Blue & Green Daily: Friday 11 April headlines

Blue & Green Daily finds and summarises the top sustainability stories around the web every morning. We start with our own picks from Blue & Green Tomorrow.

Why impact investment could soon be a trillion-dollar industry

Garden cities: how ecosystem services valuation can enable visionary urban development

Pura Vida! Costa Rica, where life is so sweet

European Commission announces proposals to encourage shareholder engagement

Air pollution ‘public health risk’, warns PHE

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11 April headlines

British Gas fined £5.6m for blocking businesses from switching

The energy regulator has fined British Gas £5.6 million after investigations found that the company had blocked businesses from switching suppliers. Ofgem said the company has incorrectly prevented non-domestic customers from switching suppliers over a five-year period, due to faults in its computer systems. Telegraph.

Harvard faculty members urge university to divest from fossil fuels

Nearly 100 professors have accused Harvard of a failure of leadership on climate change and called on the university to sell off its investments in fossil fuels. Faculty members urged Harvard to purge its nearly $33 billion endowment of all holdings in oil and coal companies in an open letter. Guardian.

Plans to curb wind turbines onshore will push up electricity bills

Plans to restrict wind farm to seas around Britain will need much larger subsidies from consumers, experts say. Reports suggest that the Conservative Party will include a pledge to limit onshore turbines in next year’s election manifesto. However, experts say this would require increases subsidises of around £300,000 per turbine per year. BBC.

Cost of policing cull is £1,872 per badger

Almost £3.5 million of taxpayers’ money is estimated to have been spent policing the Government’s controversial badger culls – equating to £1,872 per badger, it has been disclosed. Damian Green, the policing minister, told MPs that costs connected to the culls so far are thought to be £2.3 million in Gloucestershire, £739,000 in Avon and £446,00 in West Mercia. Telegraph.

US sees growing odds of El Nino development this year

The chances are growing that a weather-altering El Nino will develop in the Pacific Ocean later this year, the US Climate Prediction Centre said. The odds are now 65%, up from 52%, that the warming of the equatorial Pacific will form sometime in August. Bloomberg.

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Interesting picks

Why US fracking companies are licking their lips over Ukraine – Guardian

Scottish independence: complex energy choices, and in whose interest? – BBC

Co-op is risking serious damage to its brand – Telegraph

Jim Kim: Addressing inequality, investing in people critical to sustainable growth – Devex

Stand up for the things we love that are threatened by climate change – Guardian

Photo: Sanja gjenero via stock.xchng