Graduate pay gap between men and women remains high
Equality campaigners demanded urgent action today to tackle the gender pay gap after a new study showing female graduates can expect to earn thousands of pounds a year less than their male counterparts. Women who had just received their degree were more consistently at the lower end of the salary range, taking home pay of between £15-17,999 and £21-23,999. Men by contrast were more likely to earn salaries of £24,000 or more. The gap remained stubbornly high even when graduates had studied the same subject, achieved an identical UCAS score or attended the same institution. (Independent)
Environment
UK in court on air pollution levels
The UK Government is facing a case in the UK Supreme Court later today over its failure to cut air pollution in line with legal limits. The Secretary of State for the Department of Environment, Food and RuralAffairs (Defra) previously admitted the UK breached EU laws when it drew up a strategy that will fail to ensure the country meets legal EU limits for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels by 2015. However, a question mark remains over whether the UK or EU Courts, is responsible for forcing Defra to tighten its plans. (Business Green, BBC)
Maplecroft, a risk management firm, reports that fewer than 10,000 people lost their lives as a result of natural disasters last year, meaning fatalities stood at 9 percent of the decadal average of 106,000 deaths a year. The number of recorded natural disaster also fell to 251 events, a drop of 65 percent on the 10 year average. However, scientists have stressed that a single annual fall in the number of extreme weather events does nothing to contradict predictions that extreme weather will become more frequent over the coming decades as a result of climate change. Emerging economies such as China and the Philippines are both rated at being at "extreme risk", while India and Indonesia are classified as "high risk". (Business Green)
Responsible Investment
Impact investing likely to grow at 30% annually
Impact investing, in which money is used to deliver social benefits alongside financial returns, generated around $100m of capital in India last year, according to the Rockefeller Foundation, and is set to grow at an annual pace of 30 percent. Taking into account its international capital, this makes India the second largest market for impact investing after the US with $500m worth of investments in 2012. Impact investing is being hailed around the world as an emerging asset class with financial instruments like “social impact bonds” delivering returns of as much as 13 percent in some cases. (Live Mint)
Over 50,000 jobs created by renewable energy sector in India
The new and renewable energy sector is estimated to have created over 50,000 direct jobs in the last three years in India. The job creation has taken place in off-grid and other applications, according to information made available by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. In addition to boosting the use of concentrating solar technologies, the ministry is also implementing a new United Nations Development Programme-Global Environment Facility supported project, which expects direct emission reduction of 39,200 tonne of CO2 during its 5 year period. (Times of India)
Sustainability education in Chile to shift consumer behaviour
Survey data indicates Chilean society is the most environmentally aware in Latin America and market research suggests a growing trend among Chilean consumers to make choices on the basis of sustainability. In light of this, Chilean authorities have responded to a UNESCO initiative which is trying to embed sustainability in school. To embed the topic at nursery, primary and secondary school levels, a system of environmental certification of schools has been created. (Guardian)
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