Five major timber importers: Britain, France, Japan, the Netherlands, and the United States, are making progress in cutting contraband wood from their markets, according to reports published by Chatham House. Overall, the collection of reports estimates that 4% of timber imports by volume or about $7 billion by value are at “high risk of illegality”. Of the five countries evaluated, Japan has the highest proportion of high-risk imports, mainly because of large volumes of trade with China, Russia, and Malaysia, all of which have problems with illegally sourced wood. Chatham House attributes the decline in suspect timber imports to several factors, including recent legislation passed in the US (the Lacey Act) and Europe (Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT)). (The Guardian)
World’s largest motorcycle manufacturer opens ‘garden factory’ in India
Hero Motocorp, the world’s largest motorcycle manufacturer, has just opened the first of many planned ‘Garden Factories’ in India. Designed by green architectural firm William McDonough and Partners, the factory demonstrates what they call “Octa-Generation.” That means the building captures or generates eight things: electrical energy, heating, cooling, water from the air, carbon dioxide for rooftop greenhouses, food, jobs on the roof, and air quality for people working in the building. It combines a 1.5 megawatt solar system, extensive daylighting, a green roof and rooftop greenhouses and an interior ‘bio-wall’ of vegetation filters indoor air. As a result it has been awarded LEED-Platinum from the Indian Green Building Council, with the highest scores for any factory. (Sustainable Business)
Corporate Reputation
Sony decides not to renew FIFA sponsorship contract due to bribery allegations
Sony Corp does not plan to renew its sponsorship contract with FIFA, the governing body for world soccer, according to reports. Sony has been a FIFA sponsor for the last eight years in a contract worth $280 million. Such a move would follow Emirates Airline’s announcement this month that it was ending its sponsorship of FIFA, a blow to the governing body as it investigates whether there was corruption in the bidding process for the next two World Cup competitions. Other sponsors have put pressure on FIFA to respond robustly to allegations of bribery to secure the 2018 World Cup for Russia and the 2022 tournament to Qatar. Earlier this month, FIFA’s ethics judge Hans-Joachim Eckert said in a statement there were no grounds to reopen the controversial bidding process, clearing Qatar and Russia of wrongdoing. (Reuters)
Innovation
AkzoNobel and partners considering sugar beets as renewable chemical feedstock
AkzoNobel has joined forces with SuikerUnie, Rabobank, Deloitte,Investment and Development Agency for the Northern Netherlands (NOM), Groningen Seaports, and the Province of Groningen to investigate the possibility of producing chemicals from beet-derived sugar feedstock. The partnership could potentially lead to the synthesis of a range of chemicals in a cost-effective and sustainable manner, replacing the need for increasingly scarce non-renewable raw materials. These parties have asked Deloitte to perform a feasibility study to provide an independent critical review and economic assessment on the viability of several business cases for commercial production in the Delfzijl chemical cluster in the Netherlands. The study will take roughly three months to complete and the partners expect to identify one or more successful business cases for commercial production in Delfzijl. (Sustainable Brands)
Policy
Obama to unveil new limits on smog pollution
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is under a court-ordered deadline to propose new rules for ground-level ozone by 1 December. The proposed regulation would lower the current threshold for ozone pollution from 75 parts per billion to a range of 65 to 70 parts per billion. That range is less stringent than the standard of 60 parts per billion sought by environmental groups, but the EPA proposal would also seek public comment on a 60 parts-per-billion plan, keeping open the possibility that the final rule could be stricter. Environmentalists and public health advocates have praised the EPA rules as a powerful environmental legacy and an important health decision. But Republicans and industry groups have sharply criticized the decision as an example of costly government overreach, saying that the regulation would impose unwieldy burdens on the economy, with little public health benefit. (The New York Times)
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