Wells Fargo Environmental Forum

Environmental Forum readers, here is the latest version of our ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Notes compiled each week. If you have any questions or comments about Nelson Capital's ESG notes, please visit our website.

Carbon levels hit record high.

For the first time in human history, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has reached 400 parts per million (ppm). Climate scientists say this threshold represents a powerful symbol of the growing human influence on the Earth's climate. Manmade emissions of carbon dioxide have increased the atmospheric concentration of CO2 from around 270 to 280 ppm in the late 1700s to today's record high level - a 43 percent increase. Measurements of CO2 trapped in air bubbles from ice cores in Antarctica indicate today's levels are unsurpassed in at least 800,000 years. "[The] increase is not a surprise to scientists," said NOAA senior scientist Pieter Tans. "The evidence is conclusive that the strong growth of global CO2 emissions from the burning of coal, oil, and natural gas is driving the acceleration." Global CO2 emissions soared to a record high of 35.6 billion tons in 2012, up 2.6 percent from 2011 according to Climate Central's Andrew Freedman. It's possible the current CO2 levels haven't been matched in millions of years.  Scripps Institution of Oceanography estimates the last time the concentration was at least 400 ppm occurred 5 to 3 million years ago, during the Pliocene Epoch.

READ MORE: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2013/05/10/atmospheric-carbon-dioxide-concentration-400-parts-per-million/

Coca-Cola's safe drinking water mission.

WaterAid, a leading international non-profit dedicated to making clean water and toilets accessible for the world's poorest people, announced today that it is joining forces with The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation to make safe drinking water a reality for people living in one of the poorest suburbs of Burkina Faso's capital city, Ouagadougou, and in two rural communities in southern Ethiopia. WaterAid and Coca-Cola will work with the local community and water utility in Burkina Faso to extend existing water pipelines and install new water points that provide residents with clean, treated drinking water. This will help residents reduce the risk of contracting waterborne diseases that are highly prevalent in the area, such as bacterial diarrhea, Hepatitis A and Typhoid fever.  In Ethiopia, Coca Cola and WaterAid will help provide safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene services to the Dita and Kemba Districts of the vast, impoverished Gamo-Gofa zone in the southern part of the country. Water and sanitation-related diseases are rampant in these two districts due to severe seasonal water shortages. Greg Koch, director, global water stewardship, The Coca-Cola Company said in a statement, "At Coca-Cola, water stewardship is a strategic sustainability priority as so much of our business depends on water. It is the main ingredient in our products and it sustains the communities that form our markets. A key element of our strategy is helping communities gain access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene".

READ MORE:  http://www.csrwire.com/press_releases/35551-WaterAid-Joins-Forces-with-The-Coca-Cola-Africa-Foundation-to-Bring-Safe-Drinking-Water-to-Burkina-Faso-and-Ethiopia-

From up above to down under.

Australia has reached a milestone for solar - there are now over a million homes with solar on the roof! That means solar is providing power to about 2.5 million people in the country - about 10% of the 23 million populace - and it's saving them about $500 million on energy bills, according to the country's Clean Energy Regulator. The total is about 2.5 gigawatts (GW) of solar across 1,011,478 systems. Growth in consumer Solar home systems has risen quickly. In 2008, there were only 20,000 solar systems in Australia. It costs about $1,500 to $2,000 for 1500 kilowatts, a payback period of about four years.  Over 8,000 Australians are employed by the solar industry. Australia has set targets National targets (and incentives) to get 20% of energy from renewables by 2020.

READ MORE:  http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/24851

Did you know?

According to says the Nation Asphalt Pavement Association 99% of all asphalt is recycled and used to fix and build roads over and over again. A variety of recycled materials are in that pavement - recycled roof shingles, ground rubber from tires, glass, foundry sand, slag and even pig manure. In 2011, US taxpayers saved $2.2 billion by using recycled materials to pave roads. 66.7 million tons of reclaimed asphalt pavement and 1.2 million tons of reclaimed asphalt shingles went into paving projects.  

READ MORE: http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/24858

Amy Harcourt is back for her final post in our bike commute series and she's just in time to prepare us for Bike to Work Month (typically held in May for most locations). Amy is co-founder of Bikes Make Life Better, a consulting firm that helps leading organizations to develop impactful sustainability initiatives through the use of well-planned and executed bicycle and transportation programs. 

 This week Amy's discussing safe biking tips. (--kvt)

Environmental Forum Readers if you read my earlier post, here's the follow up report:  The babies have arrived!

The first falcon chick hatched - rather appropriately - on Mother's Day, May 12. The second chick arrived sometime within the last day or so.

Between naps, both Mom and Dad have been bringing plenty of food to their new little ones, and they're already growing fast - Chick No. 1 looks as though it's doubled in size since Sunday!

For an expert's perspective on our Peregrine friends, check out this blog by Jeff Thomas, ornithologist and Associate Professor of Biology at Queens University in Charlotte, who's asking folks to do a little "citizen science" to help monitor the birds' hunting and feeding habits.

You also can visit the website of our partners at the Carolina Raptor Center to follow the action with "Aragorn", the Center's resident Peregrine falcon - just click on the "FalCam" tab to see his Twitter feed and the live webcam. Welcome to the world, little falcons!

Take the situation at the Boise River, where the habitat faces a challenge brought by invasive plants, especially false indigo. Thankfully, the Land Trust of the Treasure Valley has stepped in to run a conservation and preservation project. Wells Fargo supported this project in 2012 with a $25,000 Environmental Solutions for Communities grant. A major part of the plan includes removing the false indigo, which will benefit the area's fisheries and improve downstream water quantity and quality.

Recently, the Wells Fargo Boise Green Team volunteered to help cut and remove the false indigo. It's no trivial task. Invasive species tend to spread extremely quickly and can produce devastating results, including shifting how a river flows. Removing the false indigo also helps to reintroduce native species, which in turn reduces erosion and creates better wildlife habitat. 

The folks at the Land Trust of the Treasure Valley aren't just great environmentalists - they have a knack for creating compelling video through time lapse photography. See how they captured a day's work in about 2 minutes.

And if you just can't get enough of the Green Team, see them going at it in the video below:

Environmental Forum readers, here is the latest version of our ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Notes compiled each week. If you have any questions or comments about Nelson Capital's ESG notes, please visit our website

 Big City Bright Lights

New York City's commitment to replacing all of its streetlights has recently completed one of the first phases of the project since the completion of testing back in 2009. Margaret Newman, chief of staff for the NYC Department of Transportation spoke with GreenBiz journalist Cindy Cesca and shared the project goals and projected savings. According to Newman, the city is planning to replace approximately 300,000 city lights with a completion date by 2019. The City spent 18 months testing various LED lights for different applications including roadways and park pathways. Since the implementation of the lights, energy savings from replaced 175-watt metal halide light to the more efficient 90-watt LED fixtures in Central Park has created a savings of about $250,000 per year and approximately 700,000 kilowatts per year in energy savings according to Newman. Because the costs of the LED technology and manufacturing has come down so much in just the past 4 years the payback on investment is projected to come in between 5 and 7 years as opposed to original estimates of 14 years when the project first came to the table. The sustainability goals were set by the mayor's office, which was 30 percent reduction by 2017. Newman believes the city will see 30 to 50 percent in energy reductions and approximately $15 million in savings citywide.

Read more: http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2013/04/17/what-it-takes-change-all-lights-new-york-city?page=0%2C0

New SF Transit Center includes roof with a view.

The "Grand Central Station of the West" has broken ground in downtown San Francisco, a $4 billion project that will create a regional transit hub in the heart of a new transit-based neighborhood with homes, offices, parks and retail. Designed by renowned architecture firm Pelli Clarke Pelli, the 1.5 million square foot development will connect eight Bay Area counties and the state through 11 transit systems, including BART, Caltrain, Golden Gate Transit, Greyhound and Amtrak. The future high speed rail that links San Francisco with Los Angeles will also connect there. The development will have a new 5.4-acre park in the form of a green roof that tops the five-story Transit Center, designed by PWP Landscape Architecture. Planned for the green roof are native plantings, bicycle and walking paths, a playground, café, a cultural center and a 1000-person amphitheater. Once constructed, the new Transit Center will accommodate more than 100,000 passengers each weekday and more than 45 million people a year. The new transit building will be built to LEED Gold certification standards

Read more: http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/24804

Watch: http://transbaycenter.org/media-gallery/video-gallery/the-transbay-transit-center-project-narrated-by-peter-coyote

UPS Increases its Natural Gas Fleet

UPS announced last week the accelerated growth of its alternative vehicle fleet with plans to purchase approximately 700 liquefied natural gas (LNG) vehicles and to build four refueling stations by the end of 2014. Once completed, the LNG private fleet will be one of the most extensive in the U.S. UPS has been operating natural gas vehicles for more than a decade. With natural gas prices 30-40 percent lower than imported diesel and U.S. production gearing up, the logistics company is investing more aggressively in the natural gas infrastructure necessary to make it part of the UPS delivery network here. Beyond favorable fuel cost and domestic resource access, the industry cites 25 percent less CO2 emissions. Worldwide UPS has more than 1,000 natural gas vehicles on the road today. UPS's alternative fuel and advanced technology fleet of more than 2,600 vehicles also includes a wide array of low-emissions vehicles, including all-electrics, electric hybrids, hydraulic hybrids, propane, compressed natural gas and biomethane. Since 2000, the fleet powered by alternative fuels and technologies has driven more than 295 million miles.

