A portfolio of 11 office properties across Liverpool and Greater Manchester have been verified as net-zero carbon against the UK Green Building Council’s (UKGBC) standard, in what the developer has described as a national first.
Norwegian oil and gas giant Equinor has pledged to bringing the greenhouse gas footprint of its onshore plants and offshore fields to”near zero” by 2050.
US retail giant Kroger has unveiled new steps to eliminate food waste across its company by 2025 by prioritising food donations and technological innovations to drive action through a Zero Hunger, Zero Waste initiative.
The National Trust has unveiled a plan to become net-zero carbon by 2030, which features one of the UK’s biggest forest expansion projects – planting 20 million trees.
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink’s annual letter calls for greater disclosure of climate-related risks and promises to launch new investment products that screen fossil fuels.
British Airways has begun offsetting all emissions generated through domestic flights within the UK, at no additional cost to passengers. As part of its parent company – International Airlines Group (IAG) – target from October to reach netzero by 2050.
Global brewer AB InBev has signed a 10-year agreement with global energy giant BayWa r.e to purchase 100% renewable electricity to power its Western European breweries.
Wates Group has committed to new goals that target zero waste from all onsite operations and zero carbon emissions from operations and vehicle fleets by 2025.
Microsoft pledges to become carbon-negative by 2030, with the goal of removing carbon from the atmosphere that the company has emitted since it was founded in 1975.
United Arab Emirates’ national airline Etihad announced ambitious targets to halve its 2019 emissions by 2035 and reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Debenhams has launched ambitions to source 100% of its cotton from sources certified as sustainable by 2022; to switch to FSC-certified paper for swing tags by December 2020; to remove plastic lamination from all swing tags by December 2020, and to divert all old fashion stock and samples from landfill or incineration.
Mastercard has teamed up with a clutch of major companies, global banks, and transport authorities to deliver a fresh collaborative drive to ramp up private sector climate efforts, including a pledge to plant 100 million trees over the next five years.
Lloyd’s Banking Group has pledged to halve the carbon emissions generated by projects it finances by 2030 and commited to source 100% renewable electricity.
AstraZeneca has pledged to become carbon-negative across its entire value chain by 2030, with an interim ambition of reaching net-zero operational carbon emissions from operations by 2025.
Asda has committed to halving its Scope 1 (direct) and Scope 2 (power-related) emissions by 2025, under new targets which it claims are aligned with a 1.5C trajector.
Bafta delivers its first carbon-netural ceremony, by investment in numerous initiatives to decarbonise and reduce the resource impact of the awards ceremony.
Asda has committed to halving its Scope 1 (direct) and Scope 2 (power-related) emissions by 2025, under new targets which it claims are aligned with a 1.5C trajector.
Sky has unveiled a new commitment to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2030 through strategies to make its products more energy efficient, its film and TV more sustainable and by engaging consumers and the value chain to “go zero”.
Multinational cement and building materials giant Cemex has pledged to reach net-zero across its operations and products by 2050, as part of a new climate action strategy.
Volkswagen’s chief executive has pledged to employ a young climate campaigner to “aggressively” challenge the company’s environmental policies, as he acknowledged the world’s largest carmaker was moving too slowly in the race to roll out electric vehicles.
Mining giant Rio Tinto says it wants its globe-spanning operations to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and will spend US$1bn over the next five years to reduce its carbon footprint.
Energy company Drax has announced it is planning to cease using coal at its Selby power station in North Yorkshire in March 2021, bringing half a century of coal-fired power generation to an end next year at the UK’s largest power station.
Electricity Supply Board (ESB) has signed a €1.4 billion sustainability-linked loan deal aimed at pushing the Irish state-owned energy firm to deliver on its emissions goals and scale up its renewable energy capacity.
Telecommunications giant O2 has pledged to achieve net-zero across its entire business and mobile network by 2025 – a move it claims will make it the UK’s first net-zero mobile network provider.
Iceland has posted an update to its commitment to remove all plastics from own-label product packaging by 2023, revealing that it now uses 29% less plastics in these applications than it did in 2018.
Waste management firm Biffa has announced a new sustainability strategy that will aim to quadruple the group’s plastics recycling capacity and halve its emissions by 2030.
Printer giant Ricoh has had its latest emissions reduction goals approved under the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) after more than doubling its emissions reduction target for 2030.
