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News Corporation Is Carbon-Neutral, Murdoch Says

2011 March 7
The News Corporation, the media conglomerate and parent company of Fox News Channel, has gone carbon-neutral, fulfilling a goal set four years ago, Rupert Murdoch, the company's chairman, announced this week in a companywide memo.

"We have become carbon-neutral across all of our global operations, and we are the first company of our kind to do so," Mr. Murdoch wrote. "We made a bold commitment in 2007 to embed the values of energy efficiency and environmental sustainability into all of our businesses - for the benefit of our communities and our bottom line."

Food prices worldwide could keep rising on oil and gas spike

2011 March 3
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Food prices worldwide continued to rise in February, and the recent spike in oil prices could push food costs even higher in the months ahead, according to a report from the United Nations.

The food price index, which measures prices for a basket of food commodities, rose 2.2% last month, according to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization. The index has increased for the last eight months in a row, and is at the highest level since it was created in 1990.

Supercars and Special Editions Send Mixed Message – NYTimes.com

2011 March 3
GENEVA - The 81st Geneva Motor Show, which is billed as a window into the future of a more environmentally responsible and sustainable auto industry, is sending something of a mixed message to the consumer.

Is a greener future just around the corner for the automobile? Or is it last call - and while you're pouring, let's make it a double - at the horsepower party?

Roubini Global Economics – Is Food the Only Culprit Behind Asia’s Inflation?

2011 March 2
Food prices boosted inflation in China and India, whereas a stronger currency slowed inflation in Malaysia. Japan's Q4 GDP contracted as fiscal stimulus withdrawal weighed on consumption, while nonelectronic products boosted Singapore's exports in January.


**good graphs

Group to Rate Environmental Impact of Clothing

2011 March 2
Calling itself the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, the group intends to announce Tuesday that it is developing a comprehensive database of the environmental impact of every manufacturer, component and process in apparel production, with the aim of using that information to eventually give every garment a sustainability score.

Wen Says China to Lower Growth Target – WSJ.com

2011 March 2
China's Premier Wen Jiabao said the government wants slower economic growth to avoid inflation and to restructure the economy, even as much of the developed world is struggling to accelerate expansion.

While official targets routinely underestimate growth, the move is nonetheless an important signal that government priorities in the world's No. 2 economy are shifting to reduce dependence on exports and capital-intensive industries in favor of creating conditions for more domestic demand.

China's stunning rise has come through huge investment in capital-intensive industries like steel and by turning itself into the world's factory floor, manned by workers who migrate to coastal cities from impoverished rural areas. But China's growth rate of more than 9% a year over the past three decades has come with steep costs: heavy pollution, a sharp increase in inequality and pervasive corruption.

BeyondHFCs.org – Advocating the case for Natural Refrigerants Worldwide

2011 March 2
Brussels, 2 March 2011: The US Environment Protection Agency (EPA) just announced that the refrigerant HFO-1234yf has been approved for use in car air-conditioning systems. The approval was granted despite open questions regarding the substance's impact on health and the environment that have led several organisations to openly advice against its use.

"The US administration has approved a substance whose evolution is not fully foreseeable yet. HFO-1234yf can be the next environmental time bomb: HCFC destroyed the ozone layer and HFCs are climate warming gases. Each time, chemical substances were praised to be the solution for all problems, only to reveal their nasty surprises in the short run", says Christianna Papazahariou, head of the campaign BeyondHFCs.

Navigating The Voluntary Sustainability Reporting Maze

2011 March 2
Environmental risks categorized as reputational, operational, or legislative

Conservative point of view: Restricted access to oil reserves due to global support for conservation and/or local opposition to oil and gas development, the WRI estimates, could lead to negative impacts on the shareholder value of these companies of up to 5 percent.

High Commodity Food-Price Decade Challenges All Global Managers – Adam Gordon – Management By Looking Ahead – Forbes

2011 March 2
What is evident is global production is not keeping up, or not yet, so in any plausible future prices cannot be coming down soon. High food prices are therefore what scenario planners would call a ‘predetermined element' - something we should expect for a decade at least, until supply conditions fundamentally adjust.

In terms of thinking intelligently about the future and how to manage it, food is a very clear driver. This is because it is, of all commodities, obviously the most "inelastic" to demand conditions. People can significantly cut their consumption of iPods or scooters, or even health care and education, but not food staples.

The question for leaders and planners is, where does the food-price-crisis go from here; what kind of global operating conditions does it imply for businesses? Is the Arab revolt the extent of it, or are we to be rocked by deeper global social upheaval? Or real famine?

Australian Carbon Price to Cost ASX200 up to $3.3 Billion

2011 February 28
Melbourne, 25th February, 2011 - Research conducted by carbon analytics firm RepuTex, indicates that S&P ASX 200 companies would face annual carbon costs of up to $3.3 billion should an interim price on carbon be introduced in 2012, as announced yesterday by the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard. 47% of this potential cost, or $1.57bn would be passed on to consumers, leaving a net liability of $1.75bn on S&P ASX 200 companies. Forward looking exposure is subsequently expected to be material on Australian companies, impacting returns along with financing, investment and competition, notably within the Power, Energy, Transportation and Materials sectors.