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Artificial intelligence is starting to help buildings go greener. Developers and construction companies have pursued more-efficient energy use in buildings over the past couple of decades. “We want to make every building out there as smart as it can be,” said Ramya Ravichandar, JLL Technologies’s vice president, technology platforms—smart and sustainable buildings. For instance, software and hardware that automatically manages lights, heating and cooling can help buildings cut 20% or more of their yearly energy use. “The main message overall is we’re not going to save the planet with software, and AI is software,” Smithies said.
Persons: JLL, , , Ramya Ravichandar, ” Ravichandar, Thomas Kiessling, ” Kiessling, Greg Smithies, ” Smithies, Dieter Holger Organizations: International Energy Agency, Energy, Environmental, Envio Systems, Royal London Asset Management, JLL, London Asset Management, Siemens Smart Infrastructure, Siemens, Sustainable Business, Venture, Fifth, dieter.holger Locations: Turntide, Sunnyvale, Calif, Berlin, Birmingham, England
Plant-based plastic, that is. However, the environmental benefits of plant-based plastics are increasingly appealing to companies promising to use more sustainable materials by the end of the decade. Plants absorb the atmosphere’s carbon dioxide, which cuts the greenhouse-gas emissions from making bioplastics to at least half that of fossil-fuel-based plastics. A Lululemon shirt containing plant-based nylon. Only plant-based plastics that are chemically identical to fossil-fuel–based versions can enter the existing and growing recycling infrastructure.
Persons: Bioplastics haven’t, Michael Carus, , ” Carus, Eastman, Chris Killian, bioplastics, Warby Parker, , Biden, Manav, olefins, Dow, bioethylene, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis, Haley Lowry, Dieter Holger Organizations: Sustainable Business, Kodak, U.S . Defense Department, European, dieter.holger Locations: China, Japan, biomanufacturing, U.S, Iowa
Virtual Healthcare Has Green Benefits
  + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Cecilia Butini | ) www.wsj.com   time to read: +8 min
Virtual doctor’s appointments are helping healthcare companies reduce carbon emissions, though sustainability is mostly seen as a side benefit of telehealth rather than its main driver. The healthcare industry is responsible for about 5% of global greenhouse-gas emissions, of which the U.S. healthcare system alone accounts for a quarter. Similarly, in England, medicines, buildings, equipment and other supply-chain items generate most of the National Health Service’s emissions, according to official NHS figures. The company has designed an app for teleconsultations that is able to show patients the carbon emissions avoided through that consultation. In line with national data, the company said its Scope 3 emissions account for 75% of its total emissions.
Persons: telehealth, Cynthia Cox, KFF, , Colin Cave, ” Cave, Glyn Richards, Ben Phillips, BUPA, Marijka Grey, Kyle Zebley, — Dieter Holger, Cecilia Butini Organizations: McKinsey, Sustainable Business, Affordable, Energy, U.S . Agency for Healthcare Research, National Health, Kaiser Permanente, Permanente Kaiser Permanente, Spain —, CommonSpirit Health, CommonSpirit, American Telemedicine Association Locations: England, telemedicine, Kaiser, U.S, Northwest, U.K, Spain, Grey, Europe
Many airlines, corporate fliers and governments see so-called sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF, as a way to reduce aviation’s contribution to global warming. It recently converted an oil refinery in California and is expanding its refineries in Singapore and Rotterdam. We worked on a former fossil-fuel refinery and converted that into a renewable refinery. The carbon footprint of aviation can be affected today from today’s SAF technology. It will continue to incentivize current SAF production, but it will be difficult to be the impetus for future production.
Persons: P, Chris Cooper, We’ve, we’ve, Neste, Dieter Holger Organizations: Aviation, International Energy Agency, International Council, Clean Transportation, SAF, Sustainable, Neste’s U.S, Airlines, International Air Transport Association, Neste, Bloomberg New Energy Finance Summit, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, DHL, Amazon, Marathon Petroleum, Sustainable Business, today’s SAF, Air, dieter.holger Locations: California, Singapore, Rotterdam, U.S, Neste U.S, San Francisco, Dallas, City, Oakland, Air Canada, Alaska, American, Delta, Los Angeles, San Jose, Washington, York, New York, New Jersey, . Oregon
There are also some voluntary credits for mechanically removing CO2 directly from the air, which are currently much more expensive. In June, the CFTC—the federal regulator of derivatives—created an environmental task force focused on rooting out fraud in carbon markets. SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS How can we build trust in carbon offsets? A parallel effort by the Voluntary Carbon Market Integrity Initiative, or VCMI, is setting rules for the buyers of offsets. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has created an environmental task force focused on rooting out fraud in carbon markets and has called on whistleblowers to expose misconduct.
