Atwood in the fall.

Net-zero buildings that absorb carbon like trees

Our homes and offices are huge carbon emitters. In the United States, buildings account for nearly a third of greenhouse gas emissions – and that’s not even counting the construction phase. How do we produce buildings that do more good than harm? At the UN climate conference in November, Chicago-based architects Skidmore, Owings & Merrill introduced Urban Sequoia: buildings that act like trees, with nature-based systems that sequester more carbon than they produce. Outside, these buildings would be wrapped in algae-filled facades that collect solar energy and produce biofuels to power the building. Inside, structural components are made of biological materials such as hempcrete – a concrete replacement made by combining lime and hemp. The firm is now seeking partners to test its designs.

United flies 737 fuelled by corn sugar

History was made in December when a United Airlines 737 with a bright green swoosh flew from Chicago to Washington, D.C. Even United’s CEO rode along to mark the event: the first passenger flight of a twin-engine jet running one engine on standard aviation fuel and the other on 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). United says the engine burning synthetic kerosene, made from corn sugar, ran as efficiently as its twin while emitting 75% less carbon. On board were more than 100 VIPS from government, airlines, aircraft makers and energy companies, eager to show their faith in plant-based energy. These fuels may be just a stopgap on the way to electric aircraft, but a group of 50 airlines and energy firms recently pledged that by 2030, SAFs would represent 10% of total aviation fuel consumption – up from 0.1% today.

Meet Canada’s first hydrogen courier fleet

Andrew Mitchell was a four-time Canadian mountain biking champion until he fell off his bike in a race nine years ago. So he geared down and launched Geazone Eco-Courier, a Victoria, B.C., delivery firm powered by Mitchell and two friends riding electric bikes. Today Mitchell is a sustainability champion. Despite consistent growth, including expansion to Vancouver, Geazone has always maintained an emission-free fleet. Besides its e-bikes, pedal-powered cargo tricycles and electric trucks, Geazone is now taking possession of 40 fuel-cell EVs from Toyota: Canada’s first hydrogen-powered fleet. Clearly, B.C.’s leadership in building four hydrogen-fuelling stations, in Victoria and the Lower Mainland, is paying off.

The post What’s next: Powering a plane on corn syrup and other green innovations giving us hope appeared first on Corporate Knights.

One encouraging outcome of the UN climate summit in November was a clear recognition that the days of coal-fired power are numbered. The Glasgow Climate Pact that came out of the summit is the first multilateral climate agreement that explicitly notes the need to move away from the black rock that still generates about 36% of the world’s electricity.

Even so, the pact leaves much to be desired. The final wording was watered down in the face of fierce lobbying by big coal producers and consumers, notably India and China. Signatories committed in the end only to “phase down” rather than “phase out” the use of coal. Given such foot-dragging, the spotlight now falls on who is willing – or not – to back up the Glasgow agreement’s words with action. To their credit, the U.S., the E.U. and, most recently, China have pledged to cut public financing of new coal projects in other countries. That commitment sends a powerful signal to banks that coal has become a risky investment.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has launched a plan to speed up the closure of coal-fired power plants in the region, starting with Indonesia and the Philippines. Under an initiative known as the Energy Transition Mechanism, the bank would help finance public–private partnerships to buy the generating stations. The ADB support would shorten the time that owners need to recoup their investment and depreciation costs, enabling them to decommission plants five to 10 years earlier than their normal lifespan.

Coal currently generates two-thirds of Indonesia’s electricity and 57% of power in the Philippines. The two countries, joined by Vietnam, aim to retire half their coal-power capacity over the next 10 to 15 years. The ADB estimates that would cut 200 million tons of CO2 a year, equal to taking 61 million cars off the road.

Several dozen NGOs across the region described the plan as “a step in the right direction,” but they also expressed strong misgivings. Among them: fears that the buyout mechanism will incentivize operators of older coal-fired plants to extend their planned lifespan and the lack of any assurance that retired coal capacity will be replaced by renewable energy. Time will tell whether these concerns are justified. In the meantime, the ADB deserves marks for putting its money where its mouth is.

Zero: Croatia Airlines

In fairness, we should probably cut some slack to a small company struggling to keep its business aloft in tough times. Yet we would be remiss not to draw attention to Croatia Airlines’ dismal emissions performance at a time when the aviation industry is under growing scrutiny for its role in global warming.

The Zagreb-based carrier, which operates just 13 planes, ranks dead last in the Airline Sustainability Benchmarking Report, published in October by the Centre for Aviation (CAPA), which conducts market research for the aviation and travel industry. Croatia Airlines reported CO2 emissions of 122 tonnes per million passenger kilometres, more than double top-ranked Wizz Air, a low-cost airline based in neighbouring Hungary.

