By Kate Abnett and Marine Strauss, Reuters BRUSSELS, July 12 (Reuters) – The European Parliament on Wednesday voted to pass a fiercely contested law to restore degraded natural ecosystems, salvaging the environmental measures that centre-right lawmakers had campaigned to kill off. European Union lawmakers adopted the legal proposal with 336 …
Hero: How Journalists Exposed Cracks in Global Forestry Certifications
By Bernard Simon, Corporate Knights Best known for the Panama Papers, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists takes aim at programs purporting to combat deforestation and illegal logging Sadly, business can seldom be relied on to police its own behavior. We thus have little choice but to fall back on …
Will New Global Standard for Corporate Sustainability Reporting Corral Wild West of ESG?
By Eugene Ellman, Corporate Knights New ISSB standard offers hope that the bewildering array of corporate sustainability disclosure guidelines will finally come to an end The global accounting profession has launched a single standard for company environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting, raising expectations that the bewildering array of corporate …
Carbon Neutral Is Dead; Long Live Nature Positive
By Solitaire Townsend, Sustainable Brands If we invest in public campaigns for nature positive and brands shout it from the rooftops, we save what was originally valuable about the voluntary carbon market while actually doing what’s right for nature. Since the term ‘carbon neutral’ was first introduced, thousands of companies …
EU Fears for Global Biodiversity Goal if Own Nature Law Not Passed
By Kate Abnett, Reuters BRUSSELS, July 5 (Reuters) – Europe will damage its ability to deliver on an international biodiversity deal if it fails to pass a flagship law to restore nature, the EU’s environment chief said ahead of what officials expect to be a tight vote next week. The …
EU to Propose Exit from Energy Charter Treaty Over Climate Concerns
By Kate Abnett, Reuters BRUSSELS, June 29 (Reuters) – The European Commission is readying a proposal for EU countries to jointly quit an international energy treaty, after some governments already pledged to leave over climate concerns. The 1998 Energy Charter Treaty, which has around 50 signatories including European Union countries, …
Meet the Women Warrior Accountants Pushing the Envelope on Climate Action
By Naomi Buck, Corporate Knights In the last two decades, accounting has been transformed as ESG takes centre stage. Many of the industry’s most ambitious change agents have been women. In the fourth year of her accounting degree at McGill University, Sarah Keyes walked into the classroom of a mandatory credit …
After Years of Citizen Pressure, Justice Department Launches Corporate Crime Database
By Corporate Knights Ralph Nader After years of citizen pressure to create a public corporate crime database, the Justice Department this week surprisingly and without public notice did just that. The Department of Justice now has a corporate crime page that includes links to voluntary self disclosure and monitoring policies, guidance and …
What if kelp forests can save the oceans?
By Tara Lohan, Corporate Knights Seaweed has acted as fertilizer, food and medicine. Now researchers are beginning to tally more of its environmental benefits. Photo by Stefan Andrews via Ocean Image Bank Floridians are bracing for an unwanted visitor this summer: sargassum. A 5,000-mile-long island of this rootless seaweed is floating around …
ASICS Launches Product Carbon-Footprint Labeling
By Sustainable Brands Staff, Sustainable Brands By releasing its product carbon-impact data, ASICS joins a growing number of companies sharing this information to help consumers working to address their environmental impacts make more educated purchasing decisions. Global sportwear brand ASICS has become the latest company to introduce product carbon-footprint labeling. The landmark …