In today's complex business environment, many corporate citizenship leaders are working strategically with their employee resource groups (ERGs). Also known as business network groups or affinity groups, these employee-led communities can foster a sense of inclusion and belonging, while sponsoring events and learning opportunities for people all throughout an organization.
Bold steps toward climate resiliency

This is an excerpt from our recent report TCFD: A Beginner’s Guide, which is available to members. If you’re not a member and you’re interested in receiving more research-driven insights and practical tools for corporate citizenship professionals, inquire about our corporate membership.
Last month, the United Kingdom mandated that companies must report the financial impacts of climate change on their businesses by 2025, using the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, or TCFD. While the U.K. is the first country to make these disclosures mandatory, the regulatory move could be a sign of more global sustainability reporting trends to come.
For TCFD reporter Verizon, trust is all about transparency. When the company’s investors identified climate-related disclosures as an area of interest, Verizon set out to place its climate goals in a strategic context using TCFD-aligned reporting. The company released its inaugural TCFD report on April 22, 2020, on the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. Verizon’s TCFD report is structured around the four thematic areas for TCFD disclosures: governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics and targets.
Using the TCFD recommendations not only helped Verizon place its existing climate goals in a strategic context, but also helped the company develop the climate-related disclosures that its major institutional and socially responsible investors requested. Prior to implementing the TCFD recommendations, Verizon had already set specific climate goals, including an ambitious goal to become carbon neutral in its operations by 2035 and for 50% of its total annual electricity consumption to be backed by renewable energy by 2025. TCFD-aligned reporting helped Verizon place these goals in a strategic context by connecting them to long-term business strategies.
As 5G brings about the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Verizon believes that mobility, broadband, and cloud have the ability to solve pressing global societal challenges. The company’s environmental strategy takes full advantage of these new possibilities. Verizon is striving to minimize the impact of the company’s operations, improve the energy efficiency of its networks, upgrade and harden infrastructure in preparation for climate change impacts, and develop solutions that allow its customers to minimize their environmental footprint and transition to a low-carbon economy. Through a customer-centric business model, Verizon remains committed to applying its technologies to help build a better, more responsible future.
To fund the initiatives that will propel Verizon toward carbon neutrality, the company launched a $1 billion green bond in 2019—the first to be issued by a telecommunications company in the U.S. In September of this year, Verizon announced its second green bond following the completion of the allocation of the first green bond, solidifying the company’s position as a telecommunications industry leader in green finance. Verizon expects to use the net proceeds of its second $1 billion offering primarily for long-term renewable energy purchase agreements that support the construction of solar and wind facilities that will bring new renewable energy to the grids that power its networks.
Committed to creating the networks that move the world forward, Verizon believes in taking responsibility for a shared future. “We understand that climate risk is business risk, and we are taking bold steps to make our networks more climate resilient and to minimize our environmental footprint,” says Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg. TCFD reporting enables Verizon to communicate the importance of climate protection to its investors and other stakeholders by connecting its environmental goals to its long-term business strategy.
Looking to get started on reporting climate change impacts using TCFD?
Download our new report, generously sponsored by State Street:
TCFD: A Beginner's Guide (full report, members only)
Executive Summary (free for everyone)
If you’re not a member and you’re interested in receiving more research-driven insights and practical tools for corporate citizenship professionals, inquire about our corporate membership.
Related Content
Re-watch this insightful panel discussion with The Allstate Foundation and its nonprofit partners as they reveal their journey to build trusting, authentic donor-grantee collaborations that drive greater impact.
In this fireside chat with Travelers EVP and Chief Marketing, Communications and Customer Experience Officer, Lisa Caputo, you’ll hear how achieving the Travelers Promise means taking care of customers, community, and each other.
Support for military families is vital to sustaining America’s all-volunteer force, a strong national defense, and healthy business environment. But many companies don’t fully consider how they can be a powerful ally to military families.
In an era of critical nursing shortages and untapped veteran talent, Independence Blue Cross Foundation has engineered an innovative solution that serves both community needs and business imperatives.
Sanofi's session looked at questions like: How can companies bring their purpose and core strengths toward ensuring a resilient world? How should we inform and define our points of entry? With whom should we be joining forces to foster the healthy, thriving communities we all need?
In this powerful 60-minute storytelling session, five storytellers shared deeply personal stories of how working across traditional boundaries transformed their understanding of leadership, impact, and human potential.
Re-watch this inspiring keynote, sponsored by BMO, featuring Daniel Pink, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of The Power of Regret, When, To Sell is Human, Drive, and A Whole New Mind.