L’Occitane joins Business Call to Action focussing on shea butter production
The cosmetics firm L’Occitane has joined global initiative Business Call to Action to launch an environmental and social project for traditional shea butter production in Burkina Faso. The project aims to improve working conditions, encourage young women to enter the shea butter industry, and reduce the environmental impacts of processing. L’Occitane has been active in Burkina Faso since the 1980’s and has focussed on development and fair trade with local communities. By 2016 L’Occitane plants to achieve 100% organic production of shea butter and establish a soap factory that allows women to develop their own processed products, aiming to provide added value and additional income generating opportunities. Reinold Geiger, chief executive of L’Occitane said that, “after 30 years of partnership with the women of Burkina Faso, our purpose is to go deeper into the technical and environmental improvement of the shea sector while preserving the economic and social interests of women.” (CSRwire)
Reporting
EU edges forward with plans for green corporate reporting rules
Under new plans being developed by the European Union, some of Britain's largest private companies, including the Arcadia Group and Virgin Atlantic, could face a legal requirement to publish more information on their environmental and social impacts. Businesses with over 500 employees would have to report on their environmental and social policies, in a push to encourage more businesses to embrace sustainable best practices and boost transparency, without overly burdening businesses. The European Commission estimates that just 2,500 out of 42,000 large European companies currently disclose environmental and social information. A spokesperson from the EU said that, “today's vote strikes a good balance between the need for increased transparency and the importance of not hampering competitiveness by adding unnecessary red tape for EU companies.” (BusinessGreen)
Environment
Solution to China air pollution is more dirty coal at power plants
A study by the China Electricity Council and American NGO Environmental Defence Fund, has recommended that to reduce pollution, China’s large power plants should burn high polluting dirty coal and keep it out of the hands of smaller coal-burning operations that lack emissions control systems. It was argued that power plants have the ability to control emissions due to their high-end facilities and environmental protection equipment, whereas smaller operations adopt fewer pollution reducing measures. However environmental experts argued that the problem lies with weak environmental protection enforcement rather than the amount or type of coal being burned, Wang Yuesi, a researcher from the Chinese Academy of Sciences said that, “Instead of leaving the good-quality coal to the small and medium-sized enterprises and consuming brown coal themselves, the large State owned power plants should offer technological support to help those small companies reduce their emissions.” (CleanBiz.Asia)
Research
91% of Americans say companies should implement more sustainability practices
According to research carried out for Hill & Knowlton Strategies only 35 percent of Americans believe that companies are doing more today than they were ten years ago to address climate change. The survey found that 91 percent of Americans believe it is important for companies to implement greater corporate sustainability practices, whilst 63 percent expect companies to actively pursue and implement such policies. Additionally, 62 percent of Americans want to learn more about private sector efforts to improve energy efficiency, and 82 percent said that increased transparency around climate change initiatives would increase the trust they have in a company. (EnvironmentalLeader)
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