Sustainable Brands
New Methodologies Help Banking Industry Assess Risks, Opportunities of Climate Change
Finance & Investment / On Wednesday, 16 banks, the UN Environment Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) and climate risk advisory firm Acclimatise published new methodologies that will help banks understand how the physical risks and opportunities of a changing climate might affect their loan portfolios. The methodologies are designed to enable banks to be more transparent about their exposure to climate-related risks and opportunities, in line with the recommendations of the Financial Stability Board's (FSB) Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). - 4 years ago
Liverpool Using Blockchain to Become First Climate-Positive City by End of 2020
Organizational Change / The Liverpool City Council is committed to becoming the first climate-positive authority in the world by the end of 2018, through a groundbreaking partnership with the nonprofit Poseidon Foundation, in a bid to make Liverpool the world’s first climate-positive city by the end of 2020. - 4 years ago
Circulate Capital Launches to Invest in Solutions to Ocean Plastic Crisis
Finance & Investment / Circulate Capital, a new impact-focused investment management company, launched today in partnership with Closed Loop Partners, a firm that invests in companies, technology and recycling infrastructure to advance the circular economy; and Ocean Conservancy, a leading nonprofit environmental advocacy organization working to protect the world’s oceans. - 4 years ago
Latest Youth Solutions Report Showcases 50 Projects to Support SDGs
Product, Service & Design Innovation / The second edition of the Youth Solutions Report, which identifies 50 youth-led projects that aim to solve the world’s toughest issues, was released Tuesday in New York during a launch event at the headquarters of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network. The solutions, which come from 61 countries and operate across all continents and regions, address crucial sustainable development issues such as clean energy, education, digitalization, e-participation, access to healthcare, ecosystem restoration, sustainable agriculture and waste. - 4 years ago
McDonald's Joins Starbucks in Quest for Compostable Cup; Ireland Already Found One
Product, Service & Design Innovation / The NextGen Cup Consortium and Challenge, convened by Closed Loop Partners, announced today that McDonald’s joins Starbucks as a founding member of the group, working to develop a global recyclable and/or compostable cup solution. This announcement follows recent commitments by both companies to drive innovation of their packaging and help reduce plastic waste. - 4 years ago
New S&P Dow Jones Index Series First to Incorporate Future Carbon Price Risks
Finance & Investment / S&P Dow Jones Indices, the world’s leading index provider, today announced the launch of the S&P Carbon Price Risk Adjusted Index Series, which will measure the performance of companies in each respective underlying index with a weighting scheme based on estimated company market valuation at risk from predicted 2030 carbon prices. - 4 years ago
New China-EU Agreement Paves Way for Global Adoption of Circular Economy
Business Case / China and the European Union have jointly expressed their commitment to sign a Memorandum of Understanding on Circular Economy at the 20th EU-China Summit taking place today and tomorrow in Beijing. Both governments stand to gain from aligning on policies that support the transition to a circular economy, which can unlock new sources of economic growth and innovation while benefiting people and the environment, for example by reducing pollution and congestion. - 4 years ago
Report: Slavery, Labor Abuses in SE Asian Supply Chains Set to Spiral in Age of Automation
The Next Economy / Drastic job losses in South East Asia resulting from the onset of robot manufacturing are predicted to lead to a dramatic increase in slavery and labor abuses in global supply chains, unless governments take early measures to prevent automation threatening millions of livelihoods, states a new report by Verisk Maplecroft. - 4 years ago
Trending: Liquor Giants Serve Waste Reduction with a Twist in New Product, Campaign
Waste Not / “In 2016, Bacardi led the drinks industry with the first #NoStraws campaign focusing on eliminating single-use plastic straws from its cocktails,” explained Dune Ives, executive director of Lonely Whale, a non-profit dedicated to positively impact the health of the ocean. - 4 years ago
Danone, Mars, Nestlé, Unilever Join Forces to Improve U.S. Public Food Policy
Walking the Talk / Four of the nation’s largest food companies have launched the Sustainable Food Policy Alliance, a new organization focused on driving progress in public policies that shape what people eat and how it impacts their health, communities, and the planet. Founding member companies include Danone North America; Mars, Incorporated; Nestlé USA and Unilever United States. - 4 years ago
Asda, Unilever, AstraZeneca Among Funders of New University of Cambridge SDG-Focused Fellowships
Walking the Talk / The University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) has announced a major new partnership with leading companies today with the launch of The Prince of Wales Global Sustainability Fellowship Programme. Corporate and individual donors are sponsoring up to 15 academic fellows to identify breakthrough solutions to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and mobilize evidence on these challenges as they undertake three-year studies. - 4 years ago
Cities, Countries, Companies to Automakers: You Have the Keys to a Zero-Emissions Future
Collaboration / States, regions, cities and international business are uniting to use their purchasing and policy influence to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) around the world through a new Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Challenge, launched today. - 4 years ago
Shell CEO ‘Welcomes’ Idea of Banning Petrol in UK Before 2040
Cleantech / Ben van Beurden, CEO of Royal Dutch Shell, said he welcomed the idea of bringing forward the UK’s ban on new petrol and diesel car sales that is currently set for 2040. MPs, - 4 years ago
Target, CVS, Tesco Among Orgs with Over $3.3T Spend Scaling Up Supply Chain Sustainability
Walking the Talk / 115 organizations, representing over US$3.3 trillion of combined annual spend, are working to improve supply chain sustainability by requesting environmental data from more than 11,500 global suppliers. - 4 years ago
The Last Straws? Starbucks Eliminating Them Globally, More Regional Bans
Waste Not / Following Vancouver’s approval of a strategic plan to achieve zero waste and phase out plastic straws and other select packaging, its neighbor to the south is also taking action. Seattle recently became the first major U.S. - 4 years ago
JUST Capital’s New Tool Helps Citizens See, Compare US Companies’ Environmental Impact
Marketing and Comms / A new interactive data visualization tool allows the general to see how the largest U.S. companies stack up when comparing their environmental impact. The Environmental Explorer, which is freely available, lets users explore rankings of the 1,000 largest public U.S. - 4 years ago
CO2 Challenge Seeks New Tech to Help Cargill Decarbonize the Shipping Sector
Cleantech / A new global challenge aims to find and scale new technologies capable of reducing a ship’s gross carbon dioxide emissions by ten percent. Businesses and entrepreneurs with a product in need of commercial assessment, testing, investment and scaling are invited to apply to participate in the “CO2 Challenge,” launched by Cargill in partnership with DNV GL and Rainmaking. - 4 years ago
Consumers Ready to Reward Brands That Take Stands
Marketing and Comms / When Dick’s Sporting Goods bans the sale of assault rifles, or McDonald’s makes a commitment to get 100 percent of its packaging from renewable, recycled or certified sources by 2025, how does their position in the marketplace change? - 4 years ago
Jellyfish, Eyelids Among Inspiration for 8 Winners of 2018 Biomimicry Global Design Challenge
Product, Service & Design Innovation / From soil erosion solutions that draw inspiration from natural tide pools and a kingfisher’s eyelid, to technologies that use protection methods developed by plants, the winners of this year’s Biomimicry Global Design Challenge present some truly creative solutions inspired by nature. - 4 years ago
First Global Competition for Tourism Startups Seeks Future of Travel, Environment, Community
Product, Service & Design Innovation / The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and Globalia have announced the first worldwide competition for tourism startups. The UNWTO Tourism Startup Competition is accepting applications from entrepreneurs across 164 countries whose companies aim to transform tourism, whether their focus is on the future of travel, tourism experience, environmental impact or community development. - 4 years ago