Climate change, debt and inequality 'threaten financial stability'
Persistent economic weakness is sapping the ability of governments to tackle the growing threat of climate change and risks a global "perfect storm" of intertwined financial and ecological collapse, the World Economic Forum has warned. In the run-up to its annual meeting in Davos this month, the WEF used its annual Global Risks report to urge policy leaders to step up efforts to tackle the three big dangers cited by a panel of 1,000 experts: rising greenhouse gas emissions, severe income disparities and the indebted state of governments. (Guardian)
UK pledges £10m to pan-European bio-energy scheme
The UK Government has committed £10m to a European scheme designed to encourage the development of innovative bioenergy projects. The ‘ERA-NET Plus BESTF scheme’ is supported by a coalition of European nations, contributing a total of €47m in public money to industry led-projects from 2014. It is expected to stimulate up to €100m of industry-led bioenergy projects across the eight partner countries: the UK, Finland, Sweden, Germany, Spain, Denmark, Switzerland, and Portugal. Eligible technologies for funding include biogas, bio-energy generation, and biofuel production system. (Edie)
Ford forms partnership to create super-efficient homes
Plans to create homes in which smart meters, intelligent appliances, electric cars, and solar panels can all link up to cut domestic energy use and carbon emissions have taken a major step forward with the launch of a flagship cross-industry partnership. Ford announced this week that it is spearheading a collaborative project with power management company Eaton, solar panel firm SunPower, and white goods manufacturer Whirlpool, to demonstrate the extent to which low carbon technologies could transform households. The partnership, dubbed ‘MyEnergiLifestyle’, plans to show how technologies from all the companies can be integrated, so that energy is consumed in the most efficient manner possible. (Edie)
Corporate Reputation
Eight charged over £35m of loans at HBOS branch
A former senior employee of HBOS and seven other defendants face various charges relating to corruption and fraud in connection to £35m of bank loans. The charges follow an investigation into whether corporate customers of the HBOS branch in Berkshire were pushed into using the services of Quayside Corporate Services, a turnaround consultancy. The allegation is that senior HBOS employees were provided with numerous high-value gifts by QCS executives in return for appointing the consultancy to administer bank loans to companies in difficulty. (Financial Times*)
Supply Chain
Japan's Uniqlo detoxes supply chain
Japan's leading international casual wear brand, Uniqlo, has publicly committed to eliminate all releases of hazardous chemicals throughout its entire global supply chain and products by 2020. This comes just a month after Zara, Mango, Esprit and Levi's announced similar individual commitments, responding to waves of pressure from activists and consumers around the world. Competitors in the fashion world including GAP, G-Star Raw and Calvin Klein are looking increasingly out of touch now that 12 of the world's top high street fashion brands have committed to ‘Detox’. (Greenpeace)
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