Other poor performers among the 52 carriers surveyed are Turkish Airlines, Japan Airlines and British Airways, while Wizz Air is closely followed at the top of the list by Shanghai-based Juneyao Airlines, Ireland’s Ryanair and Norwegian Air Shuttle. Air Canada ranks 15th. The findings are based on 2019 data – in other words, prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Aircraft generate about 3% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. However, “flight shaming” has become a popular tactic among environmental activists thanks to air travel’s high profile and its frequent association with the higher per-capita carbon emissions of the rich and famous.

Robin Hayes, chief executive of JetBlue Airways, has warned that it is only a matter of time before Americans find more environmentally friendly alternatives to flying. “This issue presents a clear and present danger if we don’t get on top of it,” he told analysts in early 2020.

The age of an airline’s fleet can make a big difference to its emissions performance. The Croatians rank 229th out of 258 carriers operating Airbus A320 aircraft and 111th out of 122 operators of Airbus A319s, according to EX-YU Aviation News. The airline ordered four newer – and cleaner — Airbus A320neo models in 2015 but has recently been in talks to cancel the deal because of financial strains.

Fingers crossed that the airline – and other carriers – will soon find more fuel-efficient planes – and more eco-friendly fuel – at a price they and their passengers can afford.

The post Heroes and Zeros: Asian Development Bank vs. Croatia Airlines appeared first on Corporate Knights.

The moment, some believe, is ripe for business schools globally to embrace social purpose.

“Business schools should be positioned at the nexus of business, government and civil society,” observes Dan LeClair, chief executive officer of the Global Business School Network, a non-profit that promotes management education in the developing world. “Unless we do that and unless we work with business, government and civil society, we will not move the needle on critical societal issues.”

Change is coming, as students prod schools for socially relevant curricula and employers seek graduates as attuned to social inequities as profit-and-loss statements. Business school accrediting bodies have added their voice to the choir. In 2020, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International) set standards for schools to identify how they will create social impact through teaching, research and community engagement.

“It’s not ‘Tell us a list of the good things you are doing’; you have to have a robust strategic plan,” says Stephanie Bryant, executive vice-president and global chief accreditation officer for AACSB, itself committed to “transform business education globally for positive societal impact.”

Some schools are adopting strategic plans to guide their aspirations on social purpose. Last fall, led by freshman dean Dana Brown, the Sprott School of Business at Ottawa’s Carleton University released a five-point plan for curricula upgrades, expanded research, and new partnerships with under-represented groups by 2025 to deliver “business for a better world.”

Over time, all courses will incorporate critical perspectives on the purpose of business and train students to evaluate the social and environmental impact of corporate decisions, with minors in technology entrepreneurship and social innovation focused on positive change.

Along with proposed research chairs in business environmental sustainability, as well as equity and inclusion, Sprott recently partnered with Indigenous Works, a national social enterprise, to create an innovation strategy that promotes economic well-being for self-identified First Nation, Métis and Inuit people. In December, with federal government funding, the school announced a national research initiative with the Dream Legacy Foundation to develop a national Black entrepreneurship hub. Sprott’s strategic plan began with a question: “What do we want to be doing better?”

“Business schools should be positioned at the nexus of business, government and civil society. Unless we do that… we will not move the needle on critical societal issues.”

-Dan LeClair, chief executive officer of the Global Business School Network

Brown says the school knew it wanted to incorporate a different way of learning for students that would create experiential learning opportunities at home and abroad. “Our students need to be empowered to build purpose in their life and career.”

Other schools are adopting partnerships to reimagine the status quo. In recent years, Calgary-based Trico Charitable Foundation has collaborated with the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary on curriculum, research and outreach activities. “For some time, I have been a big believer in business schools and post-secondary institutions in general as meccas for social impact,” says Trico executive director Dan Overall. In November, in an event held every two years, the school and the foundation held a two-day conference for social entrepreneurs at all stages of development.

Last year, France’s Grenoble School of Management became its country’s first major business school to earn “Société à mission” status, joining more than 100 companies pledging to operate in support of society and the environment.

In doing so, the school commits to generate content and research that seek answers to environmental, social and economic challenges and to contribute “to a world that is more resilient, more just, and peaceful and more responsible.”

Themes of sustainability, corporate social responsibility, inclusion and diversity weave through the curriculum. An undergraduate course on “sustainability as a strategic lever for companies” explores corporate practices (good and bad) that play out in global circumstances of poverty, social inequality, resource scarcity and climate change. For an MBA course on sustainability-driven business, students examine the role of entrepreneurship in promoting social impact initiatives.

School officials currently are assessing all courses to ensure consistent application of the five Société à mission objectives (promotion of ethical behaviour, diversity, inclusion, economic peace and recognition of the climate emergency), linked to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). “While there is already a broad selection of modules, we are harmonizing and ensuring that each program has the appropriate content,” says Julie Perrin-Halot, associate dean and director of quality, strategy and international issues.

With a school focus on planet and people first, she says, “profit is no longer an end; students understand it is simply a means.”

