A network of university students and Morinaga & Co Ltd are carrying out '1Action for 1Smile' fairtrade purchasing campaign around Valentine's Day this year.
In Japan, Valentine's Day is an opportunity for women to express their feelings by sending chocolates to men. Using Morinaga 'DARS', Japan's first chocolate product to contains fairtrade cacao, during Valentine's Day, the campaign aims to raise awareness of fairtrade products and sustainable cacao farming in Ghana. At the same time, those young students can also express their special feelings to their loved ones.
UNEP launched the International Sustainable Public Procurement Initiative (SPPI) on 18 June 2012 in Rio de Janeiro.
The SPPI aims at bringing together representatives from governments, local authorities, business sector and civil society interested in collectively promoting the supply and demand of sustainable products through SPP.
IGPN secretariat, together with GPN Japan, held the first workshop on 24 May to study and analyse the trend and practice of ethical / CSR procurement in Japan and abroad. The participants included representatives from research institutes, universities, government sector, industrial sector, environmental NGOs, etc.
More workshops are being planned this year, with a view to develop ethical procurement guidelines as part of the future activities of IGPN.
The economic downturn means organic farmers are less likely to reap rewards of premium prices for their produce
Farmers across the UK have been deserting organic farming, or holding back on plans to convert their land to more environmentally friendly farming methods, as sales of organic products have fallen in the economic downturn.
The rapid decline in interest from farmers is not yet reflected in the amount of land in organic production overall in the UK, which has risen slightly. It takes several years to convert land from conventional production to organic production, in part because of the need to stop using fertilisers and pesticides that may still be present in the soil.
What the figures show is that this is not being replenished by new farmers coming on board. As the decline in farmers entering organic conversion feeds through, the overall figure for organically farmed land is likely to stagnate or fall.
The Green Business Africa Summit & Expo is Africa’s first flagship event that brings to the mainstream issues around sustainability in the business environment as well as green corporate social responsibility (CSR).
"ClimateWire, 21 April 2010 - A decided majority of electricity customers would not sign up for demand management programs that allowed utilities to remotely control home appliances unless they could override the utilities' actions, according to a survey by Accenture, the global management consulting firm."
Buy Smart is a website launched this year and maintained by the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA), which provides free consultation and information on green purchasing.
[Theatro Naturale] Seven organisations have won the European Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) Awards for excellence in environmental management.
The awards recognise outstanding achievements in environmental management. The 2009 awards focused on the supply chain including green procurement.
This year 32 organisations from 12 European countries were nominated. The seven winners were selected by a jury of six experts in the field of environmental management and public procurement.
Read the article on Theatro Naturale International.
Titled "Climate Neutral through Procurement" and it aims to exchange ideas, experiences, concepts and opinions on how sustainable procurement can contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adaptation to climate change.
ICLEI's EcoProcura Conferences is the only European conference to provide a platform to promote exchange and dialogue amongst purchasers from all levels of governments, suppliers, policy-makers and multipliers on strategies and the latest practical solutions for implementing sustainable procurement.
The Eco-products International Fair (EPIF) was initiated by the Asian Productivity Organization (APO) in 2004 and has been held in Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore with the number of participating companies increasing every year.
With the remarkable economic growth, the attractive investment opportunities and the concerns expressed by the government and its people for the environmental protection in recent years, Vietnam will play a host country for the fourth Eco-products International Fair in 2008, which is scheduled to take place in Hanoi between the 1st and 4th March 2008.
A series of worldwide concerts are being planned for this summer to highlight the threat of global warming.
The eight Live 8-style gigs were announced by former US Vice President Al Gore, and Johannesburg, London, Shanghai and Sydney are among the host cities. Three other concerts will take place in the US, Brazil and Japan with the cities still to be decided. There will also be a concert in Antarctica.
There is growing awareness in Malaysia that voluntary programmes, such as green purchasing and green procurement, economic instruments and reporting mechanisms, are necessary to influence industry and society in order to reduce the effect on human health and the environment. With the objectives to create awareness concerning the current international trends on green purchasing, procurement and greening the supply chain; to implement green purchasing tool kit, products database and guidelines; and to create awareness and action plans for the implementation of green purchasing and procurement in specific sectors, Green Purchasing Network Malaysia (MGPN) will hold a conference ‘Connecting Green Asia with the Global Market’ on 6th November in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia.
EcoDesign 2006 Asia Pacific Symposium will be held at:
National Center of Sciences Building, 2-1-2 Hitotsu-bashi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
- Organizer: Union of EcoDesigners
- Secretariat: NPO EcoDesign Promotion Network
- Date: 11-12 December 2006
Workshop on Green Manufacturing and Management for Electronics Industry was held in Pune, India on 7th March 2006. It was organised in cooperation with Center for Electronics Test Engineering, Pune (CETE), Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries And Agriculture (MCCIA) and International Green Purchasing Network (IGPN).
The Second Announcement and Call for Papers of EcoProcura, including IGPN’s 2nd International Green Purchasing Conference and the LEAP Project Results, are now available. http://www.iclei-europe.org/index.php?id=2209
Together with the newly established China Green Purchasing Network (CGPN) and with support from China’s Environmental Development Center of State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), IGPN will hold an international conference in Suzhou, China on 23rd March 2006.
The conference is titled “International Green Purchasing Network (IGPN) Conference in China” and will target business organisations, governments, both domestic and overseas specialists, associations and NPOs/NGOs. The speakers will come from China, Korea and Japan and will cover the following topics:
Concept and significance of green purchasing
Legislation Introduction on overseas governmental green purchasing
International status of green purchasing and its tendency
The role of Environmental-labeling in governmental green purchasing
Case study on green purchasing actualized by enterprises
Effect evaluation on local governmental green purchasing
IGPN, in association with Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture, will hold a one-day workshop in Pune, India on 7th March 2006. The workshop is titled "Green Manufacturing & Management in Electronics Industry" and speakers from Canon Inc, Murata Manufacturing Ltd, GPN Japan and IGPN along with Indian implementers of the said activity will guide participants of the workshop. Click here to download the programme for further information