Priti Patel’s new year resolutions: Home Secretary promises ‘relentless’ crackdown on eco-protesters, immigrants and asylum claims January 4, 2022 Home Secretary Priti Patel has promised to be ‘relentless’ this year as she intends to “crack down” on eco-protesters and end the “legal merry-go-round” of “spurious” asylum seeker claims in 2022. In a new year message posted on social media, Priti Patel said she was proud of many things the Government had achieved in 2021, [...]
Annual spending on ethical products soars past £100bn for first time December 31, 2021 British shoppers spent more than £100bn on ethical products and investments last year, as the twin crises of the pandemic and climate change prompted significant lifestyle changes. Plant-based food, and products, and secondhand clothes, furniture and even cars saw demand surge in the last year with ethical spending rising to £122bn in 2020 – up [...]
Could global cities be the cause of, and solution to, climate change? December 14, 2021 | City Talk Homer Simpson once famously said: “here’s to alcohol: the cause of, and solution to, all of life’s problems”. To paraphrase Springfield’s most famous resident, we could say a similar thing about big cities and climate change. Big cities are often seen as part of the problem regarding climate change, responsible for high levels of greenhouse gas [...]
McDonald’s net zero carbon restaurant prompts greenwashing backlash December 10, 2021 McDonald’s has opened its first net zero restaurant, but the move has been branded as “McGreenwash” by critics of the fast food giant. The restaurant, based in Shropshire, is powered through solar panels and wind turbines, and insulated with sheep’s wool. The building’s cladding is made from recycled IT equipment and household hood while signage [...]
Most supply chain heads could not give a damn about tracking food waste despite link to climate crisis December 6, 2021 Nearly three-quarters of senior decision makers in the supply chain and in food procurement are currently not tracking the amount of food their organisation wastes, according to new research shared with City A.M. today. In fact, almost two-thirds (64 per cent) of respondents told food facilities management company Sodexo in survey that direction from government [...]
UK ‘impact’ startups gain £2bn firepower in 2021, driven by climate tech sector November 29, 2021 Impact startups in the UK – defined as those founded to actively build solutions to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals – have raked in £2bn in investment this year, according to a new Dealroom analysis. As investors grow increasingly wary of corporate greenwashing, so-called “impact investing” in companies that are founded to generate positive [...]
Saturday Read: Two sustainable fashion gurus on a mission to make soil sexy in London November 27, 2021 Far from providing a pivotal road map, COP26 has at least uncovered a few tangible solutions for multiple industries to move forward. For the first time ever, fossil fuels have been noted and added to the final agreement, albeit rather half heartedly, with a little help from India and China. Another key take-away [...]
Just one per cent of Brits hail COP26 a success, as climate becomes UK’s top concern November 24, 2021 Just one per cent of Brits have hailed COP26 as a ‘big success’, as climate change becomes the UK’s top concern, according to new research. Nearly 30 per cent of those surveyed said that the UN’s landmark climate conference was a failure, after hopes of ending fossil fuel use were scuppered at the final inning. [...]
Happening now in the City: Insurance giant Convex Insurance targeted over coal November 24, 2021 Convex Insurance, the London-based insurance company, is targeted this morning at the London Market Conference by environmental organisation Market Forces, putting further pressure on the insurance company to rule out underwriting the controversial Adani Carmichael coal project. Convex has not ruled out the project despite 40+ other major insurers having done so. The Adani Carmichael [...]
European Commission proposes import ban to prevent deforestation November 17, 2021 The European Commission has proposed a law aimed at curbing the import of commodities linked to deforestation.