Libby MacCarthy
Sustainable Brands
Ford Teams Up with TfL to Clean Up London’s Air
Collaboration / Ford and Transport for London have announced a new multimillion-pound project designed to help improve air quality in London. The project features a 12-month trial of 20 new plug-in hybrid (PHEV) Transit Custom vans that reduce local emissions by running solely on electric power. The arrival of the new program is well-timed: Just five days into the new year, the City of London surpassed its 2017 air pollution limit, calling major attention to the serious air pollution problems the city currently faces. - 6 years ago
Europe Could Open Up €320 Billion by Scaling a Circular Economy
The Next Economy / The business case for sustainability, particularly the circular economy, is a strong one, and more and more researching is backing it up. A recent report by the Business & Sustainable Development Commission pointed to sustainable business models as the key to unlocking trillions of dollars in economic opportunities, and WRAP revealed that brands across the UK saved over £100 million simply by reducing food waste. - 6 years ago
New Study Links 'Green' Buildings to Higher Cognitive Function
New Metrics / Can better thinking and better health be found in green-certified buildings? New research says yes. Both indoors and out, the built environment plays a critical role in our overall health and well-being. This is especially true as about 90 percent of our time is spent indoors, and buildings have the ability to positively and negatively influence human health. Now, a new study by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Center for Health and the Global Environment and SUNY Upstate Medical University has found a link between green buildings and improved cognitive function. - 6 years ago
Unilever, Google, Nestlé Join Forces to Transform Global Food Systems
Collaboration / Twenty-five leading global companies, including Google, Nestlé, Unilever, PepsiCo, DuPont and Kellogg’s announced during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland that they were joining together to launch FReSH, the Food Reform for Sustainability and Health program, under the leadership of the World Business Council for Sustainable - 6 years ago
At the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, Climate Change Is King
Marketing and Comms / A decade after An Inconvenient Truth brought climate change into the heart of popular culture, the follow-up to the watershed environmental documentary, An Inconvenient Sequel, will make its world premiere at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival as a Day One screening, part of The New Climate - a program dedicated to conversations and films about environmental change and conservation. - 6 years ago
Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Unilever Set to 'Catalysing Action' on New Plastics Economy
Chemistry, Materials & Packaging / Due to their functional properties and low cost, plastics have become an integral part of our global economy and have seen their production increase twenty-fold over the past half-century. Despite their indisputable benefits, plastics have significant economic and environmental drawbacks. By 2050, it is estimated there will be more plastic than fish in the world’s oceans. These negative impacts are sources of concern for business and government, who are recognizing the need to rethink the global plastic system. - 6 years ago
Sustainable Business Can Unlock $12T Globally, Create Millions of Jobs
The Next Economy / A new report by the Business & Sustainable Development Commission (the Commission) points to sustainable business models as the key to unlocking US$12 trillion in economic opportunities and creating up to 380 million jobs a year by 2030. - 6 years ago
Reducing Food Waste Saved UK Food Industry £100M in Just 3 Years
Waste Not / According to a new report released by WRAP, retailers and brands across the UK saved over £100 million by reducing food waste. - 6 years ago
In the Race to Build a Renewably Powered Internet, Amazon, Netflix Lag Behind
Organizational Change / It takes a tremendous amount of energy to manufacture and power our devices, data centers and infrastructural needs. And with an energy footprint accounting for approximately 7 percent of global electricity, the IT industry has an important role to play in the transition towards clean energy. - 6 years ago
6 Startups Revolutionizing Ag, Waste Named Finalists for African Entrepreneurship Award
Product, Service & Design Innovation / Six African SMEs have been nominated as finalists for the African Finance & Investment Forum (AFIF) Entrepreneurship Award 2017, supported by the Rabobank Foundation. Out of the 51 projects from around the continent and following a few rounds of selection, the jury has selected these ground-breaking projects from Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania for their social, economic and ecological impact, and their potential for growth and jobs creation nationally and regionally. - 6 years ago