A few schools are expressly adding social impact to their program lineups. Boston University’s Questrom School of Business delivers a two-year social impact MBA. For the program, which shares core content with the school’s regular MBA, students take at least four social impact courses, including environmental, social and corporate governance; purpose-led marketing; and leading mission-driven organizations.

In Newfoundland, Memorial University’s Faculty of Business Administration designed its MBA in social enterprise and entrepreneurship for graduates to lead enterprises that respect people, planet and profits.

As schools revamp curricula, calls mount to rethink traditional research and academic promotion practices. “We have to change our evaluation and reward system; it is just that simple,” says David Reibstein, chairman-elect of Responsible Research in Business and Management, a scholars’ network that promotes research for impact, not just journal citations.

“We need leaders in business schools who say, ‘[Social impact] is important and something that we will encourage and reward,” says Reibstein, a marketing professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business and former chairman of the American Marketing Association.

“Profit is no longer an end; students understand it is simply a means.”

-Julie Perrin-Halot, associate dean of Grenoble School of Management

Amid some progress, he cites a peer-reviewed academic journal’s decision to accept scholarly papers on how marketing can contribute to a better world. “They got more submissions than for a normal journal,” he notes. “How fantastic is that?”

Some academics successfully pivoted years ago. In 2001/2002, Texas A&M marketing professor Leonard Berry spent his mid-career sabbatical at the Mayo Clinic to pursue his research interest, service delivery, studying how the renowned health organization treats patients and their families.

“The best way to learn deeply about a problem I want to contribute to solving is to go to where the problem occurs,” says Berry, who credits his school culture for enabling his non-traditional approach. “I was willing to leave my office.”

Earlier this year, Berry and top academics from the U.S. and Europe co-wrote a paper for AACSB International urging researchers to incorporate impact in subject disciplines. “As business school faculty, we can produce research that convinces managers to cease practices that cause harm, such as mistreating employees, polluting airways and rivers, or depleting resources,” the professors wrote.

Elsewhere, schools look beyond the ivory tower for impact. Since 2016, the University of Sydney Business School has offered an MBA course for students to work in Bangalore, India, to help scale up social entrepreneurs. In another unit, students visit Indigenous communities in New South Wales to assist start-ups and learn about First Nations culture. The school partners with an Australia-based United Nations women’s advocacy group to offer scholarships – 20 since 2014 – to women in specialty MBA programs. Recently, the school published an employer guide for hiring refugees. “Issues of inclusion and social impact are dramatically changing the landscape, with climate change an important driver as well,” says the school’s MBA director, Guy Ford.

In the United States, Sloan School of Management, the business school of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, created a global platform for social impact through its Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program (REAP). Since 2014, teams of decision-makers from government and academia, venture capitalism and social entrepreneurships from around the world (each with its own regional challenge) participate in Sloan-led workshops over two years. With access to Sloan professors, experts and each other, the teams identify solutions for their regions.

In 2016, a team from Nova Scotia participated in REAP and later established Onside, a non-profit, to foster local social enterprises. New projects designed to narrow the rural–urban economic divide between Halifax and the rest of the province are set to be announced in February 2022. Onside executive director Alex McCann says the REAP format encourages local collaboration while also learning from global counterparts. She credits Sloan with looking for new ways to support businesses “as a force for good and [to] have impact in a positive way.”

The message for business schools worldwide is clear: pick up the pace.

Jennifer Lewington is an intrepid reporter and writes regularly on many topics, including business school news.

The post As corporate leaders pledge to embrace purpose beyond profit, are business schools keeping up? appeared first on Corporate Knights.

Experts disagree. “It is not the fault of the green transition that we have a fossil fuel energy crunch at the moment. That’s just silly,” says Henning Gloystein, director of energy, climate and resources at Eurasia Group, a geopolitical risk consultancy.

Here are three things that have actually contributed to the volatility of global energy prices:

1. It’s the economic rebound, stupid.

The global economy was expected to grow by almost 6% in 2021, as wealthy countries vaccinated their populations and emerged from lockdowns. This growth, which would be the fastest pace of post-recession recovery in almost 80 years, according to the World Bank, has put pressure on supply chains, including in the energy sector, where demand for fuel has grown.

2. Supply, supply, supply.

Across the world, a number of issues have derailed fuel supply. Russia has been accused of contributing to the crisis by declining to provide additional natural gas to Europe through a colder-than-usual fall and winter, but the Kremlin says its suppliers have met their contractual obligations and are willing to send more. Over the past five years, China has also transitioned millions of households every year from coal-powered electricity to natural gas, without adding natural gas import contracts on an equivalent scale. As for the surge in oil prices, look to OPEC and allies, which tightened output last year in response to the pandemic.

