Group items tagged

The EPA finalized the first set of standards to reduce methane emissions from new and existing sources in the oil and gas sector, strengthening the United States' pledge to cut methane emissions from the sector by up to 45% from 2012 levels by 2025

Earlier this month, the Narendra Modi government officially approved an incredibly ambitious plan for India's fledgling solar sector. From the current solar power generation capacity of 4 GW (gigawatt), it wants to produce as much as 100 GW by 2022-with a target of attracting a staggering $100 billion into the sector over the next seven years.

US energy-related carbon emissions dropped 12 percent last year, compared with 2005 levels, after increasing in 2013 and 2014, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Reduced energy-sector C02 emissions in 2015 are largely due to a decreased use of coal and increased use of natural gas in the electricity mix, the EIA says. Such fuel-use changes have accounted for 68 percent of total energy-related CO2 reductions from 2005 to 2015.

Technology is being developed to reduce water use in dyeing but the use and abuse of water to dye clothing continues

Unregulated carbon pollution from aviation is the fastest-growing source of the greenhouse gas emissions driving global climate change. In fact, if the entire aviation sector were a country, it would be one of the top 10 carbon-polluting nations on the planet. The good news is that we now have a process in place to curb international aviation's skyrocketing emissions. For the first time ever, the United Nations' civil aviation body agreed last week to put a cap on the emissions for an international sector rather than a country. International aviation already accounts for over 2% of global carbon emissions. But this number will soar as demand for air travel continues to rises. In 2010, the aviation industry carried 2.4 billion passengers; in 2050, the number is forecast to rise to 16 billion.

New WWF-backed report argues there is a compelling case for food service sector to drive adoption of sustainable diets.

The Walt Disney Company is named Best Corporate Citizen company in Media & Entertainment. Corporate Social Responsibility Magazine realeases annual set of "Industry Sector Best Corporate Citizens" list.

Mounting ocean health problems -- which are threatening the primary food source for more than 1 billion people -- can be fixed, but only with public and private sectors working together to a much greater extent, according to a World Bank blue ribbon panel.

The tech giant Tuesday announced a plan with First Solar to power all California operations with the sun, potentially becoming the budding renewable energy sector's biggest commercial deal ever.

The tech giant Tuesday announced a plan with First Solar to power all California operations with the sun, potentially becoming the budding renewable energy sector's biggest commercial deal ever.

The International Finance Corporation issued a $152 million bond to support private sector development and prevent deforestation in developing countries. The bond gives investors the option of getting repaid in either cash or a carbon-credit coupon - a move to bolster carbon-credit markets.

ust 18 months after its launch, the Science Based Targets initiative announced that 200 companies have committed to set emissions reduction targets consistent with the global effort to keep temperatures well below the 2-degree threshold. In the past year, the initiative has seen a growth rate of over 2 companies per week committing to set science-based targets, far exceeding the project's timeline and signaling that climate action has gained tremendous momentum in the private sector.

The Rockefeller Foundation will collaborate with the USDA, EPA, and 10 private sector and non-profit organizations to create "Further With Food: Center for Food Loss and Waste Solutions," an online information exchange that aims to provide best practices for preventing, recovering, and recycling food loss and waste. The website will officially launch later this month (January 2017).

Recent studies have shown that climate change could affect the tourism sector. A lack of snowfall in California led to a decrease in business for local ski resorts and restaurants.

Signatories of the Indonesia Palm Oil Pledge (IPOP) will disband as a result of "recent ground-breaking policy developments" in Indonesia that have fulfilled the purpose of the IPOP consortium. The signatory companies - including Cargill, Golden Agri Resources, and Wilmar International - plan to continue their sustainability commitments independently.

Companies including SABMiller, Dow, Novozymes, and many others have begun to align their corporate responsibility targets with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) since the United Nations (UN) launched them in September. Indeed, aligning corporate strategy with the SDGs demonstrates the relevancy of social and environmental efforts, and private sector contributions are essential if we hope to achieve the 17 ambitious targets by 2030.

Fazenda da Toca, a private enterprise in São Paulo, is demonstrating the viability of large scale organic farming and agroforestry, including on land with highly degraded soils. Toca could effectively end the myth that agroforestry is not viable at a large scale, that it's too expensive and too labor intensive to be attractive to the private sector.

The Natural Capital Coalition launched the Natural Capital Protocol, a framework for harmonizing natural capital valuation across business sectors. The framework was developed over the last two years with input from more than 450 organizations and has been piloted by companies including The Coca-Cola Company, Dow Chemical, Nestlé, and others.

The Roundtable on Responsible Palm Oil (RSPO), despite its success in convincing palm oil suppliers and buyers to commit to a more responsible supply chain, still has much work to do if this sector will truly become one that respects human rights and sustainable development. After NGO investigations suggested that reforms in the industry were not going far enough, the RSPO suspended dozens of companies from the organization last year for alleged non-compliance.

a new report by Copenhagen-based think tank Sustainia. The annual "Sustainia 100" spotlights climate solutions that stand to have an impact across sectors: food, buildings, energy, transportation, education and others. With that in mind, here's a snapshot of some of the most cutting edge approaches included in the report.

As signs emerge that the global energy sector is beginning to rein in what once had been unbridled levels of climate-changing pollution, new United Nations figures show pollution from farming is continuing to get worse.