THE NEXT ECONOMY -
A unanimous decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals has upheld the government’s right to use a social carbon price to inform policymaking. The verdict rejected an industry-backed litigation that challenged the Department of Energy (DOE)’s use of a $36/metric ton estimated social cost of carbon (SCC) in its decision-making on the premise that the figure is not based on “real-world” data.
NEW METRICS -
In this series of articles, the team at the Carbon Trust outlines the reasons for businesses to adopt science-based targets on climate change. This is the fourth in the series; find the other parts here:
Part 1: Why do we need to set science-based targets on climate change?
Part 2: What exactly is a science-based target?
CLEANTECH -
A report released today from As Yow Sow and Corporate Knights reveals that a list of 200 clean energy companies known as the Carbon Clean 200™ (Clean200™) show a simulated annualized return of 21.82 percent over the past decade – nearly triple that of the Carbon Underground 200™, a list of fossil fuel companies being targeted for divestment, which generated a 7.84 percent annualized return over the same period. The Clean200’s high figure was largely due to the explosive growth experienced by Chinese cleantech firms, but firms outside of China still had figures superior to the S&P 1200 global benchmark and Carbon Underground 200.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
With the potential to change how businesses think about their waste, circular economy models could be an effective means of emissions reduction towards the commitments under the Paris Climate Agreement in addition to economic benefits, waste reduction, and reduced consumption of virgin materials.
PRESS RELEASE -
The U.S. Department of Energy is awarding about $6 million in funding for projects at Ford Motor Co. in Dearborn and at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico that advance fuel cell and hydrogen technologies.
Ford will use the money to develop a uniquely American fuel-cell catalyst production process, according to U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Dearborn, who announced the funding Thursday afternoon.
PRESS RELEASE -
The famed central strip of Las Vegas has often been called the ‘brightest spot on earth’ because of its powerful neon lights. However, the city has been working to reduce its environmental footprint, with many of the neon lights being replaced by LED screens, and its hotels and casinos increasingly adopting sustainable solutions to improve their energy and water use efficiency.
Caesars Entertainment, one of the city’s largest gaming businesses, has revamped its commitment to sustainability, and aligned its targets to eight of the 17 U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The company has highlighted its “CodeGreen” environmental performance in its latest corporate sustainability report.
CLEANTECH -
News Deeply, in partnership with Sustainable Brands, has produced a series of profiles looking at how brands are tackling some of the world’s biggest challenges. The goal is to examine trends and gather insights from a new wave of corporate citizenship – in an era when the private sector is increasingly expected to play a positive role in improving our lives and societies. This is the 4th article in the series.
NEW METRICS -
In this series of articles, the team at the Carbon Trust outlines the reasons for businesses to adopt science-based targets on climate change. This is the third in the series; find the other parts here:
Part 1: Why do we need to set science-based targets on climate change?
Part 2: What exactly is a science-based target?
PRESS RELEASE -
Toyota and Horizon Educational Group Challenge SoCal High School Students to Build Fuel Cell Vehicles
TORRANCE, CALIF. (Aug. 9, 2016) – Game-based learning. Augmented reality virtual field trips. Biometric eye-tracking to determine how students absorb and understand content.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
A key business driver for today’s vehicle manufacturers is to find cost-effective ways to reduce material impact, and weight, in the cars they build. Lighter vehicles result in less fuel consumption – and consequently, fewer emissions.
CLEANTECH -
Transportation accounts for around one-seventh of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. And globally, greenhouse gas emissions are rising faster in transportation than in any other sector, with rapid motorization — more cars and trucks — being the principal cause.
PRESS RELEASE -
The line, which will be running at an initial capacity of 350,000 engines per year, is designed to reduce water and energy consumption by over 50% per engine produced compared to the previous production line. The company estimates that the water saving per year will be in the region of 17.5 million litres compared to 2011. This is enough to fill seven Olympic-sized swimming pools, and makes Dagenham the most water-efficient Ford plant in the world.
PRESS RELEASE -
UPS (NYSE: UPS) announced on August 2nd that the company has achieved its goal of driving 1 billion miles in its alternative fuel and advanced technology fleet one year earlier than planned, and marked more than 10 years of learning from its “Rolling Laboratory.” UPS’s long-term commitment to sustainability is transforming commercial transportation and logistics, spurring growth in the clean fuels market and powering critical engineering advances. The company’s wider sustainability progress is detailed in the 14th annual Sustainability Report.
PRESS RELEASE -
The Rio 2016 Olympic Games are making history by leaving a significant legacy of low-carbon technologies in Latin America while set to balance 2 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents (CO2e).
The Rio 2016 Organizing Committee and The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE:DOW), the Official Chemistry Company of the Olympic Games and Official Carbon Partner of Rio 2016, announced today that more than 2 million tonnes of third-party-verified greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions are projected to be delivered by all projects and actions implemented to fulfill the commitment of hosting a global event with minimal carbon impact. Through unique cross-sector collaboration, the Olympic Games act as a catalyst for the adoption of more sustainable solutions that are relevant to the economy and society.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Mark Manning, former oil industry insider and director of acclaimed Iraq war documentaries The Road to Fallujah and Caught in the Crossfire, has turned his lens to another battle taking place in the Gulf, this time on the U.S.’ Gulf Coast. The upcoming feature-length documentary, The Rising, details the devastating effects not only of BP’s Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010, but of the company’s cleanup efforts following the spill and the apparent large-scale cover-up of their health impacts on the coastal communities.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Product-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions represented 74 percent of sports retailer Decathlon’s total emissions in 2015. With a new goal to stabilize its emissions by 2019, the company estimates it will need to reduce product-related impacts by 20 percent per year if it is to meet its target. Decathlon says its design teams have taken up the challenge and are progressively integrating environmental criteria into the quality-price combination of all of its products.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
This week, Tiffany & Co. released its sixth annual Sustainability Report, which outlines the jeweler’s continued progress in corporate social responsibility, commitment to the environment, and contributions to the communities across 30+ countries in which it operates.
“Of the many reasons to take pride in Tiffany, none is more important than our long-held commitment to the environment and its people,” said Tiffany CEO Frederic Cumenal. “World-class leadership in sustainability among great luxury brands is rooted in a humble understanding of our impact on, and thus responsibility to, the world.”
PRESS RELEASE -
The next time you reach for your favorite ice cream bar, you could be making a choice to support sustainability efforts globally.
Helping Canadians make a positive impact on the planet by actively choosing more sustainable brands and products is the idea behind U CAN, Unilever's Sustainable Living Plan in Canada. U CAN is a Canadian program, but it is part of a global sustainability initiative that touches brands and communities around the world.
For example, enjoying a Magnum ice cream bar might not seem like a way of helping the environment, but when you do, you support a larger sustainability effort here in Canada and around the world:
NEW METRICS -
In this series of articles, the team at the Carbon Trust outlines the reasons for businesses to adopt science-based targets on climate change. Read part one.
To put it simply, a carbon emissions target is defined as science-based if it is in line with the scale of reductions required to keep global temperature increase below 2°C compared to pre-industrial temperatures.
CLEANTECH -
UPS today announced it has achieved its goal of driving 1 billion miles in its alternative fuel and advanced technology fleet one year earlier than planned, and marked more than 10 years of learning from its “Rolling Laboratory.” UPS’s long-term commitment to sustainability is helping to transform commercial transportation and logistics, spurring growth in the clean fuels market and powering critical engineering advances. The company’s wider sustainability progress is detailed in the 14th annual Sustainability Report, released today.