International sportswear brand Adidas recently announced it will control the dyes used in its apparel and the auxiliary chemicals used in its manufacturing processes. Following a comprehensive review of the chemical composition of its apparel manufacturing processes, Adidas has set the following targets: By the end of 2015: – At least 50% of the dyes used in its apparel will be certified according to the Bluesign standard for environmentally friendly textiles. The Bluesign standard mandates that textiles produced must meet stringent requirements across multiple dimensions, including environmental, health, and product safety. – At least 10% of the auxiliary chemicals used in its manufacturing processes must comply with Bluesign standards. Auxiliary chemicals are chemicals that are essential to the manufacturing process but do not have a specific impact on the product's functionality. Adidas points out that setting a target of 10% for auxiliary chemicals may seem easy to achieve, but because these auxiliary chemicals are typically found upstream in the global supply chain...

The United Nations released its annual report on the 20th, warning that if countries worldwide do not take action, the world will face a water crisis. Countries already struggling with drought will be the first to be affected. Serious water wastage is prevalent globally, and if this trend continues, global freshwater resources will decrease by 40% by 2030. The report states that groundwater is already scarce in many regions, climate change could disrupt rainfall cycles, and with the global population projected to reach 9 billion by 2050, global water demand is expected to increase by 55%. If current water usage trends do not change, global available water resources may be reduced to only 60% by 2030. Water scarcity could cause massive disasters, including crop failures, ecosystem collapse, and further exacerbation of disease and poverty. Michelle Tikham, head of the UN Department of Water Resources and the World Meteorological Organization, pointed out that countries should promptly measure and monitor water resources and develop usage plans to ensure sustainable water use. Taiwan is currently experiencing severe water shortages due to uneven water resource distribution. Several county and city governments have issued notices of water outages and restrictions. The people of Taiwan are deeply experiencing the pain of water shortages, while businesses face the crisis of production line shutdowns. Source: Reuters (March 20, 2015)

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) jointly released "Linking GRI and CDP: Climate Change 2015," analyzing the content of the GRI G4 reporting guidelines and the 2015 CDP climate change questionnaire, clearly identifying identical parts. This means that companies no longer need to repeatedly disclose overlapping information from GRI reports and CDP questionnaires. The two organizations stated that thousands of companies worldwide currently prepare corporate social responsibility reports annually based on GRI guidelines, and also complete CDP climate change and supply chain questionnaires at the request of stakeholders. This joint guideline will significantly reduce the burden of report preparation for companies. "Linking GRI and CDP: Climate Change 2015" provides companies with guidance on how to integrate the GRI and CDP frameworks and how to address the information disclosure requirements of reports and questionnaires. Companies will be able to partially utilize overlapping information provided by the GRI or CDP in their sustainability reports for the G4 indicators or in responding to CDP's climate change-related questions. This year, the GRI and CDP will once again join forces, focusing on joint information disclosure guidelines related to produced water resources.

The EU's current circular economy policy originally focused on improving the recycling rate of different products and substances. It is expected that after the strategy is revised this year, chemical substance-related aspects will be included in policy development goals. This strategy will also revise six other waste disposal directives, including packaging, end-of-life vehicles, batteries and waste electrical and electronic equipment. , WEEE). Kestutis Sadauskas, Green Economy Director of the European Commission's Environment Agency, said that the strategy revision will be a good opportunity for us to strengthen the management of chemical substances and find out how to extract harmful chemicals from substances and products that are recycled or reused under the circular economy strategy. . The quality of recycled materials will determine the survival of the circular economy market, and the European Commission hopes to assist recycling companies in creating a quality market. Since the types and states of recycled products and substances vary greatly, and the contents and types of harmful chemicals are diverse, Sadauskas recommends starting with the control of harmful chemicals by starting with recycled products that are highly toxic, contain a lot of hazardous substances, and are recycled in large quantities. management, and then gradually achieve the goal of eliminating harmful chemical substances. European Union

Greenpeace Asia, an international environmental organization, published its latest progress review on detoxification of fashion brand supply chains on its website this year. Greenpeace has been actively promoting the elimination of hazardous substances from products and processes in the fashion industry in recent years, and therefore launched the online Detox Catwalk, ranking fashion brands based on the following three key requirements and their commitments: 1. Progress in phasing out alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEOs) and phthalates – Among the 11 confirmed hazardous chemicals used in the textile industry, APEOs and phthalates are the most widely used. All brands that have committed to detoxification must phase out these two toxic substances as soon as possible; 2. Perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs)

