As the trends and challenges leading to the rise of the social enterprise became, in 219, even more prominent, CEOs and business leaders around the globe will have to lead the social enterprise  Tweet This!, beyond just practicing corporate social responsibility or engaging in social impact programmes.

The social enterprise: creating value for stakeholders, not just shareholders

A social enterprise is an organisation that focuses not only on revenue growth and profit-making, but also on the need to respect and support its environment and stakeholders, listening to the trends that shape today’s world. It is an organisation that accepts its responsibility to be a good citizen, serves as a role model for its peers, and promotes multilevel collaboration. Accordingly, leading a social enterprise means recognising that businesses must not just generate a profit and deliver a return to shareholders, but also improve the lives of workers, customers, and the communities in which they operate.

Why reinvent?

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is bringing disruption to the political, economic, and social fabric, impacting work, workers, and employers. Income inequality, wages, and the role of businesses in society, are under widespread debate globally. Deloitte’s 219 Global Human Capital Trends survey highlights key workplace trends and issues, including the following:

• In 218, the United States experienced 2 major work stoppages involving 485, workers (the most since 27), while income inequality is growing in many developed economies, including the United States – where the bottom 9 percent of earners have only seen a 5% wage increase over the past 18 years.
• Eighty-five percent of employees globally are not engaged or are actively disengaged from their jobs. They are working more hours, and problems of financial and mental stress seem to prevail. In the United States, over 4 percent of the workforce now works on a contingent basis.

Social enterprises perform better financially

Deloitte’s 219 Global Human Capital Trends survey revealed trends and facts that confirm the rising significance of the social enterprise:

• When CEOs rated their most important measure of success in 219, the number-one issue they mentioned was “impact on society, including income inequality, diversity, and the environment,” showing the urgency of this issue.
• According to 56% of the survey’s respondents, the social enterprise will become more important to organisations over time.
• Survey respondents confirmed the social enterprise’s positive link to financial performance: 32% of more mature social enterprises (industry leaders) expected greater than 1% growth in 219, compared to 218.

Five human principles for the social enterprise

There are five key principles that frame the “human focus” for the social enterprise, against which any action or business decision affecting people can be measured:

• Purpose and meaning: Giving organisations and individuals a sense of purpose at work, moving beyond profit and focusing on doing good things for individuals, customers and society.
• Ethics and fairness: Using data, technology, and systems ethically and fairly.
• Growth and passion: Designing jobs, work, and organisational missions to cultivate passion and a sense of personal growth.
• Collaboration and personal relationships: Building and developing teams, focusing on personal relationships.
• Transparency and openness: Sharing information openly, discussing challenges and mistakes.

78% of the world’s 25 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards

SustainCase was primarily created to demonstrate, through case studies, the importance of dealing with a company’s most important impacts in a structured way, with use of the GRI Standards. To show how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success – and how you can too.

Research by well-recognised institutions is clearly proving that responsible companies can look to the future with optimism.

FBRH GRI Standards Certified and ISEP approved Sustainability Course | Venue: London LSE

By registering for the next 2-day FBRH GRI-Standards Certified and ISEP approved Course you will be taking the first step in gaining the many benefits of sustainability reporting.

References:

This article is based on published information by Deloitte. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the publication’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original please revert to the following link:

https://www2.deloitte.com/insights/us/en/focus/human-capital-trends.html

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According to Mark van Baal, founder of the activist group Follow This, big investors, including the Church of England Pensions Board, are responsible for this change in an industry that has, until now, been unwilling to take responsibility for its contribution to global warming.

After decades of campaigning by environmentalists and NGO, spreadsheet-analysing investors pushing the biggest corporate polluters to tackle climate change and leading campaigns to cut carbon emissions, are forming a new generation of climate activists – backed by trillions of dollars.

The economic costs of climate change

A key factor that motivated investors to hold companies to account is the financial risk brought about by climate change. Accordingly, oil and gas companies and the energy industry as a whole, whose activities could accelerate global warming, are under scrutiny.

