Green Britannia can rule the waves — with the right support September 24, 2020 The coronavirus has had a major impact on a range of industries, including shipping. We have seen factories in parts of the world slow down and supply chains have been severely impacted. But today, on the UN’s World Maritime Day which is focused on sustainable shipping, as we look to reset and recover from the [...]
Action on climate speaks louder than words, but communicating that action is also key September 24, 2020 Rather than being overshadowed by the pandemic, if anything Climate Week in New York — which began on Monday — has been amplified by the focus on building back greener and fairer. This is mirrored by more and more businesses making Net Zero commitments — PwC being among the organisations to announce one in recent [...]
Covid-19 is not slowing climate change – businesses still have to do their bit September 17, 2020 Much has been made of the so-called global reset brought about by the pandemic, and many have subscribed to the Instagram-ready notion that the earth is healing due to lockdowns. This is despite the effect of Covid-19 on the environment being either negligible or harmful. For policy makers, the immediate and tangible threat to life [...]
Commercial rewilding: How businesses can make Britain beautiful again September 15, 2020 We were all shocked by the weekend’s exploration of the crisis of biodiversity by David Attenborough. Everybody wants to do something, and we know that rewilding is one of the best ways to reverse biodiversity decline. But when people hear the term rewilding they usually have an idea of golden eagles and wildcats being reintroduced [...]
For businesses and countries alike, we must turbocharge the race to net zero September 14, 2020 Ed Boyd, executive director and founder of ReGenerate, proposes a policy to accelerate businesses joining the race to net zero emissions. As any business leader knows, deadlines produce results. And when it comes to tackling climate change, the government has a big one. I am not talking about the waves of economic and environmental catastrophe [...]
What could a Biden presidency mean for climate change investing? September 7, 2020 | City Talk Joe Biden in the White House, and potentially Democrats in control of the Senate too, could turbo-charge climate change as an investment theme. The US response to Covid-19 looks set to be the dominant election issue as we head towards the November polls. Myriad other issues also compete for voters’ attention, and climate change often [...]
Climate Progress Dashboard forecasts global warming of 3.9°C despite Covid-19 crisis September 2, 2020 | City Talk The latest update to our Climate Progress Dashboard suggests the current pace of change will result in temperatures rising by 3.9°C above pre-industrial levels. Global temperatures are on course to rise by 3.9°C, almost twice the Paris Agreement target, according to our analysis of indicators from the second quarter of the year. Huge reductions in [...]
The nation’s health is priority number one, but we must continue the great work we’ve done to reduce plastics use August 28, 2020 Recent government figures revealed that since the introduction of the 5p carrier bag charge, new carrier bag sales have fallen by 59 per cent in the past year in England’s major supermarkets. This translates to shoppers buying, on average, just four new bags per year compared to 10 the previous year. This is a significant [...]
Build back better? No, let’s build back smarter and take carbon out of construction August 27, 2020 Boris Johnson has set out his plans to “build back better”, and major changes have recently been announced to planning regulations to enable faster decisions on planning applications. It sounds like a developer’s paradise. But construction already accounts for nearly two fifths of UK carbon emissions, so where does that leave the government’s equally vaunted [...]
A CEO’s guide to reaching net zero carbon emissions August 26, 2020 Former Bank of England governor Mark Carney warned last year that: “companies and industries that are not moving towards zero carbon emissions will be punished by investors and go bankrupt.” I would add customers and employees to that statement: a Net Zero commitment is becoming an expectation for companies they will buy from or work [...]