Green Scene

Analysis: Mind the emissions gap – why now is the time to act

The latest UN report shows that climate action is lagging well behind what’s needed. Countries must get serious, say experts at the World Resources Institute. The UN’s annual Emissions Gap Report takes stock of where global greenhouse gas emissions are headed versus where they need to be if we are to avoid the worst effects…

Irish beef sells itself on its green and natural credentials. Does it live up to the hype and what part can it play in a sustainable diet? Footprint’s Amy Fetzer investigates. It’s a funny few days to be finding out more about Irish beef and the Irish Food Board’s sustainability programme, Origin Green. Checking the…

Will Boston Tea Party kick off a coffee revolution?

The café chain’s total ban on single-use cups is a bold move that its customers may not be ready for. By David Burrows. From today (June 1st) single-use coffee cups will be banned at Boston Tea Party’s (BTP) 21 stores. It’s a bold move, not least because takeaway hot drinks are responsible for 5.2% of…

The best sustainability strategies are those that are aligned with an organisation’s goals and impacts, and which don’t shy away from stretching targets. So what can be learned from Sodexo’s Better Tomorrow 2025? Amy Fetzer reports. It’s all about impact. When setting sustainability strategy, the key question that should be asked is: what and where…

Why businesses need to take biodiversity seriously

Our food system is advancing the destruction of the natural world; but food businesses have the power to reverse it. By Nick Hughes. Delegates of a fatalistic disposition will have come away from October’s Extinction and Livestock conference in London feeling even more despondent about the state of our planet. The shocking statistics about the…

Food fraud: the dark side of ethical eating

Criminals have seen a chance to profit from the boom in sustainable food and businesses need to take the problem seriously, writes Nick Hughes. It’s an unfortunate paradox of the market economy that as a desirable market prospers a less desirable one is sure to emerge in its shadow. Such is the case with ethical…

Campaigners have cried foul over Sainsbury’s decision to stop working with the Fairtrade Foundation on tea, but is it really the ‘regressive step’ critics claim? By David Burrows. Sainsbury’s was one of the first retailers to sell Fairtrade products, and in the past 20 years or so it’s grown into the world’s largest retailer of…

The beer giant is refreshing parts of an industry its rivals haven’t reached, with a zero-carbon brewery in Göss. David Burrows reports from Austria. Chatting over a few steins in the Austrian town of Göss, Michael Dickstein admits the concept of a zero-carbon beer might not resonate with the majority of drinkers. His marketing team…

The landmark Paris Agreement on climate change offers big opportunities for businesses that move fast, writes Frances Way. The low-carbon revolution is here. That’s the message sent to the private sector by the landmark Paris Agreement on climate change, which became international law in November after ratification at unprecedented speed by the international community. The…

Suspension from the RSPO has knocked supplier IOI but it’s the kicking from its customers that hurts most – and big food brands kick hard when their sustainability reputation is at risk. The IOI Group’s chief executive officer, Dato’ Lee Yeow Chor, said the decision to sue the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) was…