In addition, there is a worry that a continuous push by governments to cut emissions in order to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement will make a huge number of oil and gas projects uneconomic, reducing the value of related assets and shareholdings. As regards the value of the global total stock of manageable assets at risk due to climate change, it is estimated that losses could range from $4.2tn to $43tn between now and the end of the century.

Increasing anxiety over these costs has resulted in a wave of climate activism at the highest levels of the financial world. Large energy companies are urged to cut emissions from fossil fuel extraction and processing, switch to producing low-carbon fuels, improve efficiency in transmission and distribution along with their presence in renewables, and invest in technologies such as carbon capture and storage.

Investors are urging companies to disclose climate-related information  Tweet This!

Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England, has led an initiative to push energy companies and others to disclose climate risks. Although the debate is still mostly focused on making pledges instead of forcing action, the number of investor resolutions focusing on climate change across all sectors doubled to 42 between the 2013-14 and 2016-17 voting seasons. A number of fossil fuel producers are increasingly affected and, during Exxon’s 2017 annual meeting, over 60% of shareholders, including BlackRock, revolted and voted against the board, forcing Exxon to subsequently improve its disclosure of information on climate change.

Investors expected to file more resolutions to hold individual board members to account include Legal and General Investment Management, the £1tn asset manager. In addition, investors are turning their attention to polluting companies that publicly commit to cut their emissions while privately backing lobbying by trade bodies to undermine global climate efforts. Accordingly, in October 2018, a coalition of big investors wrote to 55 European companies, from BP to BMW, asking them to review the positions adopted by their trade associations. Another group of investors called Climate Action 100+, which has a combined $32tn under management, calls on companies to increase climate-related financial disclosures.

Divesting from fossil fuels

According to lobby group Go Fossil Free, approximately 1,000 investors, with $7.18tn in assets, have committed to divest from at least some type of fossil fuels. They include PKA, the Danish pension fund, which has pulled its investments in several oil producers and coal companies. Additionally, the Church of England Pensions Board voted to sell holdings in fossil fuel companies not taking action to fight global warming from 2023.

78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards

SustainCase was primarily created to demonstrate, through case studies, the importance of dealing with a company’s most important impacts in a structured way, with use of the GRI Standards. To show how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success – and how you can too.

Research by well-recognised institutions is clearly proving that responsible companies can look to the future with optimism.

FBRH GRI Standards Certified and ISEP approved Sustainability Course | Venue: London LSE

By registering for the next 2-day FBRH GRI-Standards Certified and ISEP approved Course you will be taking the first step in gaining the many benefits of sustainability reporting.

References:

This article is based on published information by the Financial Times. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the publication’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original please revert to the following link:

https://www.ft.com/content/c245af4a-f875-11e8-af46-2022a0b02a6c

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US SIF report: Sustainable, responsible and impact investing (SRI) assets increased by 38% in the United States to $12.0 trillion, from $8.7 trillion in 2016.  Tweet This!

According to the US SIF Foundation’s 2018 biennial Report on US Sustainable, Responsible and Impact Investing Trends, sustainable, responsible and impact investing (SRI) assets account today for $12.0 trillion of the $46.6 trillion in total assets under professional management in the United States.

Asset managers are responsible for much of this growth, as – following client demand – they now take into account environmental, social or corporate governance (ESG) criteria across $11.6 trillion in assets (an increase of 44% from $8.1 trillion in 2016). The three key issues asset managers and their institutional investor clients mostly consider are climate change/carbon, tobacco and conflict risk.

The report identified $11.6 trillion in ESG integration assets under management at the beginning of 2018, held by 496 institutional investors, 365 money managers and 1,145 community investing financial institutions.

“Money managers and institutions are utilizing ESG criteria and shareholder engagement to address a plethora of issues including climate change, diversity, human rights, weapons and political spending,” said Lisa Woll, US SIF Foundation CEO.

The leading ESG criteria

Different ESG criteria are prominent among money managers (i.e. firms managing assets on behalf of others) and institutional asset owners (entities such as pension funds, foundations and educational endowments that own and invest assets).

