The Triple Bottom - 🌱 Talking Mushrooms

Sweden is the world's first country to target consumption-based emission cuts 
National climate targets… are measured against emissions created in a country’s territory but don’t account for goods consumed in countries produced elsewhere (a t-shirt produced in China but used in America = Chinese emissions).
Swedish leadership… Sweden, 60% of whose emissions originate abroad, just became the first country globally to include consumption-based emissions within climate targets.
Importance: Countries' emissions reductions have partly been driven by outsourcing carbon-intensive industries (like manufacturing) to countries such as China. A consumption-based emissions approach brings transparency to climate targets and supports global progress to cut emissions. 
Challenges: 1) A lack of uniform international standards for calculating emissions 2) A lack of transparency on emissions-intensive processes in foreign nations.

Investor coalition pressures polluting companies to disclose climate risks
The situ: 34 investors from the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC), who represent over $7trn of assets under management, have sent a letter to 17 companies (including BP, Shell & Volkswagen) accusing them of continued omission of climate risks from their reporting accounts. 
Why?... The letters argue that investors need greater reassurance that high-emitting companies consider how climate change will impact their future economic performance.
The importance: Investors are increasingly demanding credible climate plans and robust disclosures. The letters are also timely, as the UK Government is introducing mandatory climate risk disclosures for some large businesses this week.

World Bank sells first 'rhino' bond to help South Africa's conservation efforts
The World Bank issued the world's first wildlife conservation bond, raising $150 million to help efforts to increase the endangered black rhino population in South Africa. The five-year 'rhino bond' issued on Wednesday will pay investors returns based on the growth rate of black rhino populations, and the money raised will be used for conservation efforts. Helping to tackle the $1 billion a day funding shortfall for conservation.

Solar panels, made from food waste, produce energy without sunlight 
A new solar panel has been developed at Mapua University, which turns waste crops into cladding for buildings that can generate clean energy from ultraviolet light.  The concept, called AuREUS, uses luminescent particles from fruit and veg waste. Whereas traditional solar panels (which rely on visible light) only work in clear conditions, this material can work even when cloud cover is present (produce energy 50% of the time vs 15-22% for standard solar panels). The crops used are sourced from local farmers who have been affected by severe climate change-induced weather disruptions - giving them an avenue to monetise lost yields.

• UK retailer M&S to team up with a kid's second-hand resale marketplace

• Rio Tinto investors have voted against the company’s financial statements over a lack of clarity about climate change risks at the annual AGM

• Eat Just’s Vegan Mung Eggs Receive Exclusive Regulatory Approval in E.U.

• Chocolate brand Koa uses blockchain to show exactly how much it pays every cocoa farmer

• Fast fashion: European Union reveals fast fashion crackdown

• Israeli robotic beehive maker, Beewise, raises $80 mln in Series C funding for its Climate controlled and using automated harvesting sheds that promote the survival of bee hives.

• France-based, Sweep secures €66.5M in Series B funding for its platform that helps companies understand and reduce their emissions across their value chain.

• FarMart banks in $32Mn in Series B to digitise India’s agriculture supply chain

• Manifest Climate raises $30 million in Series A for its AI-powered platform that provides alignment with the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)

• Porto-based Fibersail takes off with €5 million in seed funding to reduce the cost of wind energy through their data-driven monitoring tool