Skip to main content

Two Steps Forward

2020年是......

是的r in review 2020

GreenBiz Group

这是一个很长一年。真实,只有366天(毕竟是闰年),每一个,我被告知,只包含标准24小时。但它比这更长。

Remember 2019? Neither do I.

召回一些关键的发展,asI完成each十二月十多年来,我已经遏制了我们发表的近1,300个故事,专栏和分析GreenBiz.com.since the dawn of 2020 — a.k.a. the beforetime — accentuating the positive, seeking signs of progress and hope. We need such reminders to get us through these challenging times.

在这里,没有特定的顺序,是我发现在12个月内刚刚结束时发现的五个故事列表。

And, perhaps, to set us on a more bullish course for 2021.

在这里,没有特定的顺序,是我发现在12个月内刚刚结束时发现的五个故事列表。(所有链接都是在2020年期间在GreenBiz.com上发布的故事。)您会添加到列表中的哪个?

1.公司加速了可持续移动的途径

The rise of electric vehicles has been a perennial story for nearly a decade, but 2020 saw the pace of change accelerate. Indeed, in January, my colleague Katie Fehrenbacherpredicted2020年将是EVS的关键年份。她是对的。

Both the private and public sectors delivered big wins for the electrification of transportation. California’s governor signed a历史制作的执行订单, banning sales of new gas-powered cars within 15 years.2020欧洲杯冠军排名, with a similar ban but within a decade, helped byMcDonald’s planto install EV chargers at its U.K. drive-thru restaurants. On the supply side,通用汽车大众planned major EV rollouts.

evs.

Ultimately, how fast these markets rev up depends on demand from fleet buyers. Amazon continued its积极的推出计划,都一样沃尔玛宜家

所有这一切的一个原因:电池继续他们的旅程,价格体验曲线,需求增加降低价格,进一步抽动需求。新technologies正在帮助,很多还在early stages。Some are specifically geared towardtruck and bus fleets, an indication that the markets for medium- and heavy-duty EVs areabout to kick into high gear

2. Sustainable fashion became material

时尚是另一个长期酝酿的环境故事,终于达到了沸点。这些问题很多,从种植棉花或生产合成织物所需的资源,通常来自石油原料,到最终在垃圾填埋场中的废物,特别是对于往往具有短暂使用寿命的廉价和时髦的服装物品。

2020年,一些新的发展有助于使可持续发展成为时尚。竞彩足球app怎么下载例如,非营利性纺织品交换launched a Material Change Index,使制造商能够将首选的纤维和材料策略集成到其产品中。它也是推出了企业纤维和材料基准帮助时尚和纺织业对生物多样性采取行动。

纺织品

圆形模型made the rounds, starting with the design department, where a lot of negative environmental and social impacts are baked into garments, usually unwittingly. Adidas and H&M Groupteamed up为项目将旧服装和纤维再循环到主要品牌的新项目中。德国运动服公司阿迪达斯committed在2024年,仅在其供应链中使用再生聚酯。用于二手服装的市场销售,包括推荐, where companies sell their own reclaimed and refurbished goods back to customers.

In the wings:初创公司吹捧新一代纺织品,生产方法和商业模式,暗示了商店的更多创新。

林业在资产负债表上扎根了

Saving and planting trees has been a cornerstone of environmental action pretty much since Day One. (Hence, the often-epithetic moniker "treehugger.") And pressing companies to eliminate deforestation in their supply chains has long been an activist focus.

现在,公司本身正在看到主动林业政策的业务福利。

首先,有风险缓解 - 确保“公司将产品销售到全球供应链中的能力”as a BlackRock executive put it。It’s not just the climate impacts of concern to investors. Deforestation and human rights abuses often go hand-in-hand — "there’s almost a direct correlation,"said another investor— an additional layer of risk for companies from neglecting forests and those who live and work there.

林业

然后有机会抵消他们的排放,因为树木是一种天然气候解决方案,可以帮助吸取温室气体,特别是采用净零承诺的公司(见下文)。微软,JetBlue.荷兰皇家贝壳are among those seeking to offset a portion of their carbon footprint by investing in forest protection and reforestation.

