News

The NHS has an estate of over 3,000 properties and accounts for around 5% of the UK’s total carbon footprint. Managing these properties and their energy and environmental impacts is a complex affair; how do they do it?  “You have to consider the entire landscape of physical buildings and the internal and external impact on environment, cost and efficiency,” says Cameron Hawkins, head of energy and environment at NHS Property Services. “It’s a balance between supporting clinical services and ensuring that assets are fit for purpose and meet requirements. Working...

Big pharma net zero ambitions have been boosted by a major initiative that aims to drive positive climate action throughout global value chains. Big pharma net zero activities are being supported by the Energize programme, a collaboration between 10 global pharmaceutical companies, to engage hundreds of suppliers in climate action and decarbonization of the pharmaceutical value chain. Healthcare delivery contributes 4.4% of global carbon emissions. Healthcare systems and their supply chains are both part of the challenge and the solution, having a key role to play in supporting the response to...

Chemicals industry accounts for around four per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions and must embrace a more circular, low emissions operating model. That’s according to a major new report that suggests without urgent action the chemicals industry faces reputational and regulatory risk and may lose its social license to operate. The report by Systemiq and the Center for Global Commons at the University of Tokyo sets out credible pathways for the industry to become an enabler of a sustainable global economy, to double in size and create 29 million...

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...