EU puts first-ever seafood trade ban on illegal fishing nations
The EU Fisheries Council has announced that it is placing trade restrictions on Belize, Cambodia, and Guinea for failing to cooperate in fighting Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing. This means that EU member states are now required to ban the import of fish from Belize, Cambodia, and Guinea and ensure that EU fishing vessels do not operate in the waters of these nations. According to NGOs the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), Oceana, The Pew Charitable Trusts and WWF, IUU fishing depletes fish stocks, damages marine ecosystems, puts legitimate fishers at an unfair disadvantage and jeopardises the livelihoods of some of the world’s most vulnerable communities. In a statement, the NGOs said that IUU fishing is estimated to cost between €7-17bn annually, representing 11 to 26 million tonnes of catch. EJF executive director Steve Trent said: “Closing the world’s most valuable seafood market to countries that do not cooperate in fighting illegal fishing is a crucial step, and we applaud the EU for taking this decision.” (Edie)
Research finds link between language and corporate social responsibility
New research shows that corporate social responsibility is affected by a surprising factor—the native tongue of the company’s country of origin. Harvard Business School Associate Professor Christopher Marquis teamed-up with researchers from Tilburg University and the University of Missouri to study whether the words a particular group of people have at their disposal influences how they categorize the world, emphasising some values or activities over others. Looking at corporate social responsibility, the team examined whether measures of CSR correlate to the language spoken in each company’s home country. Their findings, contained in a new working paper titled Speaking of Corporate Social Responsibility, suggest that a company’s use of language, particularly by the CEO and other top executives, guides its business philosophies and decisions. Key among the results is that it is not the words used in a particular language that matters, but the way that language is constructed. The researchers looked at the constructions used to describe future actions, and found that the more separation placed between present and future events, the less socially responsible a company was. (Forbes)
Environment
Global councils join forces to tackle growing water-energy nexus issue
The World Energy Council (WEC) and World Water Council (WWC) have joined forces to address the growing issue of the water-energy nexus. The two organisations will work together to build an integrated programme in the run up to the 7th World Water Forum in Daegu, Korea in April 2015, and to ensure that the water-energy nexus is highlighted at the next World Energy Congress, to be held in Istanbul in 2016. World Water Council president Benedito Braga said: “This new collaboration will give us the means to push forward and encourage harmonized policies. Water needs energy and energy needs water. Understanding the interaction between these two vital elements is paramount to developing a water secure future.” World Energy Council chair Marie-José Nadeau added: “The energy-water nexus is a real issue for business and governments alike. We need to mobilise the public and private sectors to provide solutions to this growing problem.” According to the two organisations, today’s announcement takes their existing collaboration to the next level and will serve to further analyse and comprehend water and energy interactions. (Edie)
Siemens wind farm factory promises 1,000 jobs in the UK
German engineering company Siemens has committed to building Britain’s first wind farm manufacturing plant in Hull, a move that will create up to a thousand jobs. It will invest £160 million in making giant, next-generation turbine blades and generators for offshore projects in the North Sea. Siemens had been examining locations in Germany and Denmark, amid uncertainty over the scale of government subsidies, but the new Energy Bill will guarantee that offshore wind farm operators will be paid almost three times the present wholesale price of electricity. Michael Süss, a member of the managing board of Siemens, said: “Our decision to construct a production facility for offshore wind turbines in England is part of our global strategy. We invest in markets with reliable conditions that can ensure that factories can work to capacity. The British energy policy creates a favourable framework for the expansion of offshore wind energy.” (The Times)*
Employees
Zero-hours contracts report: give workers fixed-hours employment after a year
UK workers on zero-hours contracts should be given a legal right to a fixed-hours deal after 12 months, according to an inquiry which reports today. The recommendations from the Resolution Foundation think-tank reject calls by some trade unions for a ban on the controversial contracts, saying that many employers, and some workers, like the flexibility they offer. But it found “clear signs of abuse” by bosses and proposed a package of reforms to give employees more security. The key proposal is a legal right to switch to a part-time fixed-hours contract if an employee has worked regular shifts for at least 12 months and their work pattern has been “relatively consistent.” The independent think-tank, which specialises in the problems faced by people on low and middle incomes, said it is too soon to judge whether the recent growth in the use of zero-hours contracts has been driven by the economic downturn or is a permanent feature of the labour market. (Independent)
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