3. Underinvestment in the green transition.

If anything, the energy crunch shows we need to invest more in the green transition, not less, experts say. Tim Gould, chief energy economist at the International Energy Agency, says, “There’s a clear warning sign there about the risks of future volatility, and the way out of that impasse is very clear.” Around US$1 trillion is being spent on energy transitions across the world per year. Gould suggests this needs to be tripled. He adds, “Well-managed transitions represent a solution for many of the issues represented in markets today. But they do have to be well-managed.”

In the long run, Gloystein says, the green transition will eventually lead to more stable energy prices, but it must be properly managed and volatility communicated honestly by politicians. “This has been a global storm, but it has highlighted the shortcomings on the investment and regulatory side that have to be addressed in this transition,” he says.

The post 3 things you should blame for energy price surges instead of climate policies appeared first on Corporate Knights.

“The growth potential is immense. But the social-impact potential, that’s phenomenal,” says Sa’ad Shah, co-founder and managing partner of Noetic Fund, which recently opened their second round of funding, looking to raise $200 million. The Toronto-based venture capital fund invests specifically in new therapeutic treatments, and psychedelics are a big part of their focus. Shah says Noetic has already seen the market grow exponentially in the last year and predicts a market cap into the billions soon. “If you miss a week, you’ve missed a year,” Shah says.

While psychedelics might seem like an under-the-radar industry now, it won’t stay that way for long. Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal, backed start-up Atai Life Sciences, which boasted a valuation of US$2.3 billion. Champion boxer Mike Tyson has put his cash behind Wesana Health, which had a market cap of more than $40 million in December. Celebrity investor Kevin O’Leary is also talking up psychedelics, saying in May that the potential of psychedelics “far exceeds the potential of cannabis.”

With one in five North Americans experiencing a mental illness in any given year, a growing crop of investors, companies and researchers are betting on the medicinal future of psychedelics. Currently, there are about 50 publicly traded psychedelic companies globally, most funding, supporting or completing their own clinical research. Some focus on psilocybin (you might know them as magic mushrooms), and others are exploring chemical derivatives such as MDMA, ketamine and LSD. Leading medical research facilities like Johns Hopkins University, Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital are dedicating new centres and resources to study the use of psychedelics in treatment. One major Canadian centre, at Toronto’s University Health Network, received a $5-million donation from entrepreneur Sanjay Singhal in October.

Though psychedelics research dates back to the 1950s and ’60s, the U.S. Controlled Substances Act put the kibosh on it, when psychedelics got lumped in with other drugs and possession became a federal crime. One of the longest-running research bodies in the market today is the non-profit Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). For more than 30 years, MAPS has led the industry when it comes to studying the use of psychedelics in mental health treatments. It’s recently had a boost from the for-profit sector. In September, Wesana Health committed $1.5 million to MAPS to continue research into the effects of MDMA on traumatic brain injuries.

For investor Raad Seraj, having an institution like MAPS on the scene helps create a different way of looking at mental health. “They are creating an alternative pathway from a purely for-profit, Big Pharma model,” he says. As a venture partner at The Conscious Fund, Seraj has helped create new ways for retail investors to invest directly in therapeutic psychedelic start-ups. Investors like Seraj and Shah say that getting into the psychedelics market is about changing not just how these substances are viewed culturally, but how the whole field of mental health works.

In a standard therapy session, you might speak with a therapist about a specific issue, while they help you unpack your feelings over months or years. That therapist may prescribe medication to alleviate symptoms of depression or anxiety. Now imagine that same therapy session but with a low dose of psychedelics. Rather than take a pill daily, like a standard antidepressant, a patient would take a clinical dose of the drug in the presence of their therapist and work through their “trip” during the session.

When you look at the numbers, not just from a humanitarian perspective but from an economics perspective, more organizations will quickly come to the conclusion that covering access to psychedelic-assisted therapies is a good investment.

Ronan Levy, executive chairman at Field Trip Health

Research suggests that for someone suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, for instance, MDMA coupled with therapy can reduce feelings of fear and defensiveness and heighten feelings of trust. That’s why investors like Seraj are not just seeking out these opportunities but trying to bring others along with them. Seraj hosts regular sessions to introduce potential investors to the world of psychedelics. His goal with The Conscious Fund is to bring the investment opportunities to what he calls a community of “micro-angels” – those who don’t have a ready $125,000, the usual minimum for venture capital funds. “I think start-ups and early-stage companies around the world are recognized as the dominant generators of wealth. And archaic rules [requiring investor accreditation] generally have kept [regular] folks out of this market.”

But can the burgeoning sector avoid the cannabis problem, where legal businesses and grow operations are overwhelmingly owned by white people, while across North America people of colour are still more likely to face charges or jail time over drug possession? For Seraj, any investor has to support general decriminalization. “It doesn’t cost the [legal] market anything. In fact, the more you destigmatize it, the better it becomes.” He believes that more mainstream psychedelic use could help lower rising rates of ecological anxiety, distress and depression over climate change. “There’s a big connection between climate change, mental health and consciousness,” he says. “[Psychedelics are] how you create a resilient, adaptable human culture that can actually face what’s coming.”

