This week on ENN: Leading Brands call for climate change, Green Economics going mainstream, CSR: It's all about attitude, Consumers fret over food packaging, Sumatran Tigers in serious danger, Bloomberg slams U.S. over ethanol and much much more.
1. Leading brands call for action on climate change
Tokyo — Some of the world's leading businesses have come together to call for the world to take all necessary action to keep global warming below the dangerous threshold of 2 degrees Celsius. The Tokyo Declaration, signed by 12 companies including Allianz, Sony, Nokia and Nike, was presented by Sony Chairman and CEO Sir Howard Stringer at the opening of the annual WWF Climate Savers Conference at Sony Corporation headquarters in Tokyo.
2. “Green Economicsâ€Â: Turning Mainstream Thinking on Its Head
A few years ago, a homeowner in Las Vegas—a place that gets maybe five inches of rainfall a year—was confronted by a water district inspector for running an illegal sprinkler in the middle of the day. The man became very angry. He said, “You people and all your stupid rules—you’re trying to turn this place into a desert!â€Â Ideas about how the world works that don’t accord with reality can be unhelpful. That’s especially true about mainstream economics, which is based in part on ideas that made a lot of sense at some point in the last 250 years but that have outlived their time and usefulness.
3. Corporate Sustainability — It’s About Attitude
“A New Mindset for Corporate Sustainability,â€Â which was co-sponsored by BT and Cisco, was written by six academic experts from the United States, China, United Kingdom, Singapore and Spain. The title of the paper caught my attention immediately because of the phrase: “New Mindset.â€Â The paper addresses what I, and others close to CSR, believe is one of the biggest roadblocks to the broader adoption of sustainability strategies, namely an attitude that these practices are costly to businesses, inhibit growth and negatively impact the bottom line.
4. Shoppers fret more over food packaging waste: poll
OSLO (Reuters) - Wasteful food packaging is among the fastest-growing environmental concerns for shoppers worldwide with New Zealanders most willing to cut back, a poll showed on Thursday. The Internet-based survey in 48 nations, by the Nielsen Company, indicated that 40 percent of respondents were "very concerned" by trash from food packaging in November 2007 against just 31 percent in the previous poll in May 2007.
5. Nobel winner urges oil execs to help cut emissions
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Rajendra Pachauri said he thought he was "walking into the lion's den" on Tuesday when he told oil executives they need to take a lead in cutting greenhouse gas emissions in order to save the earth. Pachauri, chairman of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former Vice President Al Gore, said the oil industry has been both lion and lamb when it comes to seeing the need to cut greenhouse gas emissions to prevent global warming.
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6. Body part by body part, Sumatran Tigers are being sold into extinction
Laws protecting the critically endangered Sumatran Tiger have failed to prevent tiger body parts being offered on open sale in Indonesia, according to a new TRAFFIC report. Tiger body parts, including canine teeth, claws, skin pieces, whiskers and bones, were on sale in 10 percent of the 326 retail outlets surveyed during 2006 in 28 cities and towns across Sumatra. Outlets included goldsmiths, souvenir and traditional Chinese medicine shops, and shops selling antique and precious stones.
7. High Speed Rail Advances Globally, Crawls in the U.S.
Somewhere deep in the pages of President Bush’s proposed 2009, $3.1 trillion budget is a 40 percent cut in Amtrak funding. A cut so deep that the quasi-government interstate passenger rail service could screech to a halt. The lame duck’s plan is to give Amtrak $800 million. Nearly on the same day that the President unveiled his budget Alstom, of France, unveiled its latest high speed train, the AGV (Automotrice y Grande Vitesse) ) a next generation replacement for the TGV (Train y Grande Vitesse). The company already has orders: 35 trains, with an option of 10 more to Italian rail operator NTV
For Valentine’s Day, birthdays, anniversaries or other special occasions, giving flowers often seems like a gift from Mother Nature herself. But when flowers are doused in pesticides and transported long (i.e., energy-intensive) distances, their eco-appeal quickly evaporates. The health impact conventionally-grown flowers has makes them even less desirable.
9. Financing the Transition from a Brown to a Green Global Economy
Nairobi/Monaco, 11 February 2008 - The biggest gathering of environment ministers to take place since the climate change breakthrough in Bali will be happening in Monaco later this month under the theme "Mobilizing Finance for the Climate Challenge". More than 100 ministers from across the globe are scheduled to attend the Global Ministerial Environment Forum (GMEF) - the world's forum for environment ministers -alongside senior figures from industry and economics; science; local government; civil society, trades unions and intergovernmental bodies.
10. Bloomberg slams U.S. energy law over corn ethanol
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A new U.S. energy law will cause an increase in global food prices and lead to starvation deaths worldwide because it continues to promote corn ethanol, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said on Monday. "People literally will starve to death in parts of the world, it always happens when food prices go up," Bloomberg told reporters after addressing a U.N. General Assembly debate on climate change.
