As announced in PR week, Ed has been appointed to the Mayor of London’s top environmental body, the London Sustainable Development Commission.

On his appointment Ed said: “As a marine biologist I was initially a reluctant Londoner but over the past dozen years of living here I've become a fervent advocate of this city and all its wonders. London is a crucible in which influential ideas for urban living have been developed for centuries, and as we enter the twenty-first of these, sustainability is THE challenge which we simply have to get right. It won't be easy but as the famous saying goes, nothing really worth doing ever is. The promise of a cleaner, greener, healthier, sexier, smarter tomorrow starts now.”

Read the piece PR Week

Soli is featured in PR Week commenting on professional ethics this week. On being asked, 'How would you react if a client asked you to do something unethical?'  Soli explained,

'In nine years, we have only deliberately been asked to do something wrong twice. Both times I broke our contract and walked away.'

Read the full article here.

Exciting news for our friends The National Trust who last week released their energy report "Grow your own". The report sets out the Trust's ambitious targets to reduce fossil fuel usage by 50% within the next 10 years.

It also showcases the innovative ways in which the Trust is already reducing emissions in its historic buildings - for example, by installing solar panels on Dunster castle in Somerset.

You can download the full report here.

The London Sustainable Development Commission was established in 2002 to advise the Mayor of London on making London an exemplary sustainable world city. 

The Commission is made up of a individual experts from the economic, social, environmental and London governance sectors. Commissioners give their time voluntarily, promoting sustainable development, embedding sustainability into London wide strategies, and helping make sustainability a meaningful and understandable concept for all Londoners.

Ed has been featured in an article in PR Week today on the topic of climate sceptics and how climate change scientists need to move the debate beyond science and sell the sizzle in the face of recent bad PR.

Soli will be featured on Radio 5 Live this morning as she launches the Green Energy Scheme.

She's been appointed the Chair of an independent panel who will be certifying any new green energy tariffs in the UK. 

Tune in!

We’ve had some really exciting news here at Futerra; Swishing has been shortlisted in the Pepsi Refresh project and is in line for a $50,000 grant.  

We now need you to VOTE VOTE VOTE and help us reduce the impacts of ‘fast fashion.’ 

Read Lucy’s blog post, follow us on Twitter, or become a fan on Facebook to find out more.  

Tonight is the night, Soli will be Selling the Sizzle on Radio 4’s Analysis.

Analysis goes out from 20.30 – 21.00, or can be found on BBC iPlayer for the next week.

Also on the BBC in the near future, Newsnight will be sending Ethical Man, Rustin Rowlatt down coal mines to investigate Yorkshire & Humber’s carbon capture and storage project from CO2 Sense. We will let you know the exact date soon.

Feeling the snow day blues? Well Saturday is International Day of Swishing, so cheer yourself up by getting your bags of swag ready.

We’ll be partying at Andaz and the lovely Miss Earth – England will be lending her beauty to the cause.

Futerra’s Lucy Shea says; “Ladies have long known that Swishing gives you a hot new look while going easy on the wallet, and the planet. Environmentalism doesn’t have to mean socks with sandals, but the impact of the fashion industry on the environment is huge. ‘Treading lightly’ is done best wearing Manolo Blahniks and Swishing makes it possible!”

Find the event closest to you at www.swishing.com. With special thanks to our international media partner Metro. Coverage highlihgts include Grazia and the Huffington Post. 

Swishing has been labeled shopping with hangovers. Today, The Observer identifies it as a way to a better life in 2010.

Futerra’s Lucy Shea joins thirty gurus, from Seth Godin to Jonathan Safran Foer, to give a bit of self-help advice - Swishing style.

…

Not made the January sales? Don’t fret; join the party on International Day of Swishing January 9th 2010.

Futerra  has  started our third year of work with UCL on their Doctorate programme in Urban Sustainability and Resilience. It's a brilliant course where students work in businesses breaking new ground to overcome specific sustainability challenges.

Over the years, we've done various pieces of graphic design work, designed recruitment events and set the scope for an internal project collaboration website. This next phase of work is focused on marketing the programme to prospective businesses and training the students on communications.

More details on the course can be found here.

Futerra has been working with Unilever and The Coca-Cola Company to distill a simple process for consumer goods companies to reduce their carbon footprints. We’ve helped produce a snappy booklet, which is being presented to  attendees of the WBCSD's Business Day at Copenhagen this week by Paul Polman, Unilever’s CEO and Muhtar Kent, CEO of The Coca Cola Company.

Download it here.

The Copenhagen Summit is the biggest climate change event in history. Over 3 million sheets of paper will be used by the official delegates. That’s enough paper to cover 185,000 square meters (or 31 football pitches). Futerra worked with Arjowiggins Creative Papers to make sure that for every A4 piece of paper used, an A4 patch of rainforest will be preserved through the World Land Trust.

All of Arjowiggins’ paper comes from sustainably managed forests, but they’re investing in the rainforest because it’s one of the most valuable resources our planet has in the fight against climate change. After energy generation, rainforest destruction is by far the largest single source of greenhouse emissions.