UK rivals to follow Tesco in revealing amount of food wasted
The UK’s biggest grocers have pledged to disclose the volume of food discarded by their stores in an effort to cut down on the millions of tonnes wasted each year. Retailers have been under pressure to act after Tesco admitted it generated 28,500 tonnes of food waste at its stores and distribution centres in the first six months of last year alone. Green campaigners say poor buying and marketing practices contribute to the 15 million tonne pile of food discarded in the UK each year. In response, the UK’s big four supermarkets – Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons – as well as Marks & Spencer, Waitrose and the Co-op, will release regular updates on the amount of food wasted in their stores starting in 2015. Vicki Hird, food campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said that “food waste has been growing over the last few decades because of the way supermarkets have driven consumption. These figures will indicate how over-purchasing and other poor buying practices are occurring.” (Guardian)
Economic Development
Corporations trump citizens in struggle for natural resources in Africa
Land laws which fail to give citizens rights over natural resources give corporations the upper hand and can fuel poverty and environmental damage in sub-Saharan Africa, according to new research by the World Resources Institute. The study found that African governments put more weight on laws that govern rights to resources than rights to land, enriching mining and extractive companies and leaving the majority of African landowners powerless to economically benefit from their land. The study argued that although petroleum and minerals are crucial to national development, leaving citizens with no rights to the resources above or beneath their land can create a lose-lose situation. Peter Viet, from the World Resource Institute said that, “granting communities more rights to natural resources when they have land rights means they can negotiate directly with the companies, and the state can benefit through a taxing of those operations.” (Thomson Reuters)
Environment
Tata creates “solar panelled forest” to promote renewable energy
The Indian financial services company Tata Capital has announced a first of its kind solar-panelled forest as part of an initiative aimed at energy conservation and development of sustainable energy resources. The solar forest consists of a set of six solar-panelled trees which Tata says will power the garden and security lights on the company’s campus in Thane, India, producing close to 750 watts of power. The company plans to replicate the initiative in its other offices around the country. Amar Sinhji, head of human resources at Tata Capital commented saying that, “it is a unique ‘green’ innovation and is the first of many steps at Tata Capital towards the use of renewable energy.” (Eco-Business)
US solar industry expands
The annual census of solar jobs in the US has found that the industry now employs around 143,000 Americans, an increase of almost 20 percent from 2012 figures. The Solar Foundation, which conducts the National Solar Jobs Census, found that 23,682 new jobs were created in 2013, showing that employment in this grew ten times faster than the national average. During the same period, jobs in fossil fuels declined by 8.7 percent. With another 22,000 roles expected to be created this year, Lyndon Rive, CEO of Solar City said that, “we’ve barely begun this transformation, but as it advances, the American solar industry has the potential to be one of the greatest job creators this country has ever seen.” The figures follow the news that the solar industry is also expanding in China, with more solar panels installed in 2013 than has ever been installed by any country in a single year. (SustainableBusiness; Bloomberg)
Employees
Obama promises action on equality
US President Barack Obama has promised to tackle economic inequality in his annual State of the Union address. He pledged to tackle savings plans for workers who don’t have them, health insurance and training schemes, and announced a rise in the minimum wage for new federal contract staff. He stressed the importance of early childhood schooling, better value university education, and equal opportunities in the workplace for women. Noting that inequality in the US has deepened, and upward mobility stalled, he said that he would offer “a set of concrete, practical proposals to speed up growth, strengthen the middle class, and build new ladders of opportunity into the middle class.” (BBC)
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