Persons: don’t, Nestlé, , Danny Cullenward, John Kerry, Morgan Stanley, Perrier, San, Ian McGinley, hasn’t, Guy Turner, ” Turner, andrew kelly, Mark Kenber, ” Kenber, William McDonnell, ” McDonnell, Dieter Holger Organizations: Futures Trading Commission, Sustainable Business, Institute, Carbon, American University . “, European Union, American University “, Paris Agreement, Council, Voluntary, Initiative, Trove, Futures, Reuters, dieter.holger Locations: U.S, San Pellegrino, Paris
But recent data shows strong growth in demand for green skills exacerbating an already tight market where demand outstrips supply. The online professional network defines green skills as those that make economic activities more environmentally sustainable, such as carbon accounting, hydrogen engineering and battery manufacturing. It considers green jobs to be ones which include climate action objectives such as removing pollution and preserving natural resources. Likewise, more than 114,000 U.S. clean energy jobs were created in 2022, according to last week’s annual employment report from the U.S. Department of Energy. As of 2023, nearly 11% of U.S. transport workers, such as employees of carmakers, have green skills, according to LinkedIn.
Persons: , Sue Duke, Kenneth Gillingham, ” Gillingham, Tim Gruber, Gillingham, Sara Smiley Smith, Steven Cohen, Cohen, Todd Anderson, Rochelle Toplensky, Dieter Holger Organizations: U.S, LinkedIn, Wall Street, U.S . Department of Energy, Political Economy Research, University of Massachusetts Amherst, American Clean Power Association, Sustainable Business, Yale School of, Workers, Nobles, Environment, Yale, Columbia, Science, Sustainability Management, The Wall, dieter.holger Locations: U.S, Reading, Minn, Woodbine , Georgia
How to Start Accounting for Carbon
  + stars: | 2023-07-04 | by ( Dieter Holger | ) www.wsj.com   time to read: +9 min
Start with the easier stuffBegin with the more straightforward direct emissions from operations and energy purchases—so-called Scope 1 and 2 emissions. On its website, the company provides emissions data for computers and its sustainability-linked sales rose to $3.5 billion in 2021, about 5% of total sales. For HP and Nestlé, more than 95% of their carbon footprint is Scope 3 emissions. To make Scope 3 accounting more accurate, companies can add data that comes directly from their suppliers, if it is available. Businesses can also work together with their suppliers and customers to provide some training and resources to help them get their own carbon accounting in order.
Persons: James McCall, Benjamin Ware, Holcim, Magali Anderson, HP’s McCall, ” McCall, Nestlé’s Ware, , McCall, GaBi, Nestlé, ” Ware, Don’t, Holcim’s Anderson, Elisabeth Real “, , Dieter Holger Organizations: Sustainable Business, HP, World Wildlife Fund, Environmental Defense Fund, Nestlé, Schneider, Engineers, Finance, WWF, Schneider Electric, Food, dieter.holger Locations: U.S, Europe, Texas
The nonprofit estimates at least 37 big U.S.-based companies, including Starbucks and Kellogg, will be covered by the new rules. Trees absorb carbon dioxide, and forest loss and damage has caused around 10% of global warming, according to nonprofit World Wildlife Fund. The EU rules apply to companies meeting the bloc’s broad definition of an “operator,” which includes a business importing into the EU, exporting from it, or putting products on the bloc’s market. The EU rules are expected to become stricter over time. Sen. Brian Schatz, a Hawaii Democrat who is spearheading the effort, said the U.S. needs to follow the EU in enacting deforestation regulations on trade.