Engineering and construction firm AECOM has revealed that targets to reduce operational emissions by 20% and value chain emissions by 10% by 2025 have been approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) as aligned to the requirements of the Paris Agreement.
HelloFresh announced a new goal to offset 100% of its carbon emissions. The meal kit company will partner with terrapass, a company specializing in carbon offsetting, to fund environmental projects aimed at reducing green-house gas emissions.
Learning and education company Pearson has had targets to halve its operational and value chain emissions by 2030 approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
Danone-owned bottled water brand Evian has confirmed it has achieved carbon neutral certification across all the countries where the brand operates, following efforts to improve the efficiency of facilities and logistics and reducing lifecycle emissions of its bottles.
Global energy company Total is the latest in the sector to commit to net-zero emissions, setting a target for 2050 or sooner after extensive engagement with a climate action investor coalition.
The European Cement Association, Cembureau, this week published its new Carbon Neutrality Roadmap, laying out its vision along with policy recommendations required to help the industry reach net zero emissions across the cement and concrete value chain by 2050.
UK supermarket Iceland has cut down its food waste by almost a quarter over the past two years, saving almost 2,500 tonnes from being binned through a greater focus on measurement and efficiencies across it stores, as well as redistributing unsold food to charities and supermarket staff.
Southern Company announced plans to achieve net zero carbon emissions across its system by 2050 during its annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday, after setting a “low- to no-” carbon by 2050 goal in 2018.
German online fashion retailer Zalando has confirmed it will be the first retailer signed up to the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) to use a new module that will make sustainability assessments mandatory for its private labels and partner brands sold on its platform.
Ikea is building on a commitment to becoming a fully circular business by 2030 by announcing a new strategic partnership with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation that will focus on advocating for closed-loop home furnishing designs and methods to promote circular offers to customers.
The world’s largest brewer, AB InBev has unveiled a new supplier forum to assist with environmental stewardship across the value chain, giving suppliers the option to receive educational materials to help reduce emissions and lower water usage.
A corporate coalition calling for a faster shift to electric vehicles (EVs) in the UK has been launched today by green business non-profit The Climate Group in partnership with digital telecoms giant BT.
Rolls Royce has pledged to become a net zero carbon business by mid-century, while developing new products and technologies that allow the hard-to-abate aviation, power, shipping, and rail industries to decarbonise in the same time frame.
Energy giant OVO has pledged to deploy a fully electric fleet and double its energy productivity by 2030, as the company today moved to strengthen its Plan Zero decarbonisation strategy.
Health and beauty giant Natura & Co – the parent firm of brands including The Body Shop and Avon – has unveiled a new package of sustainability commitments, headlined by a pledge to reach net-zero emissions within a decade.
Ride-hailing company Lyft has announced that all drivers on its ride-hailing platform will need to shift over to electric vehicles within the next decade, as it became the latest major company to join the global EV100 initiative.
The UK’s largest housebuilder, Barratt Developments, has built on recently announced science-based targets by committing to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.
Beverage giant Lucozade Ribena Suntory (LRS) has pledged to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across its entire multinational value chain by mid-century.
The University of Hull has pledged to achieve carbon-neutral operations within seven years, and will invest in energy efficiency and renewable energy generation technologies to meet this ambition.
Multinational Apple has unveiled its plan to become carbon neutral across its entire business, manufacturing supply chain, and product life cycle by 2030.
IT services and consultancy firm Capgemini has pledged to achieve carbon-neutral operations by 2025 and full net-zero alignment by 2030, after meeting one of its key emissions targets a decade ahead of schedule.
Nando’s has unveiled a new commitment to achieving zero direct emissions and reducing the carbon footprint of its meals by almost 50% by 2030, with the company confirming that they will not rely on carbon offsetting to reach the new targets.
Iceland Foods has revealed that it has reduced its operational emissions footprint by 74% since 2011, despite growing the business, putting it on track to reach net-zero by 2042.
The Government-backed National Employment Savings Trust (Nest) scheme is set to begin divesting from fossil fuel projects immediately, as part of a new roadmap designed to ensure its operations are aligned with the UK’s net-zero target.
Property developer Landsec has revealed that it is progressing plans for what it hopes will be the UK’s first net-zero commercial building – an office block in Southwark, south London.
Broadcaster ITV has outlined new sustainability targets to reduce emissions by more than 46%, reach 100% renewables and certify its studios and programmes to sustainability standards.
