Causes consumers care about
According to Nielsen, 66% of consumers around the world buy products and services from companies that have implemented programs to give back to society, prefer to work for these companies (62%) and invest in these companies (59%). Only 46% would be willing to pay extra for products and services from these companies.
Source: Nielsen
Source: cocollected
One of the big deals that ExxonMobil has announced in the past year involves access to the Russian Arctic, where it is partnered with a Russian firm to access many billions of dollars worth of reserves involving big investments ExxonMobil would make north of the Arctic Circle. Why is that oil accessible? It’s because sea ice is melting in the Arctic. Global warming may, in fact, unlock enormous opportunities for oil companies.
(via climateadaptation)
Source: NPR
Climate Leadership: 'South Korea Passes Cap-And-Trade Legislation'
From Sustainable Business:
South Korea passed legislation to begin a national cap-and-trade program with a near unanimous vote of 148-0, with three abstentions.
The fourth largest economy in Asia, South Korea is the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions among industrialized countries, doubling since 1990. It is the 8th biggest source of GHG emissions in the world and has a national target of cutting them 30% by 2020.POSCO, the world’s third largest steelmaker, and Samsung Electronics, the largest electronics manufacturer, are among South Korea’s biggest polluters.
Emissions trading is scheduled to begin in Korea in 2015, the same year as those in Australia and China. New Zealand started emissions trading in 2009, and the EU’s went into effect in 2005. South Africa has plans for a program. In the US, the northeastern states have a cap-and-trade program, California’s begins in 2013.
In April, both Mexico and Peru passed national climate change legislation.This opens the possibility of linking country cap-and-trade programs - allowing participants to trade regionallly and eventually worldwide - which would raise the value of carbon markets substantially.
Check out the rest of the article here.
(Photo credit: Energy Korea)
Source: plantedcity
Greening Mexico: Innovative Vertical Gardens Help Clean Mexico City Pollution
Mexico City was once dubbed “Mexsicko City” because of its pollution and smog, similar to that of Los Angeles, California. Recently, however, Mexico City has made a huge improvement on the quality of its air due to a rise in awareness and various initiatives such as this one from VerdMX:…
Source: mexicotoday.org
Global Clean Energy Investment a Record $263 Billion in 2011
“Clean energy investment, excluding research and development, has grown by 600 percent since 2004, on the basis of effective national policies that create market certainty,” saidPhyllis Cuttino, director of Pew’s Clean Energy Program. “This increase was due in part to the number of countries that have implemented effective national policies to support the clean energy market. In the United States, which attracted $48 billion last year, investors took advantage of the country’s stimulus programs before they expired at the end of 2011, as well as the production tax credit for electricity from renewable energy, which is to end this December.”
Full Story: Pew
Source: emergentfutures
obon:
A colossal waste of space: The world’s largest and most ambitious shopping mall is a complete ghost years after it opened in China.
Matthew Niederhauser writes (and photographs):
A local billionaire built it, and they did not come. The South China Mall was the most ambitious and largest retail space ever conceived in China, if not the world, when it opened in 2005. Constructed smack in the middle of the Pearl River Delta between Shenzhen and Guangzhou, about 4 million people live within six miles of it, 9 million within twelve miles and 40 million within sixty miles. Nonetheless, six years later, the South China Mall only maintains a 1% occupancy rate at best.
“This unabatedly empty temple to consumerism remains unfinished on top floors and is only sporadically visited thanks to the attached amusement park, Amazing World. For the time being dust and dismembered mannequins reign over the 6.5 million square foot venture. Although China might be the fastest growing consumer market in the world, the South China Mall reveals the vulnerability of this burgeoning economic giant.
Source: think-progress
Suzlon Energy, one of the key wind power solutions providers in the world, has announced plans to enter the wind turbine industry in Mexico in the near future. Suzlon Energy manufactures products attributed to the wind energy industry like blades, generators, and panels. The company is dedicated to advocating sustainability and emission control on a global level. They currently employ more than 140, 000 individuals. Suzlon Energy is dedicated to moving the global community away from a dependence on nonrenewable energy sources, such as fossil fuels, to a new reliance on replenished or renewable resources, like wind, solar, or water power.
Read this article and more on sustainable energy at MexicoToday.org
Source: greeningmexico
Arctic Ocean May Open To Regular Shipping By 2017
“To put it extremely simply, the two refrigerators are warming up. And so, if you change those it affects the climate. It affects the ocean currents. It affects species,” said Peter Harrison, the chairman of the International Polar Year Conference.
Source: sustainable-sam
nrdc:
Legs, not cars, are the human form of transportation, but we’ve lost the habit and art of walking, and with them, a piece of ourselves. - This Green Life, April 2012
Source: nrdc.org
Campus Rivalries Fuel Recycling Competition
RecycleMania aims to be a fun, friendly competition that brings about real-world impacts and instills best practices on university campuses nationwide.
While the NCAA Basketball Tournament may get most of the attention on college campuses in March, it’s not the only game in town. For an eight-week period beginning in early February and running parallel to the tournament, colleges and universities annually take part in RecycleMania, a competition that seeks to see which college can reduce, reuse and recycle the most waste.
Read complete article by Michelle Longo here: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/article-cs-asg-campus-rivalries-fuel-recycling-competition-040112.aspx
(via greeningmexico)
Source: laboratoryequipment
What’s the true cost of your clothes? Shanghai-based NGO Greenovate illustrates the effects of globalization on the supply chain.
There’s a price tag that’s being hidden from us everyday. Not the one that tells us how much money to pay but the underlying costs of every outfit’s life cycle. Uncover the lives that our clothes led before they got to the store and discover your voting power as a consumer towards a fairer, healthier and more sustainable planet.
“(S)olar energy capacity in New York City has increased 800 percent since 2007, with many more solar installations in the “pipeline.”
This increase parallels the quadrupling of solar installation companies now doing business in NYC, demonstrating the economic benefits of enabling the solar market in this city of a million rooftops. Six years ago, NYC had just one megawatt of installed solar power, and the local solar market faced extensive technical, administrative and policy barriers. A collaborative partnership, led by the City University of New York (CUNY), was formed that includes the Mayor’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability and the New York City Economic Development Corporation. Together they are implementing a plan to systematically remove those barriers in order to support large-scale solar energy market growth.”
Via the brilliant NYC America Recovery Act Tumblr.
Fantastic!
Source: climateadaptation
Animation of urban migration patterns 1950 - 2040. What’s the role of tactical urbanism in this future?
Animation by DoTank.
1950年至2040年間的都會遷徙模式動畫，未來策略性都市生活會扮演什麼角色？
Source: tacticalurbanismsalon
In Canada, contest seeks designs for homes sourced within 100 miles
Locavores may be familiar with the concept of the “100-Mile Diet,” but it seems a fairly safe guess that most haven’t yet heard of a related concept being applied to the architectural world. Sure enough, also based in Canada, the 100 Mile House competition now solicits designs for a house for four that uses only materials and systems made, manufactured or recycled within 100 miles of the city of Vancouver, B.C. READ MORE…
Source: springwise
