Palm oil companies accused of breaking ethical promises
Sixteen palm oil concessions operated by members of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) across Indonesia, Liberia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Cameroon, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, have been accused by the UK NGO, the Forest Peoples Programme, and the Indonesian charity Sawit Watch, of land grabbing, ignoring human rights, destroying tropical rainforest and exploiting labour. The RSPO said that “there have been a number of cases of non-compliant members” and that it “depends on the goodwill of companies on the ground, and local government authorities, to ensure that these principles and criteria are abided to” as there is no legal mandate on members to comply with RSPO’s principles and criteria. Marcus Colchester, an adviser at Forest Peoples Programme, said that “global investors, retailers, manufacturers and traders must insist on dealing in conflict free palm oil, and national governments must up their game and respect communities’ rights.” (The Guardian)
Coca-Cola vows to axe suppliers guilty of land grabbing
Coca-Cola has announced that it will cut off suppliers that do not follow guidelines to protect the land rights of local communities in developing countries and has pledged to encourage other firms, governments and traders to endorse and implement voluntary UN guidelines on responsible governance of tenure on land, fisheries and forests. Coca-Cola said that “as a major buyer of sugar, we acknowledge our responsibility to take action and to use our influence to help protect the land rights of local communities.” The firm said that it will conduct third party social, environmental and human rights assessments in critical sourcing regions for the company, beginning this year with Colombia and Guatemala and will include Brazil, India and South Africa amongst others, by 2020. Coke’s action plan follow a report published by Oxfam in October 2013, Sugar Rush, which said that sugar, along with soy and palm oil, was driving large scale land acquisitions and land conflicts at the expense of small scale food producers and their families. (The Guardian)
Inclusive Business
SAP’s shea butter collective shifts to profit model
The StarShea Network, a non-profit collective which was formed four years ago through a partnership between the German software company SAP and the NGO PlaNet Finance to improve the supply chain of shea butter in Ghana, has become an incorporated, standalone business. The newly named StarShea Ltd, which provides a combination of mobile technology, education and microfinance to help rural women manage and grow their shea nut businesses, has grown into a network of more than 10,000 women, and emerged as one of the global market leaders of organically produced and fairly traded shea butter. StarShea helps to create a reliable supply chain, allowing buyers and farmers to buy predictable amounts of produce at a stable quality and fair price. A mobile app developed and donated by SAP scans and traces each sack of shea nuts and each box of shea butter. Although SAP will continue to support the business through an interest free loan, StarShea Ltd. aims to be profitable within the next three years and said that “the long-term vision is really to make the women also owners of that business.” (Triple Pundit)
Policy
ODI calls for governments worldwide to stop “shooting themselves in both feet” by subsidising fossil fuel companies
According to a new report by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), governments worldwide are undermining international efforts to avert climate change by subsidising the production and consumption of energy generated from fossil fuels. The report, Time to change the game: Fossil fuel subsidies and climate, claims that globally, fossil fuel companies received subsidies worth over $500 billion in 2011, with the majority allegedly coming from developed nations. The ODI claims that in India and Pakistan, fossil fuel subsidies more than double the level of government spending on public health services. Shelagh Whitley, the author of the report, said that by continuing to support fossil fuel industries in this way, world leaders are “shooting themselves in both feet.” The ODI report argues that if governments cooperate to ensure all fossil fuel subsidies were phased out by G20 nations by 2020, and globally by 2025, then it would cut public costs while boosting the fight against damaging climate change. (Blue & Green Tomorrow)
Corporate Reputation
Amnesty: Shell made false claims about Niger Delta pollution
Amnesty International (AI) has accused Shell of falsifying claims about its environmental impact in the Niger Delta after hiring an independent pipeline specialist, Accufacts, to investigate oil spills. Accufacts’ research found “serious and systemic flaws” in the oil spill investigation process and examples of company executives attributing leaks to sabotage, despite alleged evidence of corrosion in some of the pipes. According to a new report by the global NGO, “Shell has claimed that the oil spill investigations are sound when they are not, that sites are cleaned up when they are not, and that the company is transparent when, in reality, it maintains very tight control over every piece of information, deciding what to disclose and what to withhold.” Shell said that the company “firmly rejects unsubstantiated assertions that we have exaggerated the impact of crude oil theft and sabotage to distract attention from operational performance. We seek to bring greater transparency and independent oversight to the issue of oil spills, and will continue to find ways to enhance this.” (The Guardian; The Independent)
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