Between 2007 and 2008, prominent American toy manufacturers Mattel and Fisher-Price knowingly imported and sold children's toys with excessively high lead content in their paints or other surface coatings. This incident drew the attention of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), and both companies were fined heavily. The European Union and the U.S. government subsequently amended or added toy-related regulations to restrict the use of harmful substances in toys. While the EU and the U.S. have very strict limits on lead content in toy paints, toys manufactured in China still frequently have paints found to contain excessive lead and are subject to mandatory recalls. According to IBISWorld estimates, in 2014, 70-75% of the world's toys were manufactured in China, generating $33.6 billion in revenue. Due to the diversification of products and global sales, most Chinese toy manufacturers are well aware of the limits on heavy metals (especially lead) and harmful chemicals. Al Kaufman, Vice President of the Toy Industry Association (TIA), which represents more than 85% of the North American toy market, pointed out that, objectively speaking, toy manufacturers, including Chinese companies, have put in considerable effort in quality assurance and compliance with international chemical requirements.

In 2010, US retail giant Walmart announced that its global supply chain would reduce carbon emissions by 20 million tons by the end of 2015. By the end of 2014, Walmart and its partner NGO, the Environmental Defense Fund, had already helped its suppliers reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 17.4 million tons, ahead of schedule. Walmart recently released its 2015 Global Responsibility Report, revealing the company's efforts in environmental sustainability over the past year. In October 2014, Walmart announced its commitment to a sustainable food system, with four core pillars: 1. Increasing the availability of more affordable and less environmentally impactful food products; 2. Enhancing food accessibility; 3. ...

After two years of review, the updated version of the "Catalogue of Hazardous Chemicals" was finally announced on March 9, 2015, and will take effect on May 1, 2015, replacing the current version. The 2015 version of the Catalogue of Hazardous Chemicals includes 2,828 chemical substances with physical, health, or environmental hazards. Compared to the 3,834 entries in the 2002 version, the updated version groups substances from multiple categories into the same entries, increasing the scope of the 2015 version of the Catalogue of Hazardous Chemicals. The Catalogue of Hazardous Chemicals is an important basis for China's chemical management, including Order No. 591 and the "Regulations on the Registration and Management of Hazardous Chemicals" (Order No. 53 of the State Administration of Work Safety), both of which are based on the Catalogue of Hazardous Chemicals. The former requires hazardous chemicals entering the Chinese market to provide a Safety Data Sheet (SDS) and labeling. The latter requires manufacturers and users of hazardous chemicals and key environmentally managed hazardous chemicals to register. Relevant Chinese authorities will further publish compliance guidelines to assist manufacturers in the registration process. Please refer to the attachment for the contents of the "List of Hazardous Chemicals": China_List of Hazardous Chemicals_2015 Edition. In addition, on December 24, 2014, the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) of China published the "Comprehensive Environmental Protection List (2014 Edition)" and notified the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the Ministry of Finance (MOF).

In order to control and reduce environmental pollution caused by discarded electrical and electronic products, promote the production, sales, import of low-pollution electrical and electronic products and comprehensive utilization of resources, and protect the environment and human health, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China has drafted the "Restricted Use Management of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Products" "Measures (Draft for Solicitation of Comments)" will be solicited from the public on May 18 and will end on June 17. The final version of this regulation will replace the current "Measures for the Control and Management of Pollution from Electronic Information Products" issued in 2006 (also known as China's RoHS regulations). The main changes include the following three aspects: 1. Expansion of the scope of control. The applicable objects of this regulation have been expanded from the original electronic information products to electronic and electrical products. This is also reflected in the change in the title of the regulation. Equipment involved in the production, transmission and distribution of electrical energy is excluded. At the same time, the new RoHS governs the above-mentioned products produced, sold and imported in China. Exemptions originally granted for production earmarked for export will also be removed. 2. Establishing a standard management catalog As early as 2009, China issued the "Key Management Catalog for Pollution Control of Electronic Information Products (First Batch)", requiring the listed products to comply with the requirements of the SJ/T 11363-2006 standard. Later in 2011, the National Certification and Accreditation Administration and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology jointly released the "National Voluntary Certification Catalog for Pollution Control of Electronic Information Products (First Batch)", which is divided into complete machine products, component products, components and component products. , material products and exception requirements. According to the new RoHS

