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SUSTAINABLE REFERENCE WINS THE SPANISH PITCH NIGHT PRESENTING “SURE”!
On Wednesday, July 25, Andy Backer, CEO of Sustainable Reference, participated in the Spanish Pitch Night, an event held at Rocket Space in San Francisco. Spanish Pitch Night was a ompetition between 10 Spanish entrepreneurs, presenting their company’s business plan.
Andy Backer presented SURE!, Sustainable Reference’s point system to encourage positive sustainable activity within people’s work and life, by awarding recognition and incentives to sustainable behavior. SURE! is an interactive, fun and a transparent online platform that helps pave the way towards a sustainable future. This idea won over the judges landing SURE! with a first prize.
Each contestant only had precisely three minutes to make the pitch, and two minutes for a question and answer forum following the pitch. The judges were pitching expert Angelika Blendstrup, and Spanish Investor Marcel Prunera. Ten companies participated in the competition, four of which take part in the Spain Tech Center program: Bevalley, Toolea, Mobadme and Sustainable Reference. Also included were four companies from the Spanish program, Imagine. And Yuzz, a Spanish contest for young entrepreneurs, had two representatives compete.
This first place represents the second award for SURE! in less than a week. The company was declared a finalist, with a special mention, in the 2nd Green ICT Application Challenge, a contest seeking out sustainable solutions that address global warming. Among three other companies, SURE! will be given an award which will take place in Paris, France, on September 19, 2012.
China solar firms warn of EU trade war
China’s solar manufacturers have warned of a trade war with the European Union, calling on the Chinese government to strike back against an anti-dumping complaint filed by rivals in Europe.
Reuters Newsagency reports that European companies said they would not be put off by retaliation threats.
Read more (EcoNews)..
The Causes of Global Warming: Natural or Man Made?
Global warming (also referred to as Climate Change) is a complex issue which is difficult to tease out the human and the non-human causes. The precise causes of global warming are not crystal clear; whether humans are the cause, the Earth’s natural cycle or a combination of both is still being examined.
Read more (The Innovation Diaris)…
Gamification to Encourage Sustainable Behavior
Sustainability is not immune to the growing proliferation of gamification as a way to encourage desired behaviors through the allure of competition, rewards and fun. Cities, business organizations and product manufacturers, among others, have begun creating such games and incentives in order to more successfully meet their sustainability goals.
Read more (Ebsco Sustainability)…
ANDY BACKER, FINALIST OF THE 2ND GREEN ICT APPLICATION CHALLENGE
The profesor of IE School of Architecture, Andy Bäcker is a finalist with a special mention in the 2nd Green ICT Application Challenge, organized by UIT and Telefónica, in support of “International year for Sustainable Energy for All”.
Read more (IE University)…
Greenpeace explores underwater canyons, calls for their protection
Greenpeace has returned to the world’s largest underwater canyons, here in the Bering Sea, to continue our efforts to protect these amazing ecosystems.
Today, factory trawl ships pull up over a million tons of fish here each year and their enormous nets scrape along the seafloor, destroying coral habitats in these submarine canyons that are critical for fish, crabs and other marine life.
After years of Greenpeace and others calling for their protection, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council declined once again in 2006 to protect these canyons, saying there wasn’t enough information available about the canyons to justify action.
Read more (GreenPeace)…
Interpol and UNEP Target Forest Crime with New, “LEAF” Initiative
INTERPOL and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) launched a new, joint initiative this week aimed at combating forest crime and improving what has been a broken, ineffective patchwork of forestry law enforcement.
Known as Project LEAF (Law Enforcement Assistance for Forests), the effort represents an international response that, for the first time, matches the organization and sophistication of transnational crime.
According to a World Bank study released in March, illegal logging has become a “global epidemic,” accounting for up to 90% of all logging activity and generating $10-15 billion annually.
Read more (Ecology Global Network)…
Europe’s Future Depends on Cities Resilient to Climate Change
Around three quarters of Europeans live in cities. Most of Europe’s wealth is generated in cities, and urban areas are particularly at risk due to climate change. Europe should seize the opportunity of improving quality of life while adapting to climate change in cities, according to a report from the European Environment Agency (EEA). The report also warns that delaying adaptation will be much more costly in the long-term.
Getting to Inclusive Green Growth
Inclusive green growth is the pathway to sustainable development. It is the only way to reconcile the rapid growth required to bring developing countries to the level of prosperity to which they aspire, meet the needs of the more than 1 billion people still living in poverty, and fulfill the global imperative of a better environment.
Read more (The Word Bank)…
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