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2 days ago | 
trellis.net | Elsa Wenzel
Few of the nearly 8,000 companies with validated science-based net zero targets make headlines for reaching that milestone. But for Shein, which has come to symbolize the excesses of cheap, trend-driven fashion, the news drew widespread criticism from sustainability experts. “If Shein were sincere, perhaps, we wouldn’t see emissions grow quite so astronomically recently,” said Maxine Bédat, director of the New Standard Institute, a New York City think tank.
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3 days ago | 
trellis.net | Elsa Wenzel
Animal, vegetable or mineral. Most materials derive from one of those categories of nature. But a Chicago startup is cultivating a new class of materials from the fungus kingdom. Hydefy, in fact, is developing alternatives both leather and fossil fuel-based plastics. The company just emerged from stealth mode after spending five years quietly formulating its vegan “leather.” In March, it took the wraps off its first branded product, a $1,500 silvery purse by Stella McCartney.
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3 days ago | 
trellis.net | Leah Garden
Jigar Shah is concerned about an impending rise in energy costs, but he’s still optimistic about the prospect of America’s clean energy future. That’s one of the main takeaways from a wide ranging interview with the former director of the Biden Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Programs Office (LPO). Shah, who is now a part-time fellow for the World Resources Institute and consultant for PowerHouse Ventures, spoke with Trellis about the future of U.S. energy.
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4 days ago | 
trellis.net | Joel Makower
The Two Steps Forward podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and other platforms — and, of course, via Trellis. Episodes publish every other Tuesday. Financial services is high on the list of the most fascinating and challenging sectors for sustainability. Ellen Jackowski, Chief Sustainability Officer at Mastercard, is one of the sector’s leaders.
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1 week ago | 
trellis.net | Heather Clancy
Microsoft remains “pragmatically optimistic” that it will meet its commitment from five years ago to become carbon negative by 2030, despite reporting a 23.4 percent cumulative increase in its total greenhouse gas emissions since that time.
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1 week ago | 
trellis.net | Jim Giles
It often feels like there’s no area of business that artificial intelligence isn’t about to disrupt. But for those interested in focusing attention on where the technology might have particular impact, a slew of grants from the Bezos Earth Fund provides useful pointers. The fund has allocated up to $100 million to its AI Grand Challenge for Climate and Nature, which is designed to identify and accelerate projects that leverage artificial intelligence to tackle pressing environmental challenges.
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1 week ago | 
trellis.net | Leah Garden
A newly released report from NGO E2 tallied $4.5 billion worth of cancelled clean energy investments in April. This brings total cancellations to $8 billion in the first quarter of 2025. The report’s release coincides with the passage of the House’s version of the Budget Bill, proposed legislation that essentially revokes the majority of clean energy investment and manufacturing credits introduced in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.
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1 week ago | 
trellis.net | Leah Garden
In a bid to follow the Trump administration’s anti-climate agenda, EPA administrator Lee Zeldin attempted to unilaterally repeal congressionally approved funding from climate programs, including the National Climate Investment Fund (NCIF) and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF). In response, one of the recipient coalitions of the GGRF, Climate United Fund, sued the agency and Citibank — a.k.a. the financial institution that houses GGRF deposits — for freezing all funds.
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1 week ago | 
trellis.net | Jim Giles
Purchasing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) just got a little easier, thanks to the release of an online platform that allows buyers to quickly compare price and other attributes of different fuels. Fuels derived from waste cooking oil and other sustainable sources are at the heart of the aviation industry’s efforts to decarbonize, but purchasing SAF is nothing like booking a flight.
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1 week ago | 
trellis.net | Jim Giles
A pioneering scheme to limit the growth of aviation emissions is facing increasing risks of non-compliance as the price of carbon credits rises. Air travel became the first sector to agree to emissions targets on a global basis when the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) was adopted in 2016. Participating airlines must now cap their emissions at 85 percent of 2019 levels — any subsequent growth needs to be offset by purchasing CORSIA-approved carbon credits.