… decades that this tropical product has taken off in the international market. An invisible component of many products, palm oil can be found in cookies, in chocolates, in soaps, in … production has increased more than nine-fold since 1980. By the 2000s, palm oil had become the most heavily traded edible oil in the world. Golden Agri Resources (GAR) has been … 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 …
… weddings, to eat, or simply to gawk at the facilities. But as the integrated resort had become a temple of luxury recreation, could it also become a symbol of sustainable enterprise? MBS's management hoped so. A small team led by Kevin Teng and backed by MBS leadership as well as the resort's parent company, Las Vegas Sands Corp., had worked hard to make operations and facilities more …
… In 2014, the four largest palm oil trading companies signed an agreement to end deforestation, development of peat lands and … to have reversed. Leading figures in the government of Indonesia were calling upon the companies to withdraw their pledge. And the 2015 fire season was the worst in nearly two … had created social tensions as many rural inhabitants claimed that large plantation companies had violated traditional land rights. Indonesian land-use laws were ambiguous and …
… strategy and associated initiatives to build climate change resilience in South Africa. The company claimed over 22% of all insurance business in South Africa and provided over half of … other risks. Around 40% of grain farmers in South Africa purchased hail insurance, the most common policy in agriculture. In years when crops were damaged before they could be … models. Nonetheless, Santam was preparing for the effect of climate change on crops. The company was proud of being in the forefront of social responsibility and sustainability …
… fuels in gasoline, beginning with ethanol from sugarcane. This meant that the national oil company PEMEX had to find ways to implement this policy. Nevertheless, in spite of efforts … a new market for Mexico's struggling agricultural sector. Finally, PEMEX would soon face competition due to new energy reforms that promised to introduce private sector competition to PEMEX, including at the retail fuel station. The ability to add …
… Pepsi has a new challenge. In 2007, PepsiCo became the first consumer company to use the Carbon Reduction Label (CRL) on packets of its Walkers Crisps potato … chips in the United Kingdom. Developed by the U.K.-based Carbon Trust, the CRL is meant to communicate to consumers not only the individual product's carbon footprint but also the company's overall pledge to reduce that footprint over a period of time. While not solely …
… in Indonesia throughout the fall of 2015, covering the region in haze, the ubiquitous commodity was placed under increased scrutiny. In addition to being used as a cooking oil, … a versatile plant with efficient, high yields, oil palm, and the oil derived from it has become a multibillion-dollar ($44 billion in 2013 according to Bloomberg ) industry that … greenhouse gas emissions. Much of the deforestation related to palm oil has occurred with companies and individuals setting fire to the landscape. In 2015, fires raged for months in …
… greenhouse effect hit the front pages, as NASA scientist James Hansen told a Congressional committee that he was “99 percent certain” that global warming due to the greenhouse effect … 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 … to introduce more fuel efficient vehicles had run into resistance from consumers, oil companies and the government. While consumers generally indicated that they liked the idea …
… Andrea Illy is CEO of the global premium coffee company that bears his family’s name. As one might expect, he is passionate about coffee – … finest examples of the coffee-making art, and the growers, roasters and baristas will be compensated fairly for the expertise they contribute to every cup. Unfortunately, the … (made all the more likely by the ravages of climate change) or a sudden decline in the commodity price of coffee can drop them below subsistence to hunger. Even in good times, …
… set up the Efficient Buildings Fund (EBF) and is iteratively improving it. This bank, which combines the features of a green bank and an infrastructure bank, was developed under new … and restructuring the preexisting Clean Water Finance Agency (CWFA). Three other programs—Commercial Property-Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE), Residential Property-Assessed Clean … municipal-building clean-energy upgrades across 17 projects in 6 municipalities. It accomplished this by publicizing a widely-distributed RFP. All of these projects are net cash …