In today’s edition:
⚡️ 50,000+ companies to report climate impact in EU
🚜 Lab-based producers think they can make the $70bn palm oil industry more sustainable
🌳 Delegates from 196 countries approve monitoring framework for global biodiversity goals
⚡️ Energy (1-minute read)
Over 50,000 companies to report climate impact in EU after pushback fails
What happened: More than 50,000 companies will need to assess the impact of their operations on the environment in the EU, with the first wave starting in January 2024 after lawmakers overcame right-wing opposition to pave the way for the green reporting requirements.
Details: Initially, more than 11,000 listed companies will have to comply from the start of 2024. However, the scope will expand to large non-listed companies and listed small and medium enterprises in 2025 and 2026, totalling around 50,000 entities.
Sides of the argument:
Those for… believe standardised, transparent, and comparable sustainability reporting will not just push companies forward in their transition but also inform investors and consumers. However, there has been some pushback that standards don’t go far enough – companies will be left some discretion over what is deemed “material” enough to disclose.
Those against … say standards burden companies too much because they are “complex and of a high quantity”. They also believe reds undermine Brussels’ effort to cut red tape amid fears that environmental legislation is hurting the competitiveness of EU companies.
Why it matters: The EU has set itself apart from markets such as the US by demanding that companies report on the impact of climate change and sustainability issues on their business and the impact their operations have on the environment — a concept known as “double materiality.” (Full story here).
🚜 AgriTech (1-minute read)
Brewing a greener future for Palm Oil
What happened: Palm oil is widely used in the food industry due to its affordability and versatility. However, its production is linked to severe environmental damage, with large areas of tropical forests cleared for monoculture oil palm plantations. Scientists are developing alternatives, with precision fermentation providing a means to grow palm oil in a lab.
Details: Precision fermentation involves multiplying microbes to create a specific product. Scientists and startups are using the technology to grow yeast in a fermentation tank before extracting the yeast’s oil which has the same properties as palm oil.
Powering up:
Greener: With green energy used to create the environment for the microbes to grow and multiply, the production process provides an environmentally sustainable alternative to conventional palm oil production.
More stable: Lab-grown palm oil is also more stable in price as supply isn’t impacted drastically by weather or geopolitical events.
Cost Challenges: Achieving price parity with conventional palm oil is the biggest challenge facing precision fermentation. The sugars needed to feed the yeast are costly. One solution is using waste products from bakeries and agriculture to lower costs. Scaling also provides a way to achieve price parity, but this brings more challenges, such as maintaining product purity and preventing contamination. (Full story here).
🌳 Nature (1-minute read)
UN scientists say “Yes” to biodiversity monitoring plan
What happened: Delegates from 196 countries attending the Convention on Biological Diversity approved a monitoring framework to measure progress towards the Global Biodiversity Framework’s (GBF) 23 targets. Biodiversity targets are pretty complex… so many view this as a positive step towards achieving global biodiversity targets, as it helps to overcome the persistent challenge of understanding what to measure.
Details: The delegates agreed to several indicators corresponding to the 23 biodiversity targets, such as Target 19, which aims to mobilise $200bn a year for biodiversity-related funding by 2030, and will be assessed by annual national reporting broken down by funding source.
Gaps remain: Several target indicators still have notable gaps, suggesting the monitoring approach remains incomplete. With countries expected to submit National Biodiversity Strategy and Actions Plans by COP16 next year, an incomplete set of indicators could mean fragmented results and risks the GBF’s successful implementation by 2030. (Full story here).
💭 Little Bytes
Quote: “We call on all parties attending COP28 to seek outcomes that will lay the groundwork to transform the global energy system towards a full phaseout of unabated fossil fuels and halve emissions this decade.” — An open letter signed by more than 130 businesses urging world leaders to agree on a timeline to ditch fossil fuels when countries meet for the UN climate summit in Dubai next month.
Stat: Forest loss driven by rubber production in Southeast Asia could be two to three times higher than estimated — research in Nature
Watch: The island that went from barren to a biodiverse oasis in 7 years
🗞 In other news…
EU environment ministers scrapped a commitment to ratchet up the bloc’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction target. The U-turn came after Poland, Hungary, and Italy objected to a pledge to increase the bloc’s emissions reduction target from 55 per cent by 2030 to 57 per cent, compared with 1990 levels. (Full story here).
Joe Biden’s administration awarded $7bn to US clean hydrogen projects on Friday, including several involving fossil fuel companies, as Washington moves to build up a sector hailed as key to its decarbonisation effort (Full story here).
Navigator CO₂ has abandoned plans to build a 1,300-mile pipeline across the US Midwest to collect and store carbon emissions from the corn ethanol industry following opposition from landowners and some environmental campaigners. (Full story here).
A survey of 400 British retailers has found that, of those implementing product resale and/or rental offerings, 82% found that it resulted in a revenue boost. (Full story here).
Brazilian President, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, has vetoed core parts of a bill backed by the country’s farm lobby that would have limited claims to ancestral lands by Indigenous people. The veto is a victory for the country’s Indigenous people, who strive to protect their land rights against advancing the agricultural frontier into the Amazon. (Full story here).
131 companies, including Nestle, Unilever, and Volvo Cars, wrote a letter urging political leaders to agree on a timeline at the upcoming UN Climate Summit to phase out fossil fuels. (Full story here).
Months after voting to ban the production and sale of cultivated meat in the country, Italy has withdrawn its notification of the proposed bill to the EU, boosting the lab-grown meat industry in Europe. (Full story here).
A major agreement of the UN COP27 climate summit fell into disarray after discussions to set up a fund to help countries suffering from the devastating effects of global warming collapsed. (Full story here).
🎣 Gone Phishing
Three of these stories are true, one we’ve made up. Guess which:
Police arrest man who pretended to be a mannequin before stealing jewellery
Man arrested for faking heart attack 20 times at restaurants to avoid paying bill
Teen prank turns sour as fake “alien invasion” call sparks emergency response
Nun tackles green activist as a protest over new a church turns violent