Laptops, mobile phones, and tablets have become indispensable electronic tools in modern life, and the rate at which consumers buy and discard electronic products is increasing exponentially with the pollution hazards they cause. In light of this, the demand for green electronic products is rising, and the industry has confirmed that green electronics are not out of reach. When companies are willing to fully utilize the technology and innovation that the electronics industry prides itself on in clean manufacturing processes, changes will be seen, including improved energy efficiency in electronic products and the gradual phasing out of harmful substances used in them. Since 2006, the well-known environmental organization Greenpeace has launched a green electronics promotion campaign in Europe, creating green electronics product guidelines and green electronics brand surveys and rankings, and putting pressure on international electronics brands through consumer purchasing decisions, hoping to encourage consumer electronics manufacturers to voluntarily prohibit the addition of harmful substances to their products. According to Greenpeace's "Green gadgets: designing the future" report published at the end of 2014, Apple is the only company that has completely eliminated polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and brominated flame retardants (BFRs) from all computer components and external wiring. Although 50% of companies in the market have stopped using PVC and brominated flame retardants in other components, some computer manufacturers still use PVC in wiring and some external parts.

The White House Better Buildings Challenge, launched in 2011, had attracted 250 public and private sector entities by 2014, encompassing 32,000 buildings and saving $1 billion in energy costs between 2012 and 2014. Supported by President Obama and former President Clinton, the challenge aims to attract public and private sector entities across the U.S. to improve building energy efficiency directly from the supply side of the building market through government subsidies and technology exchange, with the goal of achieving 20% ​​energy savings within 10 years. Statistics show that the average return on investment (ROI) for upgrading lighting control systems is 41%, while the ROI for building automation and control systems is as high as 44%. Furthermore, in May 2015, the U.S. Department of Energy announced the establishment of the Better Buildings Seminar Center as a platform for financing information and technology exchange among participating organizations in the challenge. Energy experts say that while government-enacted environmental laws or green certifications can improve energy efficiency to some extent, the most effective approach is to directly finance and sponsor the development of the green building market. (Source: Green Trade Information Network, June 12, 2015)

The North Face, the American outdoor apparel brand, is expanding its Clothes The Loop textile recycling program, now operating in all its retail and wholesale stores across the United States, aiming to recycle at least 100,000 pounds (45.4 tons) of clothing and shoes. Originally piloted in 10 stores in February 2013, Clothes The Loop now includes 83 stores. The program partners with clothing recycling company I:Collect, which recycles clothing and shoes from all brands and has successfully intercepted over 7.27 tons of clothing that would otherwise end up in landfills. Clean and dry items (I:Collect does not accept dirty or wet clothing) are sorted into 350 categories upon arrival at the recycling center. Some items are donated to charities, while others are processed into usable materials for insulation, carpet padding, toy stuffing, or fibers used in new clothing and shoes. The U.S. EPA estimates that more than 10.89 million tons of post-consumer textile waste (PCTW) ends up in landfills each year. (The last sentence appears to be incomplete and possibly refers to a separate, unrelated figure.)

A recent BP (British Petroleum) global energy trends report shows that as China's economic focus gradually shifts from heavy industry to services, China's energy consumption growth rate in 2014 fell to its lowest point since the 1990s. According to a Financial Times report on June 10th, the BP report indicates that the low growth of energy-intensive industries has reduced China's energy consumption growth rate to 2.6%, a figure far below half the average growth rate of the past 10 years. In recent years, the Chinese central government has been working hard to shed its negative image as a "polluting nation," promoting green manufacturing through "Made in China 2025," eliminating another 15 million tons of outdated steelmaking capacity this year, and declaring a comprehensive cleanup of "blacklisted" enterprises. However, BP's chief economist, Spencer Dale, does not believe that the decline in China's energy demand has become the norm. He believes that facing a slowing Chinese economy and increasing pressure to maintain growth, China will find it difficult to shake off its dependence on fossil fuels in the short term. (Source: Environmental Information Center, June 13, 2015)

