… In 2014, the four largest palm oil trading companies signed an agreement to end deforestation, development of peat lands and exploitation of locals not only with their own operations, but also from all of their suppliers. For environmental NGOs, the Indonesian Palm Oil Pledge (as the agreement was named) …
… most heavily traded edible oil in the world. Golden Agri Resources (GAR) has been in the forefront of this palm oil boom in Indonesia. Founded in 1996 by the influential Widjaja family (operators of the Sinar Mas business group), GAR became the holding company for the family’s agribusinesses, including its Indonesian subsidiary PT SMART. The company … oil value chain, from growing seedlings and managing over 450,000 hectares of plantation lands to running extraction and refining mills and marketing its own brand of cooking oil. …
… In early 2014 Alcoa announced that Ford's F-150 pick-up trucks, the best-selling vehicles in the U.S., would use … planned another $150 million on facilities in Tennessee to meet the demand generated by the Ford contract. The aluminum industry's growing success in the automotive sector reflected … the response of auto manufacturers to the increasingly rigorous fuel economy standards for U.S. vehicles and consumer preferences for high mileage vehicles. To meet those …
… finally produce a workable, global scheme to reduce greenhouse gasses in the environment. Unfortunately, the conference produced little concrete action and most agreed that the final … gas emissions were contributing to global warming. Over the next 11 years, the panel - formally convened as the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - issued … system for carbon credits in 2005, which led to an explosion of climate-related investment opportunities in Europe, Latin America and Asia. A new industry around carbon …
… In August of 2014, Mark Gentry, the Chief Operating Officer of Gifford Pinchot State University (GPSU) Foundation**, called Robert Farrington, a Managing … urging them to divest of all fossil fuel companies from their portfolio. The Foundation’s investment committee had formed a subcommittee to consider what to do, but Gentry admitted … first time Farrington had received such a call. Commonfund managed the assets of 1,300 nonprofit institutions. He estimated about 40% of Commonfund’s university clients were either …
… Harish Hande and the company he founded, SELCO, provide solar electricity for lighting and power to India's poor. For the work of his company, Hande has received numerous recognitions; he is frequently … Corporation (IFC), Hande was able to restructure the company in 2008. SELCO remained a for-profit business, but Hande was able to seek new investors more aligned with its mission. In …
… hail insurance, the most common policy in agriculture. In years when crops were damaged before they could be harvested and sold, crop insurance provided resources that allowed farmers to be able to plant the following season. Settlements for weather damage not only made it possible for growers to continue their livelihoods, but also helped stabilize the region's food …
… to the greenhouse effect was underway and could have potentially devastating consequences for the ecology of the planet. Since automobiles were a substantial contributor of CO2 to … engines (ICE) and to seek an alternative powertrain that did not use fossil fuels. For GM, the search for a new powertrain required a substantial change in mindset, since the … were calling for drastic cuts in the consumption of fossil fuel. With its significant investment in new technologies, in 1998, GM believed the debate should be shifted to …
… financial backing, buy and erect the turbines, and begin generating electricity by 2010. For Walmart de México, becoming the wind farm’s off-taker accomplished a number of important … electricity at below the rates charged by Mexico’s state-controlled utility, shaving costs for the famously thrifty retailer. In addition, the project allowed Walmart de México to get … that took them too far from the company’s central activity of retailing. The company’s investment group analyzed sustainability projects on the same basis as any other project, …
… oil company PEMEX had to find ways to implement this policy. Nevertheless, in spite of efforts by various government agencies as well as PEMEX, by mid-2014 no ethanol had been … makers looked at the country's energy supply, they expected that substituting bioethanol for some portion of gasoline fuel would meet a number of the country’s needs. First, it could help extend the country’s supply of crude oil. The country's demand for gasoline was growing, but the production of crude oil from the country's shallow-water …