The State Department has awarded the Award for Corporate Excellence to two US-based corporations for their engagement on the climate problem (ACE).
“The climate catastrophe is not a problem that can be solved solely by government or civil society activity,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated. “We need businesses to make the investments that will lead us to net-zero emissions so that we can limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and avoid a climate disaster.”
Since 1999, the ACE has rewarded American corporations for their good international business practices. It will award businesses in the fields of economic inclusion, health security, and climate innovation in 2021.
Australis Aquaculture and Patagonia were recognized as climate innovators for creating solutions to encourage sustainable adaptation and minimize greenhouse gas emissions.
Sustainable food for a healthier planet
Australis Aquaculture, a Massachusetts-based corporation, pioneered climate-smart ocean farming in central Vietnam’s marine tropics.
In a processing factory, a person wearing white safety clothes holds a barramundi (Australis).
At Australis’ processing factory, a worker handles a barramundi, a species of white fish strong in omega-3 fatty acids. Australis (Southern Hemisphere)
Its pioneering work has made barramundi, a nutrient-dense white fish, an inexpensive and ecologically beneficial food source.
Because it can convert a plant-based diet into omega-3 fatty acids, a vitamin required for good human brain function, barramundi is an extremely sustainable animal to farm. Salmon is also recognized as an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids. However, salmon must consume other fish in order to create the vitamin.
In a vegetarian diet, barramundi provides the same nutritional punch. Australis also reduces the environmental effect of barramundi aquaculture by reusing the water it utilizes.
Australis’ revolutionary technique provides a new paradigm for large-scale ocean aquaculture, generating economic advantages for employees and coastal communities while improving global food security, protecting wild fisheries, and increasing climate resilience.
Australis’ Greener Grazing project addresses the climate challenge as well. It tries to reduce cattle methane emissions by including Asparagopsis seaweed into their meals.
“If successful, our program may drastically decrease the climate effect of the world’s two billion cattle – the climatic equivalent of removing every automobile from the road,” the business claims.
Read more on: https://share.america.gov/us-companies-take-on-climate-crisis-challenges/
Clothing meets environmental action
Patagonia, a California-based sustainable outdoor apparel manufacturer, places environmental solutions at the heart of its business model as well. It has committed to being carbon neutral throughout its whole company (including supplier chains) by 2025.
Since 2019, it has used 100 percent renewable power in the United States and 80 percent abroad. By the autumn of 2020, 68 percent of its seasonal collection was manufactured from recycled materials.
Patagonia intends to achieve carbon neutrality by removing, capturing, or otherwise reducing all of its carbon emissions, whether from its own facilities or farms that grow the natural fibers it utilizes.
For all retail locations, distribution hubs, and worldwide headquarters, the corporation will solely utilize power derived from renewable sources.
Patagonia will also minimize its energy use throughout its supply chain, collaborate with suppliers to transition to renewable energy, and invest in renewable energy projects to offset the balance of its carbon impact.
It will also increase regenerative organic agriculture as a source of fiber for their clothes in order to replenish soils and remove carbon from the atmosphere.
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