For Ronan Levy, executive chairman at Field Trip Health, which offers ketamine-assisted psychotherapy in a dozen North American cities, the more these therapies become accessible for people, the more users will become aware of the historic inequalities in the field, and the more ideas on how to address them will emerge. “One of the social side effects of psychedelic experiences seems to be increased empathy and regard for other people. So it’s kind of a solution that starts to feed itself.”

Of course, there’s a long way to go before these therapies are available to everyone. For one, many of the substances, including MDMA and psilocybin, will likely not get the legal green light for another few years, though some jurisdictions are leading the way. Detroit decriminalized psychedelics in November 2021, meaning that possessing psilocybin is still illegal, but police won’t prioritize those arrests. The California state senate passed a bill last summer to legalize psychedelics, though the bill still has to pass through other layers of government before it becomes law.

And the therapies that are available now can be prohibitively expensive for many. A full round of treatment at Field Trip, for instance, is hundreds of dollars per session. Levy says that’s an issue that Field Trip is still grappling with, and it comes down to access. “Insurance is a piece of it, and innovating around group therapies to lower costs,” he explains. “I believe that when you look at the numbers, not just from a humanitarian perspective but from an economics perspective, more organizations will quickly come to the conclusion that covering access to psychedelic-assisted therapies is a good investment.”

Levy anticipates that once more physicians and counsellors become comfortable using these therapies in their treatment, the benefit to the healthcare system could be huge. “I think the U.S. alone spends close to $250 billion on treating depression and anxiety with the cost of medicine and the ancillary services, so you can appreciate just how large of an industry this can be. [It can become] the primary form of mental-health care.”

Of course, that boom that Levy predicts is dependent on a number of factors. Clinical trials have to keep getting positive results and legislators have to take big steps forward. With that in mind, Janet Gray, a certified financial planner with Money Coaches Canada, suggests a bit of caution for the curious investor. “We’ve been through this before, with cannabis five years ago and Bitcoin a few years ago. There’s always something new to excite the market to this degree.” She says she’d invest 5% of her portfolio into psychedelics at this point, possibly up to 10% for a long-term investment. Even if there’s a case of investment FOMO, Gray advises people to do more research. “What are the medical people saying? What are the legislators and policy-makers saying?” From there, Gray says, you’re in a much better position to see how far down the rabbit hole you’d like to go.

Emily Baron Cadloff is a Halifax-based journalist. She often writes about pop culture, food and education.

The post Investment trip: Why psychedelic stocks could take off in 2022 appeared first on Corporate Knights.

“This alternative protein source marks a step forward on our sustainability journey to use science to help provide the best possible care for pets,” Hills said in a statement.

Bond first announced the creation of “the world’s first animal-free, cultured chicken meat protein” in 2020. Their Hill-branded products are still in development but are part of a growing trend of pet foods that don’t include meat from animals.

In September, pet food company Wild Earth announced plans to develop dog and cat food made with cell-based meat, with the help of a US$23-million gift from investors who included billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban. Wild Earth first partnered with Cuban via a deal made on the business reality-TV show Shark Tank, when Cuban agreed to invest $550,000 for 10% of the company.

Since then, Wild Earth has secured an additional $16.2 million in funding from other investors.

According to research conducted by Insight Partners, the global market for vegan pet food is forecasted to grow from roughly US$9 billion in 2021 to almost US$16.7 billion by 2028. What’s driving that growth? The rise in vegan pet owners and plant-based diets is a major factor. Pet food companies like Hill’s are also looking to reduce their carbon footprints.

In a 2017 study, Environmental Impacts of Food Consumption by Dogs and Cats, University of California Los Angeles professor Gregory Okin found that meat consumed by cats and dogs in the U.S. alone produces the equivalent of roughly 64 million tons of CO2 per year – an impact equal to 13 million cars being driven for a year. The study calculated that pets are responsible for 25 to 30% of the environmental impact of meat consumption in the U.S. “If Americans’ 163 million Fidos and Felixes comprised a separate country, their fluffy nation would rank fifth in global meat consumption,” reads a UCLA press release, “behind only Russia, Brazil, the United States and China.”

For pet parents seeking to reduce their carbon paw prints, pet foods created with plant proteins such as peas, brown rice and oats, plus nutritional supplements, are becoming an increasingly accessible lower-carbon option. According to Allison Macabobby, a buyer with PetSmart, demand for the products is burgeoning. “We’ve carried plant-based dog food for several years and continue to see growing interest in these products,” she says.

This alternative protein source marks a step forward on our sustainability journey.

-Hill’s Pet Nutrition

One pioneering California-based brand, Natural Balance, has had a vegetarian dog kibble (which is actually vegan) on the market since 2008. Founded by actor and animal welfare advocate Dick Van Patten in 1989, Natural Balance’s meat-free food made of brown rice, oat groats, barley, peas and other ingredients is sold alongside the brand’s traditional animal-based products in mainstream pet supply stores across Canada and the U.S. and is priced similarly.

