Sustainability Notice #31 (13 - 19 March)

World:

Dutch greenhouse gas emissions fall 9% on lower natural gas use (Source )

Greenhouse gas emissions in the Netherlands were 9% lower in 2022 than in the previous year as the energy crisis drove down the use of natural gas in industry and buildings, the Dutch national statistics office said on Wednesday. Emissions in the euro zone's fifth-largest economy were 32% below their 1990 levels last year, while the government aims for a 55% cut by 2030.

Nations approve key UN science report on climate change (Source )

Governments gave their blessing on Sunday to a major new U.N. report on climate change, after approval was held up by a battle between rich and developing countries over emissions targets and financial aid to vulnerable nations. The report by hundreds of the world’s top scientists was supposed to be approved by government delegations on Friday at the end of a weeklong meeting in the Swiss town of Interlaken.

SEC’s climate reporting draft rule draws huge public comment (Source )

A closely watched rule from the Securities and Exchange Commission that would require public companies to say much more to shareholders about how their operations affect the climate has generated more public comment than many recent regulations from the agency, attorneys and industry experts say.

Low dissolved oxygen levels behind mass fish death in Australian river (Source )

Low levels of oxygen in Australia's second longest river were to blame for a mass fish die-off recently in a remote part of New South Wales state, environmental authorities said. Thousands of dead fish have been found this week in the Darling River near the town of Menindee, around 1,000km (620 miles) west of the state capital Sydney.

400,000 gallons of radioactive water leaked from a nuclear plant in Minnesota (Source )

Minnesota regulators said Thursday they’re monitoring the cleanup of a leak of 400,000 gallons of radioactive water from?Xcel Energy’s Monticello ?nuclear power plant, and the company said there’s no danger to the public.

Rising bottled water consumption signals safe drinking water goal is under threat, says U.N. think tank (Source )

Surging global bottled water consumption reflects the failure by governments to improve public water supplies which is putting the U.N. sustainable development goal of safe drinking water by 2030 under threat, a U.N. academic think tank said on Thursday. The bottled water market saw 73% growth from 2010 to 2020, and consumption is on track to increase from around 350 billion litres in 2021 to 460 billion litres by 2030, according to the U.N. University's Institute for Water, Environment and Health.

Heavy rains in California leave backyard pool perched on cliff edge (Source )

As heavy rains soaked into already sodden ground in California, mudslides in the beachfront community of San Clemente forced evacuations of blufftop homes this week and in one case left a swimming pool dangling partway off the cliff edge.

Floods kills at least 10 in southeast Turkey, Anadolu says (Source )

At least 10 people have been killed after torrential rains triggered flash floods in Turkey's southeastern Sanliurfa and Adiyaman provinces, the state-owned Anadolu news agency reported on Wednesday. Floodwater carried away cars and debris and inundated the basement and ground floors of some buildings, turning roads into rivers in central Sanliurfa, footage from social media and local broadcasters showed.

Factbox: What is the Willow project in Alaska, and why do green activists oppose it? (Source )

U.S. President Joe Biden's administration on Monday?announced ?it would approve a trimmed-down version of ConocoPhillips'?(COP.N) ?Willow oil and gas drilling project in Alaska, triggering angry reactions from climate activists. The Willow project is a roughly $7 billion proposal from ConocoPhillips to drill oil and gas in Alaska. It would be located inside the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, a 23 million-acre (93 million-hectare) area on the state's North Slope that is the largest tract of undisturbed public land in the United States.

Global fresh water demand will outstrip supply by 40% by 2030, say experts (Source )

The world is facing an imminent?water crisis , with demand expected to outstrip the supply of fresh water by 40% by the end of this decade, experts have said on the eve of a crucial UN water summit.

Waste pickers collect food waste, help combat climate change (Source )

Capentes, who is 47, said the trash used to be all mixed together — and heavy — until a local environmental nonprofit started asking residents to separate it a few years ago. The Mother Earth Foundation in the Philippines, as a member of the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, is trying to prevent food waste from going to landfills, where it emits methane as it breaks down and rots. Methane is an extraordinarily powerful greenhouse gas responsible for about 30% of today’s global warming.

