FTSE joins Blackrock to help investors avoid fossil fuels
BlackRock, the world’s biggest fund manager, has teamed up with London’s FTSE Group to help investors avoid coal, oil and gas companies without putting their money at risk. In a sign that a global divestment campaign against fossil fuels is entering the financial mainstream, companies that extract or explore for such fuels are excluded from a new set of indices created by FTSE. This is believed to be the first benchmark from a leading index group that specifically bars fossil fuel companies. Groups that are included range from tech giants such as Apple, Google and Microsoft to a number of large US banks and pharmaceutical companies such as Johnson & Johnson and Roche, while barred companies are thought to include BP and BHP Billiton. The move comes as climate-change activists tack towards arguing that fossil fuels are not just dangerous for the environment but an increasingly risky financial bet, with governments considering tougher action to curb global warming. “This is one of the fastest-moving debates I think I’ve seen in my 30 years in markets,” said Kevin Bourne, a FTSE managing director. (Financial Times)*
Human Rights
Nigerian community takes Shell to court over oil spills
A historic court case began in London yesterday, as Britain’s high court opened a pre-trial hearing ahead of proceedings to be heard next year brought by a Nigerian community against the oil giant Royal Dutch Shell. Around 15,000 claimants from the coastal Bodo community are seeking compensation for two devastating oil spills that occurred in the Niger Delta in 2008. They are also demanding that Shell be forced to clean up the environmental impacts of the disasters that are still felt by locals today. The claimants’ case, which will be brought by London-based firm Leigh Day, claims that the spills devastated the fragile local environment and ruined the livelihoods of thousands of farmers and fishermen. Shell has admitted liability for the incidents, but has disputed how much damage was done. In a statement, the managing director of the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Mutiu Sunmonu insisted, “We want to fairly compensate those who have been genuinely affected as quickly as possible and clean up all areas where oil has been spilled from our facilities.” (Blue and Green Tomorrow)
Supply Chain
Global collaboration to accelerate supply chain innovation
Walmart has joined forces with CEOs from more than a dozen global companies — including Kellogg, P&G, Monsanto, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, General Mills and Unilever — to sign new commitments that accelerate innovation in sustainable agriculture and recycling at its inaugural Sustainable Product Expo, a three-day collaboration to expand the availability of products that sustain people and the environment. “Walmart and our suppliers recognize that collaboration is the key to bringing sustainable solutions to all of our customers,” said Doug McMillon, president and CEO of Walmart Stores, Inc. “Today’s commitments are about creating real systems change from one end of the supply chain to the other — meaning how products are grown and made, how they’re transported and sold, and how we touch the lives of people along the way.” Additionally, the companies joined Walmart and the Walmart Foundation in announcing plans to launch a groundbreaking recycling initiative called the Closed Loop Fund, with the goal of making recycling available to all Americans. The Fund aims to invest $100 million in recycling infrastructure projects and spur private and public funding for transforming the recycling system in the US. (Sustainable Brands)
Are lab-grown gems the key to a sustainable diamond trade?
Diamond mining firms, long plagued by ethical and environmental concerns, are increasingly facing competition from man-made gems. A staple of the industrial diamond industry, laboratory-created diamonds currently only represent about 2% of the jewellery market, but new breakthroughs mean they are becoming a force to be reckoned with. Because of the conditions under which they are produced, “cultured” diamonds can be marketed as both “100% conflict free” and significantly better for the environment than naturally mined diamonds. NGOs, ethical consumers and major jewellery retailers, such as Tiffany’s and Boucheron, have been putting more pressure on mining companies over the past decade. Two of the most notable efforts have been the No Dirty Gold campaign, and a campaign opposing the development of the Pebble mine project in Alaska’s Bristol Bay. Deluxe Diamonds, the first company to open up laboratory-grown diamond operations in the UK, says that growing diamonds produces around half the carbon footprint of mining them, and that its diamonds do not face “the problems of child forced labour and other disturbing facts to worry about with mined diamonds”. (The Guardian)
Policy
US Justices back rule limiting coal pollution
In a major victory for the Obama administration, the United States Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate the smog from coal plants that drifts across state lines to the East Coast. The ruling bolsters the centerpiece of President Obama’s environmental agenda: a series of new regulations aimed at cutting pollution from coal-fired power plants. Legal experts said the decision signals that the Obama administration’s efforts to use the Clean Air Act to fight global warming could withstand legal challenges. “It’s a big win for the EPA, and not just because it has to do with this rule,” said Jody Freeman, director of the environmental law program at Harvard. “It’s the fact that it’s setting the stage and creating momentum for what’s to come.” (New York Times)
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