Buckle Up: Methane Monitoring is Going Mobile

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A “better, faster, cheaper” methane leak detection solution used to be an elusive unicorn of the oil and gas industry. Yet, since EDF commenced its methane innovation work in 2014, there has been a mass proliferation of innovative methane detection companies, big and small. With new ideas and new technologies, innovators are challenging old assumptions and pushing the frontier of what is possible.

Stanford and the Environmental Defense Fund Mobile Monitoring Challenge launched in 2018 to independently and rigorously assess a selection of the most promising technologies available today to help oil and gas companies detect, pinpoint and estimate methane leaks from upstream production facilities.

The results of this challenge were published today in the journal Elementa – and the findings offer a glimpse towards a promising new era of higher frequency monitoring. Even as the Trump Administration attempts to dismantle the Environmental Protection Agency’s common-sense methane regulations, some companies are looking to innovative technology to go above and beyond what is currently required. The results are significant beyond U.S. borders as well. Numerous international oil companies, including the members of the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative, will require higher frequency, accurate methane monitoring to help achieve their methane reduction commitments.

Here are the three main takeaways from the Mobile Monitoring Challenge study.

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Four frightening ways the fires in Brazil’s Amazon will impact businesses

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Bolsonaro is pitting environmental protections against economic growth, but this is a false dichotomy.

Brazil’s space research agency (INPE) detected almost 80,000 fires this year, around half in the Amazon, up 84% over last year. If unchecked, this trend would be catastrophic for the planet. Businesses will take a huge hit – but they can also be an important contributor to reversing these trends. Read more

What today’s CEOs need to know to attract and retain tomorrow’s leaders

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Yesterday, some of the most powerful CEOs in corporate America declared that driving shareholder value can no longer be their sole business objective. A group of 181 CEOs representing the Business Roundtable claimed that corporations have a responsibility to balance the needs of all their stakeholders – from employees to local communities.

Several societal trends have pushed corporations to look beyond their fiduciary responsibilities and consider their impact on society, including pressure from employees.

Nearly 40% of millennials – now the largest generation in the American workforce – report choosing a job because of the employer’s approach to corporate sustainability. Five years of statistics from EDF Climate Corps reflect this trend: Demand for climate-related jobs has nearly doubled in the last five years.

Millennials are different from previous generations in their preference for purpose over paycheck. They want to bring change.

Here are three insights I’ve identified from EDF Climate Corps’ pool of graduate student applicants that should matter to any CEO seeking to recruit and retain talent. The program receives over 1,000 applications each year and has an acceptance rate of 10%.

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Reducing your chemical footprint: Taking charge

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Buying more sustainable products is now the expectation of U.S. consumers. Market research firm Nielsen projects that the sustainability market will hit $150 billion in sales by 2021. For perspective, that’s larger than the entire video game industry. And demand for sustainable products is growing four times faster than conventional products. Millennials and Generation Z are fueling this transformation.

One of the top consumer concerns about products? Ingredient safety.

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Businesses are leading Congress on climate action

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This article originally appeared in The Environmental Forum.

It is a political reality that Corporate America has tremendous influence in Congress – and many companies have used this power to oppose environmental regulations and strong action on climate change. But the activities of the past two months suggest this is starting to change, which is great news given the urgency of the climate crisis. Dozens of leading businesses are finally making climate action the priority it should be, and urging Congress to enact national policies addressing the issue head-on. If this trend continues and accelerates, it will play a huge role in creating the breakthrough moment when lawmakers see ambitious climate action as not only a scientific mandate but a political necessity. Read more

Cities are growing faster and smarter, but can they go greener? We asked Siemens.

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When you think about Siemens, you’re probably picturing medical scanners, energy generators, or transportation equipment. You might not be thinking about smart cities, or how the company is working to accelerate technology innovation, eMobility, resilience, and urban sustainability. But that’s just what Martin Powell, the Global Head of Urban Development at Siemens, focuses on each and every day.

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Sephora’s safer ingredient announcement is turning heads – here’s why

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We recently reported that Sephora became the first major specialty beauty retailer to release a public-facing chemicals policy. As a complement to their policy, Sephora also promotes their Clean at Sephora labeling program, an avenue for showcasing brands with an embedded safer ingredient philosophy. Sephora recently updated this program: going forward, a product bearing Sephora’s Clean label must avoid a list of more than fifty ingredients (in some cases, ingredients are allowed in restricted concentrations).

With Clean at Sephora, the retailer extends its strategy to capture the growing “naturals” market segment, especially among millennial shoppers. While Clean at Sephora may receive most of the media attention, Sephora’s chemicals policy is an essential addition to the retailer’s sustainability efforts. The Clean program recognizes products pursuing leadership, but the new chemicals policy will impact all of the products sold in Sephora’s stores.

How does the policy stack up against EDF’s 5 Pillars of Leadership for Safer Products?

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Food companies should know what’s in the packaging. Here’s why.

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This is the fourth in a series evaluating the challenges in single-use food packaging waste.

Recently, we recommended a series of steps that companies can take to address EDF’s top-ten list of chemicals of concern in the food supply, including setting new packaging specifications, verifying compliance, and tracking progress. Perhaps surprisingly, one action you haven’t seen us recommend – until now – is one of the key tenets of EDF’s Five Pillars of Safer Food Leadership: supply chain transparency, in this case into chemical additives to both raw material and final paper and plastic packaging.

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Applying technology to sustainability is a win-win for business and profit

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This week, business executives, tech entrepreneurs, and investors met in Aspen, Colorado at the Fortune Brainstorm Tech 2019 conference. This annual gathering brings movers and shakers together to discuss the latest tech trends and how businesses can find a competitive edge in a fast-paced marketplace. From retail to transportation to entertainment, technology advances are changing every industry, and knowing where the trends are heading can mean the difference between Netflix and Blockbuster. Read more