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Month: October 2020

As U.S. Election Nears, Polling Shows 82 Percent of Voters Support 100 Percent Clean Energy Transition

Posted on by dishanth
As U.S. Election Nears, Polling Shows 82 Percent of Voters Support 100 Percent Clean Energy Transition

With an estimated 66 million ballots already cast and only a week to go until Election Day, new polling released Tuesday shows the vast majority of U.S. voters believe the nation should be prioritizing a transition to 100% clean energy and support legislation to decarbonize the economy over the next few decades.

Climate Nexus, the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication surveyed over 2,000 registered voters online in late September and early October. The poll’s margin of error is plus/minus 2.2% at the 95% confidence level.

Pollsters found that 82% of voters somewhat (33%) or strongly (49%) agree that “the primary goal of U.S. energy policy should be achieving 100% clean energy.”

Respondents were also asked to weigh in on legislation introduced in Congress “that would set the goal of achieving a 100% clean economy (eliminating fossil fuel emissions from the transportation, electricity, buildings, industry, and agricultural sectors) in the United States by the year 2050.”

Over seven in 10 said they somewhat (31%) or strongly (40%) support such legislation—the same total percentage who said they somewhat (32%) or strongly (39%) support “requiring electric utility companies in the United States to generate 100% of their electricity from renewable sources, like wind and solar, by the year 2035.”

“The conventional wisdom has clearly changed,” Anthony Leiserowitz, director of Yale’s program, said in a statement about the survey results Tuesday. “Voters strongly support a national transition from dependence on coal, oil, and gas to renewable sources like solar and wind.”

The poll shows majorities of voters believe that transitioning to a 100% clean energy economy would positively impact jobs and economic growth, energy bills, rural and farming communities in their state, and communities of color in their state.

A majority of respondents (62%) also said they would be more likely to or would only vote for a candidate who supports “providing a multi-trillion-dollar federal economic stimulus that prioritizes investments in clean energy infrastructure.”

 

 

While support for hydraulic fracturing to increase production of natural gas and oil in the U.S. was split, 61% said there needs to be more regulation of fracking and 80% somewhat or strongly support requiring energy companies to install technology to reduce leaks of the potent greenhouse gas methane.

When presented with two statements about natural gas, the majority of voters reiterated that they believe the U.S. should reduce the use of fossil fuels :

 

 

“The natural gas industry has spent decades convincing people their product is clean energy, and voters have believed them,” said Edward Maibach, director of George Mason’s center. “But we now know alarming spikes of methane emissions—caused in part by gas production—are making global warming worse. The public is beginning to catch on to the threat.”

Nearly three-quarters (74%) of the poll’s respondents somewhat or strongly support creating a jobs program for currently unemployed fossil fuel workers to safely close down tens of thousands of abandoned oil and gas wells that cause water and methane pollution; the same total percentage believe dirty energy companies should be required to cover at least some of the costs.

The new survey echoes polling results released last week following the final debate between President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden. After Biden said that he would phase out the U.S. oil industry in a shift toward clean energy, a Morning Consult/Politico poll found that 57% of voters support a “concerted oil-to-renewables transition,” with even greater support among Democrats.

Referencing those findings on Tuesday, Our Daily Planet detailed “why this matters”:

 

As Election Day draws near, new polls by Pew Research found that 68% of registered voters consider climate change to be a “very important” or “somewhat” important issue. Many experts (and even some coal workers) agree that investing in renewable energy will help create jobs and boost the economy. Renewable energy is more economically viable than ever and voters support it. Moderate Dems may have been nervous that Republicans will try to skewer Biden over this remark, but these polls suggest that might not work. The question will be whether it flips any voters in a crucial swing state. Only time will tell.

 

In response to the fossil fuel discussion at last week’s debate, 350 Action North America director Tamara Toles O’Laughlin said in a statement that climate is a top issue for voters and “Biden demonstrated the capacity for leadership our country needs and deserves, including tackling the climate crisis at scale.”

“While we may not always agree with his approach, we can see his willingness to listen, proven by a commitment to ending federal subsidies to the oil industry, and we look forward to finding solutions and common ground,” she added. “On the other hand, we have Donald Trump, unhinged and desperate, flailing about, spewing a combination of lies and hateful rhetoric at every turn.”

350 Action is among the climate advocacy groups that have endorsed Biden. The Democrat has also won the backing of various climate scientists as well as the first-ever endorsement from the editors at Scientific American, who warned last month that “the 2020 election is literally a matter of life and death.”

 

 

By Jessica Corbett

Source: Eco Watch

Chipotle Launches Tool to Tell You the ‘Foodprint’ of Each Ingredient

Posted on by dishanth
Chipotle Launches Tool to Tell You the ‘Foodprint’ of Each Ingredient

How does your burrito impact the environment? If you ordered it from Chipotle, there is now a way to find out.

The chain on Monday launched a first-of-its kind sustainability tool called the Real Foodprint, which allows customers to see how each of its 53 intentionally sourced ingredients compares to the industry average when it comes to key environmental metrics like carbon emissions and water use.

