Shell could be forced to compensate communities for Niger Delta oil spills
The London High Court has ruled that Shell Nigeria could be responsible for those bunkering its pipelines, if the firm does not take proper steps to protect them. In the first legal proceedings in the UK, Shell is facing claims from Nigerian communities for two oil spills that occurred in 2008 and 2009, which caused environment and community damages. Shell has repeatedly argued that the spills in the Niger Delta are caused by criminals who damage the pipelines and steal oil, blaming the Nigerian government for lack of security. The first judgement of the trial ruled that if the company fails to take adequate measures to protect the pipelines, for instance by installing surveillance cameras, it could be considered liable. Martyn Day, senior partner at Leigh Day which is representing 15,000 individuals from the Bodo community, stated that this was a highly significant judgement because it undermined Shell’s defence that it is only liable for oil spills caused by operational failure of their pipelines. (Blue and Green Tomorrow)
Water
AT&T sets formal water goal and launches free toolkit on back of pilot work
Telecommunications firm AT&T has put a free toolkit together to help other businesses jumpstart their own water management programme. The tools include a scorecard for assessing water efficiency and creating visibility of water performance at facility level, and a calculator to estimate the scale of water and financial savings that can be made from implementing specific measures. The move stemmed from an internal drive at AT&T to reduce its own water footprint over the past two years. Back in 2012, it discovered it was using 15 billion litres of water annually across its US operations, and that just 125 of its facilities (less than 2 percent of total building infrastructure) accounted for 50 percent of this water use. To address the problem, AT&T collaborated with not-for-profit organisation Environmental Defense Fund to undertake some pilot work to assess the cost benefits of adopting three different approaches to reduce water use – technical, operational and free air cooling. Overall, the pilot work achieved water reduction savings ranging from 14 percent (127 billion litres) to 40 percent (363 billion litres). (Edie)
Technology & Innovation
New milestone for biofuels from waste
Over the next 12 months, three plants producing cellulosic ethanol, the next generation of biofuels, are set to start production in the US. Two are in Iowa: one from Poet, the US ethanol group and Royal DSM, a Dutch biotech company; and one from DuPont, the US chemicals group. Abengoa, the Spanish renewable energy group, plans to open a plant in Kansas soon. The new fuels avoid the problems of first-generation products such as US corn-based ethanol, including competition with food production, because they are produced from agricultural or municipal waste, or from special energy crops. However, with the rising volume of biofuels, ethanol has faced the growing problem of the “blend wall”. Because 10 percent is the maximum amount of ethanol that can be blended into fuel used by cars in the US, that share sets a limit for how far volumes of ethanol sold can grow. Faced with that problem, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed cutting back the mandated biofuels volumes. (Financial Times)*
Dairy industry actions leading to more sustainable food system
According to the 2013 US Dairy Sustainability Report, published by The Innovation Center for US Dairy, increasing efficiency is among the several sustainability moves that will be critical for increasing the world’s food production by an estimated 70 percent to feed a projected global population of 9.6 billion people by 2050. Dairy farmers have developed the Stewardship and Sustainability Guide for US Dairy to provide a voluntary framework for tracking and communicating the industry’s continuous improvement. The dairy industry has piloted a set of science-based Smart Tools to help the industry measure, manage and improve on those impacts. The industry has also completed a series of comprehensive life cycle assessments to understand the environmental impacts of dairy products from farm to table. Focusing on food waste, the report also revealed that 40 percent of all food produced in the US is never eaten, while 49 million Americans are food-insecure. (Sustainable Brands)
Environment
UN enlists legal help to crack down on environmental crime
The United Nations (UN) will seek ways to toughen environmental laws to crack down on everything from illegal trade in wildlife to mercury poisoning and hazardous waste. The UN Environment Assembly, a new forum of all of all nations including ministers, business leaders and civil society, will meet in Nairobi this week to work on ways to promote greener economic growth. They will seek ways to improve cooperation, speed up ratification of treaties and try to find models for domestic legislation. Achim Steiner, head of the UN Environment Programme, stated, “Many countries sign up for environmental treaties but are often slow to ratify and fail to enforce them in domestic laws, on issues ranging from protecting animals and plants from extinction to outlawing dangerous chemicals or regulating hazardous waste.” The UN will also issue a report on ways to crack down on wildlife crime. Steiner said there was an “enormous increase” in illicit trade, from ivory to timber, with increasing links to international crime syndicates and drug cartels. (Reuters)
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