Natural Balance CEO Brian Connolly says the brand’s plant-based product “has maintained its position among the top performers across our Natural Balance dog food portfolio” and describes latest quarter sales across the U.S. as “showing positive gains.” In general, Connolly explains, “the plant-based dog food market is reflecting what a growing number of consumers are looking for in their own food today.”

Other exclusively plant-based brands such as V-dog (known as V-planet outside the U.S.) can be bought online and in some specialty shops, while California-based Plantiful sells dog food online and delivers it frozen across the U.S., but mainly in California. Owner Gayl Hyde, a licensed naturopath, says she and co-owner Eric Bandner were motivated to create the animal-free, whole-food product after becoming disenchanted with the quality of meat-based dog foods on the market.

“I came to the realization that the commercial pet food out there is not so healthy or holistic,” says Hyde. She went back to school to study canine nutrition and became interested in the idea of plant-based dog food. “I wanted something that I knew would be healthy not just for my dogs, but also healthy for the planet.”

Plantiful is made with human-grade ingredients, including organic lentils, peas, potatoes and more, and complies with the necessary standards of the Association of American Feed Control Officials. AAFCO is a non-profit membership association of local, state and federal agencies – including the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency – that “establishes the nutritional standards for complete and balanced pet foods,” according to its website. While AAFCO standards are not official regulations, most U.S. states have adopted a version of the AAFCO model into their own laws and regulations.

According to Canadian veterinarian Jonas Watson, meeting AAFCO standards is key to ensuring that animal-free foods satisfy dietary requirements. Watson warns that some commercially made vegan dog foods have been found to be deficient in certain amino acids, “which could lead to health risks for dogs.” He stresses that “it is important for pet food manufacturers to review their formulations to ensure the nutritional adequacy of these diets.”

Reports of nutritional insufficiencies in some products have fuelled controversy around feeding pets a plant-based diet. Justine Shotton, president of the British Veterinary Association, recently stated that the organization does not recommend putting cats or dogs on a meat-free diet. “It is theoretically possible to feed a dog a vegetarian diet, but owners would need to take expert advice to avoid dietary deficiencies and associated disease, as it is much easier to get the balance of nutrients wrong than to get it right.”

I came to the realization that the commercial pet food out there is not so healthy or holistic.

-Gayl Hyde, co-owner of Plantiful

The statement came after a veterinary professor at the University of Winchester, Andrew Knight, found through his research that cats and dogs “had as good, or better, health outcomes on plant-based diets as they did when fed on meat pet foods, provided these were carefully formulated with additional synthetic nutrients,” according to The Guardian.

In the U.K., news tabloids have been warning that pet owners can be prosecuted, fined or jailed for not providing their animals with a diet that meets all their nutritional needs, though this does not specifically apply to a plant-based diet.

“There is a lot of misinformation out there,” says Hyde, “that people think dogs need meat versus dogs need nutrients. They need amino acids; they need protein, not meat.”

The topic of feeding cats a vegan diet is even more controversial. Unlike dogs, which are considered omnivores, cats are categorized as obligate carnivores, meaning their physiology requires animal-based food for survival. In particular, cats need an amino acid called taurine, which can be consumed only through meat or supplements. While there are some supplemented plant-based cat foods on the market, Watson believes that lab-grown meat will be the “game changer” for cat food.

Lab-grown meat is largely still at the development stage. Although in August 2021, Philadelphia-based start-up Because, Animals announced the “world’s first-ever cultured meat product for pets,” the Harmless Hunt mouse cookies for cats, manufactured with mouse meat made without killing any mice. In late 2021, the company debuted plans to open a new laboratory in Vienna, Austria, ahead of its products hitting shelves in 2022, depending on regulatory approval.

A 2020 study by the IBM Institute for Business Value found that nearly 60% of those surveyed were “willing to change their shopping habits to reduce environmental impact.” Consumers are increasingly embracing social causes and seeking products and brands that align with their values. For conscious pet owners, this means hunting for ethical ways to feed their furry friends. For the pet food industry, this means bringing plant- and cellular-meat-based products to an eager and growing market.

Update: A study from 2020 looking at the global impacts of pet food production found that the emissions impact of pet food may be much lower: 1.1%−2.9% of global agricultural emissions. Though this still amounts to a significant environmental footprint.

Jessica Scott-Reid is a freelance writer covering animal rights and welfare and plant-based food topics. She is also a co-host of the Canadian animal law podcast Paw & Order.

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In his 22 years as a New York City police officer, Adams had a weakness for late-night drive-throughs, burgers and chicken wings. The comfort food was a warm respite from the darkness of his job. Then came the back pain and sore feet. In 2016, as the slightly overweight borough president of Brooklyn, he woke up one morning with stomach pains and blurred vision. The diagnosis: Adams had developed type 2 diabetes. High blood sugar had damaged the blood vessels behind his eyes. The doctor said he’d be on meds for the rest of his life.

