… 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 … concerned environmentalists. Palm oil plantations had been carved out of precious rainforest and peat land, resulting in the release of carbon into the atmosphere and the loss of …
… 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) represented a dramatic advance in their decades-long efforts to protect the Indonesian rainforest from further destruction. One year later the …
… 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 … Kyoto Protocol, set binding targets for industrialized nations to reduce their emissions by 2012 and created a trading system for credits based on the reduction of greenhouse gas …
… NY Green Bank (NYGB), New York State’s $1-billion clean-energy fund, and a young new efficiency company named Sealed signed a $5-million loan-financing agreement as a way to broaden the market for home energy-efficiency upgrades. In New York State, those upgrades face two key barriers … shows how a similar structure can be used for residential energy efficiency. Source The Yale Center for Business and the Environment Areas of Focus Sustainable Finance and ESG …
… products we buy. However, it is not something that consumers can easily spot or screen for. When, in June 2015, France’s Ecology minister, Segolene Royal, called on her country to … literature, news articles, and reports, and to particularly relevant sections of the Yale School of Management’s (SOM) palm oil case. These materials can be read on their own, … literature, news articles, and reports, and to particularly relevant sections of the Yale School of Management’s (SOM) palm oil case. These materials can be read on their own, …
… 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 …
… 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 cited as one of the top social entrepreneurs in India and an example for the entire developing world. The road to SELCO’s success, however, has not always been …
… 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 … The wide-ranging discussions within GM had led to an ambitious program to improve the efficiency of internal combustion 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 …
… company designed, manufactured, distributed, and serviced diesel and natural gas engines, for transportation, construction, and power generation. In addition to the engines, it … manufacturers. The components and engines were all designed to increase power, improve efficiency, and reduce pollution from diesel engines of all sizes. From its origins in a … Cummins had prided itself on value-driven ethical standards. It operated worldwide under a formal Mission Statement: "We will demand that everything we do leads to a cleaner, …