Study: businesses strengthening sustainability through collaborations
A growing number of companies are turning to collaborations — with suppliers, NGOs, industry alliances, governments and even competitors — to become more sustainable, according to new research by MIT Sloan Management Review, The Boston Consulting Group and the UN Global Compact. The study found that, as sustainability issues become increasingly complex, global in nature and pivotal to success, companies are realising that they can’t make the necessary impact acting alone. Intel, for example, has collaborated with other organisations to bolster access to quality education. Likewise, German chemical company BASF has partnered with NGOs such as the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition to take on global nutrition challenges by becoming a founding member of the Strategic Alliance for the Fortification of Oil and other staple foods (SAFO).The report says the efforts of Intel and BASF signal a growing trend: Corporate sustainability is moving steadily towards strategic and transformational initiatives that engage multiple entities. (Sustainable Brands)
Business leaders back ambitious emissions reduction target
The chief executive of Unilever has urged world leaders to slash greenhouse gas emissions to virtually zero within 35 years as global climate deal negotiations intensify. Paul Polman’s call makes Unilever one of the first large businesses to throw its weight behind a contentious goal to reduce emissions to “net zero” by 2050. “The net-zero emissions by 2050 target is not only desirable but necessary,” said Mr Polman, who has a long history of promoting environmental action. “This is not going to be easy, but the earlier we act, the greater the economic opportunities will be,” he said in a statement released by The B Team, a group, co-chaired by Sir Richard Branson, that promotes an environmentally responsible private sector. Sir Richard told the Financial Times the net-zero goal would mean existing oil and gas companies such as ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell could no longer exist in their current forms by 2050 but he believed they had the wealth and competence to become cleaner energy producers. (Financial Times*)
Circular Economy
M&S launch sustainable footwear range
Marks and Spencer’s first range of sustainable footwear, ‘Footglove Earth’, is made from a variety of post-consumer waste. Half of the shoe’s reinforcements are formed from recycled plastic bottles; 57% of the linings are made from coffee grounds; while the flexible sole consists of 35% natural rubber and 10% rice husks. All of the individual components have been sourced from suppliers who had either developed them using recycled post-consumer waste or in a sustainable way. The factory manufacturing the shoes is also signed on to M&S’s Plan A sustainability programme and became one of the company’s ‘eco factories’, ensuring it is more environmentally water, waste and energy efficient. The news came as earlier this week the retailing giant unveiled plans for a major green upgrade to its city centre store in Newcastle. The Northumberland Street store will be turned into an “eco-store”, featuring a 167 square metre green wall and a host of energy saving technologies, which will enhance the store’s energy efficiency by a fifth. (Edie; BusinessGreen)
Policy
Obama ditches ‘clean coal’ project
The White House has shut down a $1.7 billion project aimed at demonstrating the potential of “clean coal” technology. The FutureGen 2.0 project would have retrofitted a coal-fired generating unit at Ameren’s Meredosia power plant in Illinois with technology to capture up to 90 per cent of emissions and inject them underground. Despite the developer’s protestations, the Department of Energy said yesterday the project would not meet a September 2015 deadline to use the stimulus funds and suspended the rest of the funding. The move is a blow to advocates of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology, which many claim will be a vital tool in tackling climate change cost-effectively. Friends of the Earth climate and energy campaigner Lukas Ross called the decision “another nail in the coffin of the ‘clean coal’ myth”. (BusinessGreen)
UK landlords to be banned from letting draughtiest homes
Landlords will be banned from renting out England and Wales’ draughtiest homes from 2018 in a bid to cut energy bills and carbon emissions. The new regulations are expected to help around a million tenants who are paying as much as £1,000 a year more than the average annual bill because of poorly insulated homes. The regulations will force landlords to upgrade the energy efficiency of poorly-rated homes, or face being unable to let them until they improve the rating. Almost 10% of England and Wales’ 4.2 million privately rented homes currently fall below the E rating. John Alker, acting CEO of the UK Green Building Council, said: “This could be the single most significant piece of legislation to affect our existing building stock in a generation. Some will undoubtedly cry ‘red tape’, but good landlords and forward-thinking property companies have nothing to fear.” (The Guardian)
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