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) issued an announcement titled "Management Requirements for Hazardous Substances and Recyclability of Automobiles." Effective January 1, 2016, the announcement mandates management of hazardous substance use and recyclability in passenger vehicles (M1 category) with no more than nine seats. It also requires automobile manufacturers to provide a "Vehicle Dismantling Guidance Manual" to recycling and dismantling companies within six months of receiving the new product's "Announcement," through appropriate channels and methods. Those failing to provide the required materials and information will be ordered to rectify the situation within a specified period, or their names will be published. Specific requirements for the management of hazardous substances and recyclability of automobiles are as follows: I. Automobile manufacturers, as the responsible parties for pollution control, should actively engage in eco-design, adhering to the design principles of easy dismantling and recyclability. They should adopt reasonable structural and functional designs, select non-toxic or low-toxic and low-harm green and environmentally friendly materials and easily dismantled and utilized components, and apply green manufacturing technologies with high resource utilization efficiency, low environmental pollution, and easy recycling. They should actively build green supply chains, controlling the use of hazardous substances and implementing material labeling requirements throughout the entire industry chain. II. All levels of automotive parts and materials suppliers should truthfully provide information on the materials and hazardous substances used in their products to facilitate automotive manufacturers' tracking and analysis of hazardous substances and recyclability rates. III. Starting January 1, 2016, the use of hazardous substances in passenger vehicles (Category M1) with a total seating capacity of no more than nine seats will be subject to...

Are environmental movements effective? For the first time, academia has quantitatively measured the effectiveness of environmental political movements, comparing carbon emissions and environmentalism levels across US states since 1990. A new study published by the National Academy of Sciences indicates that the effects of environmental movements in the US are visible, as states with higher environmental awareness do indeed have lower carbon emissions than those with lower awareness. Higher Environmental Awareness Leads to Relatively Lower Carbon Emissions. The study reveals that in more environmentally friendly states like New York and Vermont, despite increases in population and wealth, greenhouse gas emissions have decreased simultaneously; however, states like Texas and Wyoming, with stronger climate change skepticism, have seen an increasing trend in greenhouse gas emissions. The level of environmentalism was assessed using state legislators' environmental voting records published by the League of Conservation Voters. Past research has shown that voting records are a good indicator of voter intentions. Each state's environmental voting record was scored between 0 and 100, with some states scoring near perfect and others close to zero. Vermont had the highest environmental voting score and the second lowest carbon emissions, second only to Rhode Island. The three states with the lowest environmental vote scores are Texas, Wyoming, and Louisiana, which also have the highest carbon emissions. Closely related states can vary significantly; for example, North Dakota has a much lower environmental vote score and much higher carbon emissions compared to South Dakota. Environmental awareness and economic growth can also be low-carbon. The study's lead researcher, Professor Thomas Dietz of Michigan State University, points out that environmental awareness can lead to low-carbon economic growth.

Staples, a leading US office supplies retailer, Mr. Riot Hotels, and other companies representing over $50 billion in investment and procurement, have decided to leverage their influence over their suppliers, builders, and retailers through a new Chemical Footprint Project (CFP) to provide information on the levels of hazardous substances used in their products and processes. The executive team behind the CFP stated that the initiative will launch on June 17th of this year. The CFP, launched last year, is a public online auditing tool that helps companies monitor their chemical management performance and identify industry leaders in chemical management. Companies that have already joined the initiative have pledged to invite their suppliers and other industry peers to participate and understand their own chemical footprint scores. The CFP was initially established by the non-profit environmental group Clean Production Action, the Center for Sustainable Production at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, and the sustainability consulting firm Pure Strategies. The CFP is the first public auditing of a company's overall chemical management system performance, including the following: 1.

Assessing climate risks is an urgent and challenging task, requiring an understanding of numerous areas, such as the complex interactions within the global climate system and the responses of natural ecosystems, the potential impacts of current emissions reduction measures, and the interplay of political, social, and economic factors, including forced migration, dramatic shifts in global food production, rising violence, and government failures. The report, titled "Climate Change: A Risk Assessment" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report"), was released today (July 13, 2015). This report provides an authoritative analysis of these issues. Its authors include Sir David King of the United Kingdom, Professor Daniel Schrag of the United States, Professors Zhou Dadi and Qi Ye of China, and Dr. Arunabha Ghosh of India. They urge governments to pay close attention to climate change and provide timely assessments. Last week, Dr. Ghosh pointed out in Delhi, India, that scientists, actuaries, military officers, and policy analysts have different definitions of risk. Scientists are cautious about predicting future climate impacts. Actuaries and military officers, however, need to plan for worst-case scenarios, thus focusing more on extreme situations. Dr. Goshen stated that this report not only considers worst-case scenarios but also incorporates data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).