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☆ Bill Gates just invested in a startup that's trying to stop cows from burping and farting so much
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Bill Gates-founded Breakthrough Energy Ventures led a $12 million seed funding round into Rumin8. The Perth-based startup is developing a seaweed-based feed aiming to cut methane from livestock emissions — like the burps and farts of cows. As livestock accounts for about 15% of global greenhouse gas emissions, there are now global efforts to farm such animals more sustainably. "There are companies making 'beef' in new ways and people working to still use cows but reduce the methane emissions," Gates wrote in the thread. Last week, French food giant Danone pledged to slash methane emissions from its milk-supplying farms by about one-third by the end of this decade.

☆ Could Curbing Cow Burps Slow Global Warming?
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Josh Ulick | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Methane produced by “cow burps” is one of the biggest sources of greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. Researchers are studying ways to stifle these emissions, which could help slow global warming. Methane, like carbon dioxide, traps heat in the atmosphere, making it a potent greenhouse gas. The U.S. and more than other 100 countries have pledged to reduce methane emissions by at least 30% from 2020 levels by 2030. On Tuesday, Danone , one of the world’s largest dairy companies, said it would align itself with the pledge by cutting emissions of its fresh-milk suppliers.

☆ Fact Check-Online claims about nutritional table lack context
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Food Compass has not been endorsed or promoted by the NHLBI or the government departments responsible for developing nutrition guidelines. TUFTS’ FOOD COMPASSThe Food Compass was developed by researchers at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University (bit.ly/3ZSHEUC). The Tufts team addressed claims about the graphic shared online in the Frequently Asked Questions section of its Food Compass website (here). “These graphs were created by others to show these exceptions, rather than to show the overall performance of Food Compass and the many other foods for which Food Compass works well. But, as objective scientists, we accept constructive criticism and are using this to further improve Food Compass,” the statement added.

☆ How food giant Danone plans to cut planet-warming methane emissions by 30% this decade
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Danone aims to cut methane emissions across the farms supplying its milk by 30% this decade. Farming accounts for 40% of man-made methane emissions globally. Danone this week promised to cut methane emissions across the farms supplying its milk by 30% by the end of the decade. Cow burps, manure pits, and fertilizers make agriculture the top source, accounting for 40% of man-made methane emissions, the study found. As of December, the US Department of Agriculture had invested more than $3 billion in what it calls climate-smart projects, including for Danone dairy farmers.

☆ Bayer Could Go the Way of General Electric and Daimler
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Stephen Wilmot | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A more comprehensive split of Bayer, with healthcare parting ways with crop science, is a clear option for a new boss. In the slow-burning decline of the industrial conglomerate, the next shoe to drop might be German drugs-to-crops giant Bayer . The inventor of aspirin has attracted a lot of attention from activist investors lately. Jeff Ubben ‘s Inclusive Capital Partners disclosed a stake last week. Bluebell Capital Partners, a small European fund that helped to oust the former chief executive officer of French yogurt maker Danone , also has built a stake.

☆ Investors sit on a plastic waste ticking bomb
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Lisa Jucca | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

In the United States 73% of plastic waste ends up in landfills, where it takes up to 500 years to decompose. Using recycled plastic, while less energy-intensive than creating virgin plastic, can cost more overall. In March, 175 governments agreed to work out binding laws to end plastic pollution by end-2024. Reuters GraphicsFollow @LJucca on TwitterloadingCONTEXT NEWSRepresentatives of 175 countries endorsed in March a landmark resolution to develop international legally binding instruments to end plastic pollution. In 2008 the Netherlands introduced a packaging waste management levy.

