The Triple Bottom - 🌱 The rise of the green unicorn

European supermarkets drop Brazilian beef products over deforestation links
European supermarkets have dropped beef products produced by JBS, the world's largest beef company, from their shelves. This action comes following an investigation linking JBS beef produce to deforestation in Brazil. The report found multiple examples of “cattle laundering” - beef processed by JBS at it slaughterhouses in low-deforestation areas (like Sao Paula), but sourced from cattle raised on farms tied to destruction in the Amazon rainforest, Cerrado woody savannah, and Pantanna tropical wetlands. 
Why’s it important? Pledges being put into action - a series of concrete commercial actions to stop buying and selling beef linked to environmental destruction.

UK watchdog targets fashion brands over greenwashing
The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is cracking down on the fashion industry over misleading claims about their environmental credentials. The watchdog will prioritise fashion due to consumer priorities for sustainable goods. 
For brands? If any claims are found to be spurious then they may be forced to change their advertising, or even face court action.
Why now? Growing concern over the environmental impact of the fashion industry (up to 8% of global carbon emissions) and recently Changing Markets Foundation found 60% of claims by European fashion houses were “unsubstantiated and misleading shoppers” to gain a competitive edge.
 

Battery costs soar as lithium demand outstrips supply 
EV popularity, demand for renewables and supply chain inconsistencies send the mineral’s price to record-breaking prices past $40,000 a tonne. With no end to increasing prices in sight, governments (France and California), EV companies (Tesla), and mining giants (BHP) all scramble to secure deals to ensure the consistent influx of key battery minerals. Asia dominates the lithium-ion industry with >85% market share.
Waste not Want not: Battery recycling tech (e.g. Redwood materials) will become more cost-competitive as a result - a potential sustainable win?

Larry Fink says the next 1,000 unicorns will be green energy companies 
The next 1000 start-ups reaching a value of a billion dollars (aka unicorns) will be those "that help the world decarbonise and make the energy transition affordable for all consumers," wrote BlackRock CEO Larry Fink in his annual letter. Big news as the firm recently crossed $10 trillion in assets under management (>$4 trillion invested in sustainable tech).
Collaboration is the key: While start-ups are where innovation takes hold, legacy companies should be working to bring down the price of green solutions - using their advantage in capital, market knowledge, and technical expertise to support start-ups.

• Tesla travels 1,200km on a single charge with a breakthrough battery helping to curb the adoption barrier caused by range anxiety

• Adidas in partnership with Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority launched a floating recycled-plastic tennis court to raise awareness on ocean plastic 

• California’s Governor signed a bill dedicating $37B over 5 years to climate action.

• Cleantech Group published its 2022 Global Cleantech 100, featuring Arcadia, Remora, and other leading startups.

• Another blow for carbon capture. Shell's CC facility actually emits more than it is capturing = same yearly carbon footprint as 1,2 million gas-powered cars

• Make My Money Matter, set up to push UK pension providers to go further on environmental sustainability, has announced providers covering £1trn of assets have now made "credible" net-zero commitments.

3 of these stories are true 1 is fake, can you guess which...

• Beats by jay. An album of endangered bird sounds reached no. 3 on Australia’s top 50 albums chart, ahead of Taylor Swift.

• Tesla to accept meme-based cryptocurrency, dodgecoin, for its “Giga Texas” belt buckle

• Goldfish learns to drive a car in Israel 

• Cristiano Ronaldo invests in startup making fungi-based leather

• 🔋 Massachusetts-based battery-maker Factorial Energy raised $200 million as part of a Series D round led by Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis. For its solid-state battery, which is safer and offers 50 percent greater driving range than current lithium-ion technology.

• 🍄 MycoWorks, an Emeryville, CA-based producer of a mushroom-based leather alternative, raised $125m in Series C funding from Prime Movers Lab, SK Networks, and Mirabaud Lifestyle Impact & Innovation Fund.

• 🥩 Starfield, a China-based plant-based protein company, raised $100m in Series B funding from Primavera Capital Group, Lightspeed China Partners, and Joy Capital. 

• Israeli cleantech company Tipa, which develops compostable flexible packaging, has raised $70 million in its Series C, led by Millennium Food-Tech and Meitav Dash.

• Dublin’s Exergyn pulls in $35M Series A for solution which replaces GHG-causing refrigerants led by Mercuria, an energy and commodities company, and Lacerta Partners.

🍄 Ikea’s mushroom-based packaging 

🏭 Rolls-Royce’s mini-nuclear power plants

⛽️ Bets are placed on Hydrogen fuel