Mike Hower
Managing Director, Sustainability & Social Impact
Deutsche Bank
Mike Hower is tagged in 1051 stories.
Page 33 of 53.
Leadership /
The Obama Administration has released its official strategy for reducing methane emissions as part of the President’s Climate Action Plan, which takes steps to further cut methane emissions from landfills, coal mining, and agriculture, as well as oil and gas systems through cost-effective voluntary actions and practical standards.
- 10 years ago
Cleantech /
Private investments in sustainable technologies such as renewable energy, water, energy efficiency, and green construction hit $5.3 trillion in 2014 — more than halfway to the 2020 goal of $10 trillion — according to a recent announcement by Ethical Markets.To help track investments as they accrue, Ethical Markets in 2007 established the Green Transition Scoreboard® (GTS). The GTS tracks Renewable Energy ($2.6 trillion), Water ($484 billion), Energy Efficiency ($1.1 trillion), Green Construction ($512 billion), Green R&D ($363 billion) and Cleantech ($258 billion).
- 10 years ago
Collaboration /
Climate change and unsustainable development increasingly are threatening some of the world's most popular and appealing travel destinations. In response, Royal Caribbean Cruises and several other organizations have partnered to address these challenges by helping tourism destinations in the Caribbean and Latin America "to safeguard their natural and cultural assets, while enhancing communities and securing a vibrant regional economy."
- 10 years ago
Leadership /
Unilever, Philips, 3M and several other members of the European Alliance to Save Energy (EU-ASE) have signed a letter sent to the European Commission calling for a new set of competitiveness objectives to exploit all possible cost-effective energy-efficiency opportunities by 2030.
- 10 years ago
Chemistry, Materials & Packaging /
Industrial packaging products and services firm Greif has received the 2014 Manufacturing Leadership Award (ML Award) in Sustainability for its DoubleGreen™ COEX 10-liter plastic jerry can. This is one of the first sustainable multilayer 10-liter plastic jerry cans made from a renewable resource, sugarcane, with a stackable design that eliminates the need for a carton during transport.The DoubleGreen COEX 10-liter plastic jerry is comprised of over 50 percent polyethylene that is derived from sugarcane ethanol. The can, produced in Brazil, creates a closed-loop system approach from agribusiness to agribusiness. Based upon the main Brazil agrochemical market volume, the use of sugarcane ethanol is estimated to eliminate roughly 1,390 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.
- 10 years ago
Organizational Change /
Political deadlock in Washington might be stifling any hope of a national carbon program, but it isn’t preventing companies from establishing their own initiatives. Take Microsoft, which has implemented a carbon fee program aimed at incorporating the cost of carbon pollution, both internal and external, into the financial structure of the company.First implemented at the beginning of the 2013 fiscal year (July 1, 2012), Microsoft’s Carbon Fee Program is a financial model that puts an incremental fee on the carbon emissions associated with the company’s operations.
- 10 years ago
Behavior Change /
ExxonMobil for the first time ever has agreed to publish a Carbon Asset Risk report on its website describing how it assesses the risk of stranded assets from climate change. The report will provide investors with greater transparency into how ExxonMobil plans for a future where market forces and climate regulation makes at least some portion of its carbon reserves unburnable.
- 10 years ago
The Next Economy /
Arizona State University (ASU) and the Dutch Municipality of Haarlemmermeer, along with private partners in the Haarlemmermeer region, have come together to create the world’s first regional plan based on the principles of a circular economy.The project, “Haarlemmermeer Beyond Sustainability,” will be coordinated by the Global Sustainability Solutions Center (GSSC) at Haarlemmermeer, a program within the Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives at ASU’s Global Institute of Sustainability. The center will partner with the municipality, Park 20I20 and SADC (Schiphol Area Development Company) to create a regional visioning and planning strategy that will close resource loops in the most efficient, economical and sustainable manner possible.
- 10 years ago
Cleantech /
Energy-efficiency programs are helping industry achieve higher energy savings, cost savings and productivity improvements, according to a new report by the SEE Action Network and the Institute for Industrial Productivity (IIP).The report, Industrial Energy Efficiency: Designing Effective State Programs for the Industrial Sector, investigates successful and well-designed industrial energy efficiency (IEE) programs in the United States. The results provide a strong case for industry participation in statewide programs.IIP says it is clear from the research that state energy-efficiency programs are helping both industry and ratepayers save money and cut energy use.
