With so much going on in the realm of sustainability, leadership, and innovation, and only a limited amount of bandwidth for professionals in this space to keep up with the news, we have created this weekly post to news, articles, and publications that we feel are (1) important, (2) relevant, and (3) interesting in the areas of business sustainability. If you have an article that you feel needs to be mentioned, please do so in the comments section.
Rural Water, Not City Smog, May Be China’s Pollution Nightmare
Whilst the issue of air pollution is one that is attracting the attention of media around the world and China’s cities are battling hard to mitigate against its further development, China’s rural areas are facing an arguably greater, less tangible problem – water pollution. Whilst the cities draw from deep aquifers, rural areas does not have this luxury and many of the surrounding water sources are consider unfit for drinking.
Supercharging sustainability metrics with science
While many businesses set conventional sustainability goals that stakeholders expect — either reaching for low-hanging fruit or grasping for incremental and often random targets, a newer generation of sustainability goals are being set by leading companies that are science-based, aspirational, and aligned to the core sustainability issues surrounding the business.
Peabody Bankruptcy Offers Stark Warning To Oil And Gas Groups Of Risks Of Ignoring Climate Change
A new era in the global energy industry was marked this week when the world’s largest private sector coal mining firm filed for bankruptcy. A $20 billion company just 5 years ago, Peabody Energy realised just how quickly things can change amid growth in natural gas, cheaper renewables and stricter environmental regulations. Rather than just an indication of a mismanaged company, this is a signal of an industry in decline.
We’re running out of water, and the world’s powers are very worried
Water is our most precious natural resource and the growing levels of water scarcity are starting to raise real concerns amongst our top decision makers. Secret conversations between American diplomats show how a growing water crisis in the Middle East destabilised the region, helping spark civil wars in Syria and Yemen, and how those water shortages are spreading to the United States and further a field.