Read more: http://www.csrwire.com/press_releases/35515--UPS-Ramps-Up-Natural-Gas-Investment

In 2010, we introduced an unusual recognition program for our Wells Fargo Green Teams. As a way to thank our teams for their accomplishments and encourage them to continue to support our environmental efforts, we commissioned a collection of recycled art pieces through Women's Environmental Artists Directory (WEAD), an artist organization dedicated to supporting environmental art and the people who create it, to distribute among select Green Teams making significant progress in our environmental work.

Environmental Forum readers, here is the latest version of our ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Notes compiled each week. If you have any questions or comments about Nelson Capital's ESG notes, please visit our website

Shine Bright

Kerosene lamps, while functional, can be problematic for those dependent on them as their primary source of light. Kerosene is relatively expensive for those living in extreme poverty, is toxic, polluting and a potential risk of fire and burns. A good alternative to kerosene is solar powered light, but that too faces its own set of logistical hurdles in order to reach some of the world's poorest communities; including the high cost of buy-in, shipping, instillation, charging capabilities, and energy storage.  Rather than create large solar light systems subject to those logistics, Dutch company Off-Grid Solutions created the WakaWaka (Swahili meaning shine, shine) personal solar light. The WakaWaka is a small (slightly bigger than an Iphone) highly durable, water resistant light with five switchable light modes. It is powered by three rechargeable AA batteries (included). On a fully charged battery, WakaWaka can either provide 8 hours of bright ambient light, 16 hours of bright reading light and up to 80 hours of soft night safety light. The company claims the battery will last up to 3 years with continuous daily use and recharging. Creating the lamp is only the first step in getting them out to the communities that need it. The company has created a non-profit foundation with a goal of getting the WakaWaka into the hands of 1.5 billion people. Off Grid Solutions donates 10% of profits to the foundation that will either subsidize or provide free lights for communities or individuals in need. They also offer a donor program for people to provide lights directly to people in need and have worked with international organizations to supply lights for Haitian communities after the earthquake and currently areas of war torn Syria.

Video clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDTz5pJ8ZRo&feature=player_embedded#

Read more: http://nobleprofit.org/wakawaka-solar-lamp-social-enterprise-brings-the-most-efficient-solar-light-on-the-planet/

Sustainable Savings

Unilever has cut more than 1 million tons of CO2 from its manufacturing and logistics operations since 2008, the company announced this week. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a central target in Unilever's high-profile Sustainable Living Plan, which has introduced a raft of eco-efficiency programs that cut the company's operating costs by $395 million since 2008 -- a period over which the company also has grown sales by 26 percent from $54.4 billion to $67.6 billion. The new measures include the widespread installation of combined heat and power (CHP) systems that have reduced CO2 from Unilever's European operations by 50,000 tons while cutting energy bills by $13 million, the deployment of biomass boilers and the creation of regional transport hubs that have served to slash the distances covered by the company's lorries.  John Maguire, Unilever's group manufacturing sustainability director, said in a statement. "Since 2008 our eco-efficiency programs have avoided more than $395 million of costs -- almost $132 million in energy; $245 million in materials; $22 million in water; and $13 million in waste disposal. The benefits are very clear in a world where energy prices are increasing."

Read more: http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2013/04/18/unilever-sustainability-program-saves-395m

IKEA's Roof top Solar

IKEA, the world's leading home furnishings retailer, officially plugged-in the solar energy system installed at its distribution center in Perryville, Maryland this week. Built with 18,576 panels it is the state's largest rooftop array. The IKEA distribution center will produce approximately 3,397,178 kWh of clean electricity annually, the equivalent of reducing 2,397 tons of carbon dioxide (CO₂), eliminating the emissions of 499 cars or powering 359 homes yearly (calculating clean energy equivalents at www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-resources/calculator.html). This installation represents the 36^th completed solar project for IKEA in the U.S., with three more locations underway, making the eventual U.S. solar presence of IKEA nearly 90% of its U.S. locations with a total generation of 38 MW. IKEA owns and operates each of its solar PV energy systems atop its buildings - as opposed to a solar lease or PPA (power purchase agreement) - and globally has allocated $1.8 billion to invest in renewable energy through 2015. This investment reinforces the long-term commitment of IKEA to sustainability and confidence in photovoltaic (PV) technology.

Read more: http://www.csrwire.com/press_releases/35451-IKEA-Completes-Maryland-s-Largest-Rooftop-Solar-Array-Atop-Distribution-Center-In-Perryville-MD

Amy Harcourt, guest blogger and expert on bike commuting is back for her third post in a series on bike commuting. Amy is co-founder of Bikes Make Life Better, a consulting firm that helps leading organizations to develop impactful sustainability initiatives through the use of well-planned and executed bicycle and transportation programs.

This week Amy's taking us on a trial bike commute. (--kvt)