- 10 years ago
ICT and Big Data /
Microsoft, Google and several other companies last week joined a new White House program to launch a suite of climate data projects aimed at serving businesses, governments and the public.The Climate Data Initiative calls on the private sector to build tools using government datasets that will make communities “more resilient to climate change and to forge cross-sector partnerships to make those tools as useful as possible.”More than 100 datasets, web services and tools related to coastal flooding and sea level rise are now publicly available at data.gov/climate. The site will expand over time to cover other climate-related topics, including human health, energy infrastructure and the food supply.
- 10 years ago
Product, Service & Design Innovation /
B Lab on Wednesday recognized 92 companies from 15 countries and 31 industries for creating the most positive, overall social and environmental impact.The "B Corp Best for the World" list honors businesses that earned an overall score in the top 10 percent of all Certified B Corporations on the B Impact Assessment, a rigorous and comprehensive assessment of a company's impact on its workers, community and the environment. Honorees were recognized among micro, small and mid-sized businesses.
- 10 years ago
Products and Design /
Those who have long-fretted squeezing out that last bit of toothpaste from the tube may soon be able to rest easy — a student at Arizona State University has designed a new origami-inspired toothpaste tube designed to release every drop of paste, according to FastCoDesign.
- 10 years ago
Leadership /
Strengthening the systems that provide health products and care is the most critical investment in global health, according to international survey results released today by Devex and global health organizations PSI and PATH.Of the 1,500 international health development experts polled in the survey, 63 percent believe that strengthening health systems is a crucial investment over the next five to 10 years. The survey also found that 60 percent of respondents rated improving service delivery systems — or getting health care to people who need them — as a top priority for achieving stronger health systems.
- 10 years ago
Behavior Change /
In a bold and understandably unpopular move this week, the City of Paris banned half its motorists from driving their cars and motorcycles on Monday after a series of warm days and cold nights caused the city's worst pollution levels since 2007, BBC News reports.Part of a scheme to reduce the number of vehicles on the road — and the resulting pollution — the ban was originally planned for Monday and Tuesday; only motorists with odd-numbered number plates were allowed to drive on Monday, and only those with even-numbered plates were to be allowed to travel on Tuesday.
- 10 years ago
Leadership /
Microsoft, Allstate and Unilever are sponsoring California’s first We Day — an educational initiative aimed at inspiring students to become active local and global citizens — on March 26.Organized by international charity and educational partner Free the Children, the event will feature celebrity speakers and performers including recording artists Macklemore, Selena Gomez and Jennifer Hudson, Kid President, and actors Seth Rogen and Orlando Bloom. It will bring together 16,000 students from over 400 schools across the state.
- 10 years ago
Supply Chain /
Global bath and body brand LUSH Cosmetics has committed to removing all traces of mica from its products over concerns that it is unable to guarantee that the mines that extract the product are free from child labor, the Guardian reports.
- 10 years ago
Collaboration /
Duke Energy, American Electric Power and Hoosier Energy are the first buyers of interstate credits for water nutrients in the United States' new pilot program. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) on Tuesday officially launched the program for water-quality trades in the Ohio River Basin. The initiative tests water-quality improvement strategies in the world’s only interstate water quality trading program.Water quality trading is a market-based approach that could enable facilities to meet permit limits using nutrient-reduction credits from farmers who implement conservation practices, EPRI says.
- 10 years ago
Products and Design /
San Francisco-based cleaning products company Method has announced that it will build in Chicago one of the few LEED-Platinum factories in the US, where it will produce its eco-friendly cleaning products such as soaps and laundry detergent.Designed by William McDonough + Partners, the state-of-the-art facility will be built in Chicago's historic Pullman district, where Pullman railroad cars were once built. Before beginning construction next year, Method says it will first clean up its 22-acre site, which used to be a Ryerson steel mill was and is now a brownfield.
- 10 years ago
Cleantech /
Hydrogen fuel cell cars have more than three times the standard range of plug-in electric vehicles (EVs), can be refueled in minutes rather than hours and look and handle more like traditional cars — so why are there still only a few hundred hydrogen-powered vehicles on the road? The answer is a lack of hydrogen refueling stations, according to a new segment released today by QUEST, an Emmy Award-winning multimedia series with a new focus on exploring the science of sustainability. See the segment below:
- 10 years ago
ICT and Big Data /
How big is your firm’s carbon footprint? The answer to this question is becoming increasingly critical to business reputation and success. Mounting government carbon-reduction mandates and growing pressure from savvy consumers and investors means successful businesses must find a way to measure and mitigate their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Carbon dioxide also has become a business liability — it decreases firm value by $212,000 for every 1,000 metric tons produced, according to a 2013 KPMG report.
- 10 years ago