“Just by eating real, responsibly raised food, you can do a little something to help cultivate a better world,” Bill Nye of Science Guy fame said in a video promoting the feature.

 

 

The Real Foodprint works like this, as Retail Leader explained. When you place an order on the Chipotle app or on the website, the tracker will show you the environmental impact of each ingredient you select compared to the conventional equivalent. The ingredients are assessed according to five metrics:

  1. Less carbon emitted (measured in grams)
  2. Water saved (in gallons)
  3. Improved soil health (in square feet)
  4. Organic land supported (in square feet)
  5. Antibiotics avoided (in milligrams)

So, for example, Nye’s chicken bowl emits 0.8 fewer grams of carbon dioxide, saves 0.4 gallons of water, supports 1.7 square feet of improved soil health, supports 0.9 square feet of organic land and avoids 42.3 milligrams of antibiotics compared to a similar order made with conventional ingredients.

 

 

The data points are provided by HowGood, an independent research company that draws on more than 450 peer-reviewed and scientific studies to compare Chipotle’s ingredients to conventional options, the website explained. Chipotle is the first restaurant to partner with HowGood, the company said in a press release. The data points will be updated on a regular basis, so customers can see if Chipotle’s environmental impact lessens or increases over time, Fast Company reported.

“Beyond asking people to make the right choice for the climate based on a carbon label, we are demonstrating the impact of our sourcing practices through data computed based on the ingredients in our guests’ orders,” Chipotle’s head of sustainability Caitlin Leibert said in the press release. “While our guests can make good choices for the planet by simply eating at Chipotle, the radical transparency provided by Real Foodprint also holds us accountable to improve our practices and source more sustainably over time. It is the combination of transparency for our guests and Chipotle’s commitment to higher standards that make Real Foodprint so impactful.”

Other restaurant brands have taken steps to provide environmental information to their customers, Fast Company pointed out. Meat alternative brand Quorn prints the carbon footprint of its products next to the nutrition label. And, two weeks ago, Panera started pointing out the “Cool Food Meals” on its menu, meals that have a lower carbon footprint. But Chipotle’s Foodprint is the most specific and detailed Fast Company has encountered, writer Mark Wilson pointed out.

“You can literally measure the impact of adding pinto beans or a scoop of pico de gallo,” Wilson wrote. “(Btw, order those beans! They capture carbon and fertilize soil with nitrogen naturally!)”

One downside to the Chipotle tool is the fact that it compares its own ingredients specifically to the industry standard, Wilson noted. This means that it tells you that choosing Chipotle-sourced steak saves 150 milligrams of antibiotics, while choosing tofu saves none, because conventional tofu requires none. The impact of the beef is compared to the industry standard for beef, but does not account for the huge environmental difference between choosing meat and choosing vegetarian options.

Chipotle chief marketing officer Chris Brandt said this was done to avoid passing a value judgment on individual foods.

“There’s a lot of other metrics that say meat is bad, vegetarian is good. If you wanna live your life that way that’s great … everything is relevant to an industry average rather than a value judgment as to whether you eat meat or not,” Brandt said.

 

 

By Olivia Rosane

Source: Eco Watch

I Am Greta: The coming of age movie wrapped up in a super-hero flick

Posted on by dishanth
I Am Greta: The coming of age movie wrapped up in a super-hero flick

There are many extraordinary things about the new documentary I Am Greta.

The first is that the film happened at all. Its director Nathan Grossman had never made a documentary feature before.

The former film student was curious when he heard, in 2018, that 15-year-old Swedish girl Greta Thunberg had decided to bunk off school to sit alone outside the country’s parliament in Stockholm as part of what she was calling a “climate strike”.

He started filming a few days later. At first he shot in a low-quality mode on his camera to save space on memory cards, thinking he would be lucky if her story made a short feature for the local news.

But, within weeks, children around the world had started their own climate strikes. Arnold Schwarzenegger was retweeting Thunberg’s posts and Grossman had switched to full high definition.

He continued to film Thunberg and her father at every twist and turn of the adventure that unfolded over the next year.

 

Greta Thunberg’s story tells of how a troubled and lonely child discovers her hidden powers. DOGWOOF FILMS

 

And what an adventure. Thunberg herself said it could be a movie but it would be a very surreal one “because the plot would be so unlikely”.

Just being along for the ride is exciting enough, but I Am Greta does much more than that.

What Grossman has made is a coming of age movie wrapped up in a super-hero flick. This is the story of how a troubled and lonely child discovers her hidden powers and uses them to change the course of the world.

 

The secret of Thunberg’s charisma

The whole thing is just so unlikely. It turns out that this small, rather dour girl with pigtails has a preternatural charisma.

As we unravel the paradox of why that is, we begin to understand what is so special about Thunberg.

Most people don’t realise how unforgiving documentaries are on their subjects: If you pretend to be something you are not, you will be found out.

The only way to be “good” at films like this is simply to be yourself.

