Articles

Climate change adaptation is one six core objectives of the EU Taxonomy regulation that is set to change the way business and industry operates. The new regulation is aimed at altering behaviour, systems and ways of life to protect the environment from the impacts of climate change caused by human activity. What is business and industry doing to adapt their commercial activities, operations and objectives to comply with the new EU taxonomy? And if it hasn’t already started, what can a company do to make the required adaptations? The EU taxonomy,...

Carbon dioxide levels are now more than 50 per cent higher than they were before the onset of the industrial era, scientists say. Carbon dioxide levels measured at NOAA’s Mauna Loa Atmospheric Baseline Observatory peaked at 424 parts per million in May, continuing a steady climb further into territory not seen for millions of years, say scientists from NOAA and Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego.  Measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2) obtained by NOAA’s Global Monitoring Laboratory averaged 424.0 parts per million (ppm) in May, the month when...

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...

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...

The G7 Hiroshima Summit ended with a series of wish-lists but no major progress on tackling climate change. The summit agenda contained a very general paragraph on climate and energy that re-affirmed a commitment to net zero but with ominous references to “different national and regional circumstances”. The meeting of world leaders was an opportunity to launch some major eco-initiatives and drive real change but, lacking in any real progress, the summit instead confined its actions to words and a series of well-worn mission statements. Following the event, the G7 Hiroshima leaders’...

Robust Scope 3 reporting tools are essential for achieving industrial sustainability objectives but firms face a range of practical challenges. Large industrial companies may find it challenging to obtain data from lower-tier suppliers that may not track their CO2 emissions. Additionally, there is no standardised methodology for Scope 3 emissions calculations and disclosures, creating difficulty in assessing the activities of a broad set of suppliers, each using different data collection and reporting methods. While some areas of industry are racing ahead with AI and machine learning, others are still using...

Metal packaging should take precedence over plastic as it is easier to recycle and already has a strong recycling infrastructure. That’s the view of Michael Mapes, CEO of Trivium Packaging, who believes metal packaging can go a long way to reducing carbon emissions and plastic waste pollution. “As a material, metal can be recycled endlessly and processes have already been innovated to reduce the industry’s environmental impact,” Mapes said. “In the last 30 years the quantity of metal in a typical can have been reduced by 46 per cent while continuing...

Australia must act now to mitigate rising land, sea and air temperatures and avoid more extreme weather events in coming decades. That’s according to the latest State of the Climate report by Australia’s National Science Agency (CSIRO) that found Australia’s climate has warmed by an average of 1.47 ± 0.24 °C since national records began in 1910. Sea surface temperatures have increased by an average of 1.05 °C since 1900. This has led to an increase in the frequency of extreme heat events over land and sea. The seventh biennial...

Research shows a third of consumers don’t know what e-waste means, and 18 per cent are unaware of the term altogether. The demand for digital devices and appliances has been growing exponentially as technology advances, leading to an ever-growing influx of returns and repairable items but it is estimated that only 17 per cent of e-waste is recycled. “The environmental benefits of re-selling refurbished electronics are clear and undisputed,” said James Rigg, CEO of Trojan Electronics. “Electronics contain a wide range of materials, from metals to plastics, which take hundreds of years to...

With the UK’s regulatory requirements tightening, the built environment must prove its commitment to decarbonisation. Digitising environmental performance data is a necessary step towards business success. In 2023 you can’t build a long-term strategy without incorporating ESG factors. Information must be collected and reported on a range of environmental performance metrics, including carbon output and electricity consumption, water use, and waste diversion. By embracing technology, corporations can calculate their carbon footprint, ensure compliance with sustainability requirements, and compare their performance with competitors, as well as against their own mandated and voluntary...