Year: 2020

UNICEF and Microsoft launch improved, scalable technology to protect vulnerable children and women amid rise in domestic and gender-based violence due to COVID-19

Stuart Mitchell

UNICEF and Microsoft Corp. launched a new version of Primero called Primero X — an open source case management web application that helps social service providers coordinate critical support to vulnerable children. Key interventions include providing access to lifesaving services, such as family reunification and tracing, while still adhering to physical distancing and movement restrictions due to COVID-19. The launch of Primero X comes amid an increase in the rates of domestic and gender-based violence linked to the COVID-19 pandemic. Millions of children are now more vulnerable to violence, abuse…

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Sky Engineers on the road to net zero with arrival of Ford Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vans

Stuart Mitchell

Sky’s fleet is going green with the arrival of 151 Ford Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vans (PHEVs) to be used by its Sky Engineers across the UK. In February 2020, Sky set its commitment to be net zero carbon by 2030, two decades ahead of the government’s target and outlined its ambition to transition its fleet of more than 5,000 vehicles to zero emissions over the next ten years. Jeremy Darroch, Group Chief Executive of Sky, said: “This is an exciting move towards our Sky Zero commitment to be net zero…

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Nestlé redoubles efforts to combat climate change

Stuart Mitchell

As a signatory of the UN ‘Business Ambition for 1.5°C’ pledge, Nestlé is one of the first companies to share its detailed, time-bound plan (pdf, 10Mb) and to do so ahead of schedule. The company is taking measures to halve its emissions by 2030 and achieve net zero by 2050 – even as the company grows. Actions focus on supporting farmers and suppliers to advance regenerative agriculture, planting hundreds of millions of trees within the next 10 years and completing the company’s transition to 100 percent renewable electricity by 2025.…

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BlackRock Unveils New Offering to Power Investors’ Transition to Net Zero Emissions

Stuart Mitchell

Building on BlackRock’s strength in risk management through the Aladdin platform, BlackRock has announced it has created Aladdin Climate to meet the urgent need among financial institutions and investors to quantify climate risk in their portfolios as the physical toll of climate change mounts and the global transition to net zero emissions accelerates. Aladdin Climate is the first software application to offer investors measures of both the physical risk of climate change and the transition risk to a low-carbon economy on portfolios with climate-adjusted security valuations and risk metrics. Using…

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CIPR becomes fully virtual in move which embraces new ways of working and ensures more value to members

Stuart Mitchell

The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) is a virtual organisation after closing its London offices at the end of last week in a move that means it can “fully embrace new ways of working and ensure more resources are directed towards value to members”.  The move, first announced some months ago, follows an extended period of remote working in response to the pandemic. The reduction in fixed costs allows for sustained investment into member support services and the ability to meet charter obligations more effectively.  All contact with the CIPR should now be electronic and the Institute kindly requests no post…

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