Watching the film, you realise Thunberg is so fascinating because she is utterly authentic. She isn’t doing this for appearances, she isn’t doing it because she wants fame or attention, she is doing it because she has no choice.

She feels compelled to do something – anything – to try to get the world to take climate change seriously.

 

Why she can’t look away

Early on in the film, she tries to explain why. “Once the climate crisis has got your attention you can’t look away,” she says.

“Once you understand the magnitude of the problem, you can’t erase it.”

She doesn’t realise that this is the diametric opposite of how most other people feel: We know it’s happening but do everything we can to look away.

 

Grossman followed Thunberg for months to capture the footage in the documentary. DOGWOOF FILMS / LEV RADIN

 

The compulsion to campaign

Thunberg gives us her take on events in diary excerpts. We learn she has no doubt that Asperger’s Syndrome is a central part of what gives her such “laser-focus”.

“I have it, I wouldn’t say I suffer from it,” she corrects a reporter at one point. And the film shows how campaigning has helped lift Thunberg out of profound depression.

 

Greta Thunberg has continued with her campaign this year. GETTY IMAGES

 

As her influence begins to grow, there is a wonderful sequence on a train where she is filmed writing her diary.

“It feels almost indescribable that something is finally happening,” she writes and breaks into a contented smile. “There are so many who are interested in the same things as I am.”

She talks about how lonely she was at school and the eating disorders she battles. At one point her father mentions how her “selective mutism” and “compulsions” have vanished.

There’s a touching scene where her mother chokes back tears as she describes the progress Thunberg has made. Yet you can’t help thinking her relentless compulsion to campaign can be a curse.

Towards the end of the film, we see her crouched in the cabin of the racing yacht taking her to New York. Huge waves crash past the windows behind her. Thunberg is in tears as she records her diary on a phone. She is missing her dogs, her home and her “routines”.

 

‘How dare you’

The climax comes with Thunberg’s “how dare you” speech, where she scolds world leaders for their lack of action.

“The eyes of all future generations are upon you,” she warns at the UN Climate Action summit in New York, “and if you fail us, I say we will never forgive you.”

 

GETTY IMAGES

 

It is an address that echoed around the world.

She later joins tens of thousands of protestors on the streets of New York – and millions more join climate strikes around the world.

It is a triumph for Thunberg and her campaigning, and a landmark in progress for action on climate change.

But you can’t help but feel anxious for her future. We have seen the meaning and purpose she has found in campaigning and wonder how she will fare now she is back at school.

The final scenes of the film show Thunberg with her beloved pony.

“I sometimes think it might be good if everyone had a little bit of Asperger’s,” she says as she grooms him, “…at least when it comes to the climate.”

I Am Greta is released in the UK and Ireland on 16 October 2020. Special screenings followed by a Q&A will take place on Sunday, 18 October.

 

 

Source: BBC

Climate change: China’s forest carbon uptake ‘underestimated’

Posted on by dishanth
Climate change: China’s forest carbon uptake ‘underestimated’

China’s aggressive policy of planting trees is likely playing a significant role in tempering its climate impacts.

An international team has identified two areas in the country where the scale of carbon dioxide absorption by new forests has been underestimated.

Taken together, these areas account for a little over 35% of China’s entire land carbon “sink”, the group says.

The researchers’ analysis, based on ground and satellite observations, is reported in Nature journal.

A carbon sink is any reservoir – such as peatlands, or forests – that absorbs more carbon than it releases, thereby lowering the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere.

China is the world’s biggest source of human-produced carbon dioxide, responsible for around 28% of global emissions.

But it recently stated an intention to peak those emissions before 2030 and then to move to carbon neutrality by 2060.

The specifics of how the country would reach these goals is not clear, but it inevitably has to include not only deep cuts in fossil fuel use but ways also to pull carbon out of the atmosphere.

 

Some tree planting has come from a desire to establish vibrant timber and paper industries

 

“Achieving China’s net-zero target by 2060, recently announced by the Chinese President Xi Jinping, will involve a massive change in energy production and also the growth of sustainable land carbon sinks,” said co-author Prof Yi Liu at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.

“The afforestation activities described in [our Nature] paper will play a role in achieving that target,” he told BBC News.

China’s increasing leafiness has been evident for some time. Billions of trees have been planted in recent decades, to tackle desertification and soil loss, and to establish vibrant timber and paper industries.

The new study refines estimates for how much CO2 all these extra trees could be taking up as they grow.

 

China is engaged in large programmes to conserve and expand its forests. GETTY IMAGES

 

The latest analysis examined a host of data sources. These comprised forestry records, satellite remote-sensing measurements of vegetation greenness, soil water availability; and observations of CO2, again made from space but also from direct sampling of the air at ground level.

“China is one of the major global emitters of CO2 but how much is absorbed by its forests is very uncertain,” said the IAP scientist Jing Wang, the report’s lead author.

“Working with CO2 data collected by the Chinese Meteorological Administration we have been able to locate and quantify how much CO2 is absorbed by Chinese forests.”

The two previously under-appreciated carbon sink areas are centred on China’s southwest, in Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi provinces; and its northeast, particularly Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces.

