Articles on or after 3/24/2024: |
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Organizations |
| Greenbiz,Grist,Sightline,Sustainable Brands,Green Tech Media |
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Amazon, Google and Microsoft signal growing interest in nuclear, geothermal power - Greenbiz  (Mar 25) |
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Mar 25 · Rising demand from artificial intelligence is forcing big technology companies to look beyond wind and solar for clean energy. An illustration of a data center at a Talen Energy site in Pennsylvania. Credit: Talen Energy The push to commercialize artificial intelligence is swelling the electricity demands of the three biggest cloud computing companies - Amazon, Google and Microsoft - and they’re looking for carbon-free energy, including nuclear and geothermal, to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from that growth. In mid-March, Talen Energy announced a $650 million deal with Amazon Web Services to sell a data center powered by one of the largest U.S. nuclear ... | By Heather Clancy Read more ... |
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Biden administration announces $6 billion in clean energy funding - Greenbiz  (Mar 27) |
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Mar 27 · Historic amount signals what companies might expect from another four years of Biden. The Biden administration announced $6 billion in funding for projects that will decarbonize and modernize the U.S. industrial sector this week. The Department of Energy (DOE) will manage the funds, disseminating them to recipients in some of the highest emitting industries, including aluminum, cement and concrete, chemicals, iron and steel and food. The DOE estimates that the projects will cut the equivalent of 14 million metric tons of CO2 emissions each year, once completed. "Heavy industry like steel, cement and concrete account for nearly one-third of all U.S. emissions, and ... | By Leah Garden Read more ... |
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CDP: Water Now a Major Risk for World’s Supply Chains - Sustainable Brands  (Mar 26) |
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Mar 26 · With $77B under threat due to water risk in supply chains, 50% of large corporate buyers now engage suppliers on water issues; but only 14% financially incentivize senior leaders to act on water. The water crisis threatens global supply chains like never before, according to new research from CDP - the global non-profit that runs the world’s environmental disclosure system. Stewardship at the Source - CDP’s most-extensive-ever analysis on how companies are responding to water security, based on record-high disclosure numbers - focuses on 3,163 large companies with an annual revenue of more than €/US$250 million, who responded to CDP’s annual water-security questionnaire ... Read more ... |
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Dispatch from London: How corporate sustainability will change in 2024 - Greenbiz  (Mar 25) |
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Mar 25 · On the near-term horizon: Artificial intelligence, nature and biodiversity risks, and a muting of ambitious public climate goals. For more than a year, European sustainability executives have been focused on how they would comply with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the EU regulation requiring third-party assured disclosures of climate targets, greenhouse gas emissions, governance and more. Now, as CSRD goes into effect for the reporting year starting in January, they’re illuminating ways regulation is already changing corporate sustainability. Last week I talked with 20 Europe- and U.K.-based sustainability leads from some of the world’s biggest ... | By Dylan Siegler Read more ... |
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Florida is about to erase climate change from most of its laws - Grist  (Mar 25) |
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Mar 25 · In Florida, the effects of climate change are hard to ignore, no matter your politics. It’s the hottest state - Miami spent a record 46 days above a heat index of 100 degrees last summer - and many homes and businesses are clustered along beachfront areas threatened by rising seas and hurricanes. The Republican-led legislature has responded with more than $640 million for resilience projects to adapt to coastal threats. But the same politicians don’t seem ready to acknowledge the root cause of these problems. A bill awaiting signature from Governor Ron DeSantis, who dropped out of the Republican presidential race in January, would ban offshore wind energy, relax regulations on ... Read more ... |
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How fashion giants are tackling water risks in cotton supply chains - Greenbiz  (Mar 28) |
