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VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Endeavour Silver Corp. (“Endeavour” or the “Company”) (TSX: EDR, NYSE: EXK) today published its 2021 Sustainability Report entitled “Bridge to the Future”. The report details the Company’s commitment to transparently disclose its targets and performance, while maintaining industry-leading corporate governance practices, and having a positive environmental and social impact while generating long-term value for all stakeholders.

“Despite the challenges of the persisting COVID-19 pandemic, we are proud of our 2021 performance, surpassing our key sustainability targets and addressing environmental and social issues that matter to our stakeholders,” stated Dan Dickson, CEO of Endeavour Silver. “We recognize that sustainability is imperative for our long-term success, including financial success. This year’s report, ‘Bridge to the Future’ speaks to our ongoing actions to help shape a more inclusive and sustainable tomorrow in which both our business and our stakeholders can prosper.”

The 2021 Sustainability Report and related performance tables are available on Endeavour’s website. Additionally, the Company is pleased to share a short video with CEO, Dan Dickson, as he talks about the past year’s achievements and future plans. The Endeavour blog also showcases recent stories of sustainability in action.

Earlier this year, Endeavour released its Sustainability Strategy 2022-2024 to further enhance the Company’s sustainability practices and impacts. Added Mr. Dickson: “Our three-year Sustainability Strategy charts our path to economic and social well-being, as we invest into the next phase of growth for the Company. By setting meaningful targets, we are confident that we will enhance our sustainability practices.”

2021 Performance Highlights
(All dollar amounts presented below are in U.S. dollars.)

Increasing Positive Social Impacts for Our People

• Achieved a 42% reduction in the Reportable Injury Rate (RIR)
• Provided an average of 44 hours of training to employees and contractors
• Contributed $302,000 in community donations to help build resilient and thriving communities
• Launched a company-wide program for mental health, with 50% of employees participating in mental health resources including counselling services

Elevating Environmental Stewardship of Our Planet

• Reduced absolute greenhouse gas emissions intensity by 12% due to improved operating efficiencies
• Planted 55,000 trees in reforestation projects to reclaim disturbed ground
• Recycled 93% of water used in our operations
• Reduced hazardous waste intensity by 21%

Leading a Healthy, Long Term Business

• Developed a 3-year Sustainability Strategy that sets priorities and targets in three focus area: people, planet and business
• 100% of our employees completed training on our Code of Business Conduct & Ethics
• Spent $165 million on goods and services, 98.8% of which was from within Mexico.
• Launched the “Endeavour Trust Line” to give stakeholders an online channel for reporting concerns https://edrsilver.com/about-endeavour/ethics-hotline/

The 2021 Sustainability Report is prepared in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards, the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) framework and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A Spanish version of the report will be available online in June 2022.

About Endeavour Silver – Endeavour Silver is a mid-tier precious metals mining company that operates two high-grade, underground, silver-gold mines in Mexico. Endeavour is currently advancing the Terronera mine project towards a development decision, pending financing and final permits and exploring its portfolio of exploration and development projects in Mexico, Chile and the United States to facilitate its goal to become a premier senior silver producer. Our philosophy of corporate social integrity creates value for all stakeholders.

SOURCE Endeavour Silver Corp.

Contact Information
Trish Moran
Interim Head of Investor Relations
Tel: (416) 564-4290
Email: pmoran@edrsilver.com
Website: www.edrsilver.com

Follow Endeavour Silver on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn

New research finds leading beverage giants’ recycled content goals won’t address 93% of aquatic plastic bottle pollution. Oceana’s response: it’s time to switch to refillables.

WASHINGTON, May 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A new study commissioned by Oceana has exposed the weakness of plastic recycled content pledges by giants like The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo. The analysis, conducted by Eunomia Research & Consulting, found that if the top five beverage companies meet their pledges – and it’s far from certain that they will – these pledges would only reduce aquatic pollution from single-use plastic bottles by 7%. In response, Oceana is calling on major beverage companies to adopt or expand strategies that prioritize refillable bottles.