• Asset managers: Climate change was the single most important ESG issue for money managers. From 2016 to 2018, the assets to which climate change related to more than doubled, to $3.0 trillion. Other ESG topics that money managers consider include tobacco, conflict risk, human rights, transparency/anti-corruption and civilian firearms.
• Asset owners: Conflict risk was the most important issue among institutional asset owners, increasing by 8% from 2016 to $3.0 trillion. Tobacco, carbon/climate change, board issues and executive pay followed in importance.

Other findings include:

• Both the number and assets under management of registered investment companies integrating ESG issues continued to increase. Assets in mutual funds reached $2.6 trillion (an increase of 34% compared to 2016) and the number of ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) more than doubled, from 25 to 69.
• At the beginning of 2018, ESG assets under management in 780 alternative investment vehicles amounted to $588 billion, almost three times the assets identified in 2016.
• The community investing sector – which includes community development banks, credit unions, loan and venture funds – grew rapidly during the last decade, almost doubling in assets between 2014 and 2016 and growing by more than 50% from 2016 to 2018.

About US SIF

US SIF: The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment promotes sustainable, responsible and impact investing across all asset classes, to rapidly shift investment practices toward sustainability. US SIF members include investment management and advisory firms, mutual fund companies, asset owners, research firms, financial planners and advisors, broker-dealers, community investing organisations and non-profit organisations. 

78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards

SustainCase was primarily created to demonstrate, through case studies, the importance of dealing with a company’s most important impacts in a structured way, with use of the GRI Standards. To show how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success – and how you can too.

Research by well-recognised institutions is clearly proving that responsible companies can look to the future with optimism.

FBRH GRI Standards Certified and ISEP approved Sustainability Course | Venue: London LSE

By registering for the next 2-day FBRH GRI-Standards Certified and ISEP approved Course you will be taking the first step in gaining the many benefits of sustainability reporting.

References:

This article is based on published information by US SIF. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the publication’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original please revert to the following link:

https://www.ussif.org/trends

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The study, which included researchers from Beijing’s Peking University and Yale University in the US, involved measurements of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and particulates smaller than 10 micrometres in diameter where participants lived.

Over a period of four years, the maths and verbal skills of the study’s participants were monitored and the negative effects of air pollution on cognitive performance were found to increase as people aged, especially for men and the less educated. In addition, this new, detailed study suggests that pollution also increases the risk of degenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s. As over 80 percent of the world’s urban population breaths polluted air, the study’s results have global relevance, researchers said.

Air pollution around the globe – facts and figures

• Approximately seven million people die prematurely every year from exposure to polluted air. Air pollution, is often referred to as an invisible killer.
• In 2016, air pollution caused 4.2 million premature deaths globally.
• 91 percent of global population lives in places where WHO air quality guidelines levels are not met.
• 14 Indian cities are among the 20 most polluted cities globally.
• Nine out of 10 people worldwide breathe polluted air.

“Our findings about the damaging effect of air pollution on cognition, particularly on the aging brain, imply that the indirect effect on social welfare could be much larger than previously thought,” researchers concluded. “For older persons (in our study those age 55-65 or 65+) the effects can be very difficult to mitigate given the long term cumulative exposure.”

78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards

SustainCase was primarily created to demonstrate, through case studies, the importance of dealing with a company’s most important impacts in a structured way, with use of the GRI Standards. To show how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success – and how you can too.

Research by well-recognised institutions is clearly proving that responsible companies can look to the future with optimism.

FBRH GRI Standards Certified and ISEP approved Sustainability Course | Venue: London LSE

By registering for the next 2-day FBRH GRI-Standards Certified and ISEP approved Course you will be taking the first step in gaining the many benefits of sustainability reporting.

References:

This article is based on published information by BBC News. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the publication’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original please revert to the following links:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-45326598

http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2018/08/21/1809474115

http://www.who.int/news-room/air-pollution

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So far, manufacturers used silicon to make solar panels, as this material was the most efficient at converting sunlight into electricity. However, organic photovoltaics (OPV) made from carbon and plastic, could be just as effective.

Flexible and efficient: The cells are so pliable they can effectively turn any surface into a solar array – from buildings, to vehicles or even clothing.

Organic photovoltaics do not require fixed installation points, as they can be made of compounds which are dissolved in ink. Thus, they can be printed on thin rolls of plastic, bend or curve around structures or even be incorporated into clothing.