Persons: haven’t, , Starling, , Kellogg, ” Frans Timmermans, Guillaume Croisant, Sen, Brian Schatz, , Dieter Holger Organizations: European Union, EU, Global, Starbucks, Kellogg, Labs, Airbus, Companies, World Resources Institute, Consumer Goods, New, World Wildlife Fund, Cargill, Bunge, Sustainable Business, Barclays, Hawaii Democrat, dieter.holger Locations: European, Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia, New York, Brussels, Linklaters, U.S, Hawaii, Europe
That equals more than 3.8 million metric tons of emissions from the production and disposal of the paper, or about 10.9 million trees. The company aims to have a plan by 2025 for all its medical information to go electronic by the end of the decade. PREVIEWOther countries have digitized drug information, with Japan leading the way. Singapore has been in the process of switching to digital information or so-called e-labeling for consumers and medical professionals since 2020. And since 2009, Australia has required digitized instructions for medical professionals and patients, although some drugs such as injectables may contain a hard copy.
Persons: Pam Cheng, Alyssa Schukar, , Cheng, Johnson, Joshina Kapoor, Eli Lilly, Avery Dennison, JP Gould, WestRock, Diana Harshbarger of, Diana Harshbarger, Richard Scholz, Jeremy Kahn, AstraZeneca’s Cheng, Joshua Martin, Dieter Holger Organizations: Alliance, AstraZeneca, Wall, pharma, Johnson, U.S . Food, Drug Administration, Pfizer, Pharmaceutical, Literature Association, Republican U.S . Rep, . House, REUTERS Rep, FDA, Senate, Association, Sustainable Business, Environmental, , dieter.holger Locations: U.S, Japan, Diana Harshbarger of Tennessee, Tenn, American, Maihara, Singapore, Australia, North America
The FTC last updated its guides in 2012 after a review that it launched in late 2007. “For the average consumer, it’s impossible to verify these claims,” FTC Chair Lina Khan said in December when the review was launched. “It therefore is critical for the FTC’s framework on environmental claims to stay flexible and nimble,” Nestlé said in its public comment. Published comments from Procter & Gamble, L’Oréal and Unilever support keeping the current 60% threshold and say recyclable claims shouldn’t be based on how much of their products get recycled. Its CEO also said he hopes the Green Guides will be updated more regularly given the rapidly changing landscape of environmental marketing.
Persons: , Lina Khan, Nestlé, PIERRE ALBOUY, REUTERS Nestlé, Perrier, Johnson, Fisk Johnson, ” Johnson, , Sarah Dearman, Ting Shen, L’Oréal, Unilever didn’t, Keith Srakocic, S.C, Dieter Holger Organizations: U.S . Federal Trade, FTC, Green Guides, Justice Department, REUTERS, ” SC Johnson, Sustainable Business, Green, Recycling, Bloomberg, The Recycling, U.S . Environmental Protection Agency, Greenpeace, Procter & Gamble, L’Oréal, Unilever, ” Unilever, Guides, dieter.holger Locations: North America, Virginia, U.S
Higher efficiency, measured by how many of the Sun’s photons are turned into watts, lowers the cost of generating solar energy. The factory is small, with a 100-megawatt yearly capacity, but can be expanded and Oxford PV has ambitions to increase production in 2024. Perovskite solar panels may reach commercialization this decade thanks to an expansion of solar investment spurred by government aid from the U.S. and Europe, solar analysts say. China dominates more than 80% of the world’s manufacturing of solar panels, according to the International Energy Agency. “The conversation about degradation is an old one, dating to the early days of perovskite solar technology,” Case said.
Persons: hasn’t, Chris Case, , Martin Green, Green, Oxford PV’s Case, ” Case, Diego Diaz, ” Diaz, Dieter Holger Organizations: U.S, Oxford, Oxford University, Saule Technologies, Sustainable Business, International Energy Agency, Oxford PV’s, University of New, Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, dieter.holger Locations: Oxford, Brandenburg, Germany, U.S, Europe, China, Oxford PV’s Brandenburg, University of New South Wales, company’s Brandenburg
Luxury group Kering and biopharma company GSK are among more than a dozen companies preparing targets to develop a gold standard for how businesses can protect nature. Yet the issues surrounding nature loss are complex and many companies are unsure how to measure it or what to do. The Taskforce on Nature-Related Financial Disclosures, a business-backed effort to protect biodiversity, is working on a reporting framework, and SBTN is developing standards to evaluate companies’ nature targets. “We expect that the landscapes will be similar [to the ones under the SBTN targets], ” Gonçalves Krebsbach said. In 2020, GSK started to map out stressed water basins in its supply chain.
