Author: Stuart Mitchell

Financial institutions failing to back low-carbon economy amid fossil fuel crises

Stuart Mitchell

The World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA) has released its latest Financial System Climate Assessment, showing the urgent need for 400 of the world’s most influential financial institutions to accelerate the shift of capital towards a low-carbon economy as repeated fossil fuel crises continue to expose them to economic and financial instability. While over one third of the assessed financial institutions have initial signs of transition planning towards a low-carbon economy, major gaps remain in the credibility of their plans. Only two out of 400 companies have robust commitments to phase out…

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Lidl GB And Neighbourly Maximise Food Sharing In Communities With New Olio Partnership

Stuart Mitchell

Lidl GB has announced an evolution of its long-standing partnership with Neighbourly, introducing a new trial with the popular food-sharing app Olio to redistribute even more surplus food. This landmark collaboration significantly scales up Lidl GB’s existing efforts with social impact platform Neighbourly by integrating Olio’s network of Food Waste Heroes into its surplus food network – combining the strengths of two leading players in food redistribution for the first time. Managed by Neighbourly, the new model introduces Olio’s Food Waste Hero network as an extra layer to support the…

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Extreme Weather Risk is Reshaping the Global Economy to the Tune of Nearly US$1 Trillion in Projected Losses

Stuart Mitchell

Extreme weather is already driving material financial impacts across the global economy, with risks set to escalate sharply according to new analysis from CDP, the world’s only independent environmental disclosure system. Of the 11,261 companies that disclosed full environmental data through CDP in 2025, only 35% identified extreme weather as a material financial risk. However, despite this, firms disclosed that it caused nearly US$3 billion in real losses in 2025 alone, primarily through increased direct costs (US$309 million) and operational shutdowns (US$266 million). Heavy rain was the largest single driver…

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Zapmap and Green Finance Institute report shows resilient demand as UK charging network matures

Stuart Mitchell

Zapmap and the Green Finance Institute (GFI) have published the third edition of their utilisation report, assessing how the public network has responded to the 470,000+ increase in EV drivers across 2025, and providing an updated view of whether the demand from EV drivers has outpaced the increase in supply of public EV chargers.   Covering Q1 2024 to Q4 2025, the report compares observed power delivery against stated capacity and is designed to equip investors, policymakers, and charge point operators with a clearer understanding of how utilisation, efficiency, and on-site…

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Banknote choice to be a ‘celebration of wildlife’ – but BofE must not forget ‘animal underdogs’

Stuart Mitchell

Yesterday, the Bank of England has launched an 18-animal strong shortlist – split into mammals, birds, amphibians, insects and fish – with the public asked to choose which animals will be the centrepiece of future £5, £10, £20 and £50 notes. Wildlife experts at the RSPCA previously welcomed the Bank of England’s announcement to feature wild animals on notes. And the charity now hopes the upcoming debate about which species get the nod will “encourage discussion” about the nation’s wildlife, how we can protect different species, and the unique role they…

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