An estimated 800 people from organisations including Greenpeace, WWF, Oxfam, 350.org, Friends of the Earth and ActionAid walked out of the UN climate change conference in Warsaw yesterday in protest over a lack of progress towards an international deal to curb rising global greenhouse gas emissions. Anger has reportedly mounted over the perceived closeness of governments to industrial lobbies, and because several developed countries, including Japan, Australia and Canada, have reneged on their commitments to cut carbon emissions. The WWF said that "this is the first time ever that there has been a mass withdrawal from a COP. Warsaw, which should have been an important step in the just transition to a sustainable future, is on track to deliver virtually nothing. We feel that governments have given up on the process." The walkout follows the temporary walkout earlier this week by the G77 group of developing countries over disagreement about the commitment of developed countries to deal with losses and damage caused by climate change. (The Guardian; BBC; Reuters)
Norway, UK, and US put $280 million into new sustainable forest initiative
The World Bank, in partnership with the UK, US and Norway, has launched a new BioCarbon Fund initiative that aims to protect forests and tackle deforestation through investing and promoting sustainable agriculture, forestry and livestock management across Africa, Asia and Latin America. The Initiative for Sustainable Forest Landscapes, which is being funded with $135 million from Norway, $120 million from the UK, and $25 million from the US, is also looking to involve multinational firms, including Unilever and Mondelez. Agriculture reportedly causes approximately 80 percent of deforestation and recent figures have shown that deforestation in the Amazon has increased by 28 percent in the last year, with campaigners accusing the Brazilian Government of favouring the interests of agribusiness. Rachel Kyte, the World Bank’s vice-president of sustainable development said that “if agriculture and land-use change continue to produce up to 30 percent of global greenhouse gases, it will mean further disaster and disruption from climate change.” (Blue & Green Tomorrow; Reuters)
Supply Chain
Global retailers agree on safety standards for Bangladesh factories
US and European retailers, led by the US retailer Walmart and the Swedish clothing retailer H&M, have announced an agreement on fire and safety inspection standards for 2,000 factories in Bangladesh. However, tensions between retailers reportedly remain high, with both parties disagreeing on how to finance the safety upgrades. The European retailers, who are members of the legally binding Accord on Fire and Building Safetyin Bangladesh, have agreed to finance fire and safety reforms for buildings that do not meet requirements, while the US group, the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, has pledged $100 million in loans to factory owners to finance safety upgrades. The US labour rights NGO, the Worker Rights Consortium, which is a member of the European-led Accord, said that "when public commitment to workers’ rights comes into conflict with supply chain practices, inevitably workers lose out because brands are not willing to make necessary commitments including funding that will ensure industry reform." (Reuters; Bloomberg)
Policy
IUCN launches new index to spur gender equality in environmental policy
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has launched a new annual index, the Environment and Gender Index (EGI), which ranks 72 countries on how they are translating international commitments and female empowerment into national environmental policy and planning. The strongest countries are Iceland, the Netherlands and Norway, while the weakest are Democratic Republic of Congo, Yemen and Mauritania. According to the IUCN, female participation in delegations at intergovernmental negotiations is only 36 percent for biodiversity, 33 percent for climate change, and 21 percent for desertification. Ruta Aidis, who developed the index, said that “as an independent tool outside the UN system to measure government performance, the EGI can help policymakers and civil society evaluate and set new benchmarks for government progress.” (Reuters)
Employees
UK living wage campaigners try to tempt Tesco, M&S and John Lewis to sign up
The UK Living Wage Foundation has announced that it has offered a series of concessions to major UK retailers, including Tesco, Marks & Spencer and John Lewis, to persuade them to adopt the voluntary living wage. The foundation has suggested that the retailers include annual bonus payments and commissions to employees in their calculations to achieve the benchmark pay rate of £8.45 an hour in London and £7.45 across the rest of the UK. The move comes after months of negotiations have failed to persuade major UK retailers to adopt the foundation's kite-mark standard. While some of the retailers pay their own staff more than the living wage, they have all refused to pay cleaners and other contract workers the higher pay rate, which they must do to be accredited. John Lewis said that "we completely share the living wage campaign's objectives to pay employees fairly we do not believe it is appropriate for us to insist on our contractors paying wages well above market rates." (The Guardian)
Waste
WRAP: UK hospitality and food sector wastes 1.3 billion meals each year
According to a new report by the UK circular economy and resource efficiency organisation WRAP, the UK's hospitality and food service sector throws away 920,000 tonnes of food waste each year, which is the equivalent to 1.3 billion meals. The report, Overview of waste in the UK Hospitality and Food Service Sector, states that the cost of food being wasted from the sector is estimated at £2.5 billion per year. The report includes a breakdown of the food waste produced across restaurants, quick service restaurants, hotels, pubs, leisure, healthcare, education, staff catering and services, as well as the cost of this food waste for each subsector. According to the report, 75 percent of all of the food wasted is avoidable and could have been eaten. Edward Wright, the sustainability director at the UK organisation Business in the Community, said that food waste "isn't just a consumer issue, it's a serious business issue too. Being efficient in every aspect of business is essential and tackling food waste is one area in which a big impact can be felt by making a few simple changes." (Edie)
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