Vodafone Group and Nestlé have set up panels of experts to double check environmental claims before they appear on products and marketing, a move by the multinationals to avoid allegations of so-called greenwashing. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is updating its environmental marketing guidelines and the EU has proposed that businesses need to offer scientific evidence. The panels at Nestlé and Vodafone are examples of how companies are stepping up their due diligence of green claims in response to mounting scrutiny, tighter regulation, shifting consumer preferences and the threat of lawsuits. So far, that hasn’t happened, Mr. Reiter said. The packaged-foods company’s panels are staffed by employees from marketing, regulatory, scientific affairs, sustainability, legal and communications.
Changes to emissions accounting rules are being considered that could significantly increase carbon footprints for companies claiming to use 100% renewable power in their efforts to decarbonize. How companies tally greenhouse-gas emissions from their electricity purchases—so-called Scope 2 emissions—was the most popular issue in a recent consultation on updating widely used GHG Protocol carbon accounting rules. A recent review by carbon management firm FlexiDAO of 22 multinationals that bought renewable electricity across 27 countries found that they could be underestimating their electricity emissions by close to 50% under the current system. The GHG Protocol secretariat is reviewing the more than 1,400 survey responses, around 400 of which mentioned Scope 2. Other areas of focus were emissions in the value chain, or so-called Scope 3 emissions, market-based accounting approaches, and corporate accounting and reporting standards.
Coca-Cola is trialing technology in Europe that turns hard-to-recycle plastic into new bottles, as part of its effort to meet its sustainability goals. “We simply do not have the necessary levels [of recycled plastic],” said Joe Franses, vice president of sustainability at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners. Packaging represents around 40% of Coca-Cola Europacific Partners’ carbon footprint, largely because of its use of oil-based virgin plastic. It aims to stop using oil to produce plastic bottles by 2030. He hopes recycled plastic supplied by CuRe’s method to be on par or not significantly more expensive than current recycled plastic, which can be 50% more costly than plastic made from oil.
International jurisdictions and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission are expected to finalize rules by this summer that will require public companies to report their greenhouse-gas emissions. Direct suppliers are known as tier 1 with that number increasing the deeper you go down the supply chain. Partnerships with suppliers: Large companies are working with small suppliers to overcome hurdles to accessing renewable power supplies, a relatively straightforward way to cut emissions. In October, it said its first group was five companies, including Amy’s Kitchen Inc., Levi Strauss & Co. and J.M. Targets for lower-emission alternatives: Nestlé SA is paying a premium to farmers in its supply chain that cut emissions by following regenerative farming practices.
Lululemon Athletica Inc.’s need for crude oil for its leggings and other stretchy clothes presents a hurdle to meeting its climate ambitions. Its first products out this month are two shirts containing at least 50% nylon made from plant-based sugars instead of oil. A new Lululemon shirt contains at least 50% nylon made from plant-based sugars instead of oil. Lululemon’s push into biomaterials is part of a goal to make all of its products with sustainable materials by the end of the decade. Biomaterials also can help Lululemon more swiftly reduce its climate impact because using recycled materials is challenging, Ms. Speck said.
A surge of clean electricity is set to cover new power demand globally this year, bringing within reach the Paris-aligned sustainable energy goals set by the International Energy Agency. Historically, rising electricity demand has been met by burning more fossil fuels, such as coal and gas, but from 2023 additional renewable energy capacity should be available to supply almost all new power demand, said London-based environmental nonprofit Ember on Wednesday. Last year’s record high of 12.4 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases from the global power sector is likely to be the peak. The share of global electricity generated by low-carbon emission sources—including wind, solar, biomass and nuclear—reached a record high of 39%. The nonprofit’s data covers 78 countries representing 93% of global electricity demand.
