Europe's record heatwave killed over 1,300 people and is directly linked to climate change. Major companies like Walmart, Lego, and Amazon are locking in clean energy deals, while the UK is tightening climate targets and introducing mandatory deforestation due diligence rules. AI's energy demands are creating legal and financial risks.
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Hey, thanks so much for listening. I would love to be able to help you more on what it is that you are listening to and why you're listening to me. If you could click on the link in the show notes, that would be awesome because it will help me define what it is that we should be talking about on this podcast. Before we start, one European heatwave this month killed more than 1,300 people in a matter of days, and scientists have now confirmed climate change is unequivocally to blame. Stay to the end for the number that shows exactly what that heat is already costing your business at the checkout. This week in sustainability, here are your top 10 stories ranked by what the world is talking about most. Coming in at number 10, Nestlé, Gap, Cisco, and McDonald's all name new sustainability chiefs. This is directly relevant to food and beverage and media marketing and advertising. When the biggest food and consumer brands reshuffle their sustainability leadership in the same week, it signals where budget and accountability are heading. Nestlé promoted Antonia Wana to a combined communications and sustainability role. Gap hired the Levi Strauss CSO. Cisco and McDonald's both appointed new chiefs. The pattern to watch: sustainability is being folded into senior commercial and communications roles, not kept in a side office. Number 9: Corporates cut the check. Walmart's first nuclear deal. Lego goes 100% solar. This is relevant to £50 million turnover businesses and above, with a clear food and beverage read. Household brands are locking in clean power on long-term contracts to hedge energy costs and carbon at once. Walmart signed its first long nuclear power purchase agreements. Lego switched its Denmark HQ to 100% solar. And Amazon and BlackRock Skyborne linked the largest ever clean and energy purchase agreements in Germany. Procurement, not press releases, is where the real reductions are happening. Number 8: Water becomes the metric to watch. This is directly relevant to food and beverage, where water sits at the heart of the supply chain. Microsoft and Amazon both hit water-positive targets years early, and SBTN expanded its corporate freshwater targets. Microsoft reached its water-positive goal 5 years ahead of plan. Amazon hits the same milestone in India ahead of schedule, and the Science Based Target Network launched expanded freshwater targets. Carbon has company. Water is becoming a board-level number. Number seven, Starmer resigns. Burnham is likely to be the successor. This is broad for any business that's over a £50 million turnover. A change at the top of the UK government reshapes the policy backdrop of every large organisation plans against. Keir Starmer resigns, with Andy Burnham the likely successor, and speculation already mounting over a new green policy team. The Climate Change Committee used the moment to urge the next Prime Minister to hold the course on net zero and accelerate electrification. Number 6, AI's power bill lands in the courtroom. This is broad to any organization over £50 million turnover. The energy and legal risk attached to AI infrastructure is now a live business issue not a tech footnote. A lawsuit over unpermitted gas turbines powering Elon Musk's X AI data center has become a test of US authority over air pollution, with the Department of Justice intervening on national security grounds. As firms rush compute online, the environmental cost of AI is being fought over in public. Number five, the MPs back a new UK 2040 climate target. This is useful to any organisation over £50 million turnover. A firm interim target tightens the trajectory every UK business will be measured against. MPs backed a new 2040 climate target despite Tory and Reform opposition. Described by supporters as a decisive moment. For large organisations, it narrows the gap between long-dated net-zero pledges and the near-term action that regulators and investors should now expect. Number 4: the UK to introduce mandatory deforestation due diligence. This is directly relevant to food and beverage, and any business trading in commodities linked to rainforests will face new supply chain checks. Defra confirms it will consult on mandatory supply chain deforestation due diligence aligned with the EU Deforestation Regulation to avoid duplication. UK consumption is linked to roughly 29,000 hectares of deforestation and 9.4 million tonnes of carbon emissions a year. So supply chain traceability is about to become a legal requirement, not a nice-to-have. Number 3, the AI investment boom gets a bubble warning. This is useful to any organization that's above £50 million turnover. The Bank for International Settlements is warning that an AI spending correction could ripple through the wider economy your business operates in. The BIS, which advises the world's central banks, warned that lacklustre returns on AI investment could trigger a sudden finance pullback, calling the boom bigger than the railways or the internet. The same week saw a major tech stock sell-off, worth watching if your growth plans lean on cheap capital. Number 2, AI reshapes the creative industries at Cannes Lions. Which is where our CEO Richard Davis went last week. This is directly relevant to media, marketing, and advertising. The $1.3 trillion advertising and creator economy is rewiring itself around AI, and the message from Cannes was to adapt or get left behind. From real-time hybrid production cutting film costs to AI-generated ad campaigns, The debate at Cannes Lions was not whether to use AI, but how to be transparent about it. For agencies and brands, the practical question is measuring and disclosing the emissions and provenance of AI-heavy creative work. And number 1, Europe's record heatwave unequivocally linked to climate change. This is directly relevant to any organization, really. But food and beverage in particular through crop and price pressure. This was the most covered story of the week across every newsletter. The most severe European heat wave on record pushed temperatures 5 degrees centigrade to 12 degrees centigrade above seasonal averages and caused more than 1,300 excess deaths in days. The World Weather Attribution confirming Climate change was unequivocally to blame. Coverage ran from London's overheating modern housing to the true cost of heat at the supermarket checkout. The physical risk is here now and is already in the numbers. So, top 3 mind-blowing environmental facts from this week. The UK consumption of imported commodities is linked to around 29,000 hectares of deforestation and 9.4 million tons of carbon emissions every single year, roughly the footprint of a small nation you never see on a map. This month's European heatwave has caused more than 1,300 excess deaths in a matter of days, and researchers say it's the most severe ever recorded in the region. The current AI investment boom is now bigger relative to the economy than the historic buildouts of the railway and the internet, And central bankers are warning it could be a bust. If you want to be a part of our network, DM me or comment. I look forward to hearing from you.
Grab free access to Will's Substack while it lasts. Every week we pull together the top sustainability stories from dozens of trusted sources. Then he breaks down the big issues facing business right now in plain, practical terms. Link in the description.