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Mar 28 · Apparel companies are taking action to bolster their water-management commitments and practices. Growing cotton uses 16 percent to 24 percent of insecticides and up to 40 percent of pesticides applied to fields globally. Source: Shutterstock/Kent Weakley This is the second of a four-part series taking a closer look at how 72 companies in four industries - beverage, apparel, food and high-tech - performed in Ceres’ new Valuing Water Finance Initiative Benchmark report, which assesses how companies are valuing and acting on water as a financial risk and driving the systemic changes needed to protect freshwater systems around the world. The fashion industry is a ... | By Kirsten James Read more ... |
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How Patagonia and Seventh Generation include banks in their climate action plans - Greenbiz  (Mar 27) |
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Mar 27 · Corporate cash deposits are a huge source of carbon emissions, and sustainability leaders need to engage their bankers. Most companies don’t report the "hidden" carbon emissions generated by how their corporate cash deposits are invested, but it’s larger than many realize. If Apple, Google and Salesforce included that data in their disclosures, their total emissions would rise by 128 percent, 207 percent and 206 percent, respectively, according to an analysis published this week by a group of NGOs. Their analysis found that non-financial companies in the United States cumulatively hold $7 trillion in cash and investments. The cumulative emissions enabled by those ... | By Grant Harrison Read more ... |
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Lego invests $2.4 million in direct-air capture carbon removal - Greenbiz  (Mar 26) |
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Mar 26 · Toymaker signs 9-year deal with Climeworks of Switzerland. Lego is experimenting with more than 600 materials to replace petroleum-derived plastic, including arMABS made from a type of recycled artificial marble typically found in kitchens. Source: Lego Group Lego Group plans to double its annual spending on emissions reduction and sustainability measures between 2023 and 2025, investing a total of $1.4 billion over the period. The Danish company this week committed a small portion of that money to a $2.4 million carbon removal contract with Climeworks, which makes technology that filters carbon dioxide emissions out of the air. The family-owned holding company ... | By Heather Clancy Read more ... |
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Walmart funds almost 1 gigawatt in new U.S. solar power - Greenbiz  (Mar 28) |
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Mar 28 · Half the power needed by the world’s largest retailer now comes from clean energy projects. Walmart is funding almost two dozen new community solar projects and three long-term purchase agreements that will add almost 1 gigawatt of zero-carbon energy to the U.S. grid. That’s roughly enough energy to power 750,000 U.S. homes. The new installations include Walmart’s first investments in projects for Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi - almost half the amount in the new contracts. They are in addition to the more than 600 onsite and offsite renewable energy projects the retailer has supported in the past, representing 2 more gigawatts in clean electricity ... | By Heather Clancy Read more ... |
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Why Bayer and the Gates Foundation are using CRISPR to reduce food's climate impact - Greenbiz  (Mar 25) |
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Mar 25 · Gene editing technology can help create the next generation of climate-resistant crops. Mustard greens at a market. Credit: Shutterstock/Lanywati CRISPR gene editing technology is beginning to deliver on a promise to quickly create crops with traits that withstand a changing climate, resist aggressive pests and reinvigorate healthy soils, according to experts at the South by Southwest event in Austin earlier this month. Companies exploring CRISPR to make climate-friendly foods and medicines are enjoying some tailwinds: At the same time, startups and researchers are taking on investment partnerships with larger organizations to commercialize CRISPR ... | By Jesse Klein Read more ... |
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Why H&M is turning away from polyester recycled from bottles - Greenbiz  (Mar 26) |
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Mar 26 · The fashion industry has found a circular solution to its textile recycling problem. Spools of polyester yarn. Credit: Shutterstock/RecycleMan H&M’s new deal to buy $600 million of "circular" polyester over seven years from Syre, a Swedish startup it co-founded, underlines one of fashion’s dirty secrets: Making new polyester from recycled bottles sounds environmentally friendly but, in reality, polyester is a huge source of pollution. And recycling bottles to make more polyester might be worse than the alternative - keeping the bottles in the beverage industry where they can be recycled. Now some fashion companies are moving toward circular, textile-to-textile ... | By Elsa Wenzel Read more ... |
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