WWF helps leading firms cut business flights and save £21m
Twelve leading UK firms, including Lloyds Banking Group, BSkyB and Marks & Spencer have reduced their business flights by 41 per cent as a result of taking part in the ‘One In Five Challenge’ run by WWF. This has led to a reduction in carbon emissions of 26,455 tonnes.
Starbucks, Staples, three others join Better Buildings Challenge
Starbucks Coffee and Staples have this week joined the White House’s ‘Better Buildings Challenge’, aimed at reducing energy waste in buildings. The companies have pledged to upgrade more than 50 million square feet of combined commercial building space as they strive to meet the ‘Better Buildings’ goal of cutting building energy use at least 20 per cent by 2020.
Thousands of companies worldwide will be pushed to report on their environmental strategies and performance under proposals to be finalised at a United Nations summit in Rio de Janeiro this week. The UK is one of the countries backing widespread adoption of Denmark’s “report or explain” requirement for large companies either to produce a report on their behaviour or explain why they have not. However, the move is being resisted by some countries, including the US, Canada and India.
Arms and oil bosses refuse to attend corporate responsibility inquiry
The bosses of some of Britain's biggest arms and oil companies have refused to attend a parliamentary inquiry into the use of hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers' money to help dictators build arsenals and facilitate environmental and human rights abuses, according to opposition MPs. BAE Systems, among others, had been invited to an all-party investigation into the Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD)'s underwriting of loans, including £35m to Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe to buy five Hawk fighter jets.
Cisco, BT, BP and others are investing in the education and development of young people including training in technology and communications. These company-run programmes are going on throughout the Olympic period and will continue to have an impact beyond the Games.
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