MEMPHIS, TENN.—FedEx Corp. announced the online release of its 2016 Global Citizenship Report (GCR), which details the company’s commitment to connect the world in responsible and resourceful ways. The report includes annual updates on the company’s environmental, community and economic development initiatives.Among the highlights of this report, FedEx Express announced that it has surpassed its goal to boost vehicle fuel efficiency by 30 percent—some five years early. The company achieved the goal through its “Reduce, Replace, Revolutionize” strategy: •    Reduce overall mileage by optimizing routes;•    Replace vehicles with more efficient models; and•    Revolutionize the vehicle fleet with alternative fuel vehicles. In...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, and Equality NC, the state organization working to secure equal rights and justice for LGBT North Carolinians, announced that executives from Starbucks, Citibank, TD Bank, Hilton, Starwood Hotels, Choice Hotels, eBay, Accenture, Kellogg Company, Reddit, Barnes & Noble, Atlassian, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, Ingersoll-Rand, Wasserman and the Wasserman Foundation, and CA Technologies have signed onto an open letter that now includes more than 100 leading CEOs and business leaders calling on Governor Pat McCrory and the North Carolina General Assembly to repeal the...

PARIS—Next spring, 14 years after being conceived by Pierre & Vacances Center Parcs and Euro Disney, Villages Nature Paris will open 20 miles east of Paris. The resort will be a showcase for green design, geothermal technology and will be based on harmony between man and nature. Villages Nature Paris will open with 916 dwellings, more than two-thirds of which will be cottages and one-third family suites. The dwellings will be owned by individual and other investors and managed by Villages Nature Paris. According to Dominique Cocquet, CEO of Villages Nature Paris, within five years the development is expected...

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM—The Rezidor Hotel Group has published its Responsible Business Report. Included since 2010 in Ethisphere’s World’s Most Ethical Companies List, Rezidor is committed to being an innovative and responsible hotel company with leading sustainable hotel brands such as Radisson Blu and Park Inn by Radisson.Last year marked another impressive year for Responsible Business at Rezidor with successes in all three core areas of the company’s Responsible Business program. Highlights include energy savings of 22 percent, water consumption reduced by 29 percent, 272 eco-labelled hotels, and Meetings Minus Carbon offsets of 32,000 tons of carbon.Also last year, 65 Rezidor...

BOCAS DEL TORO, PANAMA—Red Frog Beach Island Resort announced the installation and operation of a 193kW centralized solar power system in Bocasdel Toro, Panama. This system will provide over 332,000 kWh’s per year of sustainable, clean energy to Bocas Del Toro’s most upscale resort. Installed on the roofs of service buildings, these solar panels will provide over 22 percent of the resort’s current power needs and will be expanded as demand increases. Wiebke Krüge, a solar energy expert from SMA Sunbelt Energy GmbH, said, “It was a privilege to implement a centralized solar source at Red Frog Beach in such...

AMSTERDAM—GRI has launched a new membership and engagement program, the GRI GOLD Community, building on its collaborative, global multi-stakeholder network. The GRI GOLD Community consists of diverse companies and organizations from across civil society, business, mediating institutions, labor and intergovernmental agencies, united in the belief that greater transparency is a catalyst for change towards a more sustainable economy and world. More than 550 organizations from 69 countries are part of the GOLD Community, representing more than 35 sectors of the world’s economy.“The GOLD Community is made up of leading organizations that are helping GRI shape the future of sustainability,”...

NATIONAL REPORT—Hotels around the planet are lining up activities for Earth Hour. The annual event will take place on Saturday, March 19 at 8:30 p.m. local time. The Earth Hour global initiative, now in its 10th year, aims to raise awareness about climate change and the need to find solutions to the world’s environmental problems. Las Vegas Sands, IBEROSTAR Hotels & Resorts, and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide are a few of the companies with properties participating this year.Sands ECO360°, the global corporate sustainability program of Las Vegas Sands (LVS), is launching its fourth annual “I Will If You...

ANN ARBOR, MICH.—NSF Sustainability, a division of global public health organization NSF International, has certified Downlite to the Global Traceable Down Standard (Global TDS). Downlite, a major down and feather processor and supplier of responsibly-sourced performance fills to the outdoor, home furnishings and hospitality markets, is the first company certified to the Global Traceable Down Standard. Certification to the standard enables an organization to demonstrate the down it processes is from farms that practice the highest levels of animal welfare and that the down is fully traceable throughout its supply chain.Downlite is a supplier to outdoor apparel company Patagonia....

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND—The Global Destination Sustainability Index has launched. It is the first-ever sustainability ranking for event destinations worldwide. Initiated by ICCA’s Scandinavian Chapter and MCI, the Global Destination Sustainability Index (GDSI-Index) is supported by IMEX and ICCA (the International Congress and Convention Assn.).The GDS-Index aims to promote the sustainable growth of international meeting destinations, highlighting best practices and responsible business tourism. In a world increasingly focused on responsible business and environmental impact, the GDS-Index helps destinations to engage clients with sustainability, align with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and drive the adoption, promotion and recognition of sustainable practices in...

BETHEDA, MD.—Marriott International announced that it will provide “Made in USA” towels and bath mats in every guest bathroom in nearly 3,000 U.S. hotels. Buying “Made in USA” towels and bath mats benefits U.S. manufacturing communities such as Thomaston, Ga., and Union, S.C., where manufacturing company Standard Textile is producing them with 100 percent cotton fiber grown in the United States.Marriott’s commitment to buy “Made in USA” guestroom terry products creates 150 new jobs in Standard Textile’s facilities in Thomaston and Union, as well as at the company’s Cincinnati headquarters and through its supply chain.“As a global company based...