The land biosphere over southwest China, by far the largest single region of uptake, represents a sink of about -0.35 petagrams per year, representing 31.5% of the Chinese land carbon sink.

A petagram is a billion tonnes.

The land biosphere over northeast China, the researchers say, is seasonal, so it takes up carbon during the growing season but emits carbon otherwise. Its net annual balance is roughly -0.05 petagrams per year, representing about 4.5% of the Chinese land carbon sink.

To put these numbers in context, the group adds, China was emitting 2.67 petagrams of carbon as a consequence of fossil fuel use in 2017.

Prof Paul Palmer, a co-author from Edinburgh University, UK, said the size of the forest sinks might surprise people but pointed to the very good agreement between space and in situ measurements as reason for confidence.

“Bold scientific statements must be supported by massive amounts of evidence and this is what we have done in this study,” he told BBC News.

“We have collected together a range of ground-based and satellite data-driven evidence to form a consistent and robust narrative about the Chinese carbon cycle.”

 

Artwork: The Biomass satellite is one of several new mission to refine understanding of Earth carbon budgets

 

Prof Shaun Quegan from Sheffield University, UK, studies Earth’s carbon balance but was not involved in this research.

He said the extent of the northeast sink was not a surprise to him, but the southwest one was. But he cautioned that new forests’ ability to draw down carbon declines with time as the growth rate declines and the systems move towards a more steady state.

“This paper clearly illustrates how multiple sources of evidence from space data can increase our confidence in carbon flux estimates based on sparse ground data,” he said.

“This augurs well for the use of the new generation of space sensors to aid nations’ efforts to meet their commitments under the Paris Agreement.”

Prof Quegan is the lead scientist on Europe’s upcoming Biomass mission, a radar spacecraft that will essentially weigh forests from orbit. It will be able to tell where exactly the carbon is being stored, be it in tree trunks, in the soil or somewhere else.

Richard Black is director of the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), a non-profit think-tank working on climate change and energy issues.

He commented: “With China setting out its ambition for net zero, it’s obviously crucial to know the size of the national carbon sink, so this is an important study.

“However, although the forest sink is bigger than thought, no-one should mistake this as constituting a ‘free pass’ way to reach net zero. For one thing, carbon absorption will be needed to compensate for ongoing emissions of all greenhouse gases, not just CO2; for another, the carbon balance of China’s forests may be compromised by climate change impacts, as we’re seeing now in places such as California, Australia and Russia.”

 

 

By Jonathan Amos BBC Science Correspondent

Source: BBC

UAE’s 20by2020 Initiative Brings Life-Changing Water Solution to Thousands in Cambodian Villages

Posted on by dishanth
UAE’s 20by2020 Initiative Brings Life-Changing Water Solution to Thousands in Cambodian Villages

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Thousands of people across three Cambodian villages can now live safer, healthier lives following the deployment of new water purifying technology as part of the Zayed Sustainability Prize’s UAE-driven humanitarian initiative, 20by2020.

After the most recent installation of solar powered light systems in vulnerable communities in Egypt and Jordan, the initiative has progressed with five water fountains, benefiting the 4,400 residents of the Chhnok Trou, Kampong Phrah and Ses Salab villages.

Due to the instalment of the water ultra-filtration solution, organised by the 20by2020 initiative, the village communities, along with the Chhnok Trou school and clinic, have access to clean and safe water for the first time. Not only does this gives residents an option for avoiding many of the waterborne diseases and other health issues stemming from dirty water, it will offer new opportunities for better hygiene, an essential requirement given the importance of handwashing in preventing the spread of coronavirus.

Over time it is intended that this access will improve the outlooks for residents through better hydration and the prevention of illness, which has been statistically proven to have significant, positive effects on the overall health and wellbeing of communities alongside individual growth and development.

20by2020’s support has seen yet another community benefit from life-saving technology. In Cambodia, the solution deployed has been developed by Safe Water Cube, a French company that was a Zayed Sustainability Prize finalist in 2019 under the Water Category. The technology deployment in Cambodia makes surface water drinkable (river, pond) by removing viruses and bacteria that cause diarrhoea, dysentery, cholera and hepatitis, from up to 1,000 litres of water per hour with no energy or maintenance required, and no chemicals used.

Commenting on the activation in Cambodia, H.E. Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, and Director General of the Zayed Sustainability Prize, said: “This innovative water purification technology will positively impact the health and wellbeing of many people in rural Cambodia. Through the 20by2020 initiative, we are leveraging the sustainable solutions of Zayed Sustainability Prize winners and finalists to successfully impact countless lives around the world.”

H.E Al Jaber added “By streamlining efforts with the 20by2020 partners to achieve a more sustainable world, we can extend the impact of the inspiring humanitarian and international development vision of the UAE’s founding father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, while reinforcing the country’s role in humanitarian aid and progress towards sustainability.”

Delivering this positive and impactful work across the world is the main objective of 20by2020, a UAE initiative led by the Zayed Sustainability Prize in partnership with Abu Dhabi Global Market, Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, Mubadala Petroleum, Ministry of Tolerance and Coexistence and Masdar.

