Frankfurt and London top global cities sustainability index
Frankfurt ranks as the world’s most sustainable city, followed by London, Copenhagen and Amsterdam, according to the ArcadisSustainable Cities Index Report 2015. The research examines 50 cities from 31 countries ranking them across three broad subcategories – People, Planet and Profit – to estimate the sustainability of each city. Keith Brooks, UK Cities Director at consultancy firm Arcadis, said: “It is pleasing and perhaps surprising to see UK cities placing so highly in the Index. As we can see from the findings, there’s no such thing as a utopian city. It’s more a difficult balancing act between the three pillars that reflect true sustainability.” The Index found that, in general, global cities are failing to meet their duty to citizens as human settlements. Across the world cities perform stronger on both Planet and Profit factors than they do on People ones, and environmental and economic achievements come at a cost to cities’ social performance. (Edie)
Unilever, P&G join closed loop fund to boost US municipal recycling
40 percent of American consumers still do not have easy access to recycling bins, mainly because municipalities lack funds needed to build infrastructure to support single-stream recycling. It’s a cyclical problem: without recycling programs, municipalities are spending more on waste management and losing out from the money that could have been made from selling recycling materials. To combat this, Unilever and Procter & Gamble, have joined with Walmart, Johnson & Johnson, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Colgate-Palmolive, Goldman Sachs, 3M and Keurig Green Mountain in forming the Closed Loop Fund. The $100 million fund aims to provide US municipalities with access to zero- and low-interest loans to build comprehensive recycling programs. (Sustainable Brands; Triple Pundit)
Tax
HSBC bank ‘helped clients dodge millions in tax’
Britain’s biggest bank, HSBC, helped wealthy clients cheat the UK out of millions of pounds in tax, according to the BBC’s Panorama show. HSBC has admitted that its Swiss-based private bank may have held accounts for tax-dodging clients, after secret files from Europe’s biggest bank were leaked exposing widespread tax-avoidance practices. The revelations could be damaging for the bank, especially in the US where it signed a five-year deferred prosecution agreement with US authorities in December 2012 after admitting that it processed drug trafficking proceeds through Mexico. Margaret Hodge, chairman of the UK’s Public Accounts Committee, said that Lord Green, the former trade minister who previously ran HSBC, faced “serious questions”, noting that the US, France and Argentina were already taking action against HSBC. (BBC News; Financial Times*)
Human Rights
Protect human rights to safeguard forests, say campaigners
A planned new global climate change deal must recognise land and resource rights in order to protect vulnerable forest communities, say campaigners. They warn that, without tougher international safeguards, human rights abuses against indigenous people and environmentalists fighting deforestation will continue to rise. A report released last week by the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) says soaring demand for rubber, oil palm, cattle and soy has decimated forests once owned by local people. The authors say credits for carbon stored in forests are likely to be sold to international buyers, and could wipe out the land rights of communities who have lived there for centuries. Addressing deforestation is likely to be central to a global climate deal – set to be agreed in Paris later this year – as it accounts for up to 15% of annual greenhouse gas emissions. (RTCC)
Responsible Investment
Church of England may sell £3m stake in mining firm over fears for gorilla haven
The Church of England is considering withdrawing its investment in a controversial British mining firm whose operations have alarmed both human rights groups and environmentalists. The church has said that it may sell its near £3 million stake in Soco International unless it receives a number of reassurances from the company, whose decision to carry out a seismic survey in Virunga national park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo features in an acclaimed documentary. Virunga, a Netflix film, has heaped pressure on the company to clarify its intentions. Last year, the company announced that it was pulling out of Virunga following discussions with the World Wildlife Fund. However, Soco made the announcement only after it had finished its survey, and despite the move there are fears that it may yet resume operations in the park. (The Guardian)
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