EU lawmakers vote to require all member states to cut emissions by 2030 (Source )

The European Parliament announced today that it has adopted a revised Effort Sharing Regulation, including a first-ever requirement for all EU member states to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, and raising the EU’s overall 2030 emissions reduction target to 40% compared to 2005 levels, up from its prior 30% goal.

Business:?

Algae-to-Biofuel company Viridos raises $25 million from Bill Gates, United Airlines & Chevron after Exxon exits (Source )

Algae biofuel company Viridos announced today that it has raised $25 million, with funding aimed at supporting R&D for the creation and commercialization of sustainable, low- carbon, algae-based jet and diesel fuel. The Series A financing was led by Bill Gates-founded Breakthrough Energy Ventures, with participation by Chevron and and United Airlines Ventures, and follows?media reports ?last month that long-time Viridos partner ExxonMobil had ended its work with the company. Viridos had formed an R&D partnership with Exxon in 2010, collaborating on the development of next-generation biofuels from algae.

Microsoft signs its first ocean-based carbon removal agreement (Source )

Ocean health company Running Tide announced an agreement with tech giant Microsoft for ocean-based carbon dioxide removal, using technology that accelerates the ocean’s ability to naturally remove CO2, and to permanently sink it to the deep ocean. Under the new agreement, Running Tide will remove 12,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (C02e) on behalf of Microsoft.

ING to restrict funding for oil and gas ?nfrastructure (Source )

ING announced today an expansion of its approach to align its oil and gas portfolio with its climate goals, with plans to introduce new funding restrictions targeting oil and gas infrastructure, and to reduce the volume of traded oil and gas financed in its Trade and Commodity Finance business.

UK classifies nuclear as “environmentally sustainable” in green taxonomy (Source )

Nuclear power will be classified as “environmentally sustainable” under the UK’s upcoming green taxonomy, with access to the same investment incentives provided for renewable energy, in a move aimed at encouraging private investment, according to Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt.

H&M launches online secondhand garment resale shop (Source )

Fashion retailer H&M U.S. announced today the launch of H&M Pre-Loved, a new branded shop offering secondhand garments, and marking the company’s first resale business model in the U.S.

EcoVadis launches tool to ?dentify emissions hotspots in supply chains (Source )

Business sustainability ratings provider EcoVadis announced today the launch of Carbon Heatmap, a new emissions risk mapping tool aimed at enabling companies to identify and address carbon hotspots in their supply chains.

Research and eco-innovation:

Solar panels could be installed in the spaces between railway tracks?in?world?first (Source )

Solar panels are being rolled out “like carpet” on railway tracks in Switzerland. Swiss start-up Sun-Ways is installing panels near Buttes train station in the west of the country in May, pending sign-off from the Federal Office of Transport. As the climate crisis demands that we speed up Europe’s energy transition, developers have been seeing new potential in unusual surfaces.

Shark in the water: This robot can collect 21,000 plastic bottles in a day (Source )

Richard Hardiman first came up with the idea for a water-cleaning robot after seeing two men struggle to catch rubbish from their boat in his home city of Cape Town, South Africa. Inspired by a whale?shark’s ?wide mouth - which scoops up whatever is in front of it - Richard’s company Ran Marine created the WasteShark. “I liken it to a Roomba for water. It's an autonomous machine that scoops up pollution out of water on the surface level.”

'Float-ovoltaics': How floating solar panels in reservoirs could revolutionise global power (Source )

Floating solar panels on reservoirs could produce three times as much electricity as the entire EU, a new study has shown. Solar panels ?are one of the cheapest and most efficient ways of generating electricity but they also take up a lot of space. Innovative schemes have seen them attached to car parks, trash heaps, and farms. Now, researchers are urging governments to invest in floating?solar .