There are still many threats to the planet that remain unresolved, and put humanity at risk, according to the UN Environment Programme’s latest report on the state of the environment. The fourth Global Environmental Outlook report (GEO-4) was released on October 25 and assesses issues such as atmosphere, pollution, food, water and biodiversity as well as the inequalities between the developed and developing world. UNEP describes the report as not presenting a “dark and gloomy scenario” but an “urgent call for action”.
A new environmental index is to be developed, which will benchmark companies that specialise in environmental technology.
The index is being developed by Impax, the environmental asset management firm, and FTSE, the indexing company and will be called the Impax Environmental Technology Index, or FTSE ET50 Index. It will be available to investors from December this year and it will be managed by FTSE.
US retailer, Wal-Mart, announced that from May next year it will sell only concentrated liquid laundry detergent in its US stores. The commitment was announced at the 2007 Clinton Global Initiative meeting on September 26. Wal-Mart is responsible for selling 25% of all liquid detergent in the US and the move is expected to have a large impact on the market. The retailer commented that “we simply don’t want our customers to have to choose between a product they can afford and an environmentally friendly product”.
General Motors has announced, on October 29, its plans to invest $250m in a new research centre for alternative energy vehicles in China. The initiative is part of GM’s new strategy, which aims to support the country in its pursuit of environmentally friendly transport options.
GM plans to establish the China Automotive Energy Research Center in collaboration with Beijing’s Tsinghua University and Shanghai AutomotiveIndustry Corp. The centre will engage with various stakeholders including industry representatives, government officials and academia in an effort to produce a “comprehensive and integrated automotive energy strategy for China”.
The 2007 Green Awards were held on October 26 and saw The Guardian newspaper, owned by the Scott Trust, win best CSR report, The Carbon Trust win best green website and Marks & Spencer win best internal communications. Other winners included Honda for the best green PR campaign with a budget of over £100k, London 21 for the best green integrated campaign under £100k budget while British Sky Broadcasting won the award for best integrated campaign with a budget of over £100k.
The awards were chaired by the director for communications and public information at the UN Environment Programme Eric Falt, and were judged by representatives from Friends of the Earth, SustainAbility, WWF and the Chartered Institute of Marketing.
The Law Society and law firm DLA Piper have teamed up with Business in the Community and other law firms around the country with the aim of encouraging environmentally sustainable practices throughout the sector. The Legal Sector Alliance was launched on October 8 and is part of BITC’s climate change sector initiatives. Contact The Law Society 020 7242 1222 www.lawsociety.org.uk; DLA Piper 08700 111 111 www.dlapiper.com; BITC 0870 600 2482 www.bitc.org.uk
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