“This report uncovers some worrying realities. It seems improbable that the recycled content pledges by large soft drink companies will be met and regardless, they won’t go far in helping the oceans,” said Dr. Dana Miller, Oceana’s Strategic Initiatives Director. “Adding more recycled content doesn’t stop a single-use plastic bottle from reaching the seas, but replacing that bottle with one that will be reused does. Recycling alone is not the solution that our oceans need. Our oceans need us to return, refill, and reuse our bottles instead.”

The Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo, Nestlé, Danone, and Keurig Dr Pepper have pledged to increase post-consumer recycled content in their polyethylene terephthalate plastic (PET) bottles by targets ranging mostly from 25 to 50% by 2025. But, according to Eunomia’s analysis, achieving these targets would require collecting an additional 2.57 million tonnes (2.83 million U.S. tons) of plastic bottles for recycling each year. However, there is no coherent strategy in any global region apart from Europe to reliably increase the supply of recycled PET for the production of bottles and achieving this would likely require significant government intervention. Recycled PET sourced from plastic bottles is also high in demand for other uses like making other plastic packaging, clothes, and toys, and this demand is steadily growing.

Of the approximately 511 billion PET bottles used in 2018 in the 93 coastal countries included in the analysis, an estimated 35.8 billion bottles entered aquatic systems. Even if the companies could live up to their pledges, their current commitments would have little impact on reducing aquatic plastic pollution, Eunomia found. This is largely because bottles used for recycling are expected to predominantly be derived from already collected and managed waste streams rather than from mismanaged waste or littering. On this basis, if all brands reached their targets, 33.4 billion bottles (93%) would keep flowing into rivers, lakes, and oceans.

Project Director for Eunomia Chris Sherrington stated that, “Our study found that significantly reducing the flow of used PET bottles to aquatic environments requires collection infrastructure to be introduced in places where none currently exists. While increased demand for recycled content can be expected to lead to a greater focus on obtaining used bottles, it doesn’t necessarily follow that this will all translate into the establishment of new collection infrastructure while opportunities continue to exist to divert already collected bottles from going to landfill or incineration.”

Eunomia’s study also discusses how to increase the beverage sector’s collection rates, including the use of refillable bottles. In 2020, Oceana published a report which found that increasing the market share of refillable bottles by just 10% in all coastal countries in place of single-use PET bottles could reduce PET bottle marine plastic pollution by as much as 22%. If major soft drink companies actually want to reduce the billions of plastic bottles entering the oceans each year, Oceana calls on them to provide a refillable option to consumers worldwide.

Miller added, “Leading soft drink brands need to stop distracting consumers concerned about ocean plastic pollution with pledges about recycled content. The companies responsible for this crisis facing the oceans need to focus more on solutions that can go further in tackling the problem – like refillable bottles.”

Refillables have proven to be very effective at reducing waste. Companies own, track, and collect these bottles, and people who buy refillable bottles typically return them to the place of purchase in exchange for a ‘bottle deposit’. The bottles are then collected, washed, refilled, and delivered back to stores where they can be purchased again. Refillable bottle systems create less plastic waste as each bottle can be used up to 20 times if PET or up to 50 times if glass.

Following campaigning by Oceana and its allies, in February of this year, The Coca-Cola Company announced a major commitment to reach 25% reusable packaging by 2030, leading the way for other companies to follow suit. A month later, PepsiCo announced that they would be making their own time-bound goal on reusable and refillable bottles by the end of 2022. Oceana celebrates these announcements but underlines the importance of these commitments being met and for the companies to embrace refillable bottles as a core business strategy, leading a global revolution back to a former, less wasteful way of living.

To create meaningful change, Oceana is calling for:

• The Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo, Keurig Dr Pepper, Nestlé, Danone, other beverage brands, and the bottlers they work with to expand refillable systems in existing markets and create new major markets for refillables.
• Investors to seek investment opportunities with beverage companies and bottlers to fund the development and build-out of refillable bottle systems.
• Governments to introduce quotas for refillable bottles, mandatory sales of refillable bottles, and legal provisions to use universal bottles for different brands.
  

