FINANCE & INVESTMENT -
JetBlue’s amended $550 million RCF includes a “sustainability-linked” provision, to align its strategic initiatives with its environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance goals — which the airline has been doing for years, in various ways.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
While Burberry delivers another carbon-neutral runway show and works to “inset” its emissions, a new report quantifies the staggering amount of travel emissions generated during a season’s worth of major fashion weeks.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Following positive results from a trial run, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Int'l Airport is planning to continue using Nachurs' Alpine RF-14F® deicer for the 2019/2020 winter.
CLEANTECH -
The remaining barriers to a climate-resilient future are political, rather than technological. Much of the tech required to transition to a low-carbon economy already exists — here are just a few to look out for.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Alaska’s new initiative aims to rally flyers to bring their own water bottle and fill it before they board; the airline will now plant trees when guests bring their own pre-filled water bottle.
CLEANTECH -
A broad set of stakeholders is focusing attention on the climate change impact of air travel. In the face of regulatory uncertainty, businesses will benefit from modifying their behaviors and leading the way.
COLLABORATION -
Just ahead of its 100th birthday, the Dutch airline calls on global aviation
industry, individual travelers to join forces for sustainable air travel — or
take the train, instead.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
With a recent rise in evidence of demand for sustainable travel experiences, Kind Traveler, the world’s first socially conscious hotel booking platform; and Steller — the world’s leading storytelling app and community co-founded by TV personality Richard Bangs, known as the father of modern adventure travel — have joined forces to launch new travel options that inspire travelers to vote with their dollars, benefiting local communities and ecosystems.
PRESS RELEASE -
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) earlier this week presented UPS with a SmartWay Excellence award, which recognizes leading carriers who have made significant contributions to reducing the impact of freight transportation on air quality.
“UPS is committed to delivering goods to people in the most sustainable way possible,” said Tamara Barker, chief sustainability officer, vice president of environmental affairs and domestic plant engineering at UPS. “We are honored to be recognized by the EPA for our accomplishments and look forward to continuing our work to create smarter and cleaner communities.”
WALKING THE TALK -
London’s Heathrow International Airport has chosen the winners of its inaugural Centre of Excellence Sustainable Innovation Prize, which were judged as the best solutions to some of the sustainability challenges facing airports and the aviation industry more widely.
Launched in January, the competition challenged entrants to focus on three areas as part of Heathrow’s Centre of Excellence for Sustainability work:
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and Globalia have announced the first worldwide competition for tourism startups. The UNWTO Tourism Startup Competition is accepting applications from entrepreneurs across 164 countries whose companies aim to transform tourism, whether their focus is on the future of travel, tourism experience, environmental impact or community development.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
Air New Zealand has uncovered a unique way to use its global reach to spark a conversation around climate change. In partnership with Antarctica New Zealand and the New Zealand Antarctic Research Institute, the airline has created a new safety video that showcases the frozen continent and highlights the important climate and environmental science taking place there.
CLEANTECH -
Corresponding with the launch of its updated Global States and Regions Annual Disclosure report in partnership with CDP and the 2017 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP23), The Climate Group has announced new members and progress for its electric vehicles (EV100), energy productivity (EP100) and renewable electricity (
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
The global airline industry is flying high — according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the sector is forecasted to make a net profit of $29.8 billion in 2017 and air passengers are expected to double over the next 20 years. But coupled with the industry’s success are unprecedented levels of greenhouse gas emissions.
FINANCE & INVESTMENT -
Earlier this year, JetBlue released its 2016 environmental and sustainability report, accompanied by a white paper produced according to the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) standard for the airline industry, which covers material environmental, social and governance (ESG) information of interest to investors.
CLEANTECH -
When people think of industries making the world a more sustainable place, air travel is likely at the bottom of the list — but United Airlines is one industry leader working hard to change that.
We recently spoke with United’s Director of Environmental Strategy and Sustainability, Natalie Mindrum, to learn more about how the airline continues to fuel its progress on sustainability.
PRESS RELEASE -
Ten companies and organizations, two partnerships, and three individuals today will receive 2017 Climate Leadership Awards for their accomplishments in reducing greenhouses gas emissions and addressing climate change.
The awards, now in their sixth year, are a partnership program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, and The Climate Registry. The awards are being presented this evening at the 2017 Climate Leadership Conference in Chicago.
This year’s awardees represent a wide array of industries including finance, consumer products, retail, aviation, and technology, plus federal and local government.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
London’s Heathrow Airport has unveiled a new sustainability leadership strategy designed to make Heathrow a center of excellence in the aviation industry. The strategy announces ambitious goals to reduce the airport’s and the industry’s environmental impacts while maximizing economic opportunities throughout the UK.
Plans include a new R&D incubator, an ambition for growth from a new runway to be carbon neutral and at least halving the number of late-running departures to reduce noise for local communities.
CLEANTECH -
The Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) has awarded 2015 SBIO winner LanzaTech, a carbon-recycling company, $4 million to design and plan a demonstration-scale facility using industrial off gases to produce 3 million gallons a year of low-carbon jet and diesel fuels.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
We’ve seen a rash of textile-recycling schemes emerge of late — in which the textiles in question may become new garments, but for the most part they remain, well, fabrics.