Thames Water crisis deepens
The government is exploring the possibility of temporarily nationalising Thames Water. The utility company, which serves 15 million people in London and its surrounding areas, has debts in excess of £14bn – 80% of the total value of the business.
It is currently seeking “further equity funding” on top of the £500m it raised from shareholders just three months ago.
While the consortium that has owned Thames Water since 2017 is yet to pay shareholders a dividend, some analysts blame the current malaise on its previous owner, Macquarie. The Australian bank withdrew £2.7bn in dividends from the water company while increasing its borrowings by more than £7bn.
The water industry is facing a wider crisis. British water companies have collectively racked up £65bn in debt since privatisation, raising fears over their ability to modernise leaky infrastructure.
OpenAI opts for London office
ChatGPT developer OpenAI is opening its first international office in London in a boost for the city. The San Francisco-based firm, which created the popular chatbot and research tool, views the UK capital as an ideal gateway into European markets, without being overly affected by EU regulation.
Diane Yoon, OpenAI’s HR chief, said London has access to an “exceptional talent pool” due to its numerous universities and large graduate population. The firm’s main rival, Google’s DeepMind, is also headquartered in London.
The announcement will be welcomed by prime minister Rishi Sunak, who is seeking to position the UK as a leader in the burgeoning artificial intelligence sector. The government has invested more than £2.5bn in the industry over the past decade and launched an office for AI in 2018.
John Lewis set to be net zero by 2035
The John Lewis Partnership is the first UK retailer to have its net-zero science-based targets validated by the official body for corporate climate targets. The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) confirmed that the group, which owns John Lewis department stores and Waitrose, is on course to become a net zero operation by 2035, with its supply chain to follow by 2050.
The SBTi’s net-zero standard requires that a company reduce its emissions by at least 90% to hit the target, with the remaining carbon “counterbalanced” by permanent carbon removal and storage. John Lewis cut its scope one and two emissions by nearly a third last year.
Marija Rompani, the group’s director of sustainability, says that reaching net zero will mean “transforming our business in every way”, adding that it will be “the bedrock of our plans to protect and restore nature and tackle the climate crisis over the years to come.”
Recycled toilet paper faces remote work wipe out
The rise of remote work is making toilet paper less sustainable, a study by Ethical Consumer has suggested. With more people working from home post-pandemic, offices are producing less waste paper, which has in turn reduced the amount of recycled material available to make loo roll.
Partly as a result, leading manufacturers have cut the amount of recycled paper used in their tissues, turning instead to deforestation-linked virgin wood pulp. The magazine recommends people avoid buying loo roll from Kimberly-Clark (which makes Andrex), Essity (which makes Velvet and Cushelle) and Sofidel (which makes Regina and Nicky), and search instead for more sustainable brands.