H.E. Mr. Lim Kean Hor, Minister of Water Resources and Meteorology and Chairman of the Tonle Sap Authority of the Royal Government of Cambodia stated: “We welcome the 20by2020 initiative whose contribution meets one of the strategic objectives of the Tonle Sap Authority to improve access to safe drinking water in the remote areas around the Tonle Sap Great Lake.”

H.E. Mr. Lim Kean Hor added, “On behalf of the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology, I would like to extend my thanks and appreciation to the Zayed Sustainability Prize, in addition to the 20by2020 partners for providing these innovative solutions.”

Access to safe drinking water is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations adopted by 193 countries. In Cambodia especially, the provision of clean drinking water remains a major challenge; more than 3 million people lack access to safe water and 6 million lack access to improved sanitation. Furthermore, there is growing evidence that inadequate sanitation, water, and hand washing facilities in the country are a barrier to children attending school and performing well, especially girls.

Similarly, Cambodian health care facilities are often reported as having insufficient water, sanitation, and hygiene amenities, with only 50% reported by the National Institute of Public Health as always having sufficient water for their needs. The latest 20by2020 deployment is the first step in providing a new dawn for the villages of Chhnok Trou, Kampong Phrah and Ses Salab.

As part of the initiative’s first phase, a total of six deployments have been rolled out to date, including energy, health, water, and food-related solutions in Cambodia, Egypt, Jordan, Nepal, Tanzania, and Uganda. 20by2020 also plans to deploy additional solutions before the end of the year; with the scheduling dependent on individual country-specific conditions in light of the global pandemic. Upcoming technology deployments include water and energy-related projects in Bangladesh, Madagascar, Costa Rica and Indonesia.

 

About Zayed Sustainability Prize

Established by the UAE leadership, in 2008, to honour the legacy of the founding father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the Zayed Sustainability Prize is the UAE’s pioneering global award for recognising sustainability and humanitarian solutions around the world.

The Zayed Sustainability Prize acknowledges and rewards global pioneers and innovators who are committed to accelerating impactful sustainable solutions.

Over the past 12 years, the Prize has awarded 86 winners. Collectively, they have directly and indirectly, positively impacted the lives of over 335 million people around the world. The Zayed Sustainability Prize categories are: Health, Food, Energy, Water and Global High Schools.

For more information, please visit www.ZayedSustainabilityPrize.com or go to our social media platforms on, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube.

 

 

Source: Eco Voice

Infosys turns carbon neutral 30 years ahead of 2050, the timeline set by the Paris Agreement

Posted on by dishanth
Infosys turns carbon neutral 30 years ahead of 2050, the timeline set by the Paris Agreement

Infosys (NYSE: INFY), the global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting, published its Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Vision for 2030. This announcement is part of Infosys’ long-standing commitments focused across core areas: climate change, technology for good, diversity and inclusion, energizing local communities, ethics and transparency, data privacy and information management. This legacy of purpose and impact has inducted the company into the prestigious Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) and made it part of the DJSI World and DJSI Emerging Markets Indices.

As part of its ongoing Environmental, Social and Governance efforts, including leveraging renewables, orchestrating energy efficiencies and driving unique fully funded community-based carbon offset projects, Infosys is now carbon neutral in compliance with PAS 2060 standards. According to The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Infosys’ work campuses are some of the most energy-efficient in the world. In fact, over the past years, the company has reduced its per capita electricity consumption by over 55 percent with the ambition to transition to renewable energy. It is the first Indian signatory to the RE100 global campaign. Infosys has also successfully developed a portfolio of community-based carbon offset projects. These focus primarily on socio-economic development of rural communities and contributions to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The projects not only address climate change, but also benefit over 100,000 rural families.

 

Infosys, since inception, has recognized that the integration of ESG factors in corporate and business decision-making is an ongoing commitment.

  1. R. Narayana Murthy, Founder – Infosys, said, “Longevity and success for a company comes from living in harmony with the context in which it operates. Right from the first day, Infosys has recognized and fulfilled its responsibilities towards overcoming the challenges in our context. It has also taken on new responsibilities like reducing carbon emission, improving air quality, optimally using water and solar power. The Infosys Foundation has helped the poor by addressing their needs in education, healthcare, nutrition and shelter as well as providing shoulder to the efforts of our governments during times of disaster. Today, nearly four decades after embracing these values, I am happy that Infosys continues to strive hard for these values to make our context better.”

 

Nandan Nilekani, Co-founder and Chairman, Infosys, said, “Infosys has always balanced success as a business with unwavering focus on exemplary governance and responsiveness to the needs of the ecology and society. As an early proponent of responsible business, we understand our obligation to integrate ESG factors into what we do, which is only increasing in importance particularly in the wake of COVID-19.  Our company began to take action to combat climate change in 2008 and I am delighted to announce Infosys’ carbon neutrality in 2020. Today, our 2030 vision reflects how ESG will continue to be integral to Infosys’ sustainable business performance.”

