BMW, Coca-Cola,International Flavors&Fragrances, Nordea Bank, Pearson and Swiss Post are among the latest tranche of businesses to announce they will get all their electricity from renewable sources as part of the RE100 initiative. The latest wave of pledges is part of “Energy Day” at the ongoing UN climate summit in Paris. The newest additions to the pledge join the likes of Microsoft, Nike, Marks & Spencer and Walmart in moving towards 100 percent renewable electricity use. The time frames for achieving the target vary – Pearson has sourced all its electricity from renewable sources since 2012, while Coca-Cola has an interim target of sourcing 40 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2040. It takes the total number of companies signed up to the campaign to 53. New analysis from the Climate Group and CDP suggests that the 53 RE100 participants will create enough demand for renewable electricity to save 56 million tonnes of carbon dioxide every year. (Greenbiz)
Report: “hidden” supply chain emissions of world’s largest food producers
Collectively, global food companies Cargill, Tyson and Yara have a bigger climate footprint than the Netherlands, Vietnam or Columbia, according to a new analysis by NGO Global Justice Now. It reveals that as much as 29 percent of global emissions are associated with food production. Global Justice Now argues that millions of tonnes of supply chain emissions are effectively being hidden from the public as companies report only their direct emissions. Cargill, for example, declares its annual emissions as 15 million tonnes. This would be an estimated 145 million tonnes if it included the emissions arising from growing feed crops and their use by livestock. In response to the analysis, the companies say they are not ignoring their indirect emissions but that it is unlikely that they will start reporting on it soon. Cargill says it is working to reduce emissions across its supply chains but that “measuring that progress in a quantifiable way is a separate challenge; admittedly, it’s something we – and many others – are still trying to figure out.” (Guardian)
Policy
Bernie Sanders’ climate plan would gut fossil fuels, put a tax on carbon
US Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders has unveiled a forceful climate change plan. Setting himself apart from front-runner Hillary Clinton, Sanders offers a hard target to reduce carbon pollution beyond the current administration, vowing to cut emissions 40 percent by 2030 and 80 percent by 2050. To achieve that, he would mandate emitters pay for the amount of greenhouse gases they pump into the air – a policy that remains immovable in Congress. In the 16-page plan, Sanders lays out an agenda that would repeal fossil fuel industry subsidies; dedicate funding toward a clean-energy workforce of 10 million jobs; ban oil, coal, and gas lobbyists from the White House; and return billions to communities hit hardest by extreme weather and the transition to clean energy. “Right now, we have an energy policy that is rigged to boost the profits of big oil companies like Exxon, BP, and Shell,” Sanders said in a statement. “CEO’s are raking in record profits while climate change ravages our planet and our people.” (Huffington Post)
Responsible Marketing
Coca-Cola pulls Mexico ad deemed offensive to indigenous people
Coca-Cola Mexico has apologised and pulled an online ad after it was deemed offensive to the country’s indigenous by consumers, media and advocacy groups. The ad shows fair-skinned, attractive, young people turning up at an indigenous town bearing gifts of sugary fizzy drinks and a Christmas tree for the overawed locals. The company said its ad, set in the Mixe town of Totontepec in the state of Oaxaca, was meant to “convey a message of unity and joy”. Instead, it “reproduced and reinforced stereotypes of indigenous people as culturally and racially subordinate”, according to activists, who want the company sanctioned by the government’s anti-discrimination commission. Director of Publicity, Diego Bracamontes, said the message was misinterpreted, and that the company had never meant to offend anyone. (Washington Post; Guardian)
Tax
Mark Zuckerberg defends philanthropic venture against tax avoidance claims
Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, has defended the structure of his new philanthropic organisation after critics suggested he was avoiding paying tax on the sale of his shares. Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan have pledged to give away 99 percent of their Facebook shares in their lifetime, currently worth about $45 billion. However, the philanthropy is structured not as a charity but as a limited liability corporation (LLC) with charitable aims. Critics have said the company structure could allow Zuckerberg to avoid paying tax on his sale of the shares. But Zuckerberg said he and Chan would receive no tax benefit from transferring shares to the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. The share transfer instead yields “flexibility to execute our mission more effectively,” Zuckerberg wrote. “In fact, if we transferred our shares to a traditional foundation, then we would have received an immediate tax benefit, but by using an LLC we do not,” he wrote. (Guardian; Forbes)
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