BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Ben & Jerry’s has announced that it will institute its own internal carbon tax of $10 for every metric ton of its greenhouse gas emissions, from farm to landfill.Using a recent Lifecycle Analysis that gave the ice cream company a “cow-to-cone” picture of its carbon footprint, Ben & Jerry’s says it will be putting the funds from the tax to jumpstart sustainbility programs it’s already working on. Due to the fact that the dairy component counts for 42 percent of its overall lifecycle emissions, the company will start by working with farmers to develop and implement carbon footprint-reducing strategies.
CLEANTECH -
When it comes to water usage, most industries today still pay little attention to managing their most precious raw material.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
The Conflict-Free Sourcing Initiative (CFSI) today announced it is available to help companies navigate compliance with the pending conflict minerals legislation recently voted on by the European Parliament.In addition, the CFSI says it is adopting a risk-based approach to its audit program to bolster audits of smelters and refiners of tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold worldwide.The draft EU legislation on conflict minerals requires importers and processors of tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold to self-certify via independent, third-party due diligence audits of smelters and refiners that their products do not directly or indirectly finance conflict and serious human rights abuses.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
In a landmark move last week, France's parliament voted to forbid major supermarkets from destroying unsold food, encouraging them to donate to charities or to farms for animal feed, as part of a national campaign against food waste; an estimated that up to 66 pounds of food are wasted per person each year. The French government announced in 2012 that it wants to reduce food waste by 50 percent by 2025.The amendment, unanimously approved Thursday by the National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament, is part of a larger environmental bill. The overall bill will go to a vote Tuesday in the Assembly, then goes to the Senate, and is likely to pass in both houses.
COLLABORATION -
Last week, California governor Jerry Brown signed an international agreement with 11 other state and province leaders, collectively representing more than 100 million people, to keep the global average temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius.Under 2 MOU is a subnational agreement designed to lead nations towards a legally binding global agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions ahead of this year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris this December.
CLEANTECH -
The United States leads the world in cleantech investments, patents, renewable energy generation and electric vehicle (EV) adoption, but still is slow to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new ranking by Next 10.Over the last two decades, however, the U.S. has become more energy productive, using less energy per dollar of GDP generated.
LEADERSHIP -
San Diego, Calif., Aurora, Colo., Torrance, Calif., Poway Calif. and Hermosa Beach, Calif. are the cities with the highest percentage of residents that made pledges during a monthlong campaign in April to promote water efficiency.The 2015 Wyland National Mayor’s Challenge for Water Conservation, organized by the Wyland Foundation and Toyota, involved residents from more than 3,900 cities making 391,325 pledges online to reduce their water use at home, around the yard and in their lives. The challenge addressed the growing importance of educating consumers about the many ways they use water, the organizers say.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
Climate change is literally killing us, according to some of the nation’s leading medical practitioners, who have found direct and indirect links between it and an increase in respiratory illnesses, cardiovascular disease and heat-related deaths. Americans also face increased risks to their health and well-being from injuries and premature deaths related to extreme weather events.
COLLABORATION -
The 7.8 magnitude Nepal earthquake that hit on April 25th has yielded a death toll of over 6,000, with thousands still reported missing. Villages throughout the country have been destroyed as well as a large portion of the capital Kathmandu. The Guardian reports that 90 percent of clinics and schools in some districts have become completely unusable. “There are still injured there who have not been treated. Whole villages are flattened. They need tents very badly,” Kempo Chimed Tsering, a local religious leader, told the Guardian.
NEW METRICS -
Total greenhouse gas emissions generated in the United States increased by 2 percent from 2012 to 2013, but emission levels in 2013 were 9 percent below 2005 levels, according to a new annual report by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).The EPA’s 20th Inventory of US Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks tracks total annual US emissions and removals by source, economic sector and greenhouse gas going back to 1990. The agency uses national energy data, information on national agricultural activities and other national statistics to provide a comprehensive accounting of total greenhouse gas emissions for all man-made sources in the United States.
WASTE NOT -
With California suffering one of its most dire water shortages on record, the Golden State’s political leaders are scrambling to find solutions to shore up an ever-diminishing supply of this precious resource. Some analysts suggest California only has about one year’s reserve of water left within its reservoirs.
CLEANTECH -
Clean energy is “key” to climate action, according to a senior advisor to President Obama in a blog post published last week, which discussed the United States’ official greenhouse gas emissions-cutting target to the United Nations. The proposal formalizes a U.S. commitment to reducing emissions 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Rhode Island lawmakers have introduced two bills that could put end-of-life product management duties onto the shoulders of packaging producers. If passed, Rhode Island will become the first state to enact legislation for extended producer responsibility (EPR) for printed paper and packaging (PPP).
MARKETING AND COMMS -
2015 marks the ninth year of Earth Hour, the WWF-led global event at which people and businesses turn off the lights to illuminate climate change awareness. Businesses, communities and individuals in nearly 170 countries will flip their switches for an hour this Saturday, March 28th at 8:30 pm local time.
NEW METRICS -
Seventh Generation, the nation's leading brand of non-toxic and renewable bio-based household, baby and personal care solutions, called on Congress last week to strengthen the country's outdated chemical policy.
CLEANTECH -
Global IT firm Hitachi Consulting has been selected to construct a first-of-its-kind Big Data platform for Denmark’s capital Copenhagen to help achieve its sustainability goals.To develop the platform, the firm will work with the City of Copenhagen, Capital Region, the Danish cluster organization, CLEAN and a consortium of partners.The Copenhagen Big Data project will enable advanced analytics to support city functions such as green infrastructure planning, traffic management and energy usage. It will integrate data from multiple sources, including demographics, crime statistics, sensor-based sources — such as energy consumption meters, air quality sensors and traffic sensors, among others — and information submitted by citizens and businesses.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Taking a dip in the Hudson River typically is not something New Yorkers would advise — centuries of city sewage discharges have left the river toxic and harmful to human health. Although public policies aimed at cleaning up the Hudson have improved conditions over the past several decades, leftovers from past pollution remain, and new problems are becoming evident.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
Last week, the London assembly told mayor Boris Johnson to pull City Hall’s £4.8bn pension fund out of coal, oil and gas investments, after assembly members voted on a motion to support the fossil fuel divestment movement.The motion calls on the mayor to publicly support the principle of divestment and to begin the process of ridding the London Pension Fund Authority (LPFA) of its fossil fuel portfolio. But the vote is non-binding, meaning the mayor is bound only to consider its proposals and write a response.The Green Party’s Jenny Jones proposed the motion, which was unanimously supported by Labour and the Liberal Democrats. Six of the Conservative’s nine members were absent. Those who were present voted against.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
It’s been 53 years since the publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, a shocking exposé of chemical pollutants and their impact on the Earth's ecosystems.
COLLABORATION -
As California’s devastating drought enters its fourth year and local organizations are appealing to residents to rein in their water use, a diverse coalition of companies with skin in the game — food and beverage giants General Mills, Driscoll’s and Coca-Cola North America, Gap Inc., Symantec and home builder KB Home — are coming together to launch a new campaign urging companies to enact more aggressive measures to maximize California's local and state water resources.