Green Top 10 – August 2022

1. The UK government has been found to be in breach of the law by the High Court.

The High Court has ruled the government’s net-zero strategy violated #climatechange laws.

Court decided that the net zero strategy, which outlines plans to decarbonize the economy, falls short of the government’s commitment under the Climate Change Act to develop detailed climate policies that show how the UK’s legally binding carbon budgets will be met. This means the government will now have eight months to update its net zero strategy to include a quantitative report on how its policies will actually achieve climate goals.

The case was brought to court by Client Earth, Friends of the Earth, and Good Law Project organizations. This is a major victory for climate advocators and an example for future cases.

source: esg today

2. Primark has announced a global partnership with Fairtrade.

The collaboration of the international clothing retailer and the non-profit organization representing 1.9 million farmers and workers worldwide, is announced with the launch of a new beauty collection across 14 markets. The products will be available in a select number of stores in Europe and the U.S.

The partnership was built on the shared values​​of Primark and Fairtrade of offering more sustainable products and improving the livelihoods and resilience of people in supply chains. This new range of products will display the FAIRTRADE Mark, which signifies that they offer better deals for farmers and workers involved.

The new product line will benefit Shea Butter and Olive Oil Producers who can now sell their produce on Fairtrade terms, have access to more sustainable, long-term contracts, earn a higher price for their oil and improve their ways of working.
source: protocol

3. Amazon is starting to deliver packages with Rivian electric vans.

The companies announced on Thursday that Amazon has begun rolling out some electric delivery vans that it has developed in partnership with Rivian.

The vans will be deployed in several cities, including Seattle, Baltimore, Chicago and Phoenix.

The move marks a significant step forward in Amazon’s efforts to decarbonize its last-mile delivery fleet, which began in 2019 when then-CEO Jeff Bezos announced that the company would buy 100,000 pickup trucks from Rivian.

Source: cnbc

4. Google and Oracle data centers are melting in the UK heat wave

Google and Oracle data centers in the UK are struggling to operate as record high temperatures in Europe continue to increase.

According to Google Cloud’s service health page, one of the London buildings hosting cloud services has experienced a “cooling-related failure”, where Oracle’s service health page also states that it was working to repair the cooling system in the London data center and shut down some of its services “to prevent uncontrolled hardware failures”.

There are a number of high- and low-tech solutions that can help beat the heat, a task that will only become more important as climate change increases the intensity and frequency of extremely hot weather.

Source: protocol

5. Microsoft signs 10-year CO2 removal agreement with Climeworks

Microsoft has made a major commitment to absorbing carbon from the sky by signing a 10-year deal with Swiss direct air capture company Climeworks as part of its carbon dioxide removal portfolio.

Over the next ten years, Climeworks will remove 10,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere on behalf of the tech giant. It is stated to be Microsoft’s most important and long-term agreement with a CDR supplier.

Source: protocol

6. Coca-Cola and Merlin Entertainments to power up reverse vending machine pilot

Coca-Cola Great Britain and UK themepark owner Merlin Entertainments teamed up to promote the recycling of plastic bottles. The partnership is to offer people entering the UK’s most famous tourist attractions a 50% discount if they exchange their used drinking plastic bottles.

Vending machines will be set up to instantly reward those who drop their empty bottles. The reason behind this partnership was a survey conducted by Coco-Cola Great Britain which revealed the result that 64% of British people would recycle more if rewarded.

With initiatives like this, Coca-Cola Great Britain aims to ensure its bottles are as sustainable as they say they are.

Source: businessgreen

7. Scottish Power to recruit 1,000 green energy staff

Scottish Power is set to hire at least 1,000 new employees over the next 12 months after winning a series of contracts to build wind turbines.

The energy firm plans to invest £4 billion in 16 projects involving offshore and onshore wind and solar farms. The new jobs will spread to Scotland and the UK.

Scottish Power chief executive officer Keith Anderson stated: “Our climate change ambitions, the importance of energy sovereignty and the cost-of-living crisis all point to a need for speed in delivering more green, more secure and more affordable energy.”, also described the jobs pledge as “our biggest ever call for green recruits”.

source: bbc

8. Unilever launches sustainable laundry capsules.

Unilever announced the launch of a new laundry capsule with sustainability features designed to reduce the carbon footprint of the laundry process and the waste of plastic packaging and products.

In a statement announcing the new product, Unilever said: “This is a significant step forward in reducing the Scope 3 GHG emissions of our laundry business, including those related to the end use of our products by consumers, such as the energy required to run the washing machine.”

Unilever aims to prevent more than 6,000 tons of plastic waste per year by using plastic-free containers. The new laundry capsules will be unveiled in France in September, followed by a planned launch in other markets, including the UK and other European countries, in early 2023.

Source: esgtoday

9. Asos, Boohoo and George at Asda investigated over eco-friendly claims

The Competition and Markets Authority has launched an investigation into whether the eco-friendly and sustainability claims made by fast fashion chains Asos, Boohoo and George in Asda constitute a greenwash.

It’s part of the CMA’s potential greenwashing investigation following concerns about the way companies market their products to customers as environmentally friendly.

“People who want to ‘buy green’ should be able to do so confident that they aren’t being misled. Eco-friendly and sustainable products can play a role in tackling climate change, but only if they are genuine,” Sarah Cardell, the interim CMA chief executive, said.

Asos and Boohoo announced on Friday that they would cooperate with the CMA’s investigation.

Source: the guardian

10. Lufthansa ground staff walk out in Germany in pay dispute

Ground staff at Deutsche Lufthansa (LHAG.DE) went on strike early Wednesday, leading to more than 1,000 flight cancellations and travel disruptions during the peak summer travel season. Labor union Verdi has called for a strike a pay rise for nearly 20,000 workers, warning that more industrial action is likely, if necessary.

Last month, Verdi demanded an additional raise of 9.5%, or at least 350 euros ($368) a month for 12 months, for the nearly 20,000 workers he said were “squeezed by inflation and overworked by staff shortages at airports”. The request was denied. Verdi and Lufthansa have so far held two rounds of wage negotiations. A third is scheduled for August 3 and 4.

Source: reuters