Greenpeace attacks Western brands over Indonesian palm oil sourcing
In a new report, Greenpeace has accused multinational consumer products companies, including Colgate-Palmolive and Proctor & Gamble (P&G), of being complicit in the loss of Sumatran tigers through their sourcing of unsustainable palm oil. The report, A License to Kill, accuses Wilmar International, the largest palm oil trader in the world, of being responsible for the loss of tigers and their habitats in Indonesia. Wilmar International said that it was currently reviewing its business strategy and practices with supply chain experts and that its management recently conducted a “very open” face-to-face discussion with Greenpeace “in the spirit of engagement, transparency and accountability.” Bustar Maitar, the head of the Indonesian Forest Campaign for Greenpeace, said that “as the world’s biggest player in the palm oil sector, Wilmar has the power to transform the industry. But until Wilmar commits to a no-deforestation policy, their trade of palm oil to big household brands such as P&G, Mondelez and Reckitt Benckiser make consumers unwitting accomplices in the extinction of Indonesia’s 400 remaining Sumatran tigers.” (Eco Business)
Corporate Reputation
Facebook makes u-turn over decapitation videos
Facebook has announced that it has removed a video of a woman being beheaded from its website and that the social network will use a broader set of criteria to determine when gory videos are permitted on the site. This follows a public outcry over the news that Facebook, which has over 1.15 billion members, had lifted a temporary ban on images of graphic violence. Facebook said earlier this week that gory videos were permitted on its site so long as the content was posted in a manner intended for its users to "condemn" the acts rather than celebrate them. However the social network has since said that the company has “concluded that this content improperly and irresponsibly glorifies violence.” The social network announced that it has decided to "strengthen" its enforcement of the policy and said that "we will consider whether the person posting the content is sharing it responsibly, such as accompanying the video or image with a warning and sharing it with an age-appropriate audience." (Reuters; BBC)
Tax
UK high street companies avoiding millions in tax
Reportedly, UK restaurant chains including Nando’s, Pizza Express and Pret A Manger have reduced their taxable profits by borrowing from their owners through the Channel Islands Stock Exchange. Other UK companies which have been accused by The Independent newspaper and the UK research group Corporate Watch of benefiting from the “legal loophole” include the electronics retailer Maplin and Camelot Group, the operators of the UK National Lottery. The Gondola Group, which owns the restaurant chains PizzaExpress, Zizzi and Ask, has reportedly avoided £77 million in corporation tax since it was bought by Cinven, a European private equity fund, in 2006. Murray Worthy, a tax campaigner with the UK poverty NGO War on Want, said that "the only reason this is happening is because of the influence of big business on the Government's tax rules." Gondola said that the company "works closely with HMRC to ensure that we pay the right taxes.” (The Independent)
Environment
Report: fall in government and corporate funding of carbon reduction projects
According to a report by the US Climate Policy Initiative (CPI), government and corporate funding of carbon reduction projects fell by one percent last year, from $364 billion in 2011 to $359 billion in 2012. The study, The Global Landscape of Climate Finance 2013, states that the total, which includes business-as-usual spending on low carbon projects as well as supplementary financing, is less than 60 percent of the $5 trillion that International Energy Agency states is needed in addition to normal energy investment levels to stem emissions fast enough to meet the United Nations’ temperature target of 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit). The World Bank has estimated that following the current trajectory of carbon emissions, the planet is set to warm by 4 degrees Celsius. Thomas Heller, the executive director of CPI, said that “investment to combat and adapt to climate change is happening around the world, but it’s short of where it needs to be and efforts to grow it have not been successful enough.” (Bloomberg; Sustainable Brands)
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