C40 urges G20 to act on climate change, Body Shop expands 'bio-bridges', Anglian wins BITC's top award, Volvo to go all-electric,anaerobic digestion needs more support, Johnson & Johnson joins Manufacturing2030
C40 mayors urge G20 to #saveourplanet
MAYORS FROM around the world have raised the pressure on G20 leaders to address climate change at their summit this weekend. C40’s powerful group of mayors from 52 cities, representing more than 275 million citizens, released a joint statement urging leaders of the world’s richest nations to work with cities to “save our planet”. They warned: “Given the US intention to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, the resolve of the other 19 leaders at the upcoming G20 Summit to safeguard the future of our planet is more important than ever.”
More than 40,000 people have now signed a petition while Paris, Warsaw, Buenos Aires, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Mexico City have brought the campaign to their streets with a major billboard advertising campaign.
Anne Hidalgo, mayor of Paris and chair of C40, has released a video statement, which will be shown at the G20 summit. She said: “We, mayors of the world's largest cities, urge G20 leaders to act now for the planet and deliver on the goals of the Paris Agreement. This requires a bold action: urgent reforms are needed in energy, transport, food and waste. This is why, with mayors from the most important cities of the world, we launched a petition on Change.org to send our message to the G20 leaders. Are you ready to save the planet?”
Read Ethical Corporation’s briefing on the role of cities in fighting climate change, and the mayors who are taking up the challenge.
The Body Shop to raise £2m for 10 more 'bio-bridges'
THE BODY SHOP this week launched a World Bio-Bridges Mission, a fund that aims to raise over £2m to create a further 10 "bio-bridges" by 2020. The World Bio-Bridges Mission builds on last year's launch of The Body Shop's first bio-bridge in Vietnam. The bio-bridge approach aims to prelieve pressure on critically endangered animals by regenerating habitat in areas of rich biodiversity that are under threat.
The projects engage communities living in and around bio-bridge areas in the long-term protection of the biodiversity, giving them a viable alternative to logging and poaching, while allowing The Body Shop to identify potential new natural ingredients for its community trade programme.
The Body Shop will build the 10 new Bio-Bridges in addition to its existing commitment to protect and regenerate 75 million square metres of habitat by 2020, part of its Enrich Not Exploit sustainability commitment.
The £2m in funding will be raised through a contribution from each sale of special-edition products, which will vary across The Body Shop's global markets. The first of these, Amazonian Saviour Multi-Purpose Balm, will launch this year in the UK.
Christopher Davis, international director of corporate responsibility and campaigns at The Body Shop, said: “Through protecting and regenerating land, working with local communities and seeking partnerships with civil and state organisation around the world, the World Bio-Bridges Mission can make a substantial difference to some of the planet’s richest and most diverse areas.”
Read about The Body Shop’s bio-bridges project in Vietnam in The Body Shop heads back to the rainforest.
Anglian Water named BITC responsible business of the year
ANGLIAN WATER has scooped the top prize at Business in the Community’s Responsible Business Awards 2017, being named one of the most responsible businesses in the UK.
The company, which supplies water and water recycling services to more than 6 million households, received the award for helping customers waste less water through its Love Every Drop programme. The business also supports vulnerable customers and leads the way on the health and wellbeing of its own employees, BITC said.
There were 16 other winners, including include Tesco, which won the The Experian Award for Building Stronger Communities for donating over 5 million meals to people in food poverty, and National Grid, which won The Unipart Award for Outstanding Employment for a range of employment programmes supporting former offenders, and underprivileged young people.
Volvo first major car maker to go all-electric
VOLVO SAID THIS week it will be the first major car manufacturer to go all electric, with every car in its range having an electric power train available from 2019.
The Swedish company said the announcement marks “the historic end” of cars powered solely by petrol and diesel and “places electrification at the core of its business”. The manufacturer will launch five fully electric cars across its range between 2019 and 2021, two of which will be in the company’s Polestar high performance sub-brand, which is being revived.
The rest of the company’s range will be made available with plug-in hybrid power trains and 48-volt mild hybrid systems, meaning customers can specify an environmentally friendly option on all Volvo cars. The company plans to have 1 million electrified cars by 2025.
Håkan Samuelsson, chief executive of Volvo, said: “This is about the customer. People increasingly demand electrified cars and we want to respond to our customers’ current and future needs.”
The announcement came a day before France’s new ecology minister, Nicolas Hulot, announced that France will end sales of petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040, describing the move as a “veritable revolution”.
Anaerobic digestion ‘failing to reach climate potential’
ANAEROBIC DIGESTION plants across the UK now have enough capacity to power over a million homes, according to a new report. The report, by Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA) and launched this week at UK AD & Biogas and World Biogas Expo 2017, shows that AD capacity in the UK increased 18% over the past year, and now has total energy generation of 10.7 TWh per year.
While AD is reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 1% and employs more than 3,500 people in the UK, with the right policy support it could reduce emissions by 4% and employ 35,000 people, according to ADBA.
There are currently 13 AD plants on hold due to delays in passing legislation for the Renewable Heat Incentive, while electricity generation from AD is receiving next to no government support. Between 50 to 80 new AD plants were commissioned in 2016 but this number is projected to fall to between 19 and 64 in 2017 as a result of policy uncertainty.
ADBA chief executive Charlotte Morton said: “There is currently a desperate lack of long-term policy support for AD. While there are 437 AD plants in the planning stage, most of these are unlikely to be built without stronger government support for AD. This is a huge wasted opportunity.”
Johnson & Johnson joins Manufacture 2030
JOHNSON & JOHNSON had added its products to sustainability platform Manufacture 2030, joining Mars and Co-op in sharing information on energy, waste, and water usage.
The collaborative platform, hosted by 2degrees, aims to help companies make big efficiency gains on their use of resources. As well as cutting costs, the hub aims to encourage collaboration between companies on supply-chain practice and reducing environmental impact.
Johnson & Johnson said it has joined the group as part of its aim to meet its 2020 citizenship and sustainability goals. It hopes to use Manufacture 2030’s waste hub to increase reuse and recycling of waste within its consumer goods business.
Kevin Whitehead, senior director strategy and deployment global consumer manufacturing, Johnson & Johnson, said: “Through collaboration and best practice sharing in platforms such as Manufacture 2030, we believe we can drive positive and innovative change more effectively across our operations and supply chain.”
Johnson & Johnson Manufacture 2030 supply chains collaboration anaerobic digestion renewables Volvo electric vehicles BITC Responsible Business Awards Anglian Water tesco National Grid The Body Shop bio-bridges Anne Hidalgo Paris climate change C40 mayors cities Paris Agreement G20