Fossil fuel pollution causes one in five premature deaths: study February 9, 2021 Three British universities have discovered that fossil fuel pollution is responsible for one in five premature deaths globally, with western Europe facing some of the greatest mortality rates. The new research, published this morning, suggests the health impacts of burning coal, oil and natural gases are far higher than originally believed – with Eastern North [...]
FTSE firms ‘woefully inadequate’ at climate risk disclosure, sparking greenwashing fears February 4, 2021 The overwhelming majority of top listed companies in the UK are “woefully inadequate” at disclosing in corporate reporting how climate change will affect their business – with many potentially breaching the law. More than 90 per cent of companies’ financial accounts and associated audit reports made no reference to climate-change related factors, despite UK law [...]
UK sustainable finance bond issuance climbs to £10bn in 2020 January 25, 2021 UK sustainable finance bond issuance hit a record of £10bn in proceeds last year, raising double of what was raised in a far less turbulent 2019, Refinitiv data found. The UK ranked sixth in Europe and ninth in the world for sustainable finance issuance, achieving multiple record highs thanks to sovereigns, multilaterals and banks pushing [...]
Biden announces return to global climate accord, new curbs on U.S. oil industry January 21, 2021 By Valerie Volcovici and Trevor Hunnicutt WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced America’s return to the international Paris Agreement to fight climate change, the centerpiece of a raft of day-one executive orders aimed at restoring U.S. leadership in combating global warming. The announcements also included a sweeping order to review all of [...]
UK must commit to new nuclear power or risk energy shortfall, report says January 21, 2021 The government must commit to developing more nuclear capacity if the UK is to cope with the expected doubling of electricity demand by 2050, a new report has found. According to the Centre for Policy Studies, failure to invest in new nuclear power could see the UK forced to choose between hitting its net zero [...]
Exclusive: UK eyes adding climate provisions in US trade talks to woo Joe Biden January 13, 2021 The UK will try to add new provisions on climate change and environmental standards in US trade negotiations in a bid to woo incoming President Joe Biden. Trade secretary Liz Truss wants to build on current negotiations with the Donald Trump administration and potentially add things like enhanced protections on air pollution and corporate transparency [...]
Ahead of COP26, what’s on industry leaders’ climate change wishlists this year? January 12, 2021 At the moment, it’s hard to think beyond the next six weeks, but 2021 is set to be a huge year for climate action around the world. Front and centre is November’s COP26 conference, which will see the world’s leaders descend on Glasgow for the latest round of the United Nations’ ongoing climate change negotiations. [...]
Prince Charles urges business to back new ‘Earth Charter’ January 11, 2021 Prince Charles will today urge the private sector to sign up to the “Terra Carta”, a new environmental pledge to protect the natural world. The “Earth charter”, which takes its name from the Magna Carta, has already been signed by dozens of high profile businesses. These include Astrazeneca, Bank of America, EY, Unilever, and Blackrock, [...]
Rolls-Royce betting small is beautiful when it comes to UK nuclear power January 9, 2021 For many, nuclear power stations are eyesores – great slabs of gun-metal grey cluttering up the UK’s coastlines. But that could be about to change. Last year FTSE 100 blue-bloods Rolls-Royce announced it was planning on building a fleet of 16 so-called “small modular reactors” (SMRs) in a move that would shake up the UK’s [...]
BlackRock: Sustainable investments to accelerate in 2021 as ESG focus intensifies January 2, 2021 The global health and economic challenges of 2020 have not slowed investor demand for sustainable investing, a new BlackRock survey has found. In fact, investors plan to double their allocations to sustainable products over the next five years, and 20 per cent said that the pandemic would actually accelerate their sustainable investing allocations, according to [...]