In today’s edition:

🌳 EU landmark deforestation law

⚡️ Germany’s heating transition

🚜 Potato farmers’ tech boost

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🌳 Nature (1-minute read)

Deforestation Law in the EU

What happened: On Wednesday, the European Parliament approved a landmark deforestation law to ban imports into the EU of coffee, beef, soy and other commodities if they are linked to destroying the world's forests. The law will require companies that sell goods into the European Union to produce a due diligence statement and "verifiable" information proving their goods were not grown on land deforested after 2020 or risk hefty fines.

Ripple effect: There have been fears that a US Forest Act with similar aims to the EU regulation could be blocked after Republicans took control of Congress in November’s midterm elections. However, the EU agreement is thought to have given the US legislation new impetus.

Data gap: Supply chains are complex - reliable data across all suppliers (and even their suppliers) will be required to ensure this legislation is enforceable (This currently isn’t the case).

⚡️ Energy (1-minute read)

Germany to ban new gas and oil heating from next year

The German government has approved a bill banning new oil and gas heating systems from 2024 that opposition parties claimed would impose “incalculable costs” on homeowners. The bill, which resolves a dispute between liberals and Greens in Olaf Scholz’s three-party coalition, stipulates that any heating system installed in new or old buildings after January 1, 2024, must be 65 per cent based on renewable energy. Exemptions will be made for people on low incomes.The measure will speed up the shift to heat pumps, solar panels and hydrogen boilers powered by renewables in German buildings.

🚜 AgriTech (1-minute read)

PepsiCo trials new digital platform to help potato farmers in India

Through its brand “Lay’s”, the food company is launching an initiative whereby satellite imagery is correlated with remote sensing data to provide insight to farmers on their potato crop’s health. After receiving training from specialists, farmers will access the crop insights via an easy-to-use smartphone-based app. PepsiCo hopes to help farmers in India (who typically own less than an acre of land) overcome challenges related to optimising agrochemical applications, preventing diseases and using actionable weather data — ultimately supporting farmers to generate more income with fewer inputs reducing environmental impacts.

Mars unveils sustainability bond to help Net-Zero Goals

The food producer has raised $500 million for its latest sustainability bond, which will be invested in eligible projects across areas such as renewables, carbon sequestration and the circular economy. The company aims to use the chosen projects to support its target of reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across its entire value chain by 2050, which is also being driven forward after recently linking executive pay to de-carbonisation.

💰 Deals of the Week (1-minute read)

📱 Rebel Tech raised $1.6M in pre-seed for its electronics repair devices designed to make repairing a cost-efficient alternative.

🍎 Vivid Machines raised $6M in seed for its cutting-edge vision technology to help fruit growers produce more food on existing acreage and provide transparency from farm to retailer.

🍗 VFC Foods raised $21M in seed for their vegan friend chicken and other plant-based food products to replace meat.

🏠 OPTIML raised $1.6M in pre-seed for its end-to-end software platform, harnessing optimisation's power to generate intelligent low-cost and low-carbon investment strategies for existing buildings.

💭 Little Bytes

Quote: “We can’t just rely on Mother Nature, she is not able to capture the emissions at the same rate that they’re being pumped out and we need to help her with technological solutions.” Climeworks’ spokesperson Bryndís Nielsen

Stat: The US produced 91 million tons of surplus food in 2021, a 4.8% increase over 2016. With uneaten food representing 38% of the total food in supply in 2021, valued at $444bn.

Watch: Scientists discover new coral reef off the coast of Galápagos Islands

🗞 In other news…

• A new study showed that killer heat waves putting "unprecedented burdens" on India's agriculture, economy and public health. Climate change undermines the country's long-term efforts to reduce poverty, inequality and illness.

• Biden signs executive order on 'environmental justice'

• Climate Change Committee (CCC) urge the UK government to approach decarbonisation of road transport with a modal shift to public and active (i.e., bikes, e-bikes and e-scooters) transport.

• The social media platform, TikTok, confirms that it developed a specific misinformation policy on climate change ahead of Earth Day.

🎣 Gone Phishing

Three of these stories are true, one we've made up, guess which:

• Zoo in England recruiting human ‘seagull deterrents’

• Research shows more people in the US are getting intimate with robots

• People urged to ring a “fish doorbell” in the Netherlands

• Belgian town organises seagull screeching championship

Written by Colin and Ollie - Drop us a message!