Green Top 10 – November 2022

1. Apple Announces New Energy Investments, Calls on Suppliers to Decarbonise by 2030

Apple has called on its global supply chain to take new steps to address their greenhouse gas emissions and take a comprehensive approach to decarbonisation. The company will evaluate the work of its major manufacturing partners to decarbonise their Apple-related operations — including running on 100 percent renewable electricity — and will track yearly progress. Apple has been carbon neutral for its global corporate operations since 2020.

Source: ESG News

2. RPT-Cadbury-maker Mondelez to invest $600M on sustainable cocoa sourcing

Cadbury chocolate-maker Mondelez International pledged to spend an additional $600 million by 2030 on efforts to combat child labour, farmer poverty and deforestation in cocoa. The move will bring its total spend on cocoa sustainability since 2012 to $1 billion and comes as multinationals face increased reputational and legal pressures to clean up their global supply chains.

Source: Reuters

3. Air France-KLM pushes its sustainability targets forward with major multi-year Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) purchase agreements

Air France-KLM Group revealed that it has sourced 1.6 million tonnes, or roughly 2 billion liters, of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from suppliers Neste and DG Fuels, in one of the largest SAF announcements in the industry to date. Under the terms of the new agreements, Neste will supply Air France-KLM with the fuel over an 8-year period, beginning in 2023, and DG Fuels will supply 600,000 tons between 2027 and 2036.

Source: Air France

4. RWE, Germany’s biggest power company, is going green

RWE agreed to buy the renewable-energy business of Consolidated Edison (ConEd), an American utility, for $6.8bn. RWE has also signed an agreement with Germany’s regional and federal governments to bring forward plans to stop generating electricity with lignite, an especially filthy sort of coal, by eight years to 2030.

Source: Economist

5. Mumbai airport switches entirely to green sources for energy; becomes India’s 100% sustainable airport

The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) in Mumbai now obtains around 5% of its entire 100% electrical needs from on-site solar generating and the other 95% from other environmentally friendly sources including hydro and wind energy.

Source: Times NOW

6. The World’s Best Workplaces invest in well-being, flexibility, and equity

Great Place To Work® identified the 25 winning workplaces by surveying nearly 4.5 million employees worldwide, representing the workplace experience of nearly 15 million workers. For the Fortune World’s Best Workplaces™ in 2022, the past year has been a time to recommit to employee well-being, adjust to flexible work, and relentlessly pursue equitable opportunity for every employee. A focus on well-being, flexibility, and equity can boost profits while also making the world a better place to work for everyone.

Source: Fortune

7. Businesses call for nature impact disclosures to be mandatory by 2030

More than 300 businesses and financial institutions with combined revenues of more than USD 1.5tn in 56 countries, including H&M, Sainsbury’s, Nestlé, Unilever, Salesforce, and BNP Paribas, are pushing for governments to make it mandatory for companies to assess and disclose their impact on nature by 2030. In an open letter to heads of state, business leaders said the business and financial status quo was “economically shortsighted and will destroy value over the long term”.

Source: The Guardian

8. EU Proposes Rules Requiring All New Buildings to be Zero Emission by 2030

The European Council announced that its member states have agreed on stricter energy performance rules aimed at decarbonizing buildings as part of “Fit for 55,” the EU initiative to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels.

Source: ESG Today

9. London Stock Exchange Finally Reveals its VCM Platform

The London Stock Exchange has launched its voluntary carbon market (VCM) rules for entities that seek to raise funds through its listings for climate solutions. The solution that the LSE VCM offers will enable an entity to use an initial public offering (IPO) to raise capital. The fund will then be put into climate mitigation projects, either nature-based or technology-led. Moreover, it will also help corporations that want to offset unavoidable emissions as part of their net zero journeys. It will also expose investors to a growing asset class of carbon credits.

Source: Carbon Credits

10. Microplastics found in human breast milk for the first time

Microplastics have been detected in human breast milk for the first time – in 75% of the breast milk samples tested taken from 34 healthy mothers in Italy. Researchers are greatly concerned over the potential health impacts on babies, as plastics often contain chemicals proven to be harmful, such as phthalates, and previous research has shown toxic effects of microplastics in human cell lines, lab animals and marine wildlife. The study found no correlation between the mothers’ consumption of seafood, packaged food and drink, and use of plastic-containing personal hygiene products, suggesting the ubiquitous presence of microplastics in the environment “makes human exposure inevitable”.

Source: The Guardian