最后,有创新者 - 在所有绿色中看到黄金的企业家。硅谷风险资本家are beginning to branch out into forestry-related startups- Silviaterra和Pachama等公司,提供支持技术,以促进林业项目。这些企业家可能会看到机会万亿树倡议2020年初推出。

当然,成功需要首先停止森林砍伐,特别是在热带雨林中。这仍然是一个问题。其中一半的公司最依赖于对森林产生负面影响的关键商品 - 棕榈油,大豆,牛肉,皮革,木材和纸浆和纸张 - 在森林砍伐上没有公开规定的政策,根据一份报告

不过,一些公司正在取得进展。例如,火星宣布其棕榈油 - 用于食品和宠物护理产品 -is now deforestation-freeafter shrinking the number of mills it works with from 1,500 to a few hundred, a clear-cut sign that progress is possible.

4.粮食权益在菜单上出现

对于所有关于大型AG和大食物的谈话,对食物链中较小的球员的越来越高落,从农民和生产者到准备和服务饭菜的人。当然,根据联合国的统计,当然,8.21亿人面对粮食不安全的人。该统计数据从2018年起,今年的大流行和全球经济衰退之前很长一百万更多饥饿的肚子。

与餐馆封闭,其他食品服务队的运营缩减,一个挥之不去的问题是世界上最大的食品公司正在做些什么来帮助他们的供应商和其他合作伙伴。

foodservice

"Retailers and brands are recognizing that if they don’t step in to help their producers and distributors, the links holding together those supply chains may crack in ways that aren’t easily repaired,"我的同事Elsa Wenzel报道六月回来。

Collecting uneaten food or unsellable produce for distribution to those in need is one activitythat accelerated during the pandemic。A newish concept,“升级食物”- 使用可验证的供应链采购和生产的“使用否则不会达到人类消费的成分,并对环境产生积极影响” - 正在被称为升高的粮食协会的非营利组织促进了积极影响。

增加对农民的关注也在菜单上。公平贸易认证作物继续上升, ensuring a living wage for many smallholder farmers, and there’s越来越兴趣支持土着农民, who have long practiced regenerative techniques. The Regenerative Organic Alliancedeveloped a standardto support farmers who promote soil health.

All this will require提供资本和援助to growers around the world, including the data and analytics that increasingly are core to 21st-century farming. And to do this quickly, before the ravages of a changing climate创造进一步的艰辛for both food producers and consumers around the world.

5.净零承诺发现无限潜力

最后,零 - 也许是一个拟合的coda到一年,以其名字吹嘘其中两个。几年前只有几年前开花成一个全面的运动,因为净零承诺的数量在不到一年的时间里翻了一番

在其中削减跨部门和国际边界的公司列表BP,Delta,Facebook.,HSBC,Nestlé,沃尔玛,偶数Rolls Royce。verizon,印度IT服务巨人Infosys和英国消费品品牌Reckitt Benckiser成为第一家全球公司加入亚马逊的气候质释计划,致力于到2040年达到“碳中性”。

net-zero

Some went further. Microsoft said it wouldbecome "carbon negative" within a decade,伸展目标以消除其自1975年成立以来所发出的所有碳。旅行密集型战略公司BCG说aspires to be "climate positive"通过从大气中除去更多的二氧化碳排放而不是它发射。

但到达零 - 或中立或积极或其他目标 - 并非没有争议。正如一份报告所述, net-zero commitments vary widely in terms of their metrics and transparency, among other things. That is, no single standard governs the way net-zero is defined or measured, or how it should be communicated. As such, net-zero could soon be in the crosshairs of activists eager to point out corporate greenwash.

帮助可以在路上。9月,科学的基于科学目标倡议揭开计划为企业净零目标制定全球标准,包括碳抵消的作用,这是一种巨大扩张的实践is itself problematic and controversial。它如何解决将是2021年及以后的持久的故事情节。

还有更多

那些几乎不是2020个音符的故事情节。有一个重要的华尔街兴趣环境,社会和治理(ESG)报告… a surge of attention by companies toenvironmental justice… the continued rise and empowerment of企业可持续发展专业人竞彩足球app怎么下载士

哦,和新的美国总统政府的出现promises to reengage with business和the global community on addressing the climate crisis.

That is to say, 2020 wasn’t all about the pandemic, recession and you-know-who.

If that’s not enough, here — in alphabetical order by company — are a baker’s dozen other hopeful headlines from the past 12 months:

I invite you tofollow me on Twitter,订阅我的星期一早上通讯,GreenBuzz, and listen toGreenbiz 350.,我的每周播客,共同主持Heather Clancy。

More on this topic