The spotlight in recent weeks has shifted back upon the palm oil industry. The negative connotations associated with the sector have continued to deepen, but there is a growing number of producers who offer a differentiated product, one made with a focus on sustainability. Worldwide, demand for the commodity has continued to rise which brings nations and climate activists to a crossroad, wondering whether sustainable palm oil can be produced whilst fighting climate change.
The attention of business leaders and experts on the climate emergency is higher than ever. This is what emerges from the latest Global Risks Report published every year on the eve of the launch of the World Economic Forum. For the first time, the 750 business leaders and experts from all over the world ranked five environmental and climate issues as the most important risks facing the world in the coming year. In particular, it is climate inaction, extreme events and biodiversity loss that concern world decision-makers, factors that hadn’t made the list before ten years ago.
Bien que les GAFA (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon) n’émettent pas de véritable fumée, il serait erroné de croire qu’ils n’ont aucun impact environnemental. Chaque recherche, chaque clic, courriel ou chaque vidéo visionnée en streaming consomme une importante quantité d’énergie.
Shopping streets around much of the world are lined with Christmas decorations, ready to welcome the hordes of shoppers in what is usually the busiest shopping period of the year. But there is a backlash emerging in response to our growing consumerism and the clothing industry is under increasing scrutiny. Not long since the flight shaming movement started, a new trend is gradually emerging in Nordic Countries: the Köpskam – literally the shame of buying, and mainly aimed at the fashion industry.
Last month the UN Climate Summit took place in New York, arguably the most significant event for global cooperation on climate change since Paris 2015.
« Flygskam », a new expression in Swedish, refers to the movement that originated in Sweden last year. It literally translates as ‘flight shame’ and is used to encourage people to shift towards more sustainable transportation options. It’s also given birth to another concept – ‘tagskryt’ or ‘train brag’.
As it’s often the cheapest form of transportation, more than 90% of all world goods, from raw materials to finished products, are carried by sea. Spurred by worldwide population growth and increasing globalisation, global trade has grown by 85% in the last 18 years. The shipping industry merchant fleet has grown to c.100,000 vessels producing an estimated 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions annually. According to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the UN agency responsible for the safety and security of the shipping industry, emissions will increase between 50 and 250% by 2050 under a business-as-usual scenario, if no drastic measures are taken.
Global deforestation is at a very high level, losing five million hectares a year or the equivalent of 15 football pitches of forest every minute. The election of the new Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in January led to a rapid reacceleration in Brazil; the Brazilian Space Agency found that deforestation had increased by 88% in June this year relative to last. In the past forty years, the Amazon rainforest has lost about 18% of its territory.
Earlier this year QUAERO CAPITAL became a signatory to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), an organization that campaigns for better disclosure of environmental performance data from companies, cities, states and regions. It aims to make environmental reporting and risk management a business norm, and drive disclosure, insight and action towards a sustainable economy.
While the European Union signals increasing ambition to curb carbon emissions, the common perception is that momentum in the US market is in the opposite direction. While the ambitions of the Trump administration have been to cut back environmental regulation, there are reasons to believe these reversals may be stalled. Factors to consider in the US market include: