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Green light

A series exploring the critical role global corporations must play in curbing the climate crisis

• Click here for our newsletter Down to Earth, which provides an email digest of the week's biggest environment stories

29 December 2021

  • United Airlines planes sit on the runway at Newark Liberty international airport in New Jersey.

    United Airlines promises sustainable flying – but experts aren’t convinced

    United has sought to position itself at the front of the industry’s efforts with a pledge to become ‘100% green’ despite enormous obstacles

10 December 2021

  • .A McDonald's Big Mac

    Hold the beef: McDonald’s avoids the bold step it must take to cut emissions

    The company has announced big sustainability initiatives – but absent are the menu changes needed to significantly reduce beef production

9 December 2021

  • A smoke-filled sky above a vineyard in Molalla, Oregon, in September 2020.

    Frosts, heatwaves and wildfires: the climate crisis is hitting the wine industry hard

    As the climate crisis intensifies, the wine industry is increasingly vulnerable and growers across the world are scrambling to find solutions

4 December 2021

  • ExxonMobil’s Baton Rouge oil refinery in Louisiana.

    Why some of your favorite podcasts are filled with oil company ads

    Exxon and other fossil fuel companies are running podcast ads that suggest they are taking aggressive climate action. Climate experts call them greenwashing

2 December 2021

  • Evia, Greece, before and after.

    Can the tourism industry survive the climate crisis?

    From the Solomon Islands to Denali national park, how five communities reliant on tourism are coping as climate change upends their industry

1 December 2021

  • A view of Nordenskiold glacier melting and collapsing in the ocean, near Pyramiden, in Svalbard, a northern Norwegian archipelago on September 21, 2021

    Data storage, mining and wind: oceans seen as new frontier but at what cost?

    Industries gazing out to sea in search of more space, more cold, clean water and more wind offer a glimpse of the future and its risks

27 November 2021

  • A sign for Microsoft offices in New York

    ‘It’s critical’: can Microsoft make good on its climate ambitions?

    The company has set an example in the fight against carbon – but it retains ties to obstructionist groups

26 November 2021

  • The Navajo Coal Generating Station is just one of many coal plants that have closed in the last few years across the US.

    What happens when America’s coal plants die?

    Facing economic and environmental pressures, coal plants are closing across the US, leaving communities to work out how to keep afloat

22 November 2021

  • The industry consumes more than 10% of fossil fuels produced globally and emits an estimated 3.3 gigatons of greenhouse gas emissions a year, more than India’s annual emissions.

    How the chemicals industry’s pollution slipped under the radar

    While the industry has an important role to play in moving to low-carbon economies it’s also hugely carbon intensive and predicted to become more so

12 November 2021

  • An illustration of shipping containers with a gap in between them through which can be seen a ship sailing on clear waters

    The shipping industry faces a climate crisis reckoning – will it decarbonize?

    World’s largest shipping company Maersk plans to power new container ships on carbon-neutral methanol but very little of it is produced today

11 November 2021

  • The International Air Transport Association has committed to reach net zero emissions by 2050, and is banking on sustainable fuel to reach that goal.

    Low-carbon aviation fuels are on the horizon. But for now, activists say we need to stay grounded

  • Illustration of a plane and ship

    Here’s why it’s so hard to electrify shipping and aviation

10 November 2021

  • Climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe sitting on a rock outside

    Leading climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe: ‘You have the ability to use your voice’

    Hayhoe says people can use their roles in their workplaces and communities to act on the climate crisis

6 November 2021

  • Winter jackets on a hanger in the store

    Are clothes made from recycled materials really more sustainable?

    A growing number of brands are switching to recycled fibers but experts worry people may believe their purchases are impact-free – when that’s far from true

5 November 2021

  • Rush hour traffic in New York City along moves along a street lined with parked cars

    The hidden climate costs of America’s free parking spaces

    Street parking takes up space and incentivizes driving. New curb management companies are trying to help cities better use this space

28 October 2021

  • Yishan Wong the founder of Terraformation planting a tree

    Could planting a trillion trees help stop global heating? This man thinks so

    Yishan Wong has founded a company, Terraformation, aiming to reforest 3bn acres but others doubt that trees are a magic bullet for the climate crisis

25 October 2021

  • Mock up of Vertical Aerospace’s air taxi in the air over a city.

    Could flying electric ‘air taxis’ help fix urban transportation?

    Makers of zero-emission eVTOLs envision a greener way to escape traffic. But planning experts aren’t so sure

22 October 2021

  • Burger Village food in DeliverZero's reusable containers

    ‘The cusp of a reuse revolution’: startups take the waste out of takeout

    More than 70% of Americans report ordering takeout or delivery one to three times a week – resulting in hundreds of billions of single-use products

16 October 2021

  • Coffee cell cultures (r) and roasted coffee (l) produced in a lab by VTT, a Finnish research institution.

    Eco-friendly, lab-grown coffee is on the way, but it comes with a catch

    Beanless brews can cut deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions dramatically – but what will happen to workers in traditional coffee-growing regions?

14 October 2021

  • Water drips from a faucet near boat docks sitting on dry land at the Browns Ravine Cove area of drought-stricken Folsom Lake, California

    Corporations are pledging to be ‘water positive’. What does that mean?

    Reuse, watershed restoration and new cooling methods back companies’ commitments to conserve scarce water resources
About 40 results for Green light
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