To understand Infosys’ ESG priorities better, watch this video. To learn more about Infosys’ ESG efforts around the world, see Infosys ESG Vision 2030.

Highlights of ESG Achievements:

  1. In FY2020, over 44 percent of Infosys’ electricity consumption was met through renewable energy sources. The company also invested in 60 MW of solar PV capacity.
  2. Over 700,000 students from India’s engineering colleges advance their digital skills on InfyTQ – Infosys’ next-gen learning platform, as part of the company’s social commitment to reskilling and facilitating job creation.
  3. Infosys ranked number three on the 2019 Forbes ‘World’s Best Regarded Companies’ list based on its trustworthiness, honesty, social conduct, fairness to employees and performance of its products and services.
  4. Infosys Foundation and Infosys Foundation USA spend over $55 million each year on impactful projects focused on education, healthcare, rural development, destitute care and art & culture.

 

Salil Parekh, Chief Executive Officer, Infosys, said, “As a progressive business committed to the well-being of stakeholders, Infosys is incredibly proud of the investments its founders have made to make the business truly sustainable and socially responsible. The company’s ESG roadmap for 2030 reflects its continued aspiration to be a well-governed model organization for diverse talent with an inclusive workplace and community strategies to leverage technology for good.”

Highlights of Ongoing ESG Goals:

  1. Continue to be carbon neutral across Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions every year. Eliminate 75 percent Scope 1 and 2 Greenhouse Gas emissions and reduce by 30 percent absolute Scope 3 Greenhouse Gas emissions.
  2. Expand reskilling initiatives to empower 10 million-plus people with digital skills and 80 million-plus lives with technology for good programs in e-governance, healthcare, and education.
  3. Nurture an inclusive and gender-diverse workforce with at least 45 percent of women employees.
  4. Continue to bring the interests of all stakeholders to the fore through an empowered, diverse and inclusive Board.
  5. Further strengthen data privacy and information security standards across global operations, having been awarded the accredited certification on ISO 27701 by Bureau Veritas Certification (BVC)

 

About Infosys

Infosys is a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting. We enable clients in 46 countries to navigate their digital transformation. With nearly four decades of experience in managing the systems and workings of global enterprises, we expertly steer our clients through their digital journey. We do it by enabling the enterprise with an AI-powered core that helps prioritize the execution of change. We also empower the business with agile digital at scale to deliver unprecedented levels of performance and customer delight. Our always-on learning agenda drives their continuous improvement through building and transferring digital skills, expertise, and ideas from our innovation ecosystem.

Visit www.infosys.com to see how Infosys (NYSE: INFY) can help your enterprise navigate your next.

 

Safe Harbor

Certain statements in this release concerning our future growth prospects, financial expectations, and plans for navigating the COVID-19 impact on our employees, clients, and stakeholders are forward-looking statements intended to qualify for the ‘safe harbor’ under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding COVID-19 and the effects of government and other measures seeking to contain its spread, risks related to an economic downturn or recession in India, the United States and other countries around the world, changes in political, business, and economic conditions, fluctuations in earnings, fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, our ability to manage growth, intense competition in IT services including those factors which may affect our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, industry segment concentration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks or system failures, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which Infosys has made strategic investments, withdrawal or expiration of governmental fiscal incentives, political instability and regional conflicts, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, unauthorized use of our intellectual property and general economic conditions affecting our industry and the outcome of pending litigation and government investigation. Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our the United States Securities and Exchange Commission filings including our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020. These filings are available at www.sec.gov. Infosys may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the Company unless it is required by law.

 

 

Source: Eco Voice

Vestas Introduces Low-Wind Variant Suited For India’s Wind Market

Posted on by dishanth
Vestas Introduces Low-Wind Variant Suited For India’s Wind Market

The global demand for sustainable energy solutions in low and ultra-low wind areas continues to grow as renewable technology improves in efficiency and cost. This trend is especially prominent in India, the world’s fourth largest wind energy market, where the energy demand is expected to double and the government intends to add around 100 GW wind power in the predominantly low-wind market by 2030.1

While the new turbine is globally applicable, it initially targets low and ultra-low wind condition projects in India and USA. It increases the turbine swept area by 67 percent in comparison to V120-2.2 MW, and with a large rotor to rating ratio, it significantly improves the partial load production in low-wind conditions. The V155-3.3 MW improves the annual energy production (AEP) by more than three percent for a 300 MW wind park with 46 fewer turbines, creating an improved level of business case certainty.2

“With the introduction of the V155-3.3 MW wind turbine, Vestas is connecting our proven 4 MW platform technology with customized solutions to improve our customers’ business case in low and ultra-low wind conditions,” says Thomas Scarinci, Senior Vice President of Product Management Vestas. “With this product designed specifically to optimise energy production in low and ultra-low wind conditions, we are confident that we can bring enhanced value to our customers and partners in India and other suited markets.”

