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M&S sustainability plan saves retailer £70m
14 June 2011Marks & Spencer (M&S), a bastion of the British highstreet, saved £70 million ($115 million) through its 'Plan A' initiative this year, up on the £50 million net benefit it reported in 2009-10.
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Dump biofuels subsidies to stabilise food prices – report
13 June 2011Government subsidies for biofuels should be scrapped to help ease pressure on global food prices, says a report by the UN, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
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Carbon trading – but not as you know it
10 June 2011With climate negotiations moving at glacial speed in Bonn, HSBC's Zoe Knight, Nick Robins and D. Saravanan look at how the evolution of the global economy is making traditional ways of regulating carbon increasingly anachronistic, requiring new thinking from policymakers to strike a global deal.
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US renewables industry searches for more tax breaks as grants end
10 June 2011Renewable energy groups are preparing for the end of the US government's cash grant programme by urging legislators to allow them to use master limited partnerships (MLPs) to finance projects.
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UK cuts solar tariffs by up to 72%
09 June 2011The UK government has announced new feed-in tariffs (FITs) for large-scale solar arrays installed from 1 August, arguing that without reductions the scheme will be "overwhelmed", while industry participants fear the changes will not be the last.
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China drops turbine part subsidies after WTO challenge
09 June 2011China has agreed to abandon wind power manufacturing subsidies that the US government argued violated international trade law.
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Connecticut lawmakers give thumbs up to green bank, bonds for energy retrofits
09 June 2011Connecticut lawmakers have passed comprehensive energy legislation establishing the first state-level green bank in the US and allowing the creation of municipal bond programmes to pay for energy retrofits, albeit with a key modification to avoid the wrath of federal regulators.
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Corporate green bonds in the pipeline, following flurry of issues
09 June 2011Investment banks are preparing at least three sizeable corporate green bond issues, as interest in the asset class builds, while the last few weeks have seen a flurry of bonds sold by multilateral development banks.
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Biodiversity offset schemes to be piloted by UK government
09 June 2011The UK government is looking for local authorities, developers and conservation groups to pilot biodiversity offset programmes as part of an effort to better protect the UK's 'natural capital' – but observers question whether local authorities have the resources to take the lead.
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US clean energy target: casualty of nuclear meltdown
09 June 2011The nuclear disaster in Japan has killed the chances for a US clean energy standard (CES), according to a top Congressional staffer.