In the News

This week's post features items from Natural Gas Intelligence, World Economic Forum, Energy.gov, Yahoo Finance, Johnson City Press, PRNewswire, Energy Global, Recharge, Carlsbad Current-Argus, The Tennessea, n, Environment + Energy Leader, FoodIngredientsFirst, FEMA, Environmental Defense Fund, The Mercury News, Forbes, CNBC, Energy Storage News, Business Wire, Markets Insider, Financial Times, InsideClimate News, OUPblog, The Hill, IEEE Spectrum, CalCCA and many many more...We scour the web so you don't have to!,

                                                                                                                                                                                    

Coronavirus and Sustainability:

Survey: COVID-19 Is Intensifying Sustainability Challenges, But Not Derailing Corporate Action
SB News
Overall, experts are now more optimistic that the pandemic will not derail action on sustainable development. In 2020, almost half of sustainability ...

Equilibrium/ Sustainability — Presented by NextEra Energy — Changing dirty diapers into sticky ...
The Hill
“The main climate forcing of 2020 wasn't COVID-19 at all. It was the explosion of wildfires in Australia,” John Fasullo, a scientist at the National Center for ...

Is COVID-19 a symptom of climate change?
The Jerusalem Post
ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS: Some indirect connections can be made between climate change and COVID-19, say Israeli researchers. Twitter Email ...

Sector Based Decarbonization:

Electrification Alone Won't Cut It for Decarbonization, Say Natural Gas Experts
Natural Gas Intelligence
Therefore, the natural gas industry must decarbonize the molecule-based share of energy production and consumption in order to achieve climate ...

The real economy is not a side event in the global decarbonization effort
World Economic Forum
That means creating net-zero initiatives at the industry sector-level which ... To decarbonize those sectors, governments face a dilemma: move too ... innovative and science-based public-private partnerships at a sectoral level to ...

DOE Announces $42.3 Million and New Industry Partnerships to Decarbonize American ...
Energy.gov
The industrial sector contributed 23% of all greenhouse gas emissions in 2019, ... emerging technologies that can help decarbonize the industrial sector. ... fiber-based solutions that manufactures products like tea bags, coffee filters, ...

Global Reporting Initiative:

New Financial Leadership for Global Reporting Initiative
Yahoo Finance
As CFO, she has responsibility for the operational management of the GRI secretariat, including budgeting, financial controls, human resources, ...

Truist highlights ESG and diversity, equity, and inclusion progress in 2020 CSR and ESG Report
Johnson City Press
... the report are detailed disclosure indices aligned with the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) ...

Novolex Releases Third Annual Sustainability Report
PRNewswire
... social, and governance (ESG) reporting with Sustainable Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) formats as well ...

Renewable Energy Investments:

Renewable energy investments on the rise
Energy Global
New investment in renewable energy projects and companies totalled US$174 billion in 1H2021, supported by record public market financing and ...

CIP invests $100m in massive Indian renewable energy pipeline
Recharge
Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) has committed $100m to renewable energy investments with power producer Amp Energy India Private Ltd.

Federal stimulus could boost New Mexico renewable energy, create jobs, study says
Carlsbad Current-Argus
Lea Rubin Shen, policy director at Advanced Energy Economy said investments in renewable energy installations, energy storage and electric vehicle ...

CDP Sustainability:

Businesses with strong sustainability scores will attract investors and workers | Opinion
The Tennessean
... more than $4 trillion in procurement spend, requested companies report their environmental data through CDP, according to CDP Global reports.

Canadian Pacific Railway Publishes First Climate Strategy, Establishes Science-Based GHG ...
Environment + Energy Leader
The company currently participates in widely used and accepted sustainability reporting frameworks and standards such as CDP, Global Reporting ...

Ferrero reaches 100% sustainable sugarcane sourcing
FoodIngredientsFirst
Earlier this year, a report by CDP revealed environmental supply chain risks could cost companies US$120 billion by 2026. There is also a growing ...

California's Leadership in Climate Change:

ICYMI: FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell Traveled West to Address Climate Change, Connect ...
FEMA
ICYMI: FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell Traveled West to Address Climate Change, Connect with State, Tribal Leaders on Wildfire ... acting U.S. Fire Administrator Chief Tonya Hoover, traveled to Idaho, Oregon and California to ...

California needs to raise its ambition to beat the climate crisis. This policy will be key.
Environmental Defense Fund
The 2022 Climate Change Scoping Plan, which will guide the state towards ... California must continue to be a national and global climate leader.

Opinion: How California can lead the way on climate-protecting technologies
The Mercury News
Pioneers like California matter, but successful leadership requires a theory of change that extends beyond borders. California's carbon emissions ...

Impact Investing:

$3.3M In Grants Awarded For Boosting Impact Investing Infrastructure
Forbes
Many impact investing experts agree that the sector can't become a mainstream powerhouse until it produces standardized, vetted methods for impact ...

While many investors want a portfolio with a purpose, not all put their money where their mouth is ...
CNBC
Socially responsible investing generally involves backing companies that are involved in things like environmental sustainability, alternative energy or ...

Socially responsible investing can help you make a positive impact: Here's what you need to know
CNBC
While both ESG and SRI look at a company's broader impact, there are some distinct differences that affect the types of investments and an investor's ...

Energy Storage

US bipartisan infrastructure bill supports energy storage although ITC excluded
Energy Storage News
A “once-in-a-generation” commitment to invest in the US' national infrastructure includes financial support for energy storage supply chains and ...

Connecticut regulator creates programme to incentivise 580MW of customer-sited energy storage
Energy Storage News
Image: Span. Recognising the multiple benefits and value streams that energy storage systems can bring, the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory ...

