… 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. Forenvironmental NGOs, the Indonesian Palm Oil Pledge (as the agreement was named) represented … many environmentalists believed that the agreement represented a breakthrough. The events of 2015 suggested otherwise, forcing businesses, NGOs and sympathetic government …
… 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 … the world’s leading exporter of crude palm oil. The palm oil boom, however, concerned environmentalists. Palm oil plantations had been carved out of precious rainforest and peat …
… 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 … decade, GM spent billions of dollars experimenting and building prototypes with an array of technologies; including diesel, battery, hybrid gas and electric systems, and hydrogen fuel … more efficient diesel engines on the U.S. market. Meanwhile, international efforts to prevent global warming had accelerated. A series of UN-sponsored conferences, bringing …
… 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 … policies, Santam used its risk assessment expertise and decades of weather-related data to estimate the frequency of major weather events. It was widely acknowledged that climate change was likely to increase the frequency …
… 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 … highlighted the hidden role it plays in the global economy. And, as fires set to clear land for palm oil plantations blazed in Indonesia throughout the fall of 2015, covering the … alternative to other vegetable oils, production pressures have led to undeniable environmental and social impacts on both global and local scales. The most notable of those …
… 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 …
… Most environmentalists had hoped that the December 2009 Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen … 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 …
… 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 … Many thought the capital expense of purchasing solar panels and batteries put this technology out of the reach of those at the bottom of the income-generating pyramid. But, … Many thought the capital expense of purchasing solar panels and batteries put this technology out of the reach of those at the bottom of the income-generating pyramid. But, …
… the business. AXA’s business had grown rapidly over the previous decades. The company was formed in the 1980s through the merger of a few mid-sized French insurance firms. From the … The company took over struggling franchises and utilizing its strong balance sheet, technical expertise and abilities in product innovation, managed to turn around their … new metrics was a tall order, but would be another step to establishing CR inside AXA. Eventually, the company aspired to produce an “integrated report” that would define the …
… Like many countries, Australia has a large existing building stock that is responsible for a substantial percentage of its greenhouse-gas emissions. Given that it will take … Financial institutions are reluctant to lend when any claim that they might make in the event of a default is junior to the property mortgage holder. This is why the Environmental Upgrade Agreement (EUA) plays an important role. The EUA is a deal structure …