As the turbine will be predominantly locally manufactured and sourced in India, it reinforces Vestas’ existing commitment to the country’s growing renewable energy industry. Vestas will increase its already prominent manufacturing footprint in India by establishing a new converter factory in Chennai and expanding its current blade factory in Ahmedabad. These investments follow our previously announced new nacelle and hub factory in Chennai, which is currently under construction. The production ramp-up will add around 1,000 new jobs within the next year to the approximately 2,600 people currently working for Vestas in India. While the expanded production setup in India will serve the growing wind market in the region, it will also act as a strategic export hub.

“We have installed close to 4 GW of wind turbines in India over the last two decades and established a large production footprint, and we’re excited to leverage this as we support the government’s ambitions for renewable energy. With the introduction of the V155-3.3 MW turbine, we are able to offer improved energy production and business case certainty for our customers in India’s growing wind market,” says Clive Turton, President of Vestas Asia Pacific. “With the production ramp up in India, we anticipate increased employment across our existing hubs, underlining our commitment to better support our customers and drive the country’s renewable energy transition.”

With an optimized blade design and market specific towers up to 140m hub height, the turbine is designed to meet local transportation requirements. Built on the globally proven 4 MW platform, the V155-3.3 MW features a full-scale converter delivering excellent grid compliance, faster active and reactive power during dynamic frequency and voltage events.

With 35 GW of 4 MW platform turbines installed in 47 countries, the V155-3.3 MW has been developed within Vestas’ leading standards within design, testing and manufacturing, ensuring customer’s business case certainty.

Prototype installation is planned for the third quarter 2021, while serial production is expected by the first quarter of 2022.

1 GWEC, India wind outlook toward 2022
2 Compared to V120-2.2 MW

 

 

Source: CleanTechnica

Investors Worth $5 Trillion Set Major Emissions Reduction Targets

Posted on by dishanth
Investors Worth $5 Trillion Set Major Emissions Reduction Targets

Thirty of the world’s largest investors, who together control $5 trillion in assets, have pledged to cut the greenhouse gas emissions of their portfolios by as much as 29 percent in five years.

The investors, who include Allianz, the Church of England and the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, are all part of the UN convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance. The group formed in 2019 with the goal of reducing the emissions of their investment portfolios to net zero by 2050 and limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. On the road to that goal, the group announced their 2025 Target Setting Protocol Tuesday, which includes the goal to reduce emissions across members’ portfolios by 16 to 29 percent of 2019 levels by 2025.

“According to the UNEP Emissions Gap Report, every year of postponed emissions peak means that deeper and faster cuts will be required,” UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative leader Eric Usher said in a press release. “The Target-Setting Protocol represents world-leading progress on the required emissions reductions from some of the biggest investors in the world.”

To reach their goal, the investors will pinpoint the 20 companies most responsible for their portfolios’ emissions, The Guardian explained. They will also set specific targets for highly emitting sectors like oil and gas, transport and utilities.

Some financial institutions have acted on the climate crisis by divesting entirely from certain companies or refusing to fund certain ventures. For example, Norway’s largest private asset manager divested in August from companies that lobby against climate action or make more than five percent of their revenue from coal or oil sands. The Net-Zero Asset Owners Alliance, however, takes a different approach, seeking instead to engage with the companies it invests in in order to push the overall economy towards a just transition to renewable energy.

“Although decarbonization of portfolios could be easily achieved by selling carbon intensive investments, it is highly questionable if such actions alone would have a positive impact on the real economy,” the group explained in the press release. “Additionally, it might undermine Alliance members ability to engage with these [companies] to effect reductions in the real economy.”

Part of that engagement means encouraging companies to share regular reports on their climate actions and to craft plans to green their business, according to The Guardian. The alliance itself will also release yearly reports, and plans to grow its membership to 200 or the assets under its control to $25 trillion.

“Alliance members start out by changing themselves and then reach out to various companies to work on the change of their businesses,” Alliance Chair Günther Thallinger, who serves on the board of management for Allianz SE, said in the press release. “Reaching net-zero is not simply reducing emissions and carrying on with the business models of today. There are profound changes and opportunities that will come from the net-zero economy, we see new business opportunities and strong wins for those who are ready to lead.”

The alliance is part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s (UNFCCC’s) broader Race to Zero campaign, in which cities, companies and investors work to increase the number of entities that have committed to net-zero emissions by 2050 or earlier, Business Green reported. The plan is to have as many as possible commit before the next major UN climate summit, the delayed COP26.

 

 

By Olivia Rosane

Source: EcoWatch

Australian outback cattle station to house world’s largest solar farm, powering Singapore

Posted on by dishanth
Australian outback cattle station to house world’s largest solar farm, powering Singapore

A cattle station halfway between Alice Springs and Darwin is set to house the world’s largest solar farm, with energy generated from the project to ultimately power Singapore.

Newcastle Waters, where casino mogul James Packer worked as a jackaroo for a year when his father, Kerry, owned the 10,000 sq km property, has been earmarked for the $20bn solar farm, according to the company responsible for the project, Sun Cable.

