archive2023

The $100bn per annum problem of plastic pollution shows no sign of abatement but proven policy approaches in the EU, Japan and Chile can serve as a starting point for countries seeking to curb plastic pollution as well as providing a baseline for the upcoming plastics treaty negotiations. Efforts to tackle plastic pollution are still highly uncoordinated, hampered by data gaps and focused on downstream solutions, including clean-ups which consume significant resources that would be better invested in proven policy solutions, waste management, and recycling infrastructure, finds a paper by...

The EU has doubled the number of firefighting resources across Europe in preparation for expected extreme summer heatwaves. The rescEU firefighting aircraft reserve includes 24 airplanes and 4 helicopters from 10 Member States. In addition, Austria, Bulgaria, Finland, France, Germany, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia will be sending almost 450 firefighters to be pre-positioned in France, Greece, and Portugal. Following the calls from EU Ministers and the European Parliament, in 2022 the Commission developed also a Wildfire Prevention Action Plan. This action plan aims to improve administrative capacity; improve knowledge; and increase...

A detailed plan to transform product packaging and significantly cut plastic production and pollution has been developed by researchers. The study comes as government representatives meet in Paris to negotiate a legally binding global plastics treaty with a mandate to end plastic pollution.  The research, published by the University of Portsmouth’s Global Plastics Policy Centre, commissioned by the Break Free From Plastic movement, consolidates 320 articles and papers, plus 55 new interviews with reuse experts from around the world, to suggest a universal definition of reuse systems and, for the first time, assess how all nations can move away...

A new range of financial instruments is needed to pay for annual cost of nature restoration in Southeast Asia, a new report says. Well structured capital market instruments – including sustainability-linked bonds (SLBs) – can play a role in scaling up investments in nature restoration projects in Southeast Asia, a new report from Imperial College Business School finds. Recent extreme temperatures in the region demonstrate the ongoing climate and nature crisis in Southeast Asia. The report is published at a time of both ecological and economic uncertainty for the region,...

Environmental risk impacts all industries that rely on a supply chain and risk is now a key driver of green finance and regulation with volatile climate conditions and complex just-in-time supply chain operations increasing the vulnerability of companies to disruption. Increasing supply chain resilience is now a top strategic priority as raw materials, products, services, transport and food production can all be disrupted by the increasing effects of climate change. There are a range of sector-related risk impacts but all involve business continuity interruption related to extreme environmental events. Problems...

The UK Government’s new Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is set to have major impact on businesses. The new regulation aims to support industrial decarbonisation without disproportionately harming domestic firms but it will also impact costs, supply chains and reporting requirements. In March, the UK Government’s new Department for Energy Security and Net Zero launched a consultation to explore new climate policies that could have significant implications for businesses importing or exporting to the UK. These measures will seek to address carbon leakage, which occurs when companies shift their business abroad to...

Wales has the highest uptake of small-scale renewable installations in homes and businesses across the UK. Scotland has previously held the top spot as the UK nation with the highest proportion of installations per household. As Welsh homeowners continue to invest heavily in greener energy they have overtaken Scotland in the league tables for the first time since 2021, according to latest data from MCS (Microgeneration Certification Scheme). Scotland has roughly double the number of households as Wales, so although Wales has a smaller total installation count, there are more...

An upgraded power grid will enable installation of heat pumps and EV chargers and also fuel investment and business growth. But network companies will need to make significant investments to transition to low-marginal cost renewables, a move that will enable electrification of heat and transport and see a fall in long-term network costs per unit of energy delivered.  That’s according to a new report, ‘Building an Electricity Network for Net Zero’, that evaluates existing initiatives from the UK Government, OFGEM and network operators to develop grid capacity and ease access to...

New Zealand aims to cut 45 per cent of carbon emissions from its biggest steel plant by converting to an electric power furnace. New Zealand Steel will build a new $300M Electric Arc Furnace at its steelworks at Glenbrook within the next three years as part of the move to lower carbon production. The investment will reduce Glenbrook’s carbon footprint by 800,000 tonnes from day one – the same as taking approximately 300,000 cars off the road permanently. “That’s a reduction of over 45 per cent in New Zealand Steel’s...

National Grid has detailed how industry, government and regulators can take action to enable decarbonisation of the UK power sector. The recommendations set out in ‘Delivering for 2035: Upgrading the grid for a secure, clean and affordable energy future’ are critical to realise the scale and pace of the transformation needed over the next decade. Significant progress has already been made towards transforming the UK’s power system, with a huge expansion in clean energy in recent years, as well as substantial investment in our electricity networks. But fully decarbonising the...