View Oceana’s report video here. To learn more about Oceana’s campaign to #RefillAgain, visit refill-again.com. To learn more about Oceana’s campaigns to reduce single-use plastics, visit Oceana.org/plastics.

Oceana is the largest international advocacy organization dedicated solely to ocean conservation. Oceana is rebuilding abundant and biodiverse oceans by winning science-based policies in countries that control one-third of the world’s wild fish catch. With more than 225 victories that stop overfishing, habitat destruction, pollution, and the killing of threatened species like turtles and sharks, Oceana’s campaigns are delivering results. A restored ocean means that 1 billion people can enjoy a healthy seafood meal, every day, forever. Together, we can save the oceans and help feed the world. Visit www.oceana.org to learn more.

Contact:  Gillian Spolarich | gspolarich@oceana.org

SAN RAMON, Calif., May 11, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CooperCompanies (“Cooper”) (NYSE: COO) announced today the publication of its 2021 Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Highlights Report, sharing the Company’s progress on ESG items most important to its businesses and stakeholders, including employees, shareholders, customers, and global communities.

The Company also announced in the report it has become a corporate participant of the United Nations Global Compact, the world’s largest voluntary corporate sustainability initiative that calls on companies to align strategies and operations with universal principles on human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption.

“2021 illustrated the unwavering resilience of Cooper employees and their commitment to improving lives one person at a time,” said Al White, President and CEO of CooperCompanies. “From vision care to women’s health, we remain more committed than ever to ethical business practices, innovative, high-quality products, and being a global employer of choice.”

To guide its ESG efforts, CooperCompanies conducted its first materiality assessment in 2021, which identified eight high-priority ESG topics shared in its inaugural 2020 ESG report. This 2021 ESG Highlights Report provides updated performance metrics covering its high-priority ESG topics and includes stories illustrating Cooper’s commitment to its ESG Pillars (People, Planet, and Partnerships). CooperCompanies aligned with the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) Standards in developing the report.

Key report highlights include:

• Scored 100% on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index 2022, naming Cooper a Best Place to Work for LGTBQ+ Equality;
• Women made up 49% of its global workforce and the Company achieved gender parity for its Board of Directors;
• Racially and ethnically diverse employees made up 35% of Cooper’s U.S. workforce;
• 6 facilities are LEED® or BREEAM® certified;
• Preventing the equivalent of nearly 28 million plastic bottles from polluting the oceans through its partnership with Plastic Bank in the U.S. and Europe; and
• $1.4 million raised to date for Optometry Giving Sight, providing eye exams for 275,000 people worldwide.

Read more in the Cooper 2021 ESG Highlights Report: https://coopercos.com/esg/.

About CooperCompanies
CooperCompanies ("Cooper") is a global medical device company publicly traded on the NYSE (NYSE: COO). Cooper operates through two business units, CooperVision and CooperSurgical. CooperVision brings a refreshing perspective on vision care with a commitment to developing a wide range of high-quality products for contact lens wearers and providing focused practitioner support. CooperSurgical is committed to advancing the health of women, babies and families with its diversified portfolio of products and services focusing on medical devices and fertility & genomics. Headquartered in San Ramon, CA, Cooper has a workforce of more than 12,000 with products sold in over 100 countries. For more information, please visit www.coopercos.com.

Contact:
Kim Duncan
Vice President, Investor Relations and Risk Management
925-460-3663
ir@cooperco.com

CEO Jeff Jones Announces Measurable Actions and Commitments by H&R Block to Help Create a More Inclusive and Sustainable Economy

KANSAS CITY, Mo., May 11, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- H&R Block (NYSE: HRB) announced today that Jeff Jones, president and chief executive officer, has joined the Council for Inclusive Capitalism. The Council is a global nonprofit organization that joins moral and market imperatives to build a more inclusive, sustainable, and trusted economic system.

