Google, Facebook, Others Launch Sustainability Platform

Unilever, Coca-Cola, Google, Facebook, Nike, PepsiCo and dozens of other major companies and nonprofits have launched a digital sustainability platform intended to drive conversation and action on sustainability.

The companies say the nonprofit editorial platform, called Collectively, aims to “make sustainable living the new normal.”

Collectively brings together global sustainability nonprofit Forum of the Future with some of the biggest companies in the world.

Unilever, BT Group, Coca-Cola, Marks & Spencer and Carlsberg came together to sponsor Collectively in response to discussions at the World Economic Forum about how to inspire and accelerate more sustainable ways of living. They have since been joined by more than 20 other leading multinational companies including Diageo, General Mills, Johnson & Johnson, McDonalds, Microsoft, Nestlé and Dow Chemical.

The sponsoring companies want to broaden the coalition to include more NGOs, youth organizations and other brands.

Collectively represents a new approach to the way businesses engage consumers on sustainability, according to the coalition. The sponsors say they hope it will grow the marketplace for sustainable products and services.

The platform has been developed alongside Vice Media’s creative services division, Virtue, Forum for the Future, and Purpose, an organization that helps builds social movements.

Collectively will be updated daily by an editorial team with stories and information from the worlds of fashion, food, design, architecture, technology and more. The platform’s audience will also be encouraged to submit ideas for the channel around a series of themes that will be regularly refreshed such as future foodies and the smartest city.

Earlier this week 57 global companies, funds and associations including Unilever, Ikea, Royal Dutch Shell and Coca-Cola Enterprises signed a letter to support a “robust” 2030 energy and climate policy for European Union states.