Group items tagged

At a congressional briefing last week, top executives from Ben & Jerry's, Clif Bar, Kellogg Company, Mars Incorporated, PepsiCo, Stonyfield and Unilever discussed how climate change is disrupting global food supplies and their own supply chains. They called on lawmakers to acknowledge the ways in which rising temperatures are impacting their businesses and to act swiftly to reach bipartisan solutions to tackle this threat.

Offshore wind is slowly taking off in the US, according to this analysis. Observers say that this trend can be seen in Massachusetts' proposed offshore wind bill, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's plan to hold an offshore wind auction for a tract of space off the coast of New York and Maryland's continued work on the Maryland Offshore Wind Energy Act. Some say these advances and several others could help the nation's fledging offshore wind industry reach critical mass.

The amount of carbon in the atmosphere will hit 400 parts per million this year and will remain above that level for many decades to come, scientists say. The milestone is being reached sooner than expected, raising questions about the planet's ability to avert catastrophic climate change.

BSR and Forum for the Future launched the Net Positive Project, a coalition to clearly define what it means to be net positive and build a framework on how to scope, measure, and communicate net positive outcomes. Founding company members include Dell, The Dow Chemical Company, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Kimberly-Clark, and others.

The Environmental Defense Fund's partnership with Wal-Mart has resulted in major sustainability improvements, particularly through its supply chain, writes Diane Regas, EDF's executive director. "The ripple effect of our partnership with Walmart has reached hundreds of influential brands, hundreds of thousands of suppliers and millions of consumers," she writes.

The small country of Denmark is making a big commitment to renewables. Today Denmark's electric grid is over 40 percent renewably powered, and the country is aiming to reach 100 percent renewable electricity by 2035 and 100 percent renewable energy in all sectors by 2050. 

Apple has reached an agreement with Nevada utility NV Power to build 200 MW of new solar power capacity in Nevada by 2019, supporting Apple's renewable energy needs for its Reno data center.

The eco-diapers business gDiapers has reached a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission on allegations that gDiapers' products aren't as easily compostable as the company claimed. The company will stop posting such claims unless they are verified

The beef industry is seeking to spread the word about its sustainability efforts, especially to young, eco-conscious diners, experts say. "Our long-term sustainability is predicated on transparency and providing consumers with the information they need to make the decision to purchase beef," says Tom McDonald of JBS Five Rivers Cattle Feeding

High Liner Foods announced that it has achieved 99 percent of its goal to source all its seafood from "certified sustainable or responsible" fisheries and aquaculture. The company made a pledge in November 2010 to reach this goal by the end of 2013.

Costa Rica's left-wing opposition looks set to win next month's national elections, and party leaders say one of their first moves would be to cancel the country's pledge to achieve carbon neutrality by 2021. That goal, which is markedly more ambitious than any other country's carbon-reduction target, is no longer attainable, officials say. "We don't think it would be possible to reach carbon neutrality by 2021, because the most important tasks to reduce emissions in the country are yet to be done," said opposition environmental adviser Patricia Madrigal.

End-of-life electronics worldwide are expected to increase 33 percent in just five years, reaching 65.5 million metric tons annually by 2017, according to data from Solving the E-Waste Problem (StEP) Initiative, a UN-backed alliance

North American Electric Reliability Corp. reported that California's power generation from wind and solar energy sources will reach 18,700 megawatts by 2020. The state targets 33% renewable energy generation within the next seven years. NERC added that the state needs to keep gas-fired power facilities to fill the gap in energy availability.

Unilever has plead guilty to two counts of violating the US Clean Water Act and will pay a $1 million fine under an agreement reached with the EPA and the US Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut (USAO).

Atmospheric carbon levels have reached 402 parts per million, the highest level in about 800,000 years, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. "Humans have caused carbon dioxide concentrations to rise 120 ppm since preindustrial times, with over 90% of that in the past century alone," said James Butler, director of NOAA's Global Monitoring Division

Worldwide levels of carbon dioxide - the gas scientists say is most responsible for global warming - reached a significant milestone for the month of March, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Wednesday. The global monthly average for carbon dioxide hit 400.83 parts per million in March, the first time the average surpassed 400 ppm for an entire month since such measurements began in the late 1950s, NOAA said.

Global carbon dioxide levels averaged 400.83 parts per million in March, marking the first time that atmospheric carbon has remained above the 400 ppm threshold for an entire month, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "It's both disturbing and daunting," said NOAA chief greenhouse gas scientist Pieter Tans. 

Earlier this year, Hershey set a target to source at least 50 percent of its global cocoa supply from certified and sustainable sources by 2015 - a full year ahead of its original schedule. Hershey has committed to source 100 percent certified and sustainable cocoa by 2020.

The key global goal of limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius is already beyond reach as negotiators begin planning a 2015 climate treaty, experts say. "There is nothing that can be agreed in 2015 that would be consistent with the 2 degrees," said former United Nations climate chief Yvo de Boer. "The only way that a 2015 agreement can achieve a 2-degree goal is to shut down the whole global economy

UPS reached an agreement to purchase 46 million gallons of renewable diesel for its vehicle fleet over the next 3 years, in partnership with Neste, Renewable Energy Group, and Solazyme. The company plans to replace more than 12% of its purchased gasoline with alternative fuels by the end of 2017.

Aspen, Colo., is one of the three cities in the nation to source 100% of its electricity from renewables, according to city officials. The city uses wind, solar and geothermal sources. "It was a very forward-thinking goal and truly remarkable achievement," said city Utilities and Environmental Initiatives Director David Hornbacher. The other two cities to have met their 100% renewable energy targets are Burlington, Vt., and Greensburg, Kan.