“At H&R Block, inclusivity and belonging are at the heart of our purpose: to provide help and inspire confidence in our clients and communities everywhere," said Jeff Jones. “I look forward to joining this diverse group of leaders, who share a commitment to helping address social and environmental challenges across industries as a key element of corporate strategy.”

The Council for Inclusive Capitalism is rooted in action. Upon joining, Council members commit their organizations to measurable and meaningful acts to create equality of opportunity, equitable outcomes, and fairness across generations and to those whose circumstances prevent them from full participation in the economy.

“I am thrilled to welcome Jeff Jones to the Council and look forward to working with him as he and H&R Block take the necessary actions to help ensure a better future for us all,” said Meredith Sumpter, CEO of the Council for Inclusive Capitalism. “Whether you run a small business, a mid-sized company, or a global corporation, we all have a role to play to build more inclusive economies and societies.”

H&R Block’s commitments to support a more-inclusive economy include:

• Providing tools to help improve financial health with the recent launch of the Spruce mobile banking platform.
• Working to Make Every Block Better through 1 million volunteer hours by associates by 2025, impacting 500 communities across all 50 states.
• Offering equitable and comprehensive benefits that will help their associates plan for the health and security of their families.
• Creating a diverse and inclusive workplace environment and reporting on progress on an annual basis.
• Reducing carbon emissions and implementing sustainable business practices in-line with established benchmarks or best practices.
• Providing resources and support to 500,000 small business owners by 2025, with 15% being small business owners of color.

The Council was launched in December 2020 with the belief that businesses have a responsibility and the capability to create stronger, fairer, and more dynamic economies and societies. Council membership is open to all companies and organizations who are willing to make measurable, public commitments toward more inclusive and sustainable business practices. See the full list of Council members here.

About H&R Block

H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE: HRB) provides help and inspires confidence in its clients and communities everywhere through global tax preparation services, financial products, and small-business solutions. The company blends digital innovation with human expertise and care as it helps people get the best outcome at tax time and also be better with money using its mobile banking app, Spruce. Through Block Advisors and Wave, the company helps small-business owners thrive with innovative products like Wave Money, a small-business banking and bookkeeping solution, and the only business bank account to manage bookkeeping automatically. For more information, visit H&R Block News or follow @HRBlockNews on Twitter.

About the Council for Inclusive Capitalism

The Council for Inclusive Capitalism is a global nonprofit organization established to harness the potential of the private sector to create a more inclusive, sustainable, and trusted form of capitalism. The Council is guided by the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and is led by a core group of global CEOs and public leaders who convene annually to advance the Council’s mission. Further information can be found at www.inclusivecapitalism.com.

CONTACT: Council for Inclusive Capitalism media contact:
Amanda Byrd
Director of Communications
Amanda@inclusivecapitalism.com


H&R Block media contact:
Angela Davied
Vice President, Corporate Communications
Angela.davied@hrblock.com


H&R Block Investor Relations: 
Michaella Gallina
Vice President, Investor Relations 
Michaella.gallina@hrblock.com

NEW YORK, May 11, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- StepStone Group Inc. (Nasdaq: STEP), a global private markets investment firm, today released its annual Environmental, Social & Governance (“ESG”), Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (“TCFD”), and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (“DEI”) reports.

“Our ESG report, Taking the Long View, addresses our corporate ESG strategy and commitment to responsible investment practices across all asset classes, including private equity, infrastructure, private debt and real estate, and investment strategies including primary funds, secondaries and co-investments,” said Suzanne Tavill, Partner and Head of Responsible Investment at StepStone. “Our ESG and TCFD reports represent another step forward as we maintain engagement with our stakeholders and benchmark our progress.”

The ESG report contains within it StepStone’s DEI report addressing the firm’s DEI programs and progress. The firm’s TCFD report details the company’s climate-related initiatives and proactive steps toward improving climate-related performance.

Highlights of the reports include:

• Climate Commitment: StepStone is a carbon neutral company and is committed to maintaining its carbon neutral status.
  
