Net Zero

‘Wicked problems require complex solutions’

Debra Lam, Founding Executive Director of the Partnership for Inclusive Innovation, believes that public-private partnerships are the glue that can bind global initiatives to grassroots realities. A few weeks ago, NASA officially declared July 2023 as the hottest month on record...

Greenhushing firms miss the chance to inspire positive change

Companies have a duty to be transparent about sustainability credentials and should celebrate their major achievements, says Steve Pearce, of Kyocera Document Solutions UK. Recent research shows that almost 25% of medium and large businesses in the UK have been...

Find suppliers who share your values

Charlotte Scallon, Head of Sustainability and Regulation at Biffa, offers a three-step strategy to help businesses understand how to choose a sustainable supplier. Sustainability has become a fundamental pillar of responsible corporate practices in today’s rapidly evolving business landscape. Companies have...

Net Zero surgery under the microscope

As a research programme into ‘green surgery’ in the UK NHS launches this autumn, the University of Birmingham is bringing together clinicians, policy makers and industry for a major conference aimed   at reducing the healthcare sector’s contribution to...

‘Kind’ companies most likely to succeed

Businesses with a reputation for kindness are more likely to experience stronger growth, according to new analysis. Research spanning the decade to 2022 concluded that ‘kind’ companies were 35% more likely to double their earnings before interest, tax and amortisation...

Empowering Scottish Workplaces: FREE Support for Greener Commutes

Travelknowhow Scotland is pleased to announce its ongoing commitment to supporting Scottish workplaces to encourage more active and sustainable travel. Through their FREE consultancy support, Travelknowhow Scotland aims to drive positive changes in the way businesses approach commuting and...

Millions in funding for ‘greener’ manufacturing

UK manufacturing is one sector struggling with major sustainable growth. To tackle this, Digital Catapult and the High Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult have been awarded £2m by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) to accelerate the use of...

Can the legal profession help with the continuing B Corporation movement?

Peter Hubbard, managing partner at social purpose law firm Anthony Collins discusses the importance of firms being held to these rigorous standards, why it is important to clients, and what guidance they can offer to businesses in becoming a...

Big vote of confidence for carbon capture…

...but Iwan Hughes, Director of Regulation & Grid Services at VPI Power, says its full potential is yet to be unlocked. With extreme weather events impacting many countries across the globe this summer, the impetus to reach net zero has...

Sustainable marketplace Canopey.com opens for business

A new digital marketplace for environmentally sustainable and eco-conscious products is open, with a mission to make greener shopping easier for everyone. Canopey.com is billed as the home for buying better from a variety of ethical brands such as KeepCup,...

Tata’s battery factory marks a turning point in UK’s EV history

By Gustavo Marqueta-Siibert​, Group Business Development Director at WN Vtech. Tata’s decision to establish its flagship electric car battery factory in the UK is undoubtedly a milestone for the nation’s EV industry. This strategic investment holds great promise, as it...

Electric waste vehicle directly recharged by customer waste

The first of a series of electric waste collection vehicles launched by fleet owner Grundon Waste Management is being powered directly by electricity generated from customer waste. The direct recharging programme – believed to be a first for the commercial...

Faith In Nature appoints Nature as a board director

Faith In Nature has become the world’s first brand to put Nature on its board of directors. The Manchester-based company, which has been making ethical beauty care products since 1974, also recently achieved B corp status. Under corporate law in the...

The ‘polluter pays’ principle is about to get a lot more complicated for EU companies — and they’re not ready

Confusion over the new EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive is preventing companies from taking the necessary steps to ensure environmental standards are met inside and outside of Europe, says Jeff Sacre, Executive Director of CHWMEG. Corporate environmental stewardship has...

Companies struggle to measure carbon-cutting across supply chains

Most top firms (84%) have yet to set public science-based targets to reduce direct operational emissions from their supply chains. And only 11% have disclosed science-based targets to reduce emissions in their supply chains. The findings are revealed in a new study by Tata...