But Adams had been trained to analyze crime scenes. Yes, diabetes ran in his family. But what if the fault was his diet? Adams began exploring the potential of plant-based foods. Soon he was swapping smoked sausages for sliced avocados. His vision cleared up, and he says his diabetes went into remission.

Before long he gained the energy to help the whole city discover plant-based foods. Working with the NYC mayor’s office, the school board and health authorities, Adams has championed farmers’ markets in “food desert” communities; banned hot dogs from school lunches; campaigned for “Meatless Mondays” in hospitals, schools and prisons; and created a plant-based medicine pilot in a local hospital.

Encouraged by these successes, Adams announced he would run for mayor of NYC as a greenish blue-collar candidate. After beating former presidential candidate Andrew Yang and a long list of candidates for the Democratic nomination last July, Adams won a landslide victory over Republican talk-show host Curtis Sliwa in November. On January 1, he took office as the second Black and first vegan mayor of America’s largest city. (Although reports have surfaced that the mayor actually eats fish.)

We have to turn our economy around … with a blue-collar green-jobs initiative.

—Eric Adams, mayor of New York City

He campaigned throughout 2021 on a broad progressive agenda, ranging from accelerating the creation of affordable housing to broadening New Yorkers’ access to fresher, healthier foods. On the climate file, he issued a 17-point plan, promising to invest in green infrastructure (including waterfront wind turbines and community solar); upgrade the resiliency of the built environment, especially in flood-prone areas; focus on green transportation by building 250 kilometres of new bus lanes and 500 kilometres of bike lanes; and boost the parks department budget by 60% to ensure every resident can walk to a park in under 10 minutes. In December, New York joined a growing list of cities banning natural gas hookups in new buildings, mandating that most new developments go electric.

Naturally, Adams’s program also included promoting urban farming and decreasing the procurement of meat by city agencies in favour of more “plant-forward” options. “By choosing to eat more plant-based foods,” he says, “we can create a more sustainable and equitable food system that’s better for our planet, our city and ourselves.”

On January 31, Adams announced a team of environmental experts who will lead the agencies that will look to put his climate policies in motion.

Still, some New York voters worry that Adams’s focus on economic development – and his friendship with real estate developers – may erode his green agenda. Studying his political record, The New York Times found instances where Adams “appears to have violated city campaign-finance law by failing to report that developers and others have raised money for him.”

In his victory speech, however, Adams artfully linked health, environment and economy. “We have to turn our economy around by reaching our hand out to the business world to grow the companies we have here while attracting new emerging industries – life sciences and cybersecurity, and with a blue-collar green-jobs initiative that boosts our economy while making our city more resilient. Every job we create in corporate America must be a pathway and pipeline to the inner city.”

It’s certainly a recipe worth trying.

A version of this story appeared in the winter issue of Corporate Knights magazine.

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At the peak of the summer, my nation, the Nlaka’pamux, one of the Indigenous Peoples of south-central British Columbia, used to know when the salmon had returned to local rivers by the annual blooming of the waxz’ethlap, or wild mock-orange shrub. This flower’s annual bloom along the shores of the Thompson River used to tell us when to prepare our salmon nets and fish-drying racks to harvest what is one of our most important protein sources.

However, because of the impacts of climate change on the lands and waters in our territories, this annual bloom is no longer synchronized with the salmon’s journey up the rivers to spawn. The waxz’ethlap flowers that once welcomed the salmon home now miss the yearly migration by several weeks. In late June, an extreme heat wave formed over the Pacific Northwest, fuelling a catastrophic fire season. As the temperature soared, Lytton, B.C. – a town only 36 kilometres away from my home community, the Cook’s Ferry Indian Band at Spences Bridge, B.C. – reached an unprecedented 49.6°C and the next day burned to the ground. That was the hottest temperature ever recorded anywhere in Canada. My community, and many other adjacent Indigenous communities, were under wildfire evacuation alerts from June to mid-September.

Scientists have been telling us for decades that we must dramatically reduce our greenhouse gas emissions to prevent the worst impacts of climate change. One important way to reduce those emissions is to convert our cars to electric vehicles (EVs), particularly since the Canadian and U.S. transportation sectors combined make up the continent’s largest source of carbon emissions. And yet, this need presents Indigenous people with a new challenge, as the minerals used to make EV batteries, in large part, will come from Indigenous lands.

Prior to the 1970s, many mines in North America were built and operated by companies that had little regard for Indigenous rights or aspirations. In the more egregious cases, mines were abandoned by their owners once the mineral deposits had been spent, then continued to leach toxic chemicals and minerals into waterways for decades. There are an estimated 10,000 abandoned mines in Canada, with cleanup costs expected to be in the billions, paid mainly by taxpayers.

