From top Tesla’s Elon Musk, TAG Heuer CEO Jean-Christophe Babin and Leonardo DiCaprio. Leonardo DiCaprio and J.-C. Babin with the Grand Carrera Pendulum concept watch. Leonardo DiCaprio, J.-C. Babin and TAG Heuer honorary chairman Jack Heuer. The unique TAG Heuer Tesla Roadster.

Actor Leonardo DiCaprio spoke highly of TAG Heuer’s social responsibility in fighting climate change at an event in Basel, earlier this week at the BaselWorld shows.
   TAG Heuer, supporting the NRDC and Green Cross International, launched what it called the Odyssey of Pioneers, a travelling roadshow promoting its timepieces between March and October this year.
   Tesla Motors is supporting the promotion, with a special edition of its Roadster. The TAG Heuer Tesla Roadster led the roadshow, which departed from Basel at dawn today.
   The Odyssey is planned to be the first round-the-world tour by a zero-emission sports car.
   DiCaprio said TAG Heuer has a ‘global mission … to protect our planet.’ He commended the company for its donations to NRDC and Green Cross International which, he says, are part of the company’s business model.
   He made his support for President Barack Obama publicly known, calling him a leader who understands the necessity of a ‘green revolution’.
   At the event, as part of its 150th anniversary, TAG Heuer launched the Grand Carrera Pendulum concept watch, which is the first watch without a hairspring, replacing it with magnetic fields. Over 600 people attended the celebration.

Left Jean-Luc Colonna d’Istria of Merci. Right Medinge director and MIP dean Pierre d’Huy translates for Dominique Benoît of Pictet et Cie. Below The Brands with a Conscience certificate, designed by UffindellWest.

The Medinge Group had a slightly smaller Brands with a Conscience ceremony today at the Management Institute of Paris, reflecting the international nature of the winners. Many were scattered around the globe and unable to attend the ceremony, though two of the European winners made it to the French capital to collect their awards in person: Jean-Luc Colonna d’Istria of Merci and Pictet et Cie.’s Dominique Benoît.
   Stanley Moss, CEO of the Medinge Group, noted that it was remarkable that in a year of financial crises, there were two winners from that sector that were doing good. Apart from Pictet, the Co-op Bank received a Brands with a Conscience award.
   The seventh annual awards’ programme also honoured Alibaba Group, Marks & Spencer (for its Plan A initiative), SAP and Selco Solar Pvt. Ltd. Muna Abu Sulayman won the Colin Morley Award and a letter from her was read out in absentia by Medinge member Simon Nicholls.
   Medinge founder Thomas Gad noted that the Awards had become so successful that they had spawned at least one imitator.

[Cross-posted] I posted this on my Tumblog earlier today but it is worth repeating here:

I captioned it, ‘We probably will keep thinking [climate change] is someone else’s problem till we encounter threats like the Maldives and other places do: if we don’t do something, our country will disappear. But this graphic is a heck of a good reminder.’
   The pic says it all, really.

Volvo showed an electric C30 some time ago. Still a concept, the company is showing more details, with a test fleet promised for 2010. The cars can run on electricity on a single charge for 150 km—which means it suits 90 per cent of European drivers.
   Our video below has comments from Volvo, as well as motoring media veteran Richard Bremner, who feels that desirable electric cars will be a hit.
   The Energimyndigheten, or Swedish Energy Agency, is supporting the project and contributing Kr 150 million to the funding.

