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• Air conditioning companies
• Electrical appliance & electrical product companies

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2003:

ENERGY: OECD-Linked Agency Pushes Efficient Appliances - The International Energy Agency called today on rich countries to use more efficient appliances, a move the agency said could cut the countries' energy use by one-third in seven years and curb greenhouse gas emissions...Home appliances like toasters, computers, refrigerators and televisions are quickly emerging as the biggest energy drains, after automobiles, in OECD countries. The devices consume about 30 percent of the electricity flowing in OECD countries and produce about 12 percent of the bloc's greenhouse gas emissions.  (UN Wire, 22 Apr. 2003)

• OECD nations can cut energy use by 1/3 by 2010 - IEA (Reuters, 22 Apr. 2003) 

2002:

Uzbekistan cuts emissions of ozone depleting compounds -...A two-year project, carried out by the Government and UNDP in cooperation with the UN Office of Project Services (UNOPS), has virtually ended accidental emissions of CFCs...Lykke Anderson, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative, called the project "an excellent example of fruitful cooperation between GEF, UNDP, UNOPS, the Government and the private sector." (U.N. Development Programme, 7 Nov. 2002)

Six Businesses Vie for Top Sustainability Prize - The World Resources Institute has announced that six sustainable enterprises in Latin America are finalists in a competition [AmazonLife S.A., Cafe La Selva, Comercio Alternativo, Empresas ESM, Solar Trade Corporation, TopAir] (GreenBiz.com, 29 Oct. 2002)

Firms to pay for EU electronic waste clean-up - A new law to make companies meet the cost of recycling their own electronic goods from refrigerators to hairdryers has won approval from EU parliamentarians and governments, officials said. (Reuters, 14 Oct. 2002) 

EU demands proof states are protecting ozone layer -...The European Commission said none of the 15 member states had shown how they intended to ensure ozone-depleting chemicals in scrapped fridges or old fire extinguishers would be safely removed to stop them worsening the hole in the ozone layer. (Reuters, 24 July 2002) 

UK fridge pile nears one million, to shrink this year - Britain's environmental authority says the country's fridge mountain should begin to shrink towards the end of this year and disappear in 2003 (Amanda Cooper, Reuters, 8 July 2002)

• Sector Reports - UNEP DTIE is facilitating the preparation of a series of sector reports [for World Summit on Sustainable Development], whereby international, industry organisations and associations take stock of progress towards sustainable development and outline future challenges and actions to be taken (United Nations Environment Programme)

• Sector report - Refrigeration

OZONE: Four Indian CFC Producers Pledge Phaseout By 2010 - Promising to phase out chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) production by 2010, four of India's largest CFC producers last week signed a pledge to gradually introduce cleaner production technologies. The pledge, offered under a new Indian-U.N. Environment Program initiative, was signed by Chemplast Sanmar, Gujarat Flurochemicals, Mafatlal Industries, and SRF. (UN Wire, 6 May 2002)

• India Re-doubles Efforts To Save The Ozone Layer - A bold new initiative, aimed at accelerating the phase out of ozone-damaging chemicals across India, was launched today by the Indian Government and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) - Under the initiative the four big manufacturers of chlorofluorcarbons (CFCs), chemicals used in fridges, air conditioning units and aerosols which have been found to damage the Earth's protective shield, are pledging to crack down on "rogue emissions" by introducing new, cleaner, production technologies. [the 4 companies: Chemplast Sanmar, Gujarat Fluorochemicals, Mafatlal Industries, SRF Ltd] (U.N. Environment Programme, 2 May 2002)

PCB Pollution Suits Have Day in Court in Alabama [USA: lawsuits against Monsanto and Solutia filed by a total of 25,000 plaintiffs] - In the first two weeks of testimony, the plaintiffs' lawyers have established through Monsanto memorandums that the company was aware of the level of its discharges and that it at least partly understood the risks as early as the mid-1960's, if not earlier. But it did not begin improving pollution controls until 1970 (Kevin Sack, New York Times, 27 Jan. 2002)

CFC gas [used in air conditioning & refrigerators] smuggling in poor nations poses threat to ozone layer (Tony Smith, Associated Press, Environmental News Network website, 8 Jan. 2002)

Monsanto Hid Decades Of Pollution [USA]: PCBs Drenched Ala. [Alabama] Town, But No One Was Ever Told -...for nearly 40 years, while producing the now-banned industrial coolants known as PCBs at a local factory, Monsanto Co. routinely discharged toxic waste into a west Anniston creek and dumped millions of pounds of PCBs into oozing open-pit landfills. And thousands of pages of Monsanto documents -- many emblazoned with warnings such as "CONFIDENTIAL: Read and Destroy" -- show that for decades, the corporate giant concealed what it did and what it knew. (Michael Grunwald, Washington Post, 1 Jan. 2002)

• In Dirt, Water and Hogs, Town Got Its Fill of PCBs - Unknowing Residents Have Little Left but Lawsuits [regarding Monsanto's conduct in Anniston, Alabama] (Michael Grunwald, Washington Post, 1 Jan. 2002)

• Polluter cover-up contains a lesson: When the fish slid out of their skin and died in the polluted stream near a Monsanto Co. plant in Alabama, the company's managers were alarmed. Their fear? Bad publicity. This story of corporate indifference to public health has important lessons for Texans. (editorial, Austin American Statesman [Texas], 3 Jan. 2002) 

• Solutia shares drop on chemical dumping worries: Shares of chemicals company Solutia Inc. fell 25 percent on Thursday as investors reacted nervously to a newspaper article alleging dumping of potentially toxic chemicals by Monsanto Co., Solutia's former parent. (Reuters, 7 Jan. 2002)

2001:

Ghana Faces Sanctions And Trade Restrictions: The Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Dr. P.C Acquah has warned that the rising levels of Ghana's chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) consumption may result in sanctions and trade restrictions by the international community. (Fred Abrokwa, Accra Mail [Ghana], 19 Sep. 2001)