Top Stories

February 04, 2015

Environment

Report: Companies struggling to reduce environmental impact

The world’s biggest companies are working to address their environmental impacts, but it isn’t making much of a difference, according a report released yesterday by GreenBiz Group and research firm Trucost. The report echoes past research that showed corporate progress levelling off or declining. “This year’s report offers a sobering reality,” said GreenBiz’s Joel Makower. “For all the impressive work that companies are doing to embed sustainability into their operations, it’s not really changing much.” One possible reason is that most companies have already addressed the so-called low-hanging fruit in their own operations, while the biggest natural capital impacts remain in their supply chains. It’s not all bad news, though: the report reveals that the number of companies involved in natural capital initiatives has grown by 85 percent to reach 300 over the past year. (Greenbiz; Just Means)

Waste

Report highlights US food companies leading and lagging on packaging

Shareholder advocacy group As You Sow and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) have issued a new report examining packaging used by 47 fast food/ quick service restaurant chains, beverage companies, and consumer goods companies in the US. The report says that few of the companies studied have sustainable packaging policies or system-wide programs to recycle their packages. Out of 47 companies, none received the report’s highest “Best Practices” status. “We found that most leading US fast food, beverage, and packaged goods are coming up significantly short of where they should be when it comes to the environmental aspects of packaging,” said Conrad MacKerron, SVP of As You Sow. Starbucks was the only brand to aggressively seek front-of-house recycling for part or all of its packaging, while New Belgium Brewing, Coca-Cola, Nestlé Waters NA, and PepsiCo led the beverage sector. (Sustainable Brands)

Employees

Sports Direct faces multimillion-pound claim from zero-hours contract workers

UK retailer Sports Direct is facing a claim for millions of pounds from nearly 300 workers excluded from the retailer’s bonus scheme, which paid out about £160 million worth of shares to 2,000 “permanent” workers in 2013. The claimants were excluded because they were on zero-hours contracts. All of the first 30 seeking compensation, with help from the legal firm Leigh Day, have a minimum of five and a half years in continuous employment with Sports Direct. Some have worked for the company for considerably longer, despite being employed on insecure contracts. Sports Direct has been widely criticised for employing nearly 90% of its staff on zero-hours contracts. Last year, the company was forced to make clear the limitations of such contracts to staff, following legal action by a former employee. (The Guardian)

Collaboration

IBM and Mars launch data-driven food safety initiative

Scientists from IBM Research and Mars have established a new collaborative food safety platform aimed at leveraging advances in genomics to further understand what makes food safe. The Consortium for Sequencing the Food Supply Chain will conduct the largest-ever metagenomics study to categorise and understand microorganisms and the factors that influence their activity in a normal, safe factory environment. IBM and Mars say this work could be extended into the larger context of the food supply chain — from farm to fork — and lead to new insights into how microorganisms interact within a factory ecology and could be better-controlled. Protecting the global food supply is a major public health challenge. In the US alone, one in six people are affected by food-borne diseases each year, resulting in 128,000 hospitalisations, 3,000 deaths, and $9 billion in medical costs. Another $75 billion worth of contaminated food is recalled and discarded annually. (Sustainable Brands)

Responsible Investment

Healthcare industry urged to divest from fossil fuels

Just as the health industry ended its financial links with the tobacco industry, so too must it divest from fossil fuels if it is serious about tackling the health risks that come with climate change and air pollution, a new report will claim today. The study by four healthcare NGOs – Medact, Medsin, the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare, and Healthy Planet UK – will argue fossil fuel investments are incompatible with the industry’s moral responsibility to address the health impacts of climate change and pollution. The report highlights how health research charity the Wellcome Trust has holdings of £450 million in four major fossil fuel companies, whilst at the same time working on the connections between climate change and health through its ‛Sustaining Health’ programme. The Wellcome Trust argues it would prefer to act as a shareholder activist to drive change from within these fossil fuel firms, but the report suggests this approach is failing. (BusinessGreen)

Supply Chain

80 organisations with $100 billion in purchasing power to pilot sustainable purchasing program

Eighty organisations with more than $100 billion in purchasing power have signed up to pilot a multi-sector program designed to help them reduce their risks and contribute to a more sustainable future. The Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council’s (SPLC) Guidance for Leadership in Sustainable Purchasing v1.0 offers purchasers detailed advice for promoting market innovation and optimising the environmental, social and economic performance of their supply chains. The voluntary program will also serve as the basis for a future rating system that rewards organisations that demonstrate leadership in sustainable purchasing. Suppliers participating in the pilot include Asia Pulp and Paper, ASSA ABLOY, Ecolab, Little Footprint Lighting and TreeZero. (Sustainable Brands)

 

Image source: Fossil Fuel Divestment Student Protest at Tufts University by James Ennis/ CC BY 2.0

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