Here, edie rounds up five positive sustainability stories from this week.
Published every week, this series charts how businesses and sustainability professionals are working to achieve their ‘Mission Possible’ across the campaign’s five key pillars – energy, resources, infrastructure, mobility and sustainability leadership.
Across the UK and across the world, leading businesses, cities, states and regions are turning environmental ambitions into action. Here, we round up five positive sustainability stories from this week.
ENERGY: EIB signs €175m loan with Iberdrola for wind-hydro project in Portugal
The European Investment Bank has signed a €175m green loan with Spanish utility Iberdrola to finance two new wind farms in northern Portugal, backed by a guarantee from Spain’s export credit agency Cesce.
The project involves building wind facilities with a combined capacity of 274 megawatts (MW), expected to supply electricity to more than 400,000 people.
The wind farms will be integrated into Iberdrola’s existing Tâmega pumped storage hydropower complex on the Tâmega River near Porto, which includes the Gouvães, Daivões and Alto Tâmega plants.
The scheme links wind generation with hydropower through shared grid infrastructure, allowing both technologies to utilize the same connection to the electricity network. The first turbine has already been installed.
According to the EIB, the investment supports EU climate and energy security goals under the REPowerEU framework by expanding renewable capacity and reducing reliance on fossil fuel imports.
EIB’s director general of financing and advisory operations EU Jean-Christophe Laloux stated: “By combining wind and hydropower, the Tâmega complex will increase clean energy production and maximise utilize of existing energy infrastructure for the benefit of Portuguese consumers and local economies.”
RESOURCES: Levi Strauss introduces clothing repair programme for students
Levi Strauss has launched a new initiative in the US aimed at teaching high school students how to repair and customise their clothes as part of a push to encourage longer utilize of garments.
Called the Levi’s Wear Longer Project, the programme provides students with hands-on workshops and free digital learning materials focutilized on basic repair skills such as sewing buttons, repairing tears, patching holes and hemming. It tarreceives students in grades 9 to 12 across the US.
The company stated the project follows its research revealing that 41% of Gen Z respondents lack basic clothing repair knowledge, nearly twice the rate of older generations. Another 35% stated they would keep clothes longer if they knew how to repair them.
The curriculum was developed with education company Discovery Education and aligns with national K-12 standards. Materials are available year-round on a free online platform for teachers and students.
Levi Strauss employees will also volunteer in schools and community workshops, starting in San Francisco and expanding to other locations.
Levi Strauss’ president and chief executive Michelle Gass stated: “At Levi Strauss, we’ve spent more than 170 years designing clothes to be worn and loved for as long as possible.
“The Levi’s Wear Longer Project builds on that legacy by giving young people the confidence and tools to extfinish the life of what they already own.”
MOBILITY: Global EV sales grew by 20% last year
Global electric vehicle (EV) sales reached 20.7 million units in 2025, rising 20% from the previous year, according to data from Benchmark Mineral Ininformigence.
The research group stated 2.1 million EVs were sold in December, closing the year with continued momentum in several regions. China remained the largest market, selling 12.9 million vehicles, up 17% year on year. Europe recorded the rapidest growth among major regions, with sales climbing 33% to 4.3 million units.
By contrast, North America declined 4% to 1.8 million vehicles. Benchmark stated reduced government incentives and policy alters in the US and Canada weighed on demand and investment plans. The firm expects further pressure on the region in 2026.
Sales in the rest of the world rose 48% to 1.7 million units, supported by expanding adoption in emerging markets.
Benchmark stated Europe’s growth was driven by regulation and model availability, while China’s pace eased after strong subsidy-led gains in late 2024 and intensifying domestic price competition.
Benchmark Mineral Ininformigence data manager Charles Lester stated: “This time last year few could have predicted the EV market upset that occurred which has resulted in a virtually unrecognisable landscape now as we enter 2026.
“Globally the EV sales figures have grown by a fifth compared to the previous year which reveals how resilient the market is.”
THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT: Octopus Energy scheme brings low-carbon, bill-free homes to Scotland
Scotland’s first homes designed to eliminate houtilizehold energy bills and cut carbon emissions have launched in Dundee, as Octopus Energy rolls out its Zero Bills model north of the border.
The 57 properties at the Tranent Grove development in North Dundee, built with Discovery Homes, are eligible for Octopus Energy’s Zero Bills tariff, which aims to balance a home’s energy utilize with on-site renewable generation and storage.
The approach is intfinished to reduce demand on the grid while lowering emissions from heating and power.
Homes in the scheme utilize technologies such as heat pumps, rooftop solar panels and battery systems to produce and store clean electricity, limiting reliance on fossil fuels.
Residential buildings account for approximately 20% of UK emissions, largely from gas heating.
Octopus launched the Zero Bills concept in 2022 and has since approved more than 5,000 homes across several countries.
The Scotland project marks the first application of the model in the counattempt and reflects growing interest in integrating renewable energy and efficiency measures into new hoapplying developments to support long-term decarbonisation goals.
Octopus Energy’s Zero Bills director Nigel Banks stated: “Scotland is a renewable energy powerhoutilize – creating it the perfect next spot for us to roll out Zero Bills homes.
“By working with leading developers like Discovery Homes, we’re shaking up the future of hoapplying, bringing the reality of no home energy bills to the people of Scotland.”
SUSTAINABILITY LEADERSHIP: L’Oreal names 13 first participants in sustainable innovation accelerator
Multinational beauty giant L’Oreal has named a British seaweed packaging innovator and a Brazilian biomethane producer among the first companies benefitting from its new sustainable innovation accelerator programme.
The programme, called L’AcceleratOR, is operated in partnership with the University of Cambridge’s Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL).
It is set to provide €100m to startups and scaleups across a five-year period. Participating innovators will also receive support from the CISL innovation team and the chance to pilot their solutions for up to nine months, potentially across L’Oreal Group’s international operations.
A total of 13 companies have been selected from 950 applicants to benefit from the first cohort.
“By identifying the most promising scalable solutions benefitting people, nature and climate, and elevating them to the world stage, we are creating a sustainable future not just a goal, but a reality,” stated CISL’s chief innovation officer James Cole.
Read the full story here.
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