Central banks must play ‘clear role’ in greening financial system, argues think tank March 15, 2021 Central Banks, including the Bank of England, must have a strategy for helping countries achieve net zero emissions, according to a report published today. The report, funded by the European Climate Foundation, argues that achieving a net zero economy is the best way of minimising the risks of climate change. It calls for central banks [...]
Rise in SUVs and car usage hinders net zero targets, spending watchdog says February 26, 2021 An aversion to public transport, made worse due to the pandemic means the UK will have even further to go to reach its net zero emission targets, data from the National Audit Office (NAO) today has shown. The NAO report revealed transport is the UK’s largest contributor to carbon emissions, with cars being the primary [...]
Vodafone brings forward net zero carbon pledge to 2040 November 23, 2020 Vodafone today pledged to reduce its total global carbon emissions to net zero by 2040 — ten years earlier than originally planned. The telecoms group said it will eliminate all carbon emissions from its business activities and purchase all energy from renewable sources by 2030. It has also pledged to halve carbon emissions from joint [...]
Green Britannia can rule the waves — with the right support September 24, 2020 The coronavirus has had a major impact on a range of industries, including shipping. We have seen factories in parts of the world slow down and supply chains have been severely impacted. But today, on the UN’s World Maritime Day which is focused on sustainable shipping, as we look to reset and recover from the [...]
Action on climate speaks louder than words, but communicating that action is also key September 24, 2020 Rather than being overshadowed by the pandemic, if anything Climate Week in New York — which began on Monday — has been amplified by the focus on building back greener and fairer. This is mirrored by more and more businesses making Net Zero commitments — PwC being among the organisations to announce one in recent [...]
For businesses and countries alike, we must turbocharge the race to net zero September 14, 2020 Ed Boyd, executive director and founder of ReGenerate, proposes a policy to accelerate businesses joining the race to net zero emissions. As any business leader knows, deadlines produce results. And when it comes to tackling climate change, the government has a big one. I am not talking about the waves of economic and environmental catastrophe [...]
The future of the construction industry is digital September 4, 2020 The double-whammy of a pandemic and a recession has made 2020 one of the most challenging and disrupted years in living memory. But the bright spot, in an otherwise battered economy, is construction, which forms a major part of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s ”Build Back Better” campaign. Britain’s construction industry grew at the fastest rate in almost [...]
The nation’s health is priority number one, but we must continue the great work we’ve done to reduce plastics use August 28, 2020 Recent government figures revealed that since the introduction of the 5p carrier bag charge, new carrier bag sales have fallen by 59 per cent in the past year in England’s major supermarkets. This translates to shoppers buying, on average, just four new bags per year compared to 10 the previous year. This is a significant [...]
Build back better? No, let’s build back smarter and take carbon out of construction August 27, 2020 Boris Johnson has set out his plans to “build back better”, and major changes have recently been announced to planning regulations to enable faster decisions on planning applications. It sounds like a developer’s paradise. But construction already accounts for nearly two fifths of UK carbon emissions, so where does that leave the government’s equally vaunted [...]