Unilever, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola join market research partnership to tackle SDGs
Leading companies, NGOs and research agencies have announced the creation of an open platform to share their ideas, data, and insights on addressing key global challenges. The group, under the name Paragon Partnerships, aims to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals through collaboration and market research. The initial partners include PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Unilever, Kantar, Nielsen, MetrixLab, GfK, Flamingo, Save the Children, The Market Research Society (MRS), Esomar, and Sapient Nitro. Questions decided by Paragon’s steering committee will be segmented by country clusters and added to research conducted by the agencies for their clients during that quarter. The data will be hosted on a single platform to democratise the information and facilitate easy access. Anyone signed up to the initiative will be able to access the data. The platform expects to provide quality insights on the issues that the world is facing to help governments, NGOs, and academics advance their work and their pursuit of the SDGs. (Sustainable Brands)
Climate Change
Surge in renewable energy stalls world greenhouse gas emissions
The International Energy Agency (IEA) says that greenhouse gas emissions have been kept level for a second year running, due to a reduction in the use of coal in China and the US and also because of a worldwide shift towards renewable energy. Preliminary data for 2015 shows that carbon dioxide emissions from the energy sector levelled off at 32.1 billion tonnes, even as the global economy grew by over 3%. Electricity generated by renewable sources accounted for around 90% of new electricity generation in 2015, and wind power produced more than half of all new electricity generation. “The new figures confirm last year’s surprising but welcome news: we now have seen two straight years of greenhouse gas emissions decoupling from economic growth. Coming just a few months after the landmark COP21 agreement in Paris, this is yet another boost to the global fight against climate change” said IEA director, Fatih Birol. (Guardian)
Report: Rising seas could force 13 million Americans to move
A new study released by the Journal Nature suggests that as many as 13 million people in the US will be seriously affected by rising sea levels due to climate change by the end of this century. About half of the US population lives within 50 miles of a shoreline, and the study shows that many will be exposed if politicians continue to balk at climate adaption costs. The study also demonstrates the potential for future tension between wealthier regions against remote areas. Such disputes are already underway in Alaska’s Arctic coastal areas. Newtok, a small village home to about 350 people, voted to move nine miles away to higher ground as far back as 1996. Some states, including California, are trying to get ahead of the curve. California has invested in research outlining future risks the state’s coast confronts. (Triple Pundit)
Policy
French Parliament to vote on extra tax on palm oil
France’s National Assembly is due to vote today on a proposed additional tax on palm oil. Producers who can prove that the oils they use meet the “criteria of environmental sustainability” would be exempt. Top producers in Indonesia and Malaysia have called the tax discriminatory and unfair. Roy Lim, group plantations director of Malaysian palm oil firm Kuala Lumpur Kepong (KLK) said: “French imports are not that big, but the issue is that if this goes out there might be repercussions in other counties”. This is not the first time France has attempted to impose a tax on palm oil. The first one, in 2012, was dubbed the “Nutella tax” because of the popular chocolate-hazelnut paste which contains about 20 percent palm oil. (Jakarta Globe)
Image source: Greenhouse Gases from Factory by Mohri UN-CECAR / CC BY 2.0
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