Podcast appearances and mentions of michael kobori

In this new limited series Sustainability Chiefs, host Julie Yoo tackles some of the world's most pressing climate agenda with the people tasked to drive change in global companies. To kickstart the series, she speaks with the chief sustainability officer of Starbucks, Michael Kobori. What can the world's biggest coffee chain do to reduce its carbon footprint? And will rising global temperatures threaten the future of coffee?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

By 2030, Starbucks wants to move away from disposable cups, which represent big portions of the company's overall waste and greenhouse gas emissions. The stated reason is that it's the right thing to do for the environment, and Starbucks has a history of lofty sustainability goals around various aspects of its global operations. Some have been met, such as new stores being certified for energy efficiency; others have been revised or scrapped entirely. For example, in 2008 the company said that by 2015 it wanted 100% of its cups to be recyclable or reusable. Today, that's still a long way away. Today's drive to overhaul the cup comes with an obvious business imperative. Producing disposable products like cups creates greenhouse gas emissions, which warm the planet and lead to extreme weather events and other manifestations of climate change. That goes against customers' increasing expectations for companies to be part of the solution to climate change. Still, while customers want companies to be environmentally conscious, that doesn't mean they're willing to give up convenience. And there's this: Could eliminating the millions of paper and plastic cups used each year hurt Starbucks? After all, those cups, in the hands of customers, are advertising — a market penetration that makes Starbucks feel ubiquitous. The goal: to cut the company's waste, water use and carbon emissions in half by 2030. Pulling that off will be tricky and fraught with risks. It provides a window into how companies go from ambitious sustainability targets to actual results. “Our vision for the cup of the future — and our Holy Grail, if you will — is that the cup still has the iconic symbol on it,” says Michael Kobori, head of sustainability at Starbucks. “It's just as a reusable cup.” Starbucks sees the change as an opportunity to cast the lofty siren, and the company, in a different light. It also wants to push more suppliers in its production chain to provide recycled material and partners, such as universities and other locales that house stores, to be able to handle all that comes with reusable cups. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Starbucks Chief Sustainability Officer Michael Kobori has been corporate sustainability changemaker for over two decades. From his time at Levi's to his current role at Starbucks, Michael has been at the forefront of a movement that has evolved from a narrower focus on Corporate Social Responsibility to a broader conception of Stakeholder Capitalism. In this episode, Michael joined us to talk about how the intrapreneurship he exercised at Levi's progressed and broadened its concept of sustainability. Chad and Michael also discuss the carbon footprint of coffee, how to discern greenwashers from true climate leaders, the role of business in combatting systemic racism, and how lessons from the Boy Scouts inform Starbucks' recent commitment to become resource positive.Links:LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-kobori-7a04b26/Twitter@koborigrillscsrSustainability at Starbuckshttps://www.starbucks.com/responsibilityStarbucks Borrow a Cup Programhttps://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2021/seattle-starbucks-stores-go-even-greener-this-earth-month-with-new-borrow-a-cup-program/Transform to Net Zerohttps://transformtonetzero.org/All We Can Savehttps://www.amazon.com/All-We-Can-Save-Solutions/dp/0593237064Utopia Theater Projecthttp://www.utopiatheatreproject.com/ 

Blue jeans were invented by Jacob Davis and Levis Strauss in the 1870s. They were worn by gold miners and cowboys, then James Dean, Marlon Brando, American teenagers and rock stars. If you want to talk about the history of cool, Levi’s was there. From Debbie Harry and The Ramones to Jim Morrison - they all wore Levi’s. And did you also know that Levi's introduced women's jeans in 1934, when skirts were the norm? The company has also been active raising money and awareness in the fight against AIDs since the '80s. So there's a lot to love about this brand. But how sustainable is Levi’s? This week, we hear from Levi’s Vice-President of Sustainability, Michael Kobori. He started out in human rights, and joined Levi’s in 1995. He's seen the conversation move from sweatshops and corporate social responsibility (CSR) to new gen materials, life cycle assessments, worker wellbeing and carbon emissions.  Join the conversation - follow Clare in Instagram and Twitter Don't miss the show-notes each week on clarepress.com - they're packed with links and extra info.

Michael Kobori has led sustainability at Levi Strauss & Co. since 2001. He developed and leads the company’s sustainability strategy, which includes integrating sustainability into all global functions and regional businesses and open sourcing the company’s sustainability innovations to the rest of the industry. Under Michael’s tenure, Levi Strauss & Co. has been an industry pioneer on initiatives such as the Better Cotton Initiative, Water

The best of live interviews from GreenBiz events. This episode: The Levi Strauss leader offers a glimpse at broadening the reach of sustainability.

Michael has led sustainability at Levi Strauss & Co. since 2001. Under his leadership, Levi has been a leader in bringing sustainability to the apparel industry and Michael has helped drive industry collaboration on sustainability, serving as Chair of the Better Cotton Initiative and Board member of the Sustainable apparel Coalition. In this interview, Michael explians what sustainability means to Levi's, discusses the company's commitment to becoming more sustainable, and its profits through principles programme. He explains how the Levi's various water reduction initiatives operate– and how they have saved over a billion litres of water– as well as plans, together with several other companies, to eliminate all discharge of hazardous chemicals by 2020. Finally. Michael looks to the future and discusses some of the signature sustainability initiatives over the coming years. The post Episode 21: Michael Kobori, Vice-President, Sustainability, at Levi Strauss & Co. Levi's Sustainability Journey appeared first on The Sustainability Agenda.

One of the most innovative voices in sustainability, Michael Kobori discusses how Levi's built a program to reduce waste and promote environmental health and safety throughout the supply chain. He and Greg Kefer also take a look at what's next for corporate sustainability programs, and explore three issues the supply chain can help solve in the future.

Michael Kobori, VP of Sustainability at Levi Strauss & Co speaks on a special live episode of supply chain radio about the profitability and sustainability journey Levi's has undergone in the last five years. He goes onto describe a vision of sustainability that includes healthy suppliers, raw materials providers, and brands working together in a cyclical supply chain.

Leaders in sustainability, like Levi’s and Diversey, maintain a heritage of environmental consciousness in their business operations. In this audio interview, host Neal Gorenflo publisher of Sharable.net is joined by Maurice Bechard, director of Global Environment Health & Safety at Diversey and Michael Kobori, vice president of Levi Strauss & Co., who share their insight on how corporations can adapt to support sustainable outcomes and raise the bar within their industry. These companies are mindful of the true environmental impact of their products, and consider its life cycle — from sustainable raw materials to the end consumer use. The Future of Green open call series is an initiative of EDF in collaboration with the Center for Social Innovation at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.   https://ssir.org/podcasts/entry/sustainability_can_corporations_really_change

Chances are your pants have probably been more places than you have. From cotton grown in India, zippers manufactured in China and apparel factories in Guatemala, the apparel industry relies on a complex and sophisticated series of relations to get their clothes to a store near you - the global supply chain. But global supply chains carry serious environmental and labor challenges that apparel and other industries must attend to if they truly want to be sustainable. Michael Kobori, Vice President of Global Supply Chains at Levi Strauss & Co. spoke with the Ceres Podcast about how the company is incorporating these issues into its sourcing decisions in order to create a more sustainable supply chain for its products.[Music: Jack Rose, "Linden Ave Stomp" from Two Originals of Jack Rose (VHF, 2004)]