The 10-gigawatt solar farm, which will be visible from space if built, was granted major project status from the Morrison government in July and has attracted billionaire investors including Andrew Forrest and Mike Cannon-Brookes.

Sun Cable’s chief executive, David Griffin, told Guardian Australia the site would take up about 12,000 hectares, and that a referral for the project has been submitted to the Northern Territory’s Environmental Protection Authority – the first stage of a lengthy approvals process that is expected to allow construction to begin in late 2023, energy production by 2026 and export by 2027.

Speaking about the reasons for proposing the Newcastle Waters site, Griffin said its location was “a meeting point of a few key criteria”.

“It’s on the Adelaide to Darwin rail corridor, which is brilliant for our logistics given the enormous amount of material we’ll have to transport to the site,” he said. It was also within 30km of the Stuart highway, the main highway running through the sparsely populated Northern Territory.

“It’s a bit of a balancing act too, because it’s far south enough to get away from the main patch affected by the wet season, so it’s a steady solar resource throughout the year,” he said. “There’s plenty of sun and not many clouds.”

Griffin also said the site was not so far south that it made the costs of transmitting the electricity to Darwin too high, and that the existing land was “really ideal for construction of a solar farm as it’s extremely flat”.

Sun Cable has entered into an agreement with the current owners of Newcastle Waters, Consolidated Pastoral Company, to use the land. However, Griffin said he could not reveal the financial details of the deal.

Overhead transmission lines will send the electricity generated by Sun Cable to Darwin and feed into the state’s power grid, but Griffin said two-thirds of the power would be exported to Singapore by high-voltage direct current undersea cables.

There will be at least two cables, each with a diameter slightly smaller than a soccer ball, with Sun Cable able to provide about a fifth of Singapore’s electricity needs as the country looks to move away from its increasingly expensive gas-fired power system.

 

 

Griffin has also said the solar farm could supply power to remote communities in the Northern Territory that currently rely on expensive diesel generators for electricity.

Sun Cable expects the project will generate 1,500 direct jobs and 10,000 indirect jobs during construction, and about 350 permanent jobs once in operation.

Griffin said Sun Cable was working on a training and employment opportunities plan so part of the workforce could be sourced from nearby Indigenous communities, and that supplies would be produced by local businesses.

Exporting solar energy has been flagged as a way Australia can expand its energy production while significantly reducing global emissions. Australia is responsible for about 1.4% of greenhouse gas emissions, which increases by 5% if fossil fuel exports are counted.

 

 

By 

Source: The Guardian

P&G to launch refillable shampoo bottles in 2021

Posted on by dishanth
P&G to launch refillable shampoo bottles in 2021

The consumer goods giant unveiled images of the new format for the first time today (22 October). Customers will be encouraged to purchase a reusable aluminium bottle, which they can refill from new pouches. The pouches consist of a flexible plastic packet with a rigid plastic neck.

P&G has calculated that the refill pouches use 60% less plastic per milliliter of the product than traditional shampoo bottles. It claims that they can be recycled from kerbside collections in all European countries bar Belgium, Ireland and Switzerland, which do not have the appropriate recycling infrastructure.

Products from Head & Shoulder, Pantene, Herbal Essences and Aussie will be available in the new refillable format from early 2021. P&G plans to launch the format in every European market it is currently selling into. Its beauty arm is notably aiming to halve the amount of virgin plastic used to house shampoos and conditioners by the end of 2021.

“This new packaging innovation will contribute to making the reuse of packaging irresistible while enabling a reduction of virgin plastic as per P&G’s Ambition 2030 commitment,” P&G’s chief sustainability officer Virginie Helias said. “It’s no longer about if or what we can do, but how quickly we can do it – the window is now for embracing new sustainable lifestyles.”

 

 

Plastics action

P&G’s Ambition 2030 sustainability strategy outlines a five-pillar approach to tackling plastics packaging. Launched last spring, the plastics framework includes a goal to ensure all packaging is 100% recyclable or reusable by 2030, bolstered by shorter-term pledges to achieve 100% recyclability by 2022.

In recognition of the fact that just 9% of all plastics produced to date have been successfully recycled, P&G’s strategy also outlines plastic reduction targets for each of P&G’s divisions. Aside from Beauty, the Fabric Care division is targeting a 30% reduction in plastics use by 2025.

Several of P&G’s brands are already listed on Loop – TerraCycle’s multi-brand refill platform which is currently operating in the US, France and the UK. Loop sees customers pay a deposit fee on each piece of packaging that is refunded to them when TerraCycle’s courier partners collect the empty containers.

While this direct-to-consumer model has proven popular with brands, investors, and shoppers alike, many other brands are opting for in-store refill models. The Body Shop, for example, has a refill station for shower gels at its Bond Street Store, while Waitrose’s ‘Unpacked’ stores stock packaging-free washing-up liquid, laundry detergent, and beer.

Covid-19 has presented complications for the refill movement. But momentum seems to be gaining pace once again; Asda opened a ‘sustainability store’ with more than 30 packaging-free product lines in Middleton, Leeds, earlier this week.

 

 

By Sarah George

Source: edie.net