CorporateResponsibility.Net

The European Commission last week called on the IT industry to step up efforts to cut emissions, announcing plans for a wide-ranging green IT strategy designed to ensure economy-wide emission reductions of 15 per cent by 2020.

Announcing the new strategy, which is to be formally adopted in the second half of this year, commissioner for information society and media Viviane Reding said that while the IT sector had already made significant commitments to reduce its environmental impact, it still had “enormous untapped potential for saving energy right across the economy”.

“I would recommend to the IT sector to show the way for the rest of the economy by reducing its own carbon footprint by 20 per cent by 2015,” she said. “I see from the response of European IT companies to the Commission’s ongoing work that Europe is already well ahead in using IT for greening the economy.” Read more

Source: Business Green

Four out of five people say they are still buying sustainable products and services today—which sometimes cost more—even in the midst of a U.S. recession, according to a new survey.

Half of the 1,000 people surveyed say they are buying just as many sustainable products now as before the economic downturn, while 19% say they are buying more sustainable products. 14% say they are buying fewer environmentally sustainable products. Read more

Source: Sustainable Business

Corporate Knights, the Canadian CSR magazine, has published its 2009 list of the 100 most sustainable corporations in the world.

The Global 100 is a list of publicly-traded, MSCI World-listed companies that are best equipped to manage the environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks and opportunities, based on research and analysis by Innovest Strategic Value Advisors. The Innovest methodology compares companies to their sector peers on a best-in-class basis.

CSR Europe members on the list include Accor, BASF, Coca-Cola Company, Groupe Danone, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, L’Oréal, Novo Nordisk, Panasonic, Procter & Gamble, SAP, State Street, Toyota Motor and Unilever. See the full list

Source: CSR Europe

A report published this week challenges the assumption that newly created green jobs will be “good,” middle-class jobs.

The report “High Road or Low Road: Job Quality in the New Green Economy,” authored by Good Jobs First and commissioned by Change to Win, Sierra Club, the Laborers’ International Union and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, examined existing green jobs in manufacturing, construction and waste-management. The research revealed wide variations in wages, benefits and labor conditions, with some green-collar jobs paying as little as $8.25 an hour without benefits. Read more

Source: Sustainable Business

Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HPQ) and Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) have both announced ground-breaking recycling initiatives.

Hewlett-Packard will begin paying customers to return equipment that has residual value for recycling. HP´s website will give a quote on any brand of unwanted computer, monitor, digital camera, personal digital assistant or smart-phone. Read more

Source: Sustainable Business

Retailers in New York will be required to collect and recycle plastic bags, starting January 1, 2009, under legislation signed last week by Governor David A. Paterson.

Under the new law retail establishments with more than 10,000 square feet of retail space, or those that are part of a chain with more than five stores (each with more than 5,000 square feet of retail space), must provide bins for the collection of used plastic carryout bags, recycle the returned bags, and keep records for three years describing the amount of plastic bags collected and recycled. Read more

Source: Sustainable Business

Despite numerous warnings about the crisis of unsustainable seafood, leading US supermarkets are still failing to raise their standards.

According to the Greenpeace seafood sustainability scorecard, released today, only Whole Foods, Ahold USA, Target, and Harris Teeter have acceptable seafood practices.

The leading 20 supermarket chains continue to stock endangered seafood such as orange roughy, swordfish, and Chilean sea bass. Read more

Source: Green Biz

Office supply and services company Corporate Express Australia (CXP.ASX) was named the Sustainable Company of the Year by the Australian Sustainability Awards, which recognize best practices in corporate sustainability across Australian Stock Exchange Listed companies.

Corporate Express was nominated for its exemplary supply chain program, which the company has now implemented throughout its top 100 suppliers and for its 400-plus green products line. Judges also commended Corporate Express for its outstanding environmental and labour relations record. Read more

Source: Sustainable Business

Add another economic worry to inflation and deflation: ecoflation, the rising cost of doing business in a world with a changing climate.

Ecoflation could hit consumer goods hard in the next five to 10 years, according to a report by World Resources Institute and A.T. Kearney, a global management consulting firm.

Companies that make fast-moving consumer goods, everything from cereal to shampoo, could see earnings drop by 13 percent to 31 percent by 2013 and 19 percent to 47 percent by 2018 if they do not adopt sustainable environmental practices, the report said. Read more

Source: Reuters

As nations around the world prepare to cap carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, more financial institutions are beginning to weigh the risks of lending money to big carbon emitters.

Yesterday, Bank of America posted a new, overdue coal policy on its website announcing it will phase out financing of mountaintop removal coal mining!

And five major international banks announced their intention to begin applying what they call “The Climate Principles” to the decision-making process for loans. Read more

Source: Sustainable Business