☆ Bayer gains on report activist Bluebell pushing for break-up
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Ludwig Burger | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

FRANKFURT, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Bayer (BAYGn.DE) shares gained 1.7% in early Wednesday trade following a report activist investor Bluebell Capital Partners has built an equity stake and is pushing for a break-up of the German pharmaceutical and agriculture company. A Bayer spokesperson, who declined to comment on the report, said: "Generally speaking we are always open for a constructive dialogue with our stakeholders." The report follows news on Monday that activist investment fund Inclusive Capital Partners, run by hedge fund veteran Jeffrey Ubben, has acquired a 0.83% stake in Bayer, which has seen its market value slide in recent years. Bayer on Tuesday flagged billions in additional sales potential from its drug development pipeline, buoying its shares. Bayer shares have lagged($1 = 0.9308 euros)Reporting by Ludwig Burger Editing by Rachel More and Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Lab-grown meat could be served up for dinner soon. What does it taste like?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

It has a capacity of 600 liters, or 159 gallons, allowing the company to produce 6,000 pounds of cultivated meat per year. Right now, Singapore is alone in allowing the sale of cultivated meat to consumers, having issued a green light in late 2020. Yet delivering on the promise of lab-grown meat won’t just come down to regulators. CNN“The promise of cultivated meat [is] to bring forth a taste and texture component, and to deliver sustainability,” said Gautam Godhwani, managing partner at Good Startup, a Singapore-based venture capital firm that has invested in eight cultivated meat startups. “I think the whole of the cultivated meat industry will go hybrid first,” Ivy Farm’s Dillon said.

[1/2] FILE PHOTO: Larry Fink, Chairman and CEO of BlackRock, arrives at the DealBook Summit in New York City, U.S., November 30, 2022. The major prize Bluebell has so far scored was at Danone, where it helped oust a chief executive. By comparison, the average activist hedge fund was down 14% for 2022 in November, according to Hedge Fund Research data. BlackRock has also not responded to Bluebell's request to shake up its board and review its environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) strategy. Even if Bluebell does not win concessions from BlackRock, it has at least bet on a company that has performed well in the past.

☆ Meet the small hedge fund that thinks it can oust Larry Fink from BlackRock
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The fund has a tiny stake in BlackRock and is calling for the firm to replace Larry Fink as CEO. On one side stands a small, relatively unknown activist hedge fund with a tiny stake in a giant company. 1, the young hedge fund run by a longtime activist investor, and ExxonMobil. Joining a wave of heavy scrutiny of BlackRock and Fink over ESG, Bluebell accused BlackRock of a hypocritical posture toward sustainable investing, according to the letter, which was viewed by Insider. Bloomberg News ran the headline: "Tiny Activist Bluebell Quickly Becomes CEOs' Worst Nightmare."

☆ Activist investor calls for BlackRock CEO Fink to step down over ESG ‘hypocrisy’
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Larry Fink, Chairman and C.E.O. of BlackRock arrives at the DealBook Summit in New York City, November 30, 2022. David Dee Delgado | ReutersLONDON — BlackRock CEO Larry Fink is facing calls to step down from activist investor Bluebell Capital over the company's alleged "hypocrisy" on its environmental, social and governance (ESG) messaging. However, in a letter to Fink dated Nov. 10, shareholder Bluebell expressed concern about the "reputational risk (including greenwashing risk) to which BlackRock under the leadership of Larry Fink have unreasonably exposed the company." The company remains a major shareholder in the likes of Glencore and "coal intensive miners" Exxaro, Peabody and Whitehaven, Bivaro's letter to Fink on Nov. 10 noted.

Giuseppe Bivona and Marco Taricco, Bluebell's partners, wrote to Fink, saying they want someone else to run the company. Bluebell was founded in 2019 and has taken on companies including GlaxoSmithKline, Glencore, Vivendi and Danone, where it engineered the ouster of former CEO Emmanuel Faber. "Fink clearly has political ambitions because it is not his job as chief executive of BlackRock to dictate energy policy,” Bivona told Reuters in an interview. BlackRock did not support Bluebell's campaign to oust the CEO of chemical company Solvay or at Leonardo SpA (LDOF.MI), where Bluebell wanted to promote a liability action against the CEO. A BlackRock spokesman said it did not "support Bluebell's campaigns as we did not consider them to be in the best economic interests of our clients."

