What’s going on here? The UK government has set out plans to ban the sale of certain single-use plastics. This includes items such as plastic cutlery, plates, and polystyrene trays. The ban is set to come into effect by October 2023. What does this mean? The environmental impact of plastic pollution is well understood. Plastic pollution is so pervasive that it has…
What’s going on here? Many large companies, including airlines and energy companies – notoriously big emitters – claim to be carbon neutral. They do so by purchasing carbon offsets: paying to reduce carbon somewhere else to compensate for their own emissions. But a new report by Bloomberg Green uncovers that these offsets are mostly low quality, and potentially useless. What does this…
This weekend will see the start of COP27 in Egypt. The 27th UNFCCC Conference of Parties calls on governments around the world to “to rise to the occasion and tackle effectively the global challenge of climate”.
However, before it has even begun, COP27 has been heavily criticised and campaigners have little hope that it will bring about the action we desperately need to address the climate crisis.
What’s going on here? Yvon Chouinard is an 83-year-old mountain climber who founded Patagonia: the outdoor clothing brand which eventually took him to billionaire status. Last week, Chouinard donated the company to fight the climate crisis. What does this mean? Patagonia remains in control by the Chouinard family via The Patagonia Purpose Trust, but it only holds 2% of the total stock.…
What’s Going On Here? Changing Markets Foundation, a sustainability campaign group, just released their latest report into the fashion industry. The report, titled ‘Licence to Greenwash’, found that the industry’s biggest and most well known sustainability schemes “facilitate greenwashing”. What Does This Mean? Ten schemes were analysed including well known ones such as WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme), bluesign, EU Ecolabel…
This article about the Bezos Earth Fund was written by Chelsea Webster and originally posted on her blog LowWastePlantBased.net When it comes to climate news, if something sounds too good to be true… it probably is. I know I sound like a pessimist, but billionaire philanthropy is being praised right and centre, with only the left seemingly being able to see through…
What’s Going On Here? This week Amazon announced a 2-billion-dollar Climate Pledge to achieve zero carbon by 2040. The venture capital fund will power development into green operations across multiple industries, including transportation and logistics, energy generation, storage and utilisation, manufacturing and materials, circular economy, and food and agriculture. Pretty extensive eh? What Does This Mean? This year we’ll see an onslaught of environmental…
What’s Going On Here? First BP, then Coca Cola, now Amazon – in the past week the corporates have been making the headlines as they announce new strategies to positively impact people and the planet! What Does This Mean? BP – aka the big fossil fuel giant that was not-so-long-ago found to have been funnelling millions of ££ into lobbying against climate policy – made headlines last week…
What’s Going On Here? The PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics lasted just over 2 weeks and generated around 1.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. That’s more than Barbados produces in a year. So how were these the Olympics most sustainable Winter games ever? The answer: Carbon offsetting. What Does This Mean? Carbon offsetting allows people to invest in environmental projects around the world to…
