Top articles of the week: August 9

This week on Blue & Green Tomorrow, the fund management firm of philanthropist George Soros divested from Israeli-based SodaStream.

We also discussed how a green energy duck has been submitted as an entry to the Copenhagen Land Art Generator Initiative design competition. Finally, in other news, a new report concluded that integration is key when it comes to sustainability and making business more resilient.

1. Green ‘energy duck’ to bring clean, solar energy to Copenhagen

Jemma Collins: A team of British designers has come up with a bizarre green energy solution, submitted to the Land Art Generator Initiative (LAGI) design competition, in the form of a giant duck. The energy duck is an entry to the Copenhagen competition, which aims to make renewable and zero carbon projects that are also beautiful. Read more.

2. Integrated sustainability key to business resilience, according to new report

Charlotte Malone: Long-term thinking and integration is key when it come sustainability and making business strategies more resilient, a report from consultants Corporate Citizenship argues. Read more.

3. Ecology Building Society launch Twitter campaign to save neighbouring tree

Tom Revell: Employees at the Ecology Building Society in Silsden, West Yorkshire, have launched a last-ditch effort to save a tree outside their offices. Read more.

4. Co-operative Group voted most ethical company of past 25 years by Ethical Consumer readers

Tom Revell: The Co-operative Group has been named as Ethical Consumer magazine’s most ethical UK company, with readers voting for the firm despite its recent troubles. Read more.

5. Soros Fund Management divests from Israel-based SodaStream as Gaza conflict continues

Tom Revell: The fund management firm of billionaire and philanthropist George Soros has divested from the Israeli-based SodaStream, as pressure mounts on investors to avoid companies at all involved in the occupation of Gaza. Read more.

6. Science fiction could be influencing peoples view on climate change

Charlotte Malone: A sub-genre of science fiction that explores the possible effects of climate change has been gaining popularity and could influence how people view climate change and its impacts. Read more.

7. Canada faces environmental disaster as 1.3 billion gallons of mining waste flows into rivers

Richard Heasman: Citizens of British Columbia awoke to the thunderous noise of over a billion gallons of mining waste water cascading through Hazeltine Creek earlier this week, polluting the state’s fresh water supply. Read more.

8. New SME lending rules to ‘open the flood gates’ for alternative finance

Tom Revell: Banks in the UK may soon be forced to help small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) find alternative sources of finance if they turn them down for loans, under proposed legislation outlined today. Read more.

9. Sustainable forestry project supporting 900 families

Charlotte Malone: After five years of earlier research and development, the Cochabamba Project has been supporting almost 900 families in Bolivia since 2009, providing them with sustainable land use alternatives to slash and burn farming in the Amazon. Read more.

10. Scientists warn expansion of fracking is outpacing research into environmental impacts

Charlotte Malone: A US-based study has warned that the expansion of shale gas extraction, through methods such as fracking, is outpacing research on the issues around the practice, including spills leading to contamination and the environmental impacts. Read more.

Photo: sanja gjenero via Freeimages