As regards efficiency (percentage of sunlight turned into usable electricity), commercial solar photovoltaics typically covert 15-22% of sunlight into electricity, with organic solar cells remaining, thus far, at approximately half this rate. However, in April this year, researchers reached 15% in tests and this new study increased this percentage to 17%, with its authors arguing that up to 25% is possible.

With a 15% efficiency and a 20 year lifetime, organic solar cells could, accordingly, produce cheaper electricity, at a cost of not more than 7 cents per kilowatt-hour. (In 2017, the average cost of electricity in the US was 10.5 cents per kilowatt-hour.)

A wide range of applications – “Skyscrapers could soon generate their own power”

Highly flexible, organic photovoltaics offer numerous possibilities.

• They can be made semi-transparent and be incorporated into windows, generating power during daylight. According to the Science Mag “Skyscrapers could soon generate their own power”.
• According to Dr Alexander Colsmann, an expert on organic photovoltaics from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, organic solar cells could “power mobile applications – camping gear, smart wearables or phone chargers, just to name a few – which have been only insufficiently addressed by classical solar cell technologies such as silicon.” They could also be used on the roofs of cars, in clothes and even in glasses, to charge your mobile phone when you are out and about.
• According to the University of Melbourne: “They can turn almost any surface into a solar array and provide a cheap and almost limitless energy supply … Organic Solar cells have the potential to perform dual environmental functions, like covering surfaces of lakes or other large expanses to water to help prevent evaporation while simultaneously generating energy. Another is as temporary covers on grain silos in central Australia, to prevent overheating while powering the fans that stop the grain from sweating”.

How far are organic photovoltaics from commercial production?

Not too far away, according to researchers. Dr Yongsheng Chen compares organic photovoltaics to organic light-emitting diodes (OLED), a technology that has been introduced recently and is widely used for high-end TVs. “These are already commercial, and they use a similar material to OPV,” says Dr Chen.

“The physical principle is the same, just a different direction, one is from solar to electricity, the other from electricity to light, the device and structure are similar.”

Other experts in the field were also impressed. “The development of such new materials with previously unthinkable properties allowed them to achieve the reported record efficiency and, in general, makes OPV technology much more promising,” said Dr Artem Bakulin, from Imperial College London.

78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards

SustainCase was primarily created to demonstrate, through case studies, the importance of dealing with a company’s most important impacts in a structured way, with use of the GRI Standards. To show how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success – and how you can too.

Research by well-recognised institutions is clearly proving that responsible companies can look to the future with optimism.

FBRH GRI Standards Certified and ISEP approved Sustainability Course | Venue: London LSE

By registering for the next 2-day FBRH GRI-Standards Certified and ISEP approved Course you will be taking the first step in gaining the many benefits of sustainability reporting.

References:

This article is based on published information at the links below. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the articles meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original please revert to the following links:

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/06/skyscrapers-could-soon-generate-their-own-power-thanks-see-through-solar-cells
https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/features/making-any-surface-solar
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-45132427

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What is a “Hothouse Earth” climate?

A “Hothouse Earth” climate means global average temperatures 4-5°C higher than pre-industrial temperatures, and a sea level 10-60 m higher than today. If the “Hothouse Earth” climate becomes a reality, places on the planet will become uninhabitable.  Tweet This!

According to lead author Will Steffen from the Australian National University and Stockholm Resilience Centre, “human-induced global warming of 2°C may trigger other Earth system processes, often called ‘feedbacks’, that can drive further warming – even if we stop emitting greenhouse gases. Avoiding this scenario requires a redirection of human actions from exploitation to stewardship of the Earth system.” Such feedbacks or “tipping elements” can act like a row of dominoes and include, among others, loss of methane hydrates from the ocean floor, Amazon rainforest and boreal forest dieback, reduction of northern hemisphere snow cover and loss of Arctic summer sea ice.

The report is published as Europe experiences record summer temperatures, resulting in droughts and dangerous wildfires. In Australia, too, draught-hit farms are in danger of running out of feed and water, with Australian farmers slaughtering, as a consequence, 659,000 head of cattle in June, or selling stock they could no longer feed. Ninety-nine percent of New South Wales state, where one-quarter of Australia’s agricultural production is generated, is, currently, in drought.

