Fossil fuel lobby goes on the attack against divestment movement
The climate change campaign to divest from fossil fuels led by Fossil Free UK is facing a barrage of attacks from the coal and oil lobbies ahead of its global divestment day on Valentine’s Day. The Environmental Policy Alliance, a PR firm the oil industry, has released a video which suggests that divestment will kill your “love affair” with fossil fuels, basically leaving you living in a dark cave. A further attack on the divestment campaign came directly from the oil industry on Wednesday. A new report commissioned by the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) – ignoring the key investment caveat that the past is an unreliable guide to the future – goes back half a century to conclude that if all US universities divested from fossil fuels, they could lose up to $3.2 billion a year. (The Guardian)
Apple signs $848 million solar deal
In October, Apple‘s Vice President of Environmental Initiatives Lisa Jackson told a GreenBiz audience that the Silicon Valley tech giant is “swinging for the fences” on sustainability and renewable power. On Tuesday, Apple made good on Jackson’s promise announcing the largest commercial purchase of solar power ever with an $848 million deal with First Solar to buy the electricity generated from a huge solar farm in California. Joe Kishkill, chief commercial officer for First Solar said: “Apple is leading the way in addressing climate change by showing how large companies can serve their operations with 100% clean, renewable energy. The emphatic move into solar also throws down a gauntlet to other big companies to move faster into renewables. In recent months, Google, Amazon, Salesforce, Facebook and others have committed to going 100 percent renewable in their data centres in the future. (GreenBiz; 2degrees)
Health & Wellbeing
Row over sugar firms links to government advisors on obesity
A row has erupted about links between the sugar industry and scientists who advise the UK government on obesity following a report on the issue in the British Medical Journal (BMJ). It claims Professor Susan Jebb – the government’s obesity expert – has attracted more than £1.3 million of industry funding, including money from Coca-Cola, Unilever and Cereal Partners. The article also claims that, of the 40 scientists affiliated with SACN between 2001 and 2012, just 13 had no connections to the sugar industry. BMJ editor-in-chief Fiona Godlee said the investigation showed there was a “network of relationships between key public health experts and the sugar industry”. However, in a statement, Jebb said none of the studies involved research into the effects of sugar on health, and all industry funding had been declared. Furthermore, experts said industry needed advice from the small pool of nutrition scientists, and little dietary research could be done without industry funding. (BBC News, The Guardian)
Behaviour Change
Salaried employees more likely to embrace green measures
People employed on an hourly wage and those with a ‘time is money’ mind-set are less likely to engage in environmental measures at work, according to new research by psychologists at the University of British Columbia. Elizabeth Dunn, an associate professor at the university, and PhD student Ashley Whillans, found that hourly workers were less environmentally engaged than their salaried counterparts, even when factors such as gender, monthly income, and marital status were taken into account. “This occurs in part because thinking about the economic value of time creates awareness of the opportunity costs associated with environmental behaviours,” the researchers said.” We mitigate these effects by reframing environmental behaviour as an act consistent with self-interest. Together, this research suggests that viewing time as money shapes environmental decisions, potentially shedding light on patterns of environmental behaviours across time and around the world.” (Business Green)
Rankings & Standards
New ratings agency ranks 500 institutions that can end deforestation
On the heels of a year marked by bold zero deforestation commitments the first ever comprehensive ranking named the “Forest 500” by the Global Canopy Programme measures the supply chains of 500 influential actors in this space. The analysis cuts across 250 companies, with total annual revenues in excess of US $4.5 trillion; 150 investors and lenders; 50 countries and regions; and 50 other influential actors that are exposed to deforestation-related risks with numerous types of commodities, including beef, soy, palm oil, paper and other resources. The analysis finds that, of these ‘powerbrokers’ that control the global supply chains that drive over half of tropical deforestation, only a small minority are equipped to tackle this problem. Assessed against dozens of policy indicators, only seven of the Forest 500 scored the maximum number of points; Danone Group, Kao Corp., Nestle S. A., Procter & Gamble, Reckitt Benckiser Group, Unilever, and banking and financial services giant HSBC. (GreenBiz; Eco-Business)
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