Alliance & Leicester has donated £1m to the National Forest Company and the Forestry Commission to create new woodland at Staunton Harold in Leicestershire. The bank has been carrying out a major branch refurbishment programme across its UK network of 300 branches, which involved extensive use of maple veneer. The partnership, a symbolic replacement of the wood veneer used, was marked on March 5 with the planting of the first tree at the woodland. Contact Reshma Thakkar, Alliance & Leicester, on &0116 200 3386 (http://www.alliance-leicester-group.co.uk)
Chemical reaction
The UK’s Chemistry Leadership Council has asked sustainability charity Forum for the Future to help them improve the quality of the dialogue between the chemical industry and its stakeholders. Stakeholders are being brought together in a series of events to: [list]
Starbucks announced on March 29 that it is dedicating a month to promote environmental awareness in stores throughout the US and Canada until April 22, which is Earth Day. The campaign highlights leading environmental initiatives the company has undertaken and simple steps customers can take every day to reduce their environmental impact both at Starbucks and in their everyday lives. The company is encouraging customers to use reusable mugs or tumblers by offering them a $0.10 discount, and to take advantage of its Grounds for Your Garden programme, offering free spent coffee grounds to customers, parks, schools and nurseries for use in gardening. Starbucks is also including five tips from the Earth Day Network on its insulating cup sleeves. Contact Kristine Jimenez, Starbucks, on &00 1 206 318 5955 (http://www.starbucks.com)
Crop Biodiversity
Syngenta and Dupont have each pledged $1m to the Global Crop Biodiversity Trust, an international organisation dedicated to the long-term conservation of crop diversity. The donations were announced on March 2 and 3 respectively. They are the first private sector contributions to the Trust, which is an initiative between the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation and the 16 Future Harvest Centres of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research and various governmental aid agencies. Dupont’s grant will be allocated in equal installments, beginning in 2004 through 2007, to improve plant genetic storage facilities, increase staffing, build capacity, and support the basic costs of conservation. The crop collections to be supported by the Trust are available to public and private plant breeders and farmers under the terms of an Internet-ional treaty on plant genetic resources, adopted in 2001. A key objective is to encourage crop research and development and assure an abundant and affordable food supply in the future. Contact Courtney Dreyer, Dupont, on &00 1 515 334 4663 (http://www.dupont.com)
Commission reports
Traffic levels have risen, bird populations have fallen and more waste is being thrown away according to the government’s fourth report on progress towards sustainable development in the UK. Achieving a better quality of life, published on March 16, is a quality of life barometer covering the UK Government’s 15 headline indicators of sustainable development, all of which fall into one of three categories – environment, society and economy. On a positive side, economic growth has continued, employment is at an historically high level and significant progress has been made in tackling poverty and social exclusion. The report is the fourth and final report against the strategy ‘a better quality of life’ published in 1999. Contact Defra on &020 7238 5811 (http://www.sustainable-development.gov.uk)
COMMENT:
The UK government is working on a new five year strategy to follow on from the original 1999 version. Cue Jonathan Porritt, chair of its sustainable development advisory commission – who launched a savage broadside just as we were going to press. The Commission’s own report on progress “Shows promise, but must try harder” did acknowledge some positives, notably on air quality and biodiversity. However much of the rest of the scorecard ranged from disappointing, through poor to dreadful in one case (road traffic).
Porritt took to the airwaves, decrying the fact that sustainable development is nowhere near the heart of government. It was an impressive breaking of the rule that the great and good on government commissions are supposed to keep the volume down. The Commission’s report contains 20 specific challenges to government, backed up by plenty of bullet point actions needed. A devastating 40-page critique. But at the end of reading it one can’t help feeling much of the blame is misplaced. Ultimately, if the UK misses the road traffic reduction targets or generates increasing volumes of waste, is it the government’s fault, or do consumers and the companies that supply them have some responsibility too?
COMMENTS