A curated roundup of news impacting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Plant-Based Innovation World Wildlife Fund Growing our knowledge on plant-based plastic | Blog Posts | WWF (14 February 2022)- Of all new plastic, 99% is made from fossil fuels like oil and natural gas, meaning the plastic that we use today starts trashing our planet long before it becomes trash. From the moment they’re made, these conventional plastics are contributing to climate change, degrading habitats, and threatening communities around the world.
- The European Alliance for Plant-based Foods (EAPF) brings together like-minded organisations in the plant-based value chain – from industry to the non-profit sector – around a unique vision: Europe spearheading the transformation towards a sustainable plant-based food system for the good of the people and the planet.
- Sysco Corporation (NYSE: SYY), the leading global foodservice distribution company, has been added to the list of U.S. Food Loss and Waste 2030 Champions by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The U.S. Food Loss and Waste 2030 Champions are businesses and organizations that have made a public commitment to reduce food loss and waste in their own operations in the United States by 50% by the year 2030.
- Chinova Bioworks co-founders Dhayagude and Brown met at an entrepreneurship accelerator and incubator and found a common interest in the science of mushrooms, reducing food waste and sustainable solutions for clean-label ingredients. Since then the founders and team have been working tirelessly to tap into the amazing protective qualities of mushroom extract.
- The Coca-Cola Company today announced an industry-leading goal to significantly boost its use of reusable packaging. By 2030, the company aims to have at least 25% of all beverages globally across its portfolio of brands sold in refillable/returnable glass or plastic bottles, or in refillable containers through traditional fountain or Coca-Cola Freestyle dispensers.
- Sian Sutherland, co-founder of campaign group A Plastic Planet, interviews our Head of Packaging, Pablo Costa, about the opportunities and challenges, the system shifts required and the potential game-changing solutions.
- Just about every day, a new partnership, acquisition, technology, or goal related to recycling, sustainability or the circular economy is announced. The list of announcements will continue unabated this year, understandably so with sustainability goals and plastic waste increasingly topping the agendas of corporate boardrooms, investors, and consumers.
- One hundred personal care brands based in more than 15 countries are partnering in an effort to remove 4127 tons of plastic waste every year. The brands partnered with rePurpose Global to tackle the issue of plastic pollution globally by going plastic neutral, plastic negative, or pledging waste removal through the organization’s 14 impact projects.
- The United Nations, the U.S. and France have set their sights on forging an ambitious U.N. treaty to reduce the amount of plastic pollution in the world’s oceans. They’re hoping to get other nations to sign onto a deal modeled on the 2015 Paris climate pact.
- The One Ocean Summit in Brest began with high hopes. It was convened by the French president, Emmanuel Macron and its chief organizer, Olivier Poivre d’Arvor – France’s ambassador for the north and south poles and marine issues – who claimed it would create “unprecedented international political engagement” for a vast range of ocean problems.
- Education needs to be one of the key pillars for action by countries across the world to better protect the seas and oceans from damaging climate change, said the head of the UN Scientific, Educational, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
- The number of places on Earth with the right combination of natural climate and geography for the Olympic Winter Games is already inherently limited. But as global temperatures rise from the burning of fossil fuels, the list is narrowing further.
- From health in a world still plagued by the COVID-19 pandemic to youth empowerment and climate change, the investments will respond to the challenges of our time, said the Fund in a press release. Kenya, Madagascar, North Macedonia, Suriname, and Zimbabwe were selected from proposals submitted by over 100 countries, as being the most impactful and investment-ready to take public.
- 2022 marks the second year of the last decade we have to solve climate change. Scientists are unanimous that we must halve global carbon emissions by 2030 to have a chance of avoiding the worst impacts of climate change.