On the main part of the Lucire site today: our Paris and New York correspondent, Rola Saab, interviews Abi Ferrin. Rola purposely sought out Abi because of her environmental concerns, and her latest collection was inspired by the Osa rainforest in Costa Rica. Continue reading here.
   As the UNEP’s first fashion industry partner, we haven’t ignored COP 15. Editor-at-large Summer Rayne Oakes is there, and you can see photographs from the event on her personal blog.
   It’s fair to say that Lucire fully believes we need to do something to help our planet—a quest we began many years ago, which the UNEP itself recognized.
   While the planet is on a natural cooling cycle presently, some record highs are still being experienced—highlighting the extremes in our weather patterns. If we don’t address these concerns now, when Earth returns to a natural warming cycle, we will really feel the temperature rises in a big way.
   There’s still a cynical part in our thinking: many climate change conferences have taken place and politicians too often put rhetoric before action. Outside the climate change arena, we’ve seen Davos become a trade fair some years. It’s why this København conference is important: we have to spur our political leaders—who represent us, not special interests—into action.
   We hope the pressure has helped. We have below a video detailing a tentative first draft of a global climate change agreement by the UNFCCC. In short, developing countries like the text, developed countries and Red China don’t. Debate will follow—and citizens really need to lobby their environment ministers more than ever if we want real action.
   The video features Swedish environment minister, Andreas Calgren, and the EU commissioner on environmental issues, Stavros Dimas. Calgren says that the agreement must be broader and have more commitments.

The family behind Dilmah tea has spent over NZ$27 million on the first stage of a complex in Sri Lanka that will care for abused women, differently abled children and marginalized children from urban slums in Sri Lanka, it was announced today.
   The first phase of the MJF Centre has been opened by Merrill J. Fernando, Founder of Dilmah and Settlor of the MJF Charitable Foundation, at Moratuwa, a large and heavily populated seaside town close to Sri Lanka’s capital city, Colombo.
   The MJF Centre will eventually house four charitable projects. The first, the Centre for Women, has been established in partnership with the Diri Piyasa Trust Fund to offer a much needed residential care facility for abused women.
   The Centre will provide free legal, medical, law enforcement and counselling services to women and their families who are victims of violence. It will provide for their rehabilitation and also perform a wider role in creating awareness among families and communities on the extent of violence and its impact on women and their families.
   Work has now begun on the second and third stages: two centres for differently abled children, including Down syndrome and physically disabled children. Once complete, more than 100 children will enjoy specialized therapy, care and education at the Centres for Children.
   The fourth stage of the project is MJF Kids, a replica of the highly successful MJF Kids programme that already assists over 120 children from deprived neighbourhoods in the suburbs of Colombo. The Moratuwa MJF Kids programme will focus on rehabilitation of vulnerable “street children” by assisting them to excel in their education and in nurturing creativity.
   Dilmah Tea and its associate companies contribute a minimum of 10 per cent of their profits to supplement the contribution that Merrill and his sons make to the foundation. The MJF Foundation designs and implements over 100 different projects each year with the objective of empowering marginalized and underprivileged people in the community in a sustainable and dignified manner. The Foundation’s Small Entrepreneur Programme has been hailed as a model for practical and respectful assistance to the poorest.
   Other areas in which the Foundation is active include education, nutrition and health care, care for the elderly, rehabilitation of tsunami affected communities, empowerment of the differently abled and emergency assistance to marginalized communities.

As the first fashion industry partner of the United Nations Environment Programme since 2003, it always delights us to see the next generation of designers focus on sustainable fashion and corporate social responsibility. On December 2, the Danish fashion industry showed its Innovating Sustainable Fashion collections, with Karin Eggert Hansen, a student at the Danish Design School, entering her rainwear made from recycled plastic bottles.
   The show was organized by the Center for Responsible Design in cooperation with Copenhagen Fashion Fairs, in order to support sustainable fashion in the lead-up to COP15.
   The designs will be exhibited at the Danish Design Center from December 8 until January 31.

Stockholm leads the way with more common sense when it comes to creating a clean city. Teaming up with Fortum, the energy company, the city plans to make itself one of the cleanest cities in the world.
   In late November, the Eurocities 2009 conference in Stockholm discussed what sustainable solutions could be employed, and electric cars are on the agenda for an emissions-free city by 2030.
   With Fortum, Stockholm is trialling an infrastructure for charging electric cars as well as increasing the use of renewable fuels for heat and power production.
   Videos below demonstrate how charging could take place, and feature comments from the Mayor, Sten Nordin, Fortum’s Marie Fossum and RCA car designer Tue Beijer.