Ask most people outside the CSR field which is the more ethical choice between petrol and biofuel, and the answer will probably be the latter. Many will simply look at the fact that biofuels have the potential to reduce the production of greenhouse gases and make their choice on that criterion alone. Indeed, people are likely to feel vindicated with such a choice when they realise that the EU, through its Renewable Energy Directive, has set a target for 5% of all the UK’s transport fuel to be renewable by 2013.
However, in reality the choice is far more complex. Several challenges relating to the sustainable benefits of biofuels have been raised over the years. These include questions about the fuel’s long-term security; concerns over diverting agricultural resources from the production of food; and issues around the creation of mono-cultures creating a high economic dependence on a single crop.
Now a new report, published by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, has found biofuels to be questionable in terms of the both their environmental impacts and the potential for human rights abuses. First, the report found that only a third of the UK’s biofuel meet the environmental principles set by the UK’s Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation.
Second, it also revealed the volume of renewable fuel now needed to achieve the EU’s target requires production to take place globally in Argentina, Brazil and across Europe. The sad truth is that developing economies still sometimes face problems with human rights and employment practices. In 2007, Amnesty International highlighted the rescue of over 2,000 sugar cane workers from forced labour conditions in Brazil, although in this instance it is difficult to establish if the sugar cane was used for the production of biofuel. The point remains that much of the increase in the manufacture of biofuels is now taking place in countries with lower labour standards than those in developed economies.
Proper management and transparency of supply chains is imperative to identifying the exploitation of human rights and eradicating it. In this case, thanks to the Nuffield report, the wider ethical issues surrounding biofuel production have been highlighted. It is vital that a proper balance is struck between the potential environmental benefits of biofuels and the broader social issues – including protecting human rights – in deciding on the merits of biofuel production and use.
Rebecca has an MEng in Architecture and Environmental Design and is currently on an internship at Corporate Citizenship. Contact her on Rebecca.smith@corporate-citizenship.com
Santander Bank susspends funding for the controversial Santo Antonia dam
Europe’s largest bank, Santander, has suspended its funding for Brazil’s hugely controversial Santo Antonio dam, citing environmental and social concerns. The dam is one of a series planned in the Amazon, causing protests in Brazil and around the world because of the devestation they will cause for large numbers of indiginous people. Three leaders from the Amazon have travelled to Europe to protest about the dams and many organisations, including Survival International, have called for the building of the dams to be stopped. Santander had reportedly been due to provide approximately US$400 million for the scheme, but has now suspended its funding pending further environmental and social impact studies from the Brazilian authorities, causing a huge blow to the scheme.
UN Global Compact, UNICEF and Save the Children are inviting businesses to take an active role in developing a global standard of business principles pertaining to children’s rights, Children’s Rights and Business Principles (CRBP). Business representatives can become involved in the online consultation process, which was initiated on the 5th May. The principles will launch this November, and be the first comprehensive set of principles to guide companies on the full range of actions they may take in the workplace, marketplace and community to respect and support children’s rights. The priciples aim to cover a broad range of issues including establishing family-friendly working conditions that support parents or caregivers and ensuring that products and services to which children may be exposed are safe and marketed in an ethical manner.
Rio Tinto, the international mining group, and the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR) have signed a three-year agreement to collaborate on developing and promoting human rights tools for international businesses. The Danish Institute for Human Rights is an independent national human rights institution established by an act of Danish Parliament in 1987 and modeled in accordance with the UN Paris Principles. The institution works to develop knowledge about human rights on a national, regional and international basis. Under the agreement, Rio Tinto will provide support for the expansion of the DIHR’s Human Rights and Business Country Portal, a website helping businesses with identifing , assessing and addressing human rights risks in specific countries. The DIHR will also develop country risk assessments and advise Rio Tinto on countries in which it operates or plans to operate. Rio Tinto is hoping that working with experts in the field of Human Rights will give the company more insight into specific human right challenges.
Current biofuels policies are unethical, says report
Current UK and European policies on biofuels encourage unethical practices, says a report by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics following an 18-month inquiry. Policies such as the European Renewable Energy Directive, which states that 10% of transport fuel must come from renewable sources by 2020, are particularly weak when it comes to protecting the environment, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and avoiding human rights violations in developing countries. They also include few incentives for the development of new biofuel technologies that could help avoid these problems. The report states that the expansion of biofuels production has led to problems including deforestation and displacement of indiginous people. A promising future global initiative is the Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels, an independent organisation that has set out voluntary standards for biofuels covering human rights, greenhouse gas emissions, conservation, and use of natural resources.
Ugandan Activists call on UK Prime Minister to End Resource Curse
As Uganda prepares to begin proucing large quantaties of oil, Ugandan activists have compiled a letter to Prime Minister David Cameron asking the UK Government to support greater transparency in the oil industry. The letter, organised by the Publish What You Pay Coallition and signed by over 200 civil society activists from Uganda, asks for access to information surrounding oil companies payments to the Ugandan government. Activists want access to the information to ensure the funds from natural resources go towards helping the people of Uganda. The US passed a law last July as part of the Dodd Frank Act which meant that all extractive companies listed on American stock markets will have to publish all the payments they make to the governments in every country they operate in. However, as most of the oil companies operating in Uganda are listed in the UK they will not be covered by this law. ONE, a campaign and advocacy organisation, is now campaigning as part of the Publish What You Pay Coalition for a similar law in Europe.
Doctors without borders campaign against Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson has been criticised by Doctors Without Borders for refusing to participate in the Medicines Patent Pool, a method designed to lower prices of HIV medicines and increase access to them for people in the developing world. Johnson & Johnson hold patents on three new HIV drugs, rilpivirine, darunavir, and etravirine. Doctors Without Borders say that even at Johnson & Johnson’s reduced “access” pricing, the cost of the drugs is unaffordable for patients in developing countries. The humanitarian NGO argues that patients who cannot afford the new medicines are forced to take older more toxic drugs with almost no treatment options when the virus becomes resistant to the drugs available.
Exploitative child labour still taints Aussie Easter eggs
A report released by World Vision has shown evidence that child and trafficked labour are still prevalent in production of cocoa in West Africa. Research conducted by Tulane University discovered that form 2007 to 2008 almost 2 million children where working on cocoa related activities in Ghana. The report ‘Our guilty pleasure: exploitative child labour in the chocolate industry’, suggests a two cent levy in every $10 of chocolate sales from Australian chocolate companies, which it claims cold abolish exploitative child and trafficked labour. The report recognises that some chocolate companies have begun to make progress in this field, Cadbury produces one fair-trade easter egg, but states that currently only 1-3 % of the global cocoa supply is certified to have been produced without the use of forced, child or trafficked labour.
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