£4m Investment Boost for Charity Bank to Fuel Continued Growth in New Lending

Charity Bank, the loans and savings bank for positive social change, today announced £4m in new equity investments from six new investors as well as an approved investment from its existing shareholder, Big Society Capital.  By leveraging these investments with deposits, the bank will be able to make more than £32m in new loans to UK charities and social enterprises at a time when the social sector is in acute need of sustainable financing solutions. The Garfield Weston Foundation (£1m investment), The Clothworker’s Foundation (£1m), Bank Workers Charity (£250k), Places…

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Dogger Bank Wind Farm announces “Net Zero Carbon” operations and maintenance base

Dogger Bank Wind Farm has revealed that its new operations and maintenance (O&M) base will be constructed and operated in line with the UK Green Building Council’s (UKGBC) Net Zero Carbon Buildings Framework to ensure transparent and robust reporting of its sustainability credentials. The facility, to be located at the Port of Tyne, will support what will become the biggest offshore wind farm in the world upon completion. Construction of the base is expected to start in Q3 2021 and end in Q3 2022, ahead of wind farm operations starting…

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New report launched on World Octopus Day reveals eight reasons why octopus farming is cruel and must be stopped

A new report released by leading farm animal welfare charity Compassion in World Farming on World Octopus Day (8 October 2021) reveals eight reasons why octopus factory farming is cruel, damaging to the planet, and must be stopped. This comes just two months after an octopus was reportedly being sold for just 36p in a UK supermarket, causing a public outcry. The report – ‘Octopus Factory Farming – A Recipe for Disaster’ – reveals how plans to expand octopus factory farming would cause them to suffer greatly due to their…

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Clipper Teas pledges support to Fairtrade farmers in run up to COP26

Pioneering Fairtrade tea brand, Clipper Teas, has joined forces with other Fairtrade partners worldwide to pledge its support for Fairtrade farmers in their call for climate justice ahead of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, UK, this November.  Ecotone-owned Clipper is one of a number of companies which has signed a business pledge urging world governments and leaders to listen to the voices of farmers – the people who grow the world’s food and other essential goods in low-income, climate-vulnerable nations – as the farmers call for urgent action at COP26.    The climate crisis is having a disproportionate…

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Scotland’s heat in buildings strategy published

Ramping up delivery of renewable heating systems, driving a widespread improvement in the energy performance of buildings and investment of at least £1.8 billion are at the heart of a new plan for tackling one of Scotland’s biggest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. The Heat in Buildings Strategy sets out the pathway for cutting greenhouse gas emissions from our homes and buildings – which currently account for about a fifth of Scotland’s emissions – by more than two thirds by 2030. It will require over a million homes and the…

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