[1/3] Mead Johnson's product Enfamil baby formula are displayed on a store shelf in New York City, U.S., February 10, 2017. Panicked parents had earlier this year emptied the baby formula aisles at supermarkets after former top U.S. manufacturer Abbott Laboratories (ABT.N) in February recalled dozens of types of its Similac, Alimentum and EleCare formulas. Since the Abbott recall, share of Reckitt in the infant formula market has skyrocketed, making it the No.1 supplier in the United States. Companies normally bid for state contracts to be the sole provider of baby formula for low-income families under the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) programme. Reckitt has said its formula factories are operating 24/7, and it was feeding more than 40% of all low-income WIC infants.

☆ Oatly plans job cuts as investors sour
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

London CNN Business —Oat milk brand Oatly is planning to cut jobs as coronavirus restrictions in Asia dampen its sales forecast for this year. An Oatly spokesperson told CNN Business on Tuesday that they could not confirm the planned number of job losses until it had finished its discussions with unions. CEO Toni Petersson said in a statement that the results were “largely driven” by coronavirus restrictions in Asia, production issues in the Americas and foreign exchange pressures. Coronavirus restrictions in Asia led to an “underutilization” of Oatly’s production facilities in the region, the company said in its earnings report. “[Oatly is] facing downward pressure from uncertain macroeconomic factors, like any other company operating on the global stage,” a company spokesperson told CNN Business.

☆ Factbox: Companies count the cost of ditching Russia
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

INDITEX (ITX.MC)Zara owner will book a provision of 216 million euros after agreeing to sell its Russia stores to UAE-based Daher Group. TRATON (8TRA.DE)Volkswagen's (VOWG_p.DE) truck division Traton in September said disposing of some assets in Russia would cause a 550 million euro loss. CREDIT AGRICOLE (CAGR.PA)Credit Agricole provisioned more than 500 million euros related to its Russian exposure in Q1. LINDEThe world's largest industrial gases company's exit from Russia recorded impairments of $993 million from its Russia exit. SIEMENS (SIEGn.DE)The Munich-based engineering and tech firm said in May it would take a 600 million euro hit in Q2 for exiting Russia.

☆ Factbox: COP26 a year later: Where do last year's climate pledges stand?
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Nov 1 (Reuters) - A year ago at the U.N. climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland, countries, banks and business leaders announced a slew of climate plans and pledges. METHANE PLEDGETo date, 119 countries and blocs including the United States and the European Union have joined the COP26 pledge to slash methane emissions 30% from 2020 levels by 2030. And China could also give an update on its plan to begin monitoring methane emissions - a promise made under the U.S.-China agreement announced in Glasgow. The group now counts more than 550 members, including most of the world's leading banks, insurers and asset managers, with collective assets of more than $150 trillion. read more And last week, climate activists criticized GFANZ for dropping a requirement that its members sign onto a U.N. emissions reduction campaign.

☆ Food group Danone raises 2022 outlook as third-quarter sales beat expectations
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Dominique Vidalon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

PARIS, Oct 27 (Reuters) - French food group Danone (DANO.PA) on Thursday raised its 2022 revenue growth forecast after its third-quarter sales beat analysts' estimates as the firm was able to raise prices to counter soaring costs. Danone posted a 9.5% rise in third-quarter like-for-like sales to 7.334 billion euros ($7.35 billion), beating analysts' expectations for a 6.9% rise in a poll compiled by the company. This also marked a sequential acceleration from 7.7% sales growth achieved in the second quarter and reflected strength in all the group's businesses, notably in baby food in China and in bottled waters. Price increases contributed 10.9% to third-quarter revenue growth. Rival Unilever Plc (ULVR.L) also on Thursday raised its full-year sales forecast as it lifted prices to counter costs.

Some progress has been made, but it's not enough," Rebecca Marmot, chief sustainability officer at consumer goods company Unilever (ULVR.L), said. While regulators have pushed for more rigorous reporting on the companies' environmental impact and efforts to battle climate change, broader impact on nature and biodiversity has not yet been subject to similar scrutiny. The COP15 talks in Montreal will see countries try to agree a new Global Biodiversity Framework to combat the crisis that threatens over one million plant and animal species with extinction. "Assessment and disclosure are an essential first step to generate action, but it will only have an impact if it is made mandatory," the 330 businesses said in their statement. "Without this information, we are flying blind into extinction," Eva Zabey, executive director at global coalition Business for Nature, said.

