The Triple Bottom - 🌱 Plastic-eating Superworms

California pledges $300mn to tackle methane leaks
Problem: Carbon Dioxide commands the attention of many organisations committed to lowering greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). Yet, Methane has 84x the warming power of carbon dioxide during its first two decades in the atmosphere. 
Funding: The California Governor’s California Climate Commitment, a historic $47.1 billion proposal, includes $200 million for remediating idle oil wells (A significant source of methane emissions) and $100 million for methane-detecting satellites. 
Importance: These satellites will be critical for California regulators to hold polluters accountable, and the rest of the world will benefit from access to precision mapping data on leaks

New carbon offsetting code aims to stop greenwashing
The Provisional Claims Code of Practice, developed by the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI), aims to ensure carbon markets deliver the levels of mitigation and sequestration needed. The Provisional Code provides businesses with a simple method for categorising offsetting claims as Gold, Silver or Bronze, intended to set clear benchmarks for corporate use of carbon offsets. A cohort of businesses (incl. Google, Unilever & Hitachi) will test the Provisional Code for the remainder of the year and provide feedback for improvements.
A lingering question: The VCMI focuses entirely on how companies use offsets rather than assessing the offset schemes behind them, a task pursued under a separate initiative by the (unhelpfully similarly named) Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market.

H&M and Lululemon back $250mn Fashion Climate Fund
The fund aims to speed-up efforts to cut carbon emissions in the fashion industry’s supply chain as new research shows 96% of the fashion industry’s emissions come from third-party farms and factories. The fund brings together clothing brands and philanthropic donors to finance various initiatives such as expanding renewable energy use, developing next-generation materials and ditching coal in manufacturing.

A precarious economy is influencing climate tech investment 
Per PitchBook, climate tech startups have raised $13.7bn in investment across 369 deals this year. 2022 is seeing investors broaden their scope to encompass a mix of startups focused on carbon capture and renewable energy. The largest deal this year (worth $650mn) was Climeworks, which developed carbon capture and storage plants that pull carbon dioxide from the air and store it underground. Why are we telling you this? As the economy becomes more precarious, the focus of investment changes. Analysts predict investment will focus on renewable energy and carbon capture as investors seek tech with a durable competitive advantage (to provide returns during periods of high inflation and potential economic downturn).

• China releases its first ESG disclosure standard which is based on relevant Chinese laws, regulations and standards while considering China’s context.

• Sustainable aviation fuel market is expected to experience tremendous growth during period 2022-2032 (worth $220mn in 2021, and expected to reach $15bn by 2030).

• Key pieces of the EU’s climate legislation failed to pass the European parliament as lawmakers refused to adopt positions of reform on areas such as the EU’s carbon market.

• UK supermarket Co-op launch a New digital platform with aims to optimise surplus food redistribution and fight food waste

• Following the destruction of hurricane Maria nearly 5-years ago residents of Puerto Rican towns are installing rooftop solar panels and taking energy needs into their own hands

3 of these stories are true, 1 is not, guess which…

• Scientists develop living, human skin on robotic finger

• A robotic car that communicates with humans

• Listening to coral allows scientists to track its health

• Life-sized robotic giraff helping conservation efforts