Targeting Net Zero: A strategic framework for business action
A net zero emission economy will be essential to maintain a stable global climate. The private sector has a critical role in delivering this and there is a growing body of evidence to demonstrate that it makes good business sense to act.
This briefing and accompanying strategic framework, prepared by the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, seek to provide practical, strategic guidance for how organisations can overcome some of the challenges that are preventing action and how they can find ways to implement a net zero strategy.
Targeting Net Zero: A strategic framework for business action, would you like
January 27, 2021
Clockwise, from top left: Laura Lane, UPS; Darnell Grisby, TransForm; Guy Grainger, JLL, Boma Brown-West, EDF; Miriam Nelson, Newman s Own Foundation; Asheen Phansey, Circular Fashion Group; Clare Shine, University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership; Janelle Heslop, Amgen. Middle row from left: Claire Bergkamp, Textile Exchange; Steve Quarles, AWEA; Elliott Rodgers, Ulta Beauty; Maribel Bostic, SunPower; Dana Worth, Plenty.
You dared to dream that some of the upheaval of 2020 would let up at the New Year s stroke of midnight? The speeds and feeds of 2021 already have left us winded. That means accelerating need for sustainability professionals to step up. Plenty of people in this space have spruced up their LinkedIn pages and changed roles in recent months. There s noted activity in the sustainable apparel space, and boards are getting more intentional about inclusivity.
Banks have faced increasing criticism in recent years over their ongoing financial support for environmentally destructive industries, but by tweaking their practices they could become part a critical part of the solution to escalating deforestation and habitat destruction worldwide.
That is the core message this month from research by the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), which outlines a set of five key actions banks and other financial firms can take to help respond to the biodiversity and climate crises, de-risking their investments in the process.
Released in mid-January, the report from CISL s Centre for Sustainable Finance focuses on soft commodities, such as palm oil, soy, beef and timber products, which are responsible for most deforestation worldwide caused by commercial agriculture.
Big names call on government to adopt RetroFirst reforms
A host of big names in architecture and the built environment have called on the government to adopt the recommendations of the AJ RetroFirst campaign
A letter to the Times newspaper, published on Saturday, said the government ‘cannot ignore our wasteful addiction to demolition and rebuilding’, particularly amid preparations for the UK to host the COP26 climate summit later this year.
The letter was signed by 35 individuals including Doreen Lawrence, Norman Foster, David Chipperfield, Thomas Heatherwick, Amin Taha, Sadie Morgan and former environment secretary John Gummer.
The letter said adopting the three recommendations of the RetroFirst campaign – cutting VAT on refurbishment to 5 per cent or less; amending planning guidance and the Building Regs to promote reuse of existing buildings; and insisting all publicly funded projects look to retrofit solutions first – ‘would not only underline the UK’s leadership
Lee’s Morgan Completes Post-Grad At Cambridge Monday, January 18, 2021 - by Eliza Souers, Lee University
Dr. Louis F. Morgan
Dr. Louis F. Morgan, director of library services and a professor at Lee University, has completed a post-graduate certification course through the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.
Dr. Morgan’s certification included studies of “Communicating for Influence and Impact” through the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership.
“I have a great affinity for Cambridge, so the opportunity to take a course, even if online from home, is very meaningful to me,” said Dr. Morgan. “It was quite an adjustment with the time commitment and reading required, but I was stretched, corrected, affirmed, and motivated by tutors and peers from many countries throughout the world.”