Environmental

Sunshine Coast TAFE certified carbon neutral

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  WEDNESDAY, 14 DEC 2011  |  NEWS
Low Carbon Australia has announced Sunshine Coast TAFE (SCT) as the country's first educational institution in to be certified under its Carbon Neutral Program.

Environmental Upgrade Agreements vehicle for green investment

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 9 DEC 2011  |  NEWS
Environmental Upgrade Agreements (EUAs), a new category of tri-partite lending vehicles, have been created for use in commercial buildings in New South Wales and the City of Melbourne. EUAs provide longer term, fixed rate debt facilities for owners to ...

Reports critique ASX companies' supply chain disclosures

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 9 DEC 2011  |  NEWS
The social and environmental supply chain policies and disclosures of ASX-listed companies has come under renewed scrutiny, with Net Balance concluding ASX100 companies do not uniformly disclose those supply chain impacts, and the Australian Council ...

Renewable energy provides 10% of Australia's electricity

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  WEDNESDAY, 7 DEC 2011  |  NEWS
Nearly 10% of Australia's electricity was derived from renewable energy sources in the year to September 2011, according to a report by the Clean Energy Council.

Perpetual creating dashboard ESG reports

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 2 DEC 2011  |  NEWS
As Perpetual finishes its second year as a UNPRI signatory, the investment manager will continue embedding environmental, social and governance (ESG) into its investment considerations, including finalising a dashboard report approach to ESG with their ...

ICMM warns of risks of differing carbon pricing policies

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 2 DEC 2011  |  NEWS
Differences in carbon pricing policies in various countries and regions will cause variations in production costs for the mining industry, raising the possibility that production in one area will become less competitive than in others, the International ...

Low Carbon Australia partners with Macquarie Equipment Finance

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 2 DEC 2011  |  NEWS
Low Carbon Australia and Macquarie Equipment Finance have established an Energy Efficient Asset Financing Program to stimulate uptake of clean energy technologies in existing commercial buildings.

Woolworths' employment, supply chain policies in 2011 report

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  WEDNESDAY, 30 NOV 2011  |  NEWS
Woolworths launched a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) to advance opportunities of Indigenous Australians and reported a 30% decrease in its lost time injury frequency rate (LTIFR), against a backdrop of a 5.1% increase in net profit to AU$2.124bn for ...

Pacific Hydro reduces carbon footprint 37%

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  WEDNESDAY, 30 NOV 2011  |  NEWS
Pacific Hydro, a renewable energy company owned by Industry Funds Management's Australian Infrastructure Fund, reported a reduction in its carbon footprint of 37%, primarily due to a decrease in construction activities, while also reporting net sales ...

Chartered Accountants: sustainability core business strategy

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 25 NOV 2011  |  NEWS
For companies to report and manage sustainability exposures for long-term value creation, they need develop strategies to improve environmental, social and governance performance.