Reducing carbon emissions is not enough – an acceleration of the transition to an emission-free global economy is needed

Increasing the chances of avoiding a “Hothouse Earth” will require more than just a reduction of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions. New biological carbon stores will have to be created and existing ones will have to be improved through, among others, biodiversity conservation and technologies that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it underground. In conclusion, the study’s authors call for an acceleration of the transition to an emission-free global economy.

Note by the Editor:

How do we accelerate the transition to an emission-free global economy?

Approximately 90% of the global business is accounted for by SMEs who are not doing much over and beyond compliance. All business of every size needs to self-regulate and drive emissions out of supply chains. For example, it is not enough for a large e-commerce company to just deal with the emissions it is directly responsible for (e.g. a few company cars). If it heavily relies on external courier services for delivery of orders, how is it dealing with their emissions? Is this company using, for instance, GRI Standard 308 Supplier Environmental Assessment in combination with GRI 305 Emissions to assess and choose suppliers which have the lowest or no emissions? That is the key in our view to accelerating the transition to an emission-free global economy.

Simon Pitsillides

SustainCase Editor

78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards

SustainCase was primarily created to demonstrate, through case studies, the importance of dealing with a company’s most important impacts in a structured way, with use of the GRI Standards. To show how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success – and how you can too.

Research by well-recognised institutions is clearly proving that responsible companies can look to the future with optimism.

FBRH GRI Standards Certified and ISEP approved Sustainability Course | Venue: London LSE

By registering for the next 2-day FBRH GRI-Standards Certified and ISEP approved Course you will be taking the first step in gaining the many benefits of sustainability reporting.

References:

This article is based on published information by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS). For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the publication’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original please revert to the following link:

http://www.pnas.org/

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• Sea change: More and more companies will focus on providing sustainable products made from recycled ocean plastic, taking targeted action:
  • In Spring 2017, Adidas launched the new editions of the popular UltraBoost shoe, all made from ocean plastic.
  • Procter & Gamble committed to introduce 25% recycled plastic across 500 million bottles sold annually on the company’s haircare brands.
• At the same time, consumers are increasingly more aware of the impact of ocean plastic on wildlife and on their own health  Tweet This!, and of the importance of recycling. According to the research:
  • 66 per cent of Polish consumers prefer to drink water from a recyclable bottle.
  • Over half of UK fish consumers would be interested in sustainable alternatives.
  • 72 per cent of UK consumers would buy products with packaging made from recycled plastic.

• Transparency: As consumer distrust towards governments and media is spreading to companies, the latter will have to demonstrate greater transparency and openness regarding product ingredients, packaging and sourcing, as well as manufacturing processes. According to the research:
  • No less than half of Europeans agree that the enhanced ability of consumers to communicate and find information through the internet and social media puts pressure on companies to be more transparent.
  • One out of five 20- to 24-year-olds in the UK would like online retailers to publish videos showing how shoes and clothes are made.

References:

This article was compiled using a publication by Mintel. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses but made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the publication’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original please revert to the link below:

http://www.mintel.com/european-consumer-trends/

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Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health simulated indoor environmental quality (IEQ) conditions, to measure the impact of indoor environment on higher-order cognitive function, which is directly connected to office workers’ productivity. Accordingly, twenty-four study participants spent six work days in an environmentally controlled office space, in either a “Green” (low concentrations of volatile organic compounds) or “Conventional” (high concentrations of volatile organic compounds) building. On different days, research participants were exposed to IEQ conditions found in Green and Conventional office buildings in the United States. Additionally, a Green building with a high outdoor air ventilation rate was used, labeled “Green+”.

Green Buildings and CO2 affect our ability to think  Tweet This!

The study found that when office workers worked in Green and Green+ environments, they had significantly better cognitive function scores, compared to when they worked in a Conventional environment. Additionally, average cognitive scores decreased, with higher levels of carbon dioxide (CO2). More specifically:

• Under the Green building condition, cognitive function scores were higher (compared to scores under the Conventional building condition) in all nine functional domains measured (as seen in the diagram). The biggest differences were observed in Crisis Response, Information Usage and Strategy.

