CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
Japan’s idyllic Shirakawa Village has worked to mitigate overtourism and preserve the integrity of the local traditions and landscape by limiting visitors to those who respect the town’s heritage and embrace the spirit of mutual assistance that drives the local culture.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
As we race to achieve net zero, let’s ensure we aren’t making the same mistakes that got us here. Tech solutions do not deliver the same co-benefits as nature — and clearly cannot substitute for the loss of ecosystems. Nature-based solutions are cost-effective and can make an immediate difference.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
A recent study analyzes agricultural waste streams in Asia and charts a roadmap for establishing alternative textile value streams at scale; while Lenzing puts this into practice with a lyocell fiber made from orange pulp and wood
fibers.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
BHP will now supply some of the world’s lowest-carbon nickel to Tesla, while BASF will supply Porsche with high-energy HED™ cathode active materials and recycle battery-production waste to close the loop.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
Asking Westerners “Would you eat bugs to save the planet?” makes for great headlines — but it only scratches the surface of how bugs can help solve global challenges. Essentially, insects such as black soldier flies are a quintessential addition to a circular economy.
MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
A partnership with biotech company Arzeda will see the companies computer designing new enzymes with superior benefits to help clean up the cleaning
industry.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
Combining art, creativity, architecture and science, Daan Roosegaarde and his team of designers, experts and scientists have found a radical way to clean public spaces of coronavirus — with light.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
The anaerobic digester at Goodrich Farm turns cow manure and food waste into carbon-negative, renewable natural gas that benefits much more than the farm. And the family’s journey is highly replicable.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
Asarasi has turned sap water — a waste byproduct of maple syrup production — into a delicious, carbonated beverage; and for intrepid beer lovers, the city of Lahti, Finland has turned the blight of local parks into a line of ‘Wasted Potential’ brews.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
Food waste is catalyzing everyone in the food, waste and recycling industries to create new solutions and best practices to convert a negative into value for the environment and for business. Here are insights from some food industry leaders about efforts to reduce waste first, then recycle what cannot be eliminated.
COLLABORATION & CO-CREATION -
Companies including HP, IKEA, Kimberly-Clark, Lowe’s and Williams-Sonoma are working with WWF to create lasting change that makes tangible differences in people’s lives and the health of our natural world.
REDEFINING SUSTAINABLE SEAFOOD FOR THE FUTURE -
Solving the oceans’ critical challenges will require more brands to directly invest in — and get involved with — restoration, regeneration and rehabilitation efforts. Bumble Bee’s partnership with SeaTrees provides a replicable model for what that can look like.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
Corporate participation in Canopy’s CanopyStyle and
Pack4Good initiatives — which work with the world’s biggest brands to protect forests and transform destructive supply chains in the fashion and packaging
industries, respectively — is at an all-time high.
FINANCE & INVESTMENT -
New ENCORE biodiversity module by the Natural Capital Finance Alliance enables banks and investors to explore their portfolio’s impact on species extinction risk and ecological integrity — particularly in terms of agriculture and mining.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
The first-of-its-kind direct measure of our everyday consumption’s water impacts — thanks to data from S&P Global Trucost — aims to create a greater consumer understanding of the importance of water locally, nationally and
globally.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
The latest installment of Google’s Project Air View outfits Jaguar’s new, electric I-PACE with Google Street View technology and mobile air sensors to monitor Dublin’s street-level air quality for the next year.
COLLABORATION & CO-CREATION -
This year’s International Forum on SDGs for Regional Revitalization examined the
acceleration of sustainable development initiatives in and outside Japan, through corporate and government cooperation, and the positive ripple effects on communities around the world.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
The US$100M initiative builds on the organizations’ individual efforts to accelerate a shift to a net-zero global economy.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
The Urban Food Forest at Browns Mill caters to one of 35 food-insecure communities in Georgia’s capital — and provides a scalable model for other cities to begin to address this all-too-common systemic inequity in US cities.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
At WestRock, we are helping people better understand the importance of virgin fiber — and the role sustainably managed forests play in ensuring that we continue to protect and reinvest in this valuable, renewable resource.