  
• DEI Initiatives and Progress: StepStone is proud of the progress it made in 2021, with 37% of new hires being women, and 34% being ethnically or racially diverse. As of January 2022, female partners made up 19% of the partnership, an increase of 58% from 2019. Similarly, 15% of all partners were racially or ethnically diverse, growing 67% over this same period.
  
  
• Responsible Investment: ESG due diligence is integrated into all our investment processes. As a signatory of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment, a supporter of the Task Force for Climate-Related Financial Disclosures, and a member of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board Alliance, StepStone seeks to align its processes with these responsible investing frameworks. Further, StepStone has over $12 billion in allocations across its platform categorized as impact and thematic investments, with an additional $22 billion committed to diverse private equity managers.
  

“ESG, DEI and climate-related initiatives are playing an increasingly important role in decision making among private markets participants,” said Scott Hart, Partner and CEO at StepStone. “As we have done throughout our history, StepStone will seek to be best-in-class in these areas. These reports serve as both a testament to what we have already achieved and a baseline from which to work as we look forward.”

StepStone’s 2021 ESG report, TCFD report and DEI report are available on the Company’s Shareholder Relations website.

About StepStone

StepStone Group Inc. (Nasdaq: STEP) is a global private markets investment firm focused on providing customized investment solutions and advisory and data services to its clients. As of December 31, 2021, StepStone oversaw approximately $548 billion of private markets allocations, including $127 billion of assets under management. StepStone's clients include some of the world's largest public and private defined benefit and defined contribution pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and insurance companies, as well as prominent endowments, foundations, family offices and private wealth clients, which include high-net-worth and mass affluent individuals. StepStone partners with its clients to develop and build private markets portfolios designed to meet their specific objectives across the private equity, infrastructure, private debt and real estate asset classes.

Contacts

Shareholder Relations:
Seth Weiss
shareholders@stepstonegroup.com
1-212-351-6106

Media:
Brian Ruby / Chris Gillick, ICR
StepStonePR@icrinc.com 
1-203-682-8268

STAMFORD, Conn., May 09, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc. (Nasdaq: EGLE) (“Eagle Bulk”, “Eagle”, or the “Company”), one of the world’s largest owner-operators within the midsize drybulk segment, today announced the publication of its third annual Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Sustainability Report.

The report, which has been prepared in accordance with the Marine Transportation Framework established by the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), provides an overview of Eagle’s strategic priorities and performance with respect to various environmental, social, and governance-related matters.

Gary Vogel, Eagle Bulk’s CEO, commented, “Eagle Bulk advanced a number of important ESG-related initiatives in 2021, which are detailed in our report. We have embedded these initiatives across our company, as demonstrated by the sustainability-linked targets included in the new credit facility we entered into during the fourth quarter of 2021, which allow the Company to decrease its interest rate margin, subject to meeting fleet energy efficiency targets and making investments in decarbonization initiatives. I’m pleased to report that we have met these targets for 2021 and will benefit from a decrease in our margin starting this June, which will step down to 210 basis points over 3-month LIBOR.   Additionally, we improved our fuel efficiency profile by adding nine modern vessels to our fleet and completed our first ever sustainable biofuel voyage, sailing the M/V Sydney Eagle across the Atlantic and reducing the vessel’s net well-to-wake CO2 emissions by ~90% during the voyage.

From a Social perspective, our top priority has been to ensure the health and safety of our employees, both onshore and onboard our vessels. COVID-19 continued to impact our business in 2021. We have had some colleagues deal with illness personally, while others had to cater to family being impacted at home.

More recently, the tragic events taking place in Ukraine have significantly impacted our Ukrainian seafarers, and we are doing what we can to ensure their safety and well-being by providing assistance with temporary housing, transportation, and other needs.”

Eagle’s ESG Sustainability Report can be accessed on the Company’s website at www.eagleships.com/ESG.

CONTACT

Company Contact:
Frank De Costanzo
Chief Financial Officer
Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc.
Tel. +1 203-276-8100
Email: investor@eagleships.com

Media:
Rose and Company
Tel. +1 212-359-2228