Energy storage a 'viable, low emissions and cheaper alternative' to Massachusetts fossil fuel plant
Energy Storage News
Battery storage could play the same role on the grid as a proposed 60MW natural gas and fuel oil peaker plant in Massachusetts and not only result in ...

Science Based Carbon Performance Targets:

Catalent Achieves 97% Renewable Electricity Sourcing and Commits to Science-Based Target ...
Business Wire
... Commits to Science-Based Target Initiative to Reduce Carbon Footprint ... enhancing product performance and ensuring reliable global clinical and ...

DSM accelerates Science Based GHG emissions reduction target to 50% by 2030
Markets Insider
DSM made significant progress with a ~19% structural GHG improvement (versus 2016) by H1 2021. · DSM has doubled its internal carbon price from € ...

China green energy ETFs deliver best performance in first half
Financial Times
China green energy ETFs deliver best performance in first half ... “As part of national policy priorities, China set ambitious goals on carbon emissions to curb climate change risks ... Find out more about our science-based targets here.

Climate Change Winners and Losers:

Why the Paris Climate Agreement Might be Doomed to Fail
InsideClimate News
The game showed that the Paris accord, like the global climate pacts that ... “Climate change is going to produce winners and losers, and if you're a ...

Fiddling while Rome burns: climate change and international relations
OUPblog
Anthropocentric (human-made) climate change is not a new thing; it is a ... has produced winners and losers across the industrialized heartlands.

A clean energy transition won't be equitable unless we make it that way
The Hill
Climate change is the kind of problem that requires a massive, coordinated effort from ... How do we protect against creating winners and losers?

Microgrids:

Innovative Direct-Current Microgrids to Solve India's Power Woes
IEEE Spectrum
Solar DC microgrids could do for electrification what mobile phones did for telephony. Ashok Jhunjhunwala. 31 Jan 2017. 10 min read.

Sunrun Works with CCAs to Build Neighborhood Microgrids in Northern California
CalCCA
Microgrid Knowledge. Sunrun has taken initial steps to build on its concept of neighborhood microgrids. It signed contracts with three community ...

The US Department of Energy and the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities Provide Sustainability ...
Newswise
Local government microgrids, also known as “town center” microgrids, distribute energy to a cluster of physically separated facilities, such as those that ...

Socially Responsible Investing:

Socially responsible investing can help you make a positive impact: Here's what you need to know
CNBC
Socially responsible investing refers to an approach to investing where the investor considers both the value of a company's broader impact on the world ...

While many investors want a portfolio with a purpose, not all put their money where their mouth is ...
CNBC
Socially responsible investing generally involves backing companies that are involved in things like environmental sustainability, alternative energy or ...

ESG Investing Guidance from the US Securities and Exchange Commission
The National Law Review
ESG investing (also known as socially responsible investing, impact investing, and sustainable investing) refers to investing that prioritizes favorable ...

Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage:

As federal support emerges, PA wants to be a carbon capture hub
The Chesapeake Bay Journal
“Because renewable energy may be variable or intermittent, dispatchable fossil energy with carbon capture, utilization and storage will continue to be ...

Gordon signs agreement for Wyoming and JCOAL carbon capture research to continue
Oil City News
Gordon's office said on Monday, August 2 that the MOU will allow collaborative research into Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage to continue at the ...

ABS Evaluates the Potential of Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage
The Maritime Executive
Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) is the latest decarbonization technology to be evaluated by ABS as part of its industry-leading series ...

Sustainability Investing: 

Fired Executive Says Deutsche Bank's DWS Overstated Sustainable-Investing Efforts
The Wall Street Journal
It said the sustainability office led by Ms. Fixler didn't gain the expected traction on creating or showing an action plan. ESG investing is growing fast, and ...

Fisher Investments Receives Belgian "Towards Sustainability" Labels
KHQ Right Now
"Responsible investing is a priority for many Fisher Investments clients and we continue to expand our sustainable investment strategy portfolio to meet ...

Geoengineering:

Iain Macwhirter: Forget not rinsing dishes, only geo-engineering can give Scotland any chance of ...
HeraldScotland
We will have to resort to what is called “geo-engineering”. This can mean everything from carbon capture to mirrors in space. Restoring peatland to ... 
    
Simon Wardley on Twitter: "Another wonderful conversation with a group of friends covering ...
twitter.com
I now view geoengineering as a necessary evil . ... I have been adverse to the idea of geo-engineering because there is so much we don't know.

Green Bond Funds:

Where's All That Green Bond Money Really Going?
Bloomberg
EnBW Energie Baden-Wuerttemberg AG is among the few companies that publishes transparent details about the use of funds from green bonds.

Irish Water and BusConnects tap into green bonds funding boom
Independent.ie
Green bonds are debt raised on the markets, with much the same financial terms and conditions as conventional debt but the funds must be used for ...

Ontario Eyes Sustainable Debt After Record Loonie Green Bond
Bloomberg
“Although Ontario funds projects which have both environmental and social benefits (e.g. hospitals), the province is focused on green bonds.”.

Low Carbon Funds:

Heinrich wants to offer funds to American homeowners to shift to low-carbon appliances
Carlsbad Current-Argus
Heinrich said the bill was part of broader effort to reduced greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate change by increasing the use of low-carbon ...

Electric School Buses Reduce Pollution, but New Infrastructure Deal Slashed Funding
Scientific American
And without a federal infusion of cash and incentives, advocates fear zero-emissions school buses—which can cost three times more than those with ...

What the infrastructure deal means for energy
E&E News
From new funds for transmission critical to renewables to GOP-backed ... projects aimed at reducing carbon emissions in the manufacturing sector.