archiveJanuary 2023

Water sector innovation to improve water quality, supply and resilience is sought with the launch of a new £4m competition. The Water Discovery Challenge is an open-access competition that seeks innovators with bold and ingenious ideas that can solve the biggest challenges facing the water sector today and in the future. The competition is the latest from Ofwat’s £200 million Innovation Fund which seeks to generate new ideas to tackle issues including managing leaks, preventing pollution, improving water efficiency, reducing emissions, boosting flood and drought resilience, prioritising sustainable practices, and supporting vulnerable customers.  Ofwat...

Wildfires create 20 per cent of global carbon emissions and the figure will rise to 30% by the end of the century, according to Dryad Networks. Wildfires are wrongly categorised as natural disasters and therefore not included in global carbon emissions reporting, despite the fact that 80 per cent are caused by humans and the fact that there is much more governments can do to prevent them. The extent of wildfire emissions is often miscalculated or underestimated. Wildfires are consistently discounted from countries’ CO2 emissions reporting as they’re written off as carbon...

Sustainability professionals are calling for new process-specific technology to make environmental reporting simpler. Current systems are failing to keep pace with changing compliance demands and the lack of dedicated full-spectrum reporting tech is adding to the complexity that many companies face. Technology is essential for compiling and collaborating on environmental data, validating data for accuracy and mapping disclosures to regulations and framework standards. Still, current solutions must catch up to rapidly evolving compliance issues and increasing volumes of data. In a recent survey of global businesses, 51 per cent said...

Sustainable investment on Swiss financial markets will have to abide by new rules introduced by the Swiss Federal Council. Financial products and funds labelled as ‘sustainable’ or ‘ESG’ on Swiss financial markets will have to align or contribute to specific sustainability goals and pursue at least one investment objective under new rules introduced in December 2022. Sustainable investment products or services that aim to reduce ESG risk will not qualify for a sustainable label without pursuing a specific sustainability goal. Firms should consider adopting third-party verification standards that provide independent...

A sustainable packaging solution based on seaweed has been developed by Notpla, a UK company that won Earthshot’s ‘Building a Waste-Free World’ category. The solution is a seaweed-based biodegradable alternative to plastic. Sustainable packaging solutions are needed to replace the 6.3bn tonnes of plastic waste that currently litter our oceans and streets. With products ranging from edible drinks pouches to fast-food packaging, Notpla, supported by Innovate UK and Sky Ocean Ventures and a member of the UKRI-funded UK Circular Plastics Network, has already made over one million food boxes for takeaway company Just Eat. The coating...

Net zero targets are now expected from companies in every sector. Here is an official 7-step guide developed by the University of Oxford. The following are clear steps to follow in setting net zero commitments developed by the University of Oxford based on minimum criteria for the UNFCCC-backed Race to Zero Campaign and an extensive series of stakeholder workshops. By taking these steps organisations can join the global effort to meet the Paris Agreement goals. The criteria were created by the networks and initiatives that form the Race to Zero’s international climate action community. ...

The Transition Plan Taskforce (TPT) aims to establish a gold standard for private sector climate transition plans in UK business and industry. The TPT, announced at COP26 by the UK Chancellor, has now published its Disclosure Framework and accompanying Implementation Guidance and has also launched a Sandbox for companies and financial institutions to test implementation. The TPT Disclosure Framework makes recommendations for companies and financial institutions to develop gold-standard transition plans. The TPT Implementation Guidance sets out the steps to develop a transition plan, as well as when, where and how to disclose...

Just 23 per cent of consumers take environmental claims and initiatives from businesses at face value, according to a new study by Sensu Insight. The 50 Shades of Greenwashing report reveals that almost a third (30 per cent) of Brits expect environmental claims from companies to be slightly exaggerated, while 14 per cent said they don’t believe them at all. This is largely due to the majority of people (71 per cent) assuming that claims are unlikely to be verified or checked by an independent expert or regulator, deeming them un-credible. The...