News & Views

At COP 28, while countries finally agreed to support moving the global economy away from fossil fuels, many wonder if they mean it, or if they can achieve it.

With no enforcement mechanisms, no clear timelines for action and insufficient finance for poorer nations, this is unlikely to hold the world to the relatively ‘safe’ limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius of global warming.

See a wrap up of the issue in the Thomson Reuters Context Newsletter HERE.

Those of you who have been on a sustainability journey for some time may remember the Interface Flooring journey, and their founder Ray Anderson's ground-breaking publication, 'Mid Course Correction'.

Fifty years on, Interface talk about their journey with Sustainable Business, and 'Walk the Talk' with an interesting 'Early Adopter’s Guide to Sustainability:5 Lessons Learned'

Have a read HERE

In closing out 2023, Volunteering Australia have published their latest Annual Report

2023 has been a highly significant year for Volunteering Australia and for the wider volunteering ecosystem. The report provides a snapshot of the work undertaken by Volunteering Australia, highlighting  the power of collective action and the spirit of giving that has been the driving force behind their efforts.

Read the Report HERE. 

Looking for stronger action at COP28 and beyond, the Science-Based Targets Institute (SBTi) has launched a new call to action: “Supply Change: Take Action On Supply Chains Today”. The call is designed to encourage companies to engage their supply chains to set science-based targets. By sparking a snowball effect of action, companies can make considerable progress towards addressing their scope 3 emissions. 

See more about this at the SBTi Website HERE

The Modern Slavery Amendment (Australian Anti-Slavery Commissioner) Bill 2023 has been introduced to Parliament by the Attorney General and proposes the establishment of the first Federal Anti-Slavery Commissioner. This is a landmark reform which builds on the commitment to add a new, independent pillar to Australia’s comprehensive response to modern slavery.

The Bill amends the Modern Slavery Act 2018 to establish the core functions of the Anti-Slavery Commissioner, including engaging and supporting victims and survivors of modern slavery and supporting business to address risks of modern slavery practices in their operations and supply chains.

See the press release HERE.

Pride in Diversity have released the third in the series of fact sheets around recruitment and employment for people who have a trans and/or a gender diverse experience, which focusses on the barriers they face.

This series has been made possible by generous support from BHP. While much work has been done to support trans and gender diverse people within the workplace over the last years, there is still much to do.

Organisations have the opportunity to address some difficult challenges which trans and/or gender diverse people face securing meaningful work aligned with their skills and experience, predominately due to the significant challenges faced during the initial stages of the application and recruitment process.

Read the fact sheet HERE

With the window to avoid irreversible climate impacts rapidly closing, immediate and ambitious action is now needed to limit warming to 1.5°C.

Systems Change Lab's "State of Climate Action 2023" recent report provides the world's most comprehensive roadmap of how to close the gap in climate action across sectors to address this anticipated warming. See the Systems Change Lab website HERE and the report HERE. 

More and more consumers are looking to purchase products that have less impact on the environment, and since 2007, Carbon Trust have been providing 'footprint labels' with over 27,000 labelled and verifiable products. In order to provide greater transparency and clarity, the format of the label is now changing to allow consumers to see the carbon footprint of the product, as well as allowing the manufacturer to display their credentials.

Not in Australia yet, however the scheme allows consumers to choose products offered by brands committed to taking action to reduce their impact. See the Carbon Trust story HERE.

Net Zero Tracker (NZT) have recently assessed their 1,000th company and have found that 66% of the annual revenue of the world’s largest 2000 companies is now covered by a net zero target. This means that the number of company net zero targets (in the UK) has risen by more than 40% in 16 months — from 702 in June 2022 to 1,003 in October 2023.

John Lang, Project lead for net Zero Tracker said "now we can say for certain that most of the world’s largest companies have shifted to the right side of the line on net zero intent." See their release HERE.

"Broken Record", is the UN Environment Programme's 2023 Emissions Gap Report and it finds that as greenhouse gas emissions hit new highs, temperature records tumble and climate impacts intensify, the world is heading for a temperature rise far above the Paris Agreement goals. The report is the 14th edition in a series that brings together many of the world’s top climate scientists to look at future trends in greenhouse gas emissions and provide potential solutions to the challenge of global warming. See the report HERE, or a quick YouTube video HERE.