Environment News Trends: ESG Financing, Sustainability in Food and Agriculture, and More

A look at the environmental news from PR Newswire in September and October that you might have missed.

By Aaron Searle | Published Nov. 8, 2023

PR Newswire distributed more than 1,700 environment-related releases in September and October. Staying up-to-date with news and trends can be challenging, so we have collected the top stories to identify key trends in the industry and how they tie together.

The past couple months have featured a few milestone events in the environmental sphere, such as Farm Aid 2023 (Indianapolis), Africa Climate Summit 2023 (Nairobi), and the World Geothermal Conference (Beijing).

You can’t talk about environment news without discussing ESG initiatives, and the past couple months have seen an increase in news about what’s going on behind the scenes with companies’ ESG commitments. We’ll also explore where the environment and food/agriculture sectors have been overlapping, as well as a few big-name companies that are combining their efforts to do their part for the earth.

With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at these trends and some of the best-performing environmental releases in September and October.

Popular Environment Releases

Over the past two months, these were some of the most popular environment/ESG press releases to cross the wire:

• FORTUNE announces the 2023 "Change the World" list: Car makers General Motors and Tesla, charging network ChargePoint, and battery maker SK On lead the list, all tied for the #1 spot.
  
• The John Deere Foundation announced a series of grants totaling $19 million aimed at eliminating hunger by increasing access to food, uplifting resource-constrained farmers, and supporting global food systems.
• IBM announced that it is a sponsor of the 2023 U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP28) taking place in Dubai in late November/early December, where they will demonstrate the power of AI and technology in driving progress on sustainability goals and improving business efficiency.
• World Energy and Microsoft announced a 10-year agreement to accelerate the decarbonization of corporate air travel and its supply chain cargo using Sustainable Aviation Fuel Certificates (SAFc).
• Pawnee Tribal Officials in Oklahoma sign an agreement with Canoo to identify and nurture emerging business and job opportunities in Oklahoma's growing clean energy industry.

Environment News Trends

Eager to know more? Here’s a look at a few of the top trends we noticed among environment press releases in September and October, with a few examples of each.

ESG Financing Practices

In the past couple of months, not only have we seen many releases about contracts, financing agreements, and grants being awarded for environmental initiatives, there has also been a steady stream of releases approaching ESG financing from a more "behind-the-scenes" angle. This includes companies reporting on the effectiveness of ESG investing, as well as financial disclosure guidelines and adherence as they relate to companies’ environmental commitments and efforts.  

More than 150 environment releases sent during the period mentioned "ESG." Below are a few examples of environmental releases from September and October that focus on financial initiatives and reporting:

• Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) released its inaugural EY US Nature Risk Barometer (the "Barometer") report, finding that the depth of companies' reporting on nature-related dependencies, impacts, risks, and opportunities was limited, with an average alignment score of 13%. 
• Climate Impact Partners released its annual report, finding that there was no increase in 2030 environmental commitments in the last year among the Fortune 500.
• At One Ventures launched its second climate tech venture capital fund, focused on early-stage startups with disruptive technologies that can improve planetary health.

Sustainability Initiatives in Food and Agriculture

Food and agriculture remain a hot topic within the environment/ESG space as these two fronts find ways to lessen their negative impact on the planet. Whether it’s innovating solutions to make agtech more sustainable, introducing tech to help combat food insecurity, or some of your favorite brands jumping in to do their part for the earth, there’s been no shortage of releases at the intersection of food/agriculture and the environment.

Throughout the two month period, more than 400 environment-related releases mentioned "food" and/or "agriculture." Below are a few examples of releases highlighting environmentally conscious news from the food and agriculture industries from September and October:

• Organic Valley set its sites on creating climate-friendly dairy farms by partnering with 15 organizations to launch a carbon insetting program — and has already won three awards from Fast Company's World Changing Ideas program.
• Following a successful similar initiative in Houston earlier this year, Bulleit Frontier Whiskey joined with American Forests and NYC Parks' Tree Time to raise awareness for the importance of tree equity in New York City.
• Farm Aid 2023 arrived in Indianapolis in late September, where farmers and advocates called on Congress for sustainable agriculture policy to challenge corporate power and promote equity in the food system.
• Wildway introduced "Planet Friendly Oats," a new line of oats sourced from a regenerative organic supply chain.

Major Collaborations

Since we all share the earth, we all share the responsibility of caring for the earth. No doubt that’s why these companies are teaming up to do their part together — whether they’re food companies, sports teams, healthcare giants, or just about any other type of organization under the sun. Here are a few examples of companies that are joining forces to up their game when it comes to taking care of the environment:

• In late September, Albemarle and Caterpillar signed an agreement to collaborate on solutions for more sustainable mining operations, targeting Kings Mountain, N.C., to be the first-ever zero-emissions lithium mine site in North America.
• Lake Michigan Hills Golf Club became the first carbon-neutral golf club in the U.S. (and second in the world) thanks to CCUS offset credits purchased from DigiKerma.
• In conjunction with Arbor Day Foundation, White Cap - the largest North American distributor of specialty construction supplies - hosted an urban community tree-planting event in Atlanta, with volunteers planting over 50 trees.
• Outdoor Alliance, The Conservation Alliance, and Outdoor Industry Association - which together represent over 250,000 people and 800 businesses - joined forces to advocate for protecting America's wild places and outdoor spaces.

Conclusion

As we look toward the next couple months, it will be promising to see what sorts of initiatives, collaborations, and commitments companies announce for the coming year. We also have the U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP28) from November 30 to December 12 in Dubai (which is expected to host over 70,000 participants) to look forward to, so we can expect a lot of big news for the industry between now and the end of the year.

As the industry continues to evolve, the PR Newswire team will press on to closely monitor both the ongoing and emerging trends.

About the Author

Aaron Searle is a Senior Editor with PR Newswire and just celebrated his 10-year anniversary with the company. When not on the clock, he spends most of his time with his wife and two kids. In the wee hours leftover, he also pursues various creative endeavors, particularly writing, music (he is roughly three-quarters of the band Dover Cloudbank), and photography. He even sleeps occasionally.