Daily Magazine

With consumers prioritizing environmental sustainability, Amazon and Target unveiled stores that aim to use less energy than they produce, the retailers announced last week. Target's first net-zero energy store is located in Vista, California, and the new Amazon Fresh store, which is pursuing net-zero carbon certification, is located in Seattle.

 

The new Amazon Fresh Seattle location features a CO2-based refrigeration system, has steel byproducts to reduce embodied carbon and fully sources its electricity from the company's renewable energy projects. Target's store has solar carports, CO2 refrigeration and LED lighting.  Drawing from its experience, Target said it plans to add CO2 refrigeration to all of its stores by 2040. Amazon said that some of the upgrades will be used at all of its Amazon Fresh grocery stores going forward, such as the lower-carbon concrete flooring. 
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Only a third of companies have credible carbon emission reduction plans in place - with apparel among the worst offenders, according to the CDP intitiative.

The non-profit, which runs the world's environmental disclosure system, said more than 13,100 companies disclosed their plans to mitigate climate change last year.

However, only 4,002 had developed a low-carbon transition plan and just 135 - fewer than one per cent - reported on all 24 of the CDP's key indicators of a credible plan.

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The UK was the first major economy to commit to deliver net zero aviation by 2050 – and later establishing the Jet Zero Council – the UK’s first major step in transforming an industry which has contributed over 2% of global CO2 emissions pre-pandemic[1]. On an international scale, further commitment to sustainable aviation was made at COP26 with the launch of the International Aviation Climate Ambition Coalition (ICAC) where 26 countries, including the UK, pledged to reduce aviation emissions in a bid to meet global emissions targets. This sets the UK in a strong position going into the ICAO General Assembly in September 2022 where nations present their work towards agreeing a long term global aspirational goal for international aviation.

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Current global emissions targets will only be achieved through the acceleration of innovative technologies, enabling industries to pivot their organizations towards sustainable operations. Digital technology may be the most powerful, scalable tool the world has to tackle climate change and 5G is at the forefront of this effort.

Operators of wireless networks have already taken numerous steps to limit emissions, such as reducing energy consumption, switching to more efficient network equipment, and sourcing renewable energy. However, offsetting the growth in data volumes over mobile networks will require more than improvements to current networks.

The impact of 5G is threefold in its potential to combat the effects of climate change: 5G, with its substantially greater energy efficiency, will reduce greenhouse gases, abate the emissions of other industries, and enable more precise monitoring of our environment to help meet broader climate change commitments.

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Corporate greenwashing is an increasingly contentious topic around the globe. Now, European policymakers claim they are stepping up their fight against it. 

Amid a record inflow of investments into European climate-friendly funds, the region’s top markets regulator, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), published a new road map last month, in which it identified tackling greenwashing as a priority for the next two years.

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Increased global awareness and debate surrounding climate change and sustainability has propelled environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) practices from a ‘nice to have’ to a necessity for today’s corporate treasurer, according to Karin Flinspach, head of transaction banking, Europe & Americas at Standard Chartered

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The latest United Nations Global Compact-Accenture CEO Study charts a mixed picture of progress and what’s next for business following The UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (COP26).
Half the CEOs surveyed say they're grappling with supply-chain due to extreme weather but a mere 7% of CEOs globally say they have advanced early-warning systems or scenario planning in place.
Going into COP26, only 18% of CEOs said governments have given them the clarity needed to operate their businesses in line with a 1.5°C warming trajectory. They laid out what's needed to meet the 1.5°C target.

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