What if Net Zero Commitments don’t work? Hollywood Actors Sign ‘Green’ Rider and the Hospitality Industry’s Key Role in Social Impact

Our weekly newsletter will showcase positive sustainability news as well as include comments and analysis from members of the FuturePlus team.

What if Net Zero Commitments don’t work?

As an increasing number of businesses are reporting on carbon emissions, looking at setting reduction targets and making Net Zero commitments, there is one question that is often not at the forefront of businesses' climate strategies: ‘What if it doesn’t work? What if we don’t limit global GHG emissions to a sufficient extent to minimise disruption from climate change?’

This is where Climate Adaptation planning comes in. By considering the potential impacts climate change will have on a business, strategies and adaptation measures can be created to minimise any anticipated impacts. In the long run, this can have huge cost-saving benefits for organisations and help improve a company's climate resilience. But whose responsibility is it to research, pay for and implement these measures?

This article by Raconteur | B Corp? suggests that more than half (53%) of businesses intend to take no action to mitigate the impacts of climate change, and many businesses expect governments to take responsibility for leading and implementing adaptation measures.

Molly Todd ’s View:

"Climate risks can often seem an abstract threat, and it’s easy to shift the responsibility to others. However, for companies that hope to still be operational in 10, 20 or even 30 years' time, understanding how to assess your climate risk can help inform your decision-making processes now, and can increase your business's resilience to the impacts of climate change in the future.

"As much as we would welcome support and action from governments, when it comes to the future of your business perhaps its best to 'plan for the worst, hope for the best'.

"Assessing the climate risk of your supply chain may seem like a complex task, but it's something that FuturePlus can help you with.

"Focusing even a small amount of resources on this now could have huge long-term benefits for your organisation."

To find out more about how we can help, speak to the team -?[email protected]

Actors sign up for the Environmental Impact Pledge

Hollywood actors including Bella Ramsey, Stephen Fry and Ben Whishaw have signed up to a pledge to cut the environmental impact of making films and TV shows.

The UK arts union, Equity, has created a ‘Green Rider’ with eco-friendly clauses that can be added to contracts. The clauses vary from avoiding private jets and big trailers to bringing their own water bottles and coffee cups on set.

Bella Ramsey described the agreement as ‘a practical route to positive change in the film and television industry in regards to sustainability’.

Hayley Atwell, David Harewood, Bill Nighy, Paapa Essiedu, Nabhaan Rizwan, Juliet Stevenson, Dame Harriet Walter and Adrian Dunbar are just some of the other actors who have agreed to the plan.

Medialab Group: Impact Certified

Medialab Group is the latest business to have been officially certified and assessed on the FuturePlus platform.

“Medialab is formally certified and assessed by our sustainability partner, FuturePlus. This helps us benchmark our objectives across not just environmental and climate sustainability, but diversity & inclusion, social and economic areas as well.

“We are on a journey to ensure our sustainability practices influence the way we operate as a business in order to make impactful change. Alongside FuturePlus, we have set time-bound goals which we are committed to delivering and we look forward to seeing these through.” - Ben Ennis , Chief Operating Officer, Medialab Group.

“By embracing the FuturePlus platform, MediaLab has demonstrated its ambition and its commitment to not only environmental and climate goals but also to fostering diversity, promoting inclusion, driving positive socio-economic impact and continuing to make constant improvement.?

We are excited to continue supporting MediaLab as they track their progress by implementing their time-bound roadmap, embed sustainability into operations and make a real difference.” Alexandra Smith , Co-Founder, FuturePlus .

Hospitality Industry’s Essential Role in Social Impact

The hospitality sector has a unique opportunity to lead the way in terms of the 'S' in ESG according to a new report released jointly by the Energy & Environment Alliance and Womble Bond Dickinson (UK) LLP . Often one of the more difficult areas of ESG and sustainability reporting to quantify and measure, social impact has been identified in the report as a key area of impact and opportunity for the hospitality sector as a whole. Social impact is all about how a business manages its relationships with its employees, customers, suppliers and the wider community. In such a people-focused industry, hospitality businesses have significant opportunities to benefit from positive social impact practices, including:

? Greater appeal to an increasingly ESG-conscious consumer base

? Higher attractiveness to investors

? Improved recruitment and retention of staff

? Improved guest experiences, reviews and repeat business

"The good news for the hospitality sector is that the opportunities are there for the taking and businesses need to start setting some ambitious targets, not only for themselves but for the good of their people, customers and stakeholders." - Claire McMann , Partner and Head of Retail and Hospitality at Womble Bond Dickinson.

The report analyses the main social impact issues for the hospitality sector such as modern slavery, health and welfare, DEI, labour practices and community engagement. The report also provides some helpful examples of progress and summarises current and upcoming UK and EU legislation in this space. This is a great resource for businesses operating in the hospitality sector looking to lead the way in social impact.

Ellen Hughes 's view:

“The hospitality industry is all about people - employees, guests, customers, local communities and the interactions between them all. The hospitality industry has unique opportunities to create real and positive social change that transcends beyond the traditional business model and to the wider community, establishing a cycle of positive social impact.

“Social Impact is one of FuturePlus' five key themes and includes indicators that relate to all of the main social impact issues covered by the report. While traditionally difficult to measure, FuturePlus can help businesses of all sizes begin to quantify their social impact, set ambitions and start to see the benefits of their positive social practices."

In the latest episode of the Business of Sustainability, Alexandra Smith and Mike Penrose discuss the latest challenges and best practices for the hospitality industry with L+R Hotels ' Tristin Swales and Francisco Macedo, MSc FIH SJS MI .

You can also find the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and a host of other platforms (click the links for your preferred platform).

Wind-powered Cargo Ship sets sail

The Pyxis Ocean, a pioneering cargo ship fitted with giant, rigid sails has begun its maiden voyage from China to Brazil.

The ocean transportation firm, 嘉吉 , is using British-designed sails on the vessel and hopes the technology will help the transportation industry move towards a greener future.

The WindWings sails are designed to cut fuel consumption and therefore shipping's carbon footprint, which is estimated to create around 2.1% of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

The WindWings stand 37.5m tall and are built of the same material as wind turbines, to make them durable and could reduce a cargo ship's lifetime emissions by 30%.

The technology was designed in the UK by BAR Technologies .

Jan Dieleman , president of 嘉吉 Ocean Transportation, described the industry was on a "journey to decarbonise" and said this technology demonstrated how fast things were changing.

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