Top Stories

September 24, 2014

 

International Development

British government and Unilever commit to a partnership to improve quality of life of the poor 

Unilever and the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) have formed a new partnership to create jobs, improve water and sanitation and develop sustainable supply chains in developing countries. The International Development Secretary, Justine Greening, will sign a joint letter of intent with Unilever’s CEO Paul Polman which commits both organisations to work together to improve the lives of millions of people in developing countries and help end dependency on aid. DFID and Unilever will launch a joint initiative to use new social business models to improve health, hygiene and livelihoods for 100 million people by 2025. Polman said: “We’re committed to changing people’s lives around the world through the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan… By working collaboratively with our suppliers, NGOs and governments, we can make the biggest difference.” The partnership is the first of its kind between a leading international business and the DFID. (Gov.uk)

Climate Change

UN climate summit pledges to slow deforestation – but Brazil refuses to sign

Governments, multinational companies and campaigners are pledging to halt the loss of the world’s natural forests by 2030. A declaration announced as part of a UN Summit on Climate Change being held in New York also pledges to halve the rate of deforestation by the end of this decade and to restore hundreds of millions of acres of degraded land. Backers of the New York declaration on forests claim their efforts could save between 4.5 billion and 8.8 billion tonnes of carbon emissions per year by 2030 – the equivalent of taking all the world’s cars off the road. Several nations have pledged to slow deforestation, notably Peru. However, Brazil has refused to sign the anti-deforestation pledge, claiming measures to end illegal deforestation had been drafted behind closed doors at the United Nations without its participation. (Independent, Guardian)

Responsible Investment

Bank of America announces $10 billion initiative to accelerate clean energy investments

Bank of America today announced a new Catalytic Finance Initiative, designed to stimulate at least $10 billion of new investment into high-impact clean energy projects. The initiative will focus on developing or advancing innovative financing structures that reduce investment risk, thereby attracting a broader range of institutional investors. The goal of the initiative is to make clean energy investments more financeable, particularly in emerging markets where project impact is often amplified – addressing other large-scale issues like health, education and job creation. It will target primarily larger-scale financing opportunities that use ‘de-risking’ structures such as first loss and mezzanine tranches, risk guarantees and new insurance products. The bank will also explore opportunities to work with foundations and impact-focused clients to support smaller energy access opportunities, using innovative catalytic first-loss capital and other forms of credit support. (Business Wire)

Supply Chain

Greenpeace finds banned pesticides on Indian tea leaves

Greenpeace has released a report stating that tested samples of India’s most prolific tea brands contain traces of pesticides – including the banned substance DDT. The India Tea Board immediately released a statement that all samples met India’s stipulated limits of pesticides and were within safety parameters. The Crop Care Federation, which represents the country’s agricultural-chemical industry, has launched a suit against Greenpeace, stating that the environmental organization had refused to share data with outside sources. According to Neha Saigal, senior campaigner for Greenpeace India’s sustainability campaign, Greenpeace did share the information with each company in an effort to open dialogue about other ways to manage crops and reduce pesticide use in general. “[This] is for the tea companies to decide whether they want to share their data with a third party,” Saigal said. (Triple Pundit)

 

Sustainable seafood is on the rise, new reports show

Although 29 percent of the world’s oceans are overfished, 10 percent of global wild caught seafood now comes from fisheries involved in the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)’s certification programme. Two recently released MSC reports show that there are more MSC-labelled products than ever before. Over the past five years the amount of MSC-labelled products has more than doubled. More than 23,000 products from MSC-certified fisheries were available in over 100 countries – a tenfold increased since 2009. The amount of fisheries in the MSC program with stocks maintained at or above maximum sustainable levels has also jumped from 80 percent in 2009 to 94 percent in 2013. The reports also show that consumers recognise the MSC label: when consumers were shown the MSC label without text, between 20 and 58 percent recognised it, and 11 percent could accurately describe what the MSC stands for. (Triple Pundit)

 

Image source: Longline fishing /  CC BY-SA 2.0

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