The estimates exclude foreign companies that are subject to the reporting requirements due to other conditions, such as having an EU bond listing. Foreign companies with EU listings will need to start reporting these disclosures in 2025 if they have more than 500 employees in the EU. Businesses based in the EU that reported under the bloc’s previous sustainability rules must follow the new requirements from 2025. The EU rules call for limited-assurance audits to start, with a goal of eventually moving to reasonable assurance. Other sustainability reporting regulations are also set to go into effect in the next few years.
The International Sustainability Standards Board voted Tuesday to give companies an extra year to disclose sustainability metrics unrelated to climate issues to investors under its soon-to-be-finalized standards. The ISSB is part of the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation, whose accounting rules are followed in more than 140 countries. The February vote also would have had companies disclose non-climate sustainability metrics as soon as 2025. ISSB staff recommended the one-year delay after companies said reporting all sustainability information at once would be too burdensome. Some ISSB members on Tuesday said a delay would give companies more time to prepare better disclosures and understand investor expectations.
Each carbon credit is supposed to equal one metric ton of carbon dioxide avoided or removed from the atmosphere. Credits that meet the ICVCM’s standards would receive a so-called Core Carbon Principles badge. Still, it remains to be seen how carbon crediting organizations adopt the ICVCM’s standards. PREVIEWThe ICVCM’s effort comes during a time when many companies are hesitant to buy voluntary carbon credits or have pulled back. Less than a quarter of 137 global companies surveyed in the fourth quarter of 2022 plan to use carbon credits, according to the World Economic Forum.
The McDonald’s report will draw on those experiences and others to assess the opportunities, risks and environmental impact of reusables, a McDonald’s spokeswoman said. PREVIEWMcDonald’s commissioned an industrywide study on reusable packaging in Europe that published in February. Write to Dieter Holger at dieter.holger@wsj.comCorrections & AmplificationsMcDonald’s Corp. doesn’t put individual burgers in reusable containers for meals served in its French outlets. Separately, in Germany, reusable containers are available on request for drinks and ice cream. An earlier version of this article didn’t specify which items were available in reusable packaging in Germany.
McDonald’s to Study Pros and Cons of Reusable Packaging
  + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Dieter Holger | ) www.wsj.com   time to read: +6 min
The McDonald’s report will draw on those experiences and others to assess the opportunities, risks and environmental impact of reusables, a McDonald’s spokeswoman said. PREVIEWMcDonald’s commissioned an industrywide study on reusable packaging in Europe that published in February. “Reusable packaging is one potential solution when applied correctly, but sustainable packaging is complicated,” said John Blake, senior director analyst at Gartner Inc.’s supply chain practice, who wasn’t involved in the report. Although no large-scale reusable packaging laws exist in the U.S., a handful of states including California and Colorado have placed producer-paid fees on disposable packaging to boost recycling rates. “We continue to learn from our reusable packaging system pilots and are focused on implementation of our policy to address this important issue,” a Yum spokesman said.
U.S. companies are facing fewer shareholder proposals on social issues this year but more calls for climate action. Proposals focused on social issues were again the most popular this year, mentioned in 338 of the filings, down more than 9% from 373 last year. Included in the grand total were 48 so-called anti-ESG proposals focused on the risk of ESG-promoting policies, up from 27 in the same period last year. These typically ask companies to audit or report on gender-and-racial pay differences. Companies will avoid votes when shareholders withdraw some current proposals, usually after they reach an agreement with the company on an issue.
A new government projection says the U.S. climate bill will speed up cuts to greenhouse-gas emissions this decade, helping ease the burden on corporate climate targets but still falling short of Paris Agreement ambitions. The EIA considers only energy-related emissions, not the entire economy, and uses 2005 as the baseline because the Paris Agreement also targets that year. The EIA attributed most of the improvement to the 2022 climate bill known as the Inflation Reduction Act. It also remains to be seen if the rosier outlook will spur companies to raise their climate ambitions. “I’m not sure it will lead to more ambitious corporate climate targets, many of which are already targeting net-zero emissions—a goal that will require policy and technology adoption well beyond that included in EIA’s new projections,” Mr. Newell said.
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