Day: 14 February 2023

Running on Sunshine: Octopus Energy enters solar installation market

Stuart Mitchell

Octopus Energy is adding domestic solar photovoltaic (PV) to its catalogue of home energy tech installation, helping to slash customers’ electricity bills and create a multitude of new green jobs. Octopus Energy’s engineering arm, Octopus Energy Services, which already installed electric vehicle chargers, air-source heat pumps and smart meters, is now also installing solar panels. The company is aiming to quickly ramp up the rollout, targeting 5,000 installations in 2023. The new service is launching across the Midlands and the South, with a view to expand it nationwide within the…

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Waitrose cans small bottles from the wine aisle

Stuart Mitchell

Waitrose has announced plans to move small wine formats from bottles into cans.  From 15th January, the majority of small wine formats (apart from Champagne. Prosecco and Cava, and Rioja, due to appellation restrictions) were moved from glass bottles to aluminium cans as part of our ambition to reduce our carbon footprint. Barry Dick, MW, Beer, Wine and Spirit Bulk Sourcing Manager at Waitrose comments:  “We’re delighted to pioneer this move and make reducing waste even easier for our customers. Aluminium cans weigh significantly less than glass and create less…

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Kate Hughes appointed as Resilient Water Accelerator CEO to drive water investment for millions

Stuart Mitchell

WaterAid is delighted to have appointed Kate Hughes as its first Resilient Water Accelerator CEO.   Kate, who started in the role this week (January 9th) will lead on further strengthening the charity’s relationships with governments and the private sector to facilitate sustainable water projects at scale, impacting millions of people on the frontline of the climate crisis.   Kate has a formidable track record of working on climate and sustainability, most recently as Director for International Climate Finance and Strategy in the UK Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy.   She…

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New Research Shows Legislation to Boycott ESG May Cost State Taxpayers up to $700 Million in Excess Payments

Stuart Mitchell

As several states consider new anti-sustainable investing initiatives, new analysis shows taxpayers in six states could have been on the hook for up to $700 million in excess interest payments, if restrictions on sustainable investing had been in place. State officials and state legislatures have either passed or will consider bills and initiatives based on a piece of model legislation developed by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), part of a coordinated conservative effort to prop up the fossil fuel industry while putting retirement nest-eggs at risk.    “The firefighters’, school…

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Textiles industry neglecting E and S of ESG, new research finds

Stuart Mitchell

Textile industry shareholder meetings are too focused on governance, to the exclusion of environmental and social proposals, according to new research by financial think tank Planet Tracker, Under Dressed. Of the 1,198 ESG proposals submitted to the annual shareholder meetings of retailers in the Planet Tracker universe since 2015, 87% were on governance issues whilst social and environmental proposals accounted for just 11% and 2% respectively. The research has found that key industry issues, such as fibre mix are not raised in shareholder meetings. Investigations into the data found no…

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