Panera Eliminates Artificial Preservatives to Achieve 100% Clean Goal
Organizational Change / Two years after it pledged to eliminate artificial additives from its menu by the end of 2016, Panera Bread has released a new campaign in celebration of meeting its goal. - 6 years ago
London Surpasses Annual Air Pollution Limits 5 Days Into 2017; Mary Poppins Is Not Amused
Behavior Change / The City of London broke its 2017 air pollution limits just five days into the new year, a whole three days ahead of its 2016 record. In response, Greenpeace enlisted the help of Mary Poppins to call on politicians to clean up the UK’s air to protect children’s lungs. A silhouette of the childhood champion was spotted flying high over Parliament, armed with her iconic umbrella and a new accessory — a pollution mask. - 6 years ago
Trending: Emerson, AT&T, London Startup Find More Creative Ways to Fight Food Waste
Waste Not / Today, approximately 40% of the food produced in the U.S. goes to waste and 97% ends up in landfills. There it decomposes and produces methane gas — 25 times more harmful than CO2 as a greenhouse gas and a major contributor to global warming and the destruction of the ozone layer. A similar story can be told across the globe. Food waste poses a significant risk to both food security and the planet, but new technologies and creative reuses of waste streams are pushing the food industry towards more sustainable, circular models. - 6 years ago
Indian Chemical Firm Makes Carbon Capture Breakthrough Turning CO2 into Baking Soda
Cleantech / Whether it be turning food scraps into cold-pressed juices or transforming PET waste into raw materials or converting beer waste water into batteries — just a few of the latest examples of the circular economy at work — companies are increasingly finding unique ways to transform and repurpose their waste, byproducts and emissions. - 6 years ago
As Renewables Reach Grid Parity, Questions Arise Surrounding Investment and Demand
Cleantech / With its potential to combat global climate change, the clean energy industry has experienced significant — and rapid — growth over the last decade. And according to the World Economic Forum, things are only looking up. As it stands, renewables, more specifically wind and solar, are fast becoming just as competitive as fossil fuels, and businesses have been taking note. - 6 years ago
DOE Awards LanzaTech $4M for New Low-Carbon Jet & Diesel Demo Facility
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. - 6 years ago
Baldor Specialty Foods Reaches Sustainability Goal Early by Reimagining Waste
Waste Not / It’s no secret that the food industry struggles to control the vast amount of waste it generates. In the United States alone, 30-40 percent of the national food supply (roughly 52 million tons of food) finds its way into landfills every year — a staggering and shocking statistic considering that 1 in 7 Americans don’t have access to affordable, nutritious food. - 6 years ago
Europe Needs to Cut Transport Emissions by 94% to Keep Climate Commitments
Leadership / According to a new report by Germany’s Öko-Institut, Europe has its work cut out for it if it intends to stop the planet’s temperature rising above the two-degree limit agreed upon by world leaders at COP21. As it stands, the EU will need to cut global warming transport emissions by 94% by 2050 — a lofty goal that will require significant efforts be undertaken by all Member States. The Paris Agreement, which came into effect in November 2016, sets the cap at two agrees above pre-industrial levels, with an aspirational goal of 1.5%. But climate experts warn that even a two-degree rise could have catastrophic impacts. - 6 years ago
New Gold Standard Framework to Unlock Billions for High-Impact Sustainable Development
Leadership / In collaboration with Climate-KIC, South Pole Group and ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, Gold Standard — a global benchmark for climate and development initiatives — has announced a new framework designed to unlock billions of dollars needed to scale-up clean technology and sustainable development in cities around the globe. - 6 years ago
G20 Task Force Report Creates Buzz Around Climate-Related Financial Disclosures
Marketing and Comms / One year after its formation, the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TFCD), a global task force created by the G20’s Financial Stability Board (FSB) to prevent market shocks stemming from climate change, has published its report, Recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures. - 6 years ago