Month: October 2025

Progress in refugee education at risk from funding cuts, UNHCR warns

Stuart Mitchell

Cuts to humanitarian and development aid are putting hard-won recent progress in refugee education at risk, warns UNHCR in the tenth edition of its annual Refugee Education Report, published today.  “There have been tremendous efforts to increase enrolment at all levels for refugees,” Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said in the report’s foreword. “But there is still so much more to do.” Strikingly, the report shows a leap forward in tertiary enrolment to 9 per cent, up from 7 per cent last year and well on progress to…

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CAP – Keeping the regulator sweet

Stuart Mitchell

The ASA/CAP have released a post called: Keeping the regulator sweet. I have enclosed the text of the link below, but please have a look at the ASA/CAP site as there are lots of things of interest to anyone with an interest in Ethical Marketing. We’ve all seen claims regarding sugar. “Sugar free”, “no added sugar” and “natural sweeteners” may seem like they are sprinkled around but, like sugar itself, marketers should use such claims carefully. “No added sugars” The CAP Code prohibits nutrition claims for foods unless they are authorised…

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Removing gas-fired power stations from ‘rigged’ electricity market could lower UK energy bills by over £5bn a year, report finds

Stuart Mitchell

The government could save households and businesses £5.1 billion a year on their energy bills, as soon as 2028, by overhauling the electricity market to stop gas-fired power stations from ‘unfair profiteering’, a new report published recently by Greenpeace UK has found. The new research from policy consultancy, Stonehaven – which was commissioned by Greenpeace UK – outlines energy system reforms that would remove gas plants from the wholesale electricity market and place them into a strategic reserve. This would stop expensive gas from setting electricity prices, protect UK billpayers…

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Fidra Energy reaches financial close on the UK’s largest battery energy storage project, backed by EIG and the National Wealth Fund

Stuart Mitchell

Fidra Energy, a European battery energy storage system (BESS) platform headquartered in Edinburgh, UK, today announced it has secured up to £445 million of new equity investment from EIG and the National Wealth Fund (the NWF) as it reaches financial close on the UK’s largest Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) project at its Thorpe Marsh site in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Construction of Thorpe Marsh is set to begin immediately and, in addition to the investment by EIG and the NWF, will be funded by new loan facilities of £594 million…

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PepsiCo, Mars, and ADM Partner to Advance Regenerative Agriculture to Support Farmers in Poland Through a Holistic, Landscape-Level Approach

Stuart Mitchell

PepsiCo, Mars and ADM, global leaders in food, drinks, and pet care, have partnered to launch a regenerative agriculture program in Poland, supporting 24 farmers in adopting sustainable practices across their crop rotations. The initiative covers 5,454 hectares in total, with Mars supporting regenerative wheat across 3,359 hectares for pet care brands such as WHISKAS® and PEDIGREE®, and PepsiCo advancing sustainable rapeseed cultivation across 2,160 hectares for some of its iconic brands such as Lay’s and Doritos. In Western Poland, the initiative moves beyond single-crop sustainability efforts, instead focusing on…

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