CSR News Stories
UK: Companies call for targets on low carbon power
A number of major businesses have called on the government to adopt a 2030 target for reduced carbon from the power sector. The current Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has been hostile to such targets to date, attacking green policies as a burden on business.
US: Diageo pulls funding from climate change denier institute
Drinks giant Diageo has said it will avoid funding the Heartland Institute following a campaign that compared people who believe in the reality of climate change with mass murderers.
World's largest companies taking action on climate change
More than two thirds of the top 500 companies in the world have now put climate change as a key focus in their strategy, according to the Carbon Disclosure Project.
Sony pulls support from climate change campaign after 'tasteless video'
Sony is withdrawing from the climate change campaign 10:10 following a video aimed at building support for the initiative that graphically shows non-supporters being blown up. The company said that the video was "ill-conceived and tasteless".
US oil company donated millions to climate sceptic groups, says Greenpeace
A Greenpeace investigation has identified a little-known, privately owned US oil company as the paymaster of global warming sceptics in the US and Europe.
Uganda: Tullow Oil controversially get licence to flare gas
Tullow Oil has reached agreement with the Ugandan government that it will be allowed to flare gas at its operations in the country - a process that would release large quantities of greenhouse gases, according to an NGO report.
US: Key companies quit climate change coalition
BP, Caterpillar and ConocoPhillips have said that they are to pull membership of the Climate Action Partnership - the group of companies that had been supporting President Obama's climate change legislation agenda. The companies said they would devote resources to furthering their business interests in other ways.
US: Utility PG&E withdraws from Chamber of Commerce over climate change
Pacific Gas and Electric, the California-based utility, has pulled its membership of the US Chamber of Commerce over the chamber's sceptical line on global warming. The chairman Peter A. Darbee said: "We find it dismaying that the chamber neglects the indisputable fact that a decisive majority of experts have said that the data on global warming are compelling and point to a threat that cannot be ignored".
Aviation industry pledges 50 percent cuts in emissions
Airlines have agreed that they will aim to cut emissions of greenhouse gases to 50 percent below 2005 levels by 2050. The move, which aims to pre-empt unfavourable attention at the Copenhagen summit in December, is the most radical vision to date of the future of air travel.
UK: Businesses break ranks to lobby against new Heathrow runway
A group of senior business leaders have broken the business consensus in favour of airport expansion to oppose the government's plans for a third runway at Heathrow on environmental grounds.
US: High-carbon gambles will not pay off, businesses told
The US lead negotiator on climate change, Todd Stern, has warned industry that money spent on high-carbon infrastructure is likely to be wasted within a few years as such business becomes untenable in the light of future global agreements.
UK: Former BP CEO says market is failing on clean energy
Lord Browne, the former CEO of oil giant BP, has said that market mechanisms are falling well short of delivering the growth in renewable and clean energy that is required, and the government needs to intervene.
UK: Shell angers campaigners with renewables shift to biofuels
Royal Dutch Shell has said that it is to reduce future investment in solar and wind power to focus its renewable energy activity more on biofuels. The company has said that it is pursuing its priority of giving best returns to shareholders, and returns on other alternatives, even with considerable public subsidy, are not sufficient.
US: Standard & Poor's launch Carbon Efficient Index
Standard & Poor's has launched the S&P US Carbon Efficient Index, which excludes the 100 most carbon-heavy companies from the standard S&P 500. It said that the new Index had an average annual carbon footprint around 48 percent lower than the standard Index.
Airlines coalition calls for air emissions to be included in climate change treaty
Four leading airlines, plus the UK airport operator, have formed an industry coalition to campaign for aviation emissions to be included in an international deal on climate change.
UK: Carbon positive cement developed
A British company has produced a new type of cement which, rather than being the huge carbon emitter that is traditional cement, actually absorbs more CO2 from the atmosphere than it produces - making it a potentially powerful breakthrough in the fight against climate change.
UK: Lush cosmetics firm funds direct action airport group
Cosmetics retailer Lush has emerged as a funder for climate change protesters that occupied one of London's airports and closed it for half a day before being removed by police.
Australia: Coal industry launches public engagement on climate change
Australia's coal industry has made a bid to win greater public support and understanding in the face of growing perceptions that it is one of the chief sectors to blame for climate change. The Australian Coal Association is running newspaper ads, and has set up a website aimed at spreading information and encouraging debate.
EU: Air industry pollution limits provoke furious response
Airlines have criticised a move by the European Union to limit carbon emissions to 97 percent of 2005 levels, arguing that the measure will make the current fight for survival even tougher.
Italy: Eni and Enel to create first carbon capture project
Power firm Enel and oil company Eni have struck an agreement with the Italian government to create the country's first carbon sequestration project, aimed at reducing carbon emissions from coal-fired power generation.
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Special Feature
Social responsibility and finance - on the precipice
In a recent article, the BBC's economics editor Robert Peston highlighted the fact that in 2012 the chances are that the economy - punch drunk as it is from the various flavours of debt crisis it has been pummelled with over the course of the year - will be hit by the collapse of a major bank and / or government.
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