BBC (November 15)
Unilever unveiled its Sustainable Living Plan. With this business model, the company aims to double sales in 10 years while cutting the environmental impact of its products in half. The company will produce an annual report to document progress on these and other sustainability goals. Unilever’s Chief Executive Paul Polman said a sustainable model is “the only way to do business long term.” Rather than viewing sustainability as conflicting with business growth, he notes “there is a compelling case for sustainable growth—retailers and consumers demand it and it saves us money.” On top of that, “there is no way of arriving at a sustainable world that does not involve businesses making money.” The BBC notes that while many leading multinationals are reducing their environmental impact few “have made such concrete commitments on environmental policy as Unilever.”
Unilever unveiled its Sustainable Living Plan. With this business model, the company aims to double sales in 10 years while cutting the environmental impact of its products in half. The company will produce an annual report to document progress on these and other sustainability goals. Unilever’s Chief Executive Paul Polman said a sustainable model is “the only way to do business long term.” Rather than viewing sustainability as conflicting with business growth, he notes “there is a compelling case for sustainable growth—retailers and consumers demand it and it saves us money.” On top of that, “there is no way of arrive at a sustainable world that does not involve businesses making money.” The BBC notes that while many leading multinationals are reducing their environmental impact few “have made such concrete commitments on environmental policy as Unilever.”
Tags: Annual report, Environment, Sustainability, Unilever
Financial Times (October 20)
A UN report has put “a price on the priceless,” valuing global environmental damage at $2-4.5 trillion each year. Though the estimate is wide, it is still useful. The estimate drives home the extent of the damage we inflict on the natural world. “Pricing the toll of human activity also allows us to prioritize our actions more rationally.”
Tags: Damage, Environment, UN
Economist (September 23)
There is hope for the world’s forests. Nations known for chopping down trees “have started to hug them.” For example, Brazil’s deforestation rate dropped from 2.8 million hectares in 2004 to 750,000 hectares in 2009. The “progress made in recent years shows that mankind is not doomed to strip the planet of its forest cover.” Yet the change “is not happening fast enough,” leading the Economist to call for quick action.
Tags: Brazil, Deforestation, Environment, Forests
LA Times (August 15)
China’s use of disposable chopsticks is “an environmental disaster not to be taken lightly.” China’s disposes of 45 billion pairs of chopsticks every year. Every day 100 acres of trees are cut down to provide disposable chopsticks. The Chinese government is taking aim at this environmental problem by encouraging reuse and recycling, but no speedy solution is expected. It remains very cheap for restaurants to throw chopsticks away (about $.01 per pair).
Tags: China, Chopsticks, Environment
