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Seamus Garvey, professor of dynamics in the Faculty of Engineering at University of Nottingham argues that there is no energy crisis and there never was one. At any one time, the sun throws down over 10,000 times more energy onto the earth than we humans consume. All we need do is collect a tiny fraction of that energy and deliver it when and where it is wanted. At COP27 delegates are focussing on the topic of energy, including renewable energy (RE) and energy transformation. As the world continues its journey...

Fashion brand River Island has over 300 stores worldwide employing over 1000 staff and last year sold over £600 million worth of clothes. The company has been working to a dedicated net zero strategy since 2020 and has introduced a range of sustainable supply chain initiatives. Here, Jose Arguedas Schwank, head of corporate responsibility and sustainability at River Island details the steps the company has taken on its journey to net zero. “In 2020 we introduced 12 commitments for people and planet, which includes action on climate change as a...

CSRD is set to have a major impact on the way large manufacturers operate audit and report and companies have just 12 months to prepare. CSRD, the new Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, will require large companies to audit and disclose information on the way they operate and manage social and environmental challenges. It is an all-new legal accounting framework and the biggest change in corporate reporting for two decades. Companies could have up to 30 new standards to report on each setting out underlying guidelines, quantitative metrics and qualitative disclosure...

Mitakshi Sirsi, director of sustainability at Will+Partners explains why individual action has a crucial role to play in our quest to achieve a net-zero futureEarlier this month, it was disenchanting to see COP27 open in a luxury resort town, backed by questionable sponsors, a large increase in delegates from the fossil fuel industry, and hearing climate justice cheerleaders expressing regret over the choices made by the conference. Climate change is a personal issue to me. Having become a parent recently, I feel highly motivated to cut carbon through my work....

Philippine Airlines will attain net zero carbon emissions by 2050 in support of international agreements for climate action, the company says. Philippine Airlines (PAL) is already investing in an all-out carbon reduction program, part of its multi-year commitment to combat climate change in line with the Paris Agreement and the Glasgow Climate Pact. Aviation makes up more than 2 percent of all global CO2 emissions: around 1.3 percent from international and 0.7 percent from domestic flights. According to United Nation’s International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), greenhouse gas emissions from aviation...

Net zero farming now has a new standard method to cover land-related carbon emissions and removals. Net zero farming targets are vital as land-intensive sectors such as food, agriculture and forestry represent nearly a quarter (22 per cent) of global greenhouse gas emissions, the largest emitter after energy. The new Forest, Land and Agriculture (FLAG) Science Based Target Setting Guidance provides businesses in land-intensive sectors with a method to tackle the impact of climate change in key areas that have not been addressed before. The framework has a whole sector approach covering everything...

Climate change has seen 55 vulnerable nations lose one fifth of their wealth over the last twenty years as a result of the costs of climate impacts. Climate change continues to impact countries worldwide while wealthy nations still have not delivered on their promise to deliver $100bn a year in climate finance. The increasing costs of climate impacts along with the issue of a ‘finance facility’ to support developing nations afford losses and damage caused by climate impacts will be central to negotiations – and trust – at COP27 due to...

COP27 promised to make world leaders progress from setting net zero goals to implementing them. Have they lived up to their promise, and what has COP27 achieved since the event six-months ago? Some of the key discussions and decisions made over the two-week climate conference included a new funding arrangement for the loss and damage for some of the most affected and often vulnerable nations, Tom McLeish, TEAM Energy’s energy consultant, explains. “The UK government announced that it would invest £65 million to speed up the development of new green...

Yorkshire Water has incorporated biodiversity net gain as collaboration between finance, sustainability and asset management. The biodiversity net gain initiative, as part of the company’s decision-making framework, has the capability to inform decisions across the whole asset management portfolio so that optimal decisions to manage risk and deliver affordable services can be made. The UK Environment Act 2021 introduced more prescriptive requirements for biodiversity net gain which impact capital delivery programmes. The requirements include: Securing a minimum ten per cent gain, calculated using a defined biodiversity metric; Protecting biodiversity net...

Chief financial officers (CFOs) say sustainability is now a key part of their role and it is an important driver of business growth. New research finds that over half of UK CFOs surveyed believe sustainability is very important to their role while 44 per cent see the finance department as the most important business function in driving sustainability. The research also finds that overhead costs, financial risk and complex renewable technologies are the main barriers to sustainability investment with the top reasons for delayed decisions being lack of cost-effective renewables;...