☆ EXCLUSIVE Exxon exits Russia empty-handed with oil project 'unilaterally terminated'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Sabrina Valle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

BP, TotalEnergies, Equinor, and Shell have all transferred properties to Russian partners or left operations behind. The company said it "safely exited" Russia after the government earlier this month "unilaterally terminated" its interests in the Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project, its largest in the country. On Oct. 7 Putin seized Exxon shares in the oil production joint venture and transferred them to a government-controlled company. By July, output at the Sakhalin-1 project fell 10,000 barrels per day (bpd), from 220,000 bpd before Russia invaded Ukraine. About 700 Russia-based employees that kept operations running will be transferred to the new Russia company taking over the asset, Exxon said.

☆ Abbott is recalling baby formula again after discovering faulty bottle caps on Similac products produced at Ohio facility
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-15 | by ( Bethany Biron | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Abbott is recalling Similac baby formula products due to faulty bottle caps that may cause spoilage. The announcement comes after Abbott's February formula recall that prompted a national crisis. The company issued a voluntary recall on Friday for several Similac ready-to-feed liquid products produced at its Columbus, Ohio facility. The announcement comes after Abbott recalled baby formula products in February when strains of a potentially deadly bacterial virus were found at a manufacturing plant in Sturgis, Michigan. The recall led to a widespread shortage of baby formula, from which many retailers are still struggling to recover.

☆ Danone to withdraw from Russia with €1 bln write-off
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

French food group Danone logo is seen at the company headquarters in Rueil-Malmaison near Paris, France, February 20, 2022. REUTERS/Gonzalo FuentesPARIS, Oct 14 (Reuters) - French food company Danone (DANO.PA) said on Friday it would shed its dairy food business in Russia in a deal that could lead to a write-off of up to 1 billion euro ($978 million), the latest costly exit from the country by a global company. "This is the best option to ensure long-term local business continuity", Danone said in a statement, adding the Russian unit accounted for roughly 5% of the group's net sales in the first nine months of the year. Shortly after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, Danone had said that all options regarding its local business were on the table. read more($1 = 1.0224 euros)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Tassilo Hummel; Editing by Silvia AloisiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Prosus to sell Russian classifieds business Avito to Kismet for $2.4B
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

AMSTERDAM, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Prosus (PRX.AS), the Dutch-based technology investor, said on Friday it has agreed to sell its Russian online marketplace Avito for 151 billion roubles ($2.46 billion), to Kismet Capital Group. The buyer, Russian investment firm Kismet, was founded by Ivan Tavrin, former CEO of telecoms company MegaFon. Several Western companies opting to exit the Russian market have taken significant financial losses in doing so. "Our goal has been to manage the sale of the business in a responsible and structured way," Naspers said in a statement. "We believe that this is best achieved through this deal.”Avito, Russia's largest online marketplace, has around 5,000 employees and 90 million users.

☆ Danone будет производить йогурты из списанных продуктов и бракованных фруктов
▼ + stars: | 2020-12-13 | by ( Super User | ) mybusiness.md time to read: +1 min

Danone будет производить йогурты Good Save из списанных продуктов и бракованных фруктов, которые "считаются слишком уродливыми для полок магазинов". Первый йогурт Good Save будет со вкусом "спасенных лимонов". Партнером Danone в новом проекте стала компания Full Harvest Technologies Inc., она управляет рынком, на котором фермеры продают отходы продуктовым компаниям. По данным проекта Project Drawdown, борющегося с изменением климата, около трети продуктов питания в мире заканчивает жизнь на свалке. Это будет огромная новая категория продуктов, такая же, как и органика, — уверена основательница и главный исполнительный директор Full Harvest Кристин Мозли.

Persons: socportal.info, Кристин Мозли Organizations: Danone, Harvest Technologies Inc

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