Many of these mines are near Indigenous communities, whose residents live with the environmental legacy of these past mining practices. For example, as a result of the toxic legacy of the Giant Mine gold mine in the Northwest Territories, which closed in 2004, the Yellowknives Dene First Nation has formally called on Canada for an “apology and compensation for the damage and long-lasting impact to their lands and people.” In Squamish Nation territory, the Britannia Mine, which was Canada’s largest copper mine before it closed in 1974, produced acid runoff for decades. It’s considered and has been “one of the largest metal pollution sources in North America,” according to the government of B.C., impacting sea life in Howe Sound.

Mining for trust

While the mining industry in Canada has made strides in consulting with Indigenous Peoples, and in complying with environmental legislation, the sheer volume and rapid timeline of EV battery mineral demand will challenge miners and governments to respect and protect Indigenous Peoples’ rights and interests while meeting projected mineral demand.

The mining sector will need to reimagine the role of Indigenous people and their lands as part of a new paradigm: one in which our transportation energy systems have transformed to emissions-free sources, and one where Indigenous people are at the helm of decision-making about their lands and waters.

Given that Section 35 of Canada’s Constitution Act recognizes and affirms Indigenous rights, and the recent passing of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples into Canadian law, governments and miners now must gain the “free, prior and informed consent” of Indigenous people, governments and communities for all new mining projects.

What happens to our planet’s atmosphere if Indigenous people say no to new battery mineral mining?

One need only read the daily news to see what happens when governments and companies do not honour Indigenous rights. Increasingly, Indigenous people and non-Indigenous allies, via consumer activism and ethical investing criteria, are having a significant impact on the economic bottom line of companies that do not source their raw materials in a manner that is environmentally and socially sustainable.

Unless there are true and equitable partnerships between industry, governments, investors and Indigenous people, 2030 net-zero mineral deadlines will not be met.

For example, shares in the Canadian mining company Tahoe Resources fell from $27 to $5 as the company failed to disclose the extent of local and Indigenous opposition to its Escobal silver mine in Guatemala and was beleaguered by a string of lawsuits, violent conflicts and the suspension of the mine by a Guatemalan court. And in the U.S., the headline-making Dakota Access Pipeline ultimately cost Energy Transfer and its investment partners in the pipeline an additional US$3.7 billion as a result of Indigenous-led social pressure, delays and opposition to the pipeline.

Indigenous people are diverse, however, and many are not necessarily against development in their territories. The First Nations Major Projects Coalition is a collective of 80 First Nations across Canada that are among those interested in participating in projects that are supportive of their environmental, social and economic self-determination priorities. Projects with this support stand a much better chance of being built. While rudiments of successful partnerships with Indigenous communities exist, mining is still heavily tilted against Indigenous nations, who bear nearly all the environmental and social risk while capturing comparatively few of the benefits. An equal sharing of benefits would see Indigenous environmental oversight, the growth of Indigenous-owned support businesses, revenue sharing and equity ownership, and employment at all levels of the ventures, from entry level through to senior management and boards of directors.

Driving the race to net-zero

It currently takes 10 to 15 years on average to bring a new mine into production. Unless there are true and equitable partnerships between industry, governments, investors and Indigenous people, 2030 net-zero mineral deadlines will not be met. Governments and industry need to vastly ramp up their partnership game to bring new minerals to market in time to be part of a net-zero solution.

Today, only 0.7% of vehicles on Canadian and U.S. roads are electric-powered. To reach global emission targets by 2030, nearly 60% of new vehicles worldwide will need to be powered by electricity, with 100% by 2050, according to the International Energy Agency. To manufacture the millions of new batteries needed to power these millions of new EVs on North American roads, the car industry will require up to 14 times more nickel, nine times more lithium and 10 times more copper by 2030 than it did in 2019.

The day before wildfires burned the town of Lytton to the ground, the Government of Canada set a mandatory target for all new light-duty cars and passenger trucks to be zero-emission by 2035.

One month later, U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order mandating that half of all new vehicles sold in the U.S. by 2030 be zero-emission vehicles. The automotive market is already moving to fulfill market demand for cleaner transportation options. Every major car manufacturer worldwide has announced that they will be shifting their car production to more, and in some cases only, emission-free options.

Saving the planet’s atmosphere by sacrificing Indigenous lands, cultures and societies is a non-starter for Indigenous nations. Car manufacturers, mining companies, governments and Indigenous leaders will need to come together to forge successful partnerships that can work for a fair and sustainable energy transition.

The question is this: will the benefits that come from a $1-trillion market be equitably shared among all affected parties? And can we be environmentally smart, culturally aware, respectful of Indigenous sovereignty, and economically prosperous without trading one problem for another?

Mark Podlasly is a member of the Nlaka’pamux Nation and the director of economic policy at the First Nations Major Projects Coalition.

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