Facebook and Microsoft give clean energy a boost with buyer’s group
Facebook, Microsoft and more than 60 small companies are joining forces with environmental groups including the World Resources Institute, the Rocky Mountain Institute, the World Wildlife Fund and Business for Social Responsibility to promote the development of 60 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2025. That’s enough to replace all the coal-fired power plants in the US expected to retire in the next four years. The Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance was formed to break barriers that companies say they face with utilities and regulators in their efforts to reduce carbon emissions. Power purchase agreements are getting harder to find in some states and are not available to smaller companies, said Brian Janous, director of sustainability at Microsoft. The group plans to meet next week to share experiences and ideas on how to encourage utilities to let businesses buy more energy from wind turbines and solar panels. (Bloomberg)
Obama administration announces historic new regulations for methane emissions
The Obama administration has announced a set of much-anticipated measures to regulate methane emissions from the oil and gas industry. The new rule will target emissions from new or modified oil and gas wells, preventing 11 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions by the year 2025, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said. It also signalled that it plans to regulate existing rigs and wells. “This is the first time that EPA has ever regulated methane from any industry. And how appropriate, because this is the largest emitter of methane,” said Conrad Schneider, advocacy director for Clean Air Task Force. (Washington Post)
Employees
South Africa gold miners to sue over lung disease
Former gold miners in South Africa can go ahead with the action against mining companies over health damage allegedly caused by their work, a court in Johannesburg has ruled. The high court decision, which has said that a class action was “the only realistic option”, paves the way for what would become the largest class action in South African history. The ex-miners say they contracted silicosis, an incurable lung disease, due to years of working in the mines. Judge Phineas Mojapelo’s decision could lead to a court case lasting up to 10 years, but the former miners hope that, if successful, the case could help improve their lives as well as those of their families. (BBC)
Responsible Investment
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation divests entire holding in BP
The Bill and MelindaGates Foundation has sold off its $187 million stake in oil giant BP, in a move welcomed by fossil fuel divestment campaigners. Bill Gates has previously called the selling off of coal, oil and gas stocks a “false solution” to climate change, but the investments of his foundation in major fossil fuel companies has fallen by 85 percent since 2014. The foundation, which is the world’s largest health charity, had previously dumped its entire $824 million holding in ExxonMobil. “Investing in oil companies is completely inconsistent with the Gates foundation mission to ensure that everybody has the chance to live a healthy, productive life,” said Alec Connon, an organiser for the Gates Divest campaign, which is calling on the Foundation to sell off its estimated $200 million of remaining coal, oil and gas stocks. (Guardian)
Supply Chain
Asda expands sustainable supply chain scheme
UK supermarket Asda has announced plans to roll out its Sustain & Save Exchange program to all its food and drink suppliers. The programme gives suppliers access to an online forum with tips for how to improve resource efficiency in their supply chains as well as providing them with access to a range of best practice workshops. Previously it was only available to firms providing fresh, chilled and frozen products, but now it has been extended, with the chain aiming for the programme to save suppliers a total of £50 million by 2020. Over 1,200 people from 350 of Asda’s suppliers have so far used the program the supermarket said, resulting in collective savings of £21 million and a 35,000 tonne a year reduction in CO2 emissions. (Business Green)
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