• Compared to the Conventional building day, cognitive scores were 61 per cent higher on the Green building day and 101 per cent higher on the two Green+ building days.
• When spending a full day in a Green building, participants’ cognitive function scores were significantly increased (compared to a conventional building).
• Carbon Dioxide and Cognitive Function:
  • Cognitive scores decreased with higher levels of CO2, for seven of the nine cognitive function domains.
  • Compared to the two Green+ days, cognitive function scores were 15 per cent lower on the moderate CO2 day (~ 945 ppm) and 50 per cent lower on the day with CO2 concentrations of ~1,400 ppm.

References:

This article is based on published information by Environmental Health Perspectives. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the publication’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original please revert to the following link:

https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/15-10037/

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Based on the findings of relevant surveys, the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) identified a number of key behaviour patterns in millennial consumers (18- to 34-year-olds) regarding Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR):

• 81% of millennials would like companies to publicly commit to CSR values

• 92% of millennials would choose to buy from a company committed to ethical business practices

• 64% of millennial females bought, in the past year, a cause-related product

• 82% of millennials would strive to be employed by a company recognized for its commitment to business ethics

• More than 9 out of 10 millennials would change brands to a cause-related one

• 73% of millennials would pay extra for sustainable offerings – a significant increase from 50% in 2014

Moreover, according to the surveys, millennials would:

• buy environmentally or socially beneficial products
• offer voluntary support for a cause promoted by a trusted company
• express their views to a company regarding its CSR programs
• mention to their friends and family a company’s CSR initiatives

References:

This article was compiled using a publication by the Chartered Institute of Marketing. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses but made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the publication’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original please revert to the links below:

https://exchange.cim.co.uk/infographic/millennials-love-csr/?utm_source=Exchange%20newsletter&utm_campaign=Exchange%20newsletter&utm_medium=Email&_cldee=c2ltb25AZmJyaC5ldQ%3d%3d&recipientid=contact-45545ffae8f4e4118103c4346bad1218-c1c53dcf21664731945075fba1549b47&esid=6f74b51b-5aaa-e611-80ef-5065f38bc591&urlid=2

https://www.philanthropy.com/items/biz/pdf/AflacCorporateSocialResponsibility.pdf

http://www.conecomm.com/research-blog/2015-cone-communications-millennial-csr-study

http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/reports/2015/the-sustainability-imperative.html

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Infertility has become a major health concern globally.  Tweet This! 48.5 million couples across the globe were estimated to be infertile in 2010, with exposure to air pollutants – especially PM, which affects more people than any other pollutant – considered as a possible cause of worsening sperm quality.

According to a study carried out among 6475 Taiwanese men of reproductive age (15 to 49 years), exposure to air pollution – primarily exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) – may be connected to poorer quality sperm and to infertility for many couples. The average age of the study participants was 31.9 years and the majority (64.2%) never smoked, and consumed alcohol less than once a week (83.1%).

The study – considered the largest such study to have ever been conducted – found a strong connection between exposure to PM2.5 and decreased sperm normal morphology. More specifically, every 5 ug/m3 increase in fine particulate matter in the 2-year average (PM2.5 levels were estimated for a period of three months and an average of 2 years at every participant’s address) was connected with a reduction of 1.29% in sperm normal morphology and, also, with a 26% greater risk of being in the bottom 10% of sperm normal morphology (normal sperm shape and size).

“Given the ubiquity of exposure to air pollution, a small effect size of PM2.5 on sperm normal morphology may result in a significant number of couples with infertility,” concluded the researchers, adding that they “advocate global strategies on mitigation of air pollution to improve reproductive health.”

References:

This article was compiled using a publication by Occupational and Environmental Medicine. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses but made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the publication’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original please revert to the links below:

http://oem.bmj.com/content/early/2017/10/21/oemed-2017-104529

http://oem.bmj.com/content/oemed/suppl/2017/11/22/oemed-2017-104529.DC1/oemed-2017-104529_Press_release.pdf

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