Sustainable guidance for finance sector

New BSI guidance aims to ‘demystify’ sustainability principles for the financial sector. Explaining the Sustainable Finance Standard (BS ISO 32210:2022), former UN High-Level Climate Action Champion Nigel Topping said: “The new narrative of change has to be collaboration and not...

Major boost for UK EV battery recycling

Precious materials have been successfully extracted from spent EV batteries, in a triumph for UK deep tech and Manchester University spinout, Watercycle Technologies Ltd. The company, which is focused on developing sustainable mineral extraction and water treatment systems, has for...

The ‘greenest’ storage and distribution hub in central England opens for business in the summer

Midlands-based PGS Global Logistics Ltd has invested £10 million in the purpose-built carbon neutral warehouse, which the company says is already attracting strong interest from European customers. The site – open from July  - has an A-rated energy performance certificate...

A deodorant to ‘green up’ your armpits!

An award-winning deodorant with a refillable core is set to be an eco-friendly addition to the personal care market. Small business owner Laura Meehan, from the Wirral, designed the 100% sustainable refillable cartridge made of cork - a regenerative natural...

How to: Protect your green inventions

The process of protecting green intellectual property can be as murky as it is resource intensive. Eleanor Maciver, partner and patent attorney at IP law firm Mewburn Ellis, explains how you can bolster your innovation’s green credentials. Consumer demand, international...

Siemens outlines decarb roadmap for giant UK industrial estate

Siemens has proposed a roadmap for decarbonising Manchester’s Trafford Park, one of Europe’s largest industrial estates. The plan is in support of Trafford Council’s aim to achieve net zero by 2038. The Low Carbon Trafford Park 2038 study, proposed by Siemens,...

Choosing a ‘positive impact’ pension

Online pension provider PensionBee has calculated that UK pension savers could make a big dent in their carbon footprint if they moved £1 trillion to ‘positive impact’ funds. T hat figure represents the approximate value of UK defined contribution pension funds...

Scope 3 emissions aren’t just your suppliers’ problem

Companies can’t pretend that scope 3 is out of their control, says Dr Torill Bigg, Chief Carbon Reduction Engineer at Tunley Engineering. A company’s scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions are sometimes misunderstood as simply being the scope 1 and 2 emissions from...

Is green air travel possible?

Thomas Power, founder of sustainable holiday company, Pura Aventura, tackles the matter of sustainable travel – in particular, dialling into aviation and what can be done to reduce the environmental impact of flying. Aviation and greenhouse gases It is estimated that...

Key steps to becoming a truly sustainable business

The drive to create more sustainable businesses has reached a bit of an impasse, says Jennifer Rippe, Vice President, Strategy and Innovation, Marks. Find your way forward by making full use of your own unique brand. Certain sustainability efforts are...

Don’t waste energy: how utilities providers can recharge, reshape, & renew for tomorrow

Utility providers have a fundamental role to play in our transition to more sustainable living. Mike Carruthers, General Manager – UK & Europe at Gentrack, unpacks the learnings of 30+ years of partnering with utilities on their transformation journeys...

The need for trust and transparency in global supply chains

Given the socio-political landscape and energy crisis, it remains critically important that organisations can assure their global supply chains and take demonstrable action towards climate goals. Ian Spaulding, Chief Growth Officer at LRQA, examines climate action in the context...

Accelerating the UK tertiary education sector to Net Zero

What is the biggest unlocker for tackling the climate crisis? Sector leadership and system-wide collaboration. SB+CO Director Penny Baxter explains how The Platinum Jubilee Challenge has a vision for the UK tertiary education sector to become a global leader...

We can’t return to ‘business as usual’

Will the government perform yet another U-turn on sustainability? It’s looking likely, says Professor Ian Thomson, Director of the Centre for Responsible Business at the University of Birmingham Business School. Whoever manages to hold onto the job as Prime Minister,...

Helping creatives ‘walk the walk’

Sam Wilson, CEO of Syntiro Associates, and Dale Parmenter, CEO of DRPG, discuss sustainability in the creative industry. Where did your passion for sustainability stem from, and why such a focus on the events, creative and advertising industries? Sam: “I’ve always...