Sustainability stats: This week in numbers

It's been a hectic week for sustainability professionals, with the Summer Budget leaving many edie readers with some big numbers to mull over...


As well as the new Government policies, there were a series of high-profile announcements from firms and charities.

Facebook announced plans to slash its carbon emissions by sourcing half of its energy from renewable sources by 2018. The social networking company also plans to build a new data centre to be powered entirely by wind energy.

The National Trust also confirmed it would invest £30m in a series of new renewable energy projects at its historic sites.

The future of liquefied natural gas also came into question this week. Carbon Tracker estimated there may be as many as $283bn of surplus natural gas projects worldwide, if countries make commitments to limit global warming to 2OC. Climate campaigners also announced a series of key objectives for nations tackling climate change, including $1trn for investment in clean energy.

In an exciting announcement for car-lovers, Lamborghini said its new factory and headquarters would be entirely ‘carbon neutral’.

And Warwick University students were celebrating their university’s decision to divest from fossil fuels, following a series of student-led protests.

But the major announcement for professionals came when Chancellor George Osborne’ announced the Budget on Wednesday; confirming an end to renewable energy’s exemption from the Climate Change Levy, which experts have claimed risks the UK’s low-carbon transition and could put emerging technologies in peril.

Check out edie’s pick of the numbers from this week, and click the pictures to get the full story.

Matt Field

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