‘Sustainable’ companies using secretive tax havens, says Christian Aid
UK NGO Christian Aid has accused many of the largest companies that claim to be driving corporate responsibility of operating behind a veil of secrecy by creating thousands of subsidiaries in tax havens. The UK’s 100 largest publicly traded companies own nearly 30,000 subsidiaries between them, the NGO discovered in a recent study. It found it impossible to gather even basic information such as turnover, assets or shareholder funds from around a fifth of these. Accessing information about the subsidiaries was simple and free in only a quarter of cases, while the rest required payment either to public authorities or private databases. “If we want to ensure that the companies playing ever-larger roles in our societies are financially stable, socially responsible and well-regulated, then such secrecy must end,” said Katharine Teague, co-author of the Christian Aid FTSEcrecy report. “Transparency won’t guarantee well-behaved firms but it is a necessary condition for it. We were shocked by how little information is freely available about most companies’ subsidiaries.” (The Guardian)
Policy
Shock EU Google ruling raises data privacy issues
Startling, unexpected and potentially revolutionary; that is the initial response from lawyers to a landmark Google court defeat that sets a new standard in data privacy in Europe. A top EU court has ruled that Google must amend some search results at the request of ordinary people in a test of the so-called “right to be forgotten”. The European Union Court of Justice said links to “irrelevant” and outdated data should be erased on request, raising not only practical but also ethical and moral questions too. The case was brought by a Spanish man who complained that an auction notice of his repossessed home on Google’s search results infringed his privacy. EU Commissioner Viviane Reding has called it “a clear victory for the protection of personal data of Europeans”. But the judgement could have huge consequences for anyone who publishes material online about individuals, and they will urgently be asking their lawyers exactly what it means. Campaign group Index on Censorship condemned the decision, saying it “violates the fundamental principles of freedom of expression”. “This is akin to marching into a library and forcing it to pulp books,” it said. (Financial Times*, BBC News)
Circular Economy
Closed-loop upcycling: Starbucks now sourcing milk from coffee-fed cows
Menicon Co., Japan’s leading contact lens manufacturer, isn’t normally associated with milk. But a recent partnership with Starbucks is showcasing the company’s scientific expertise in a new way: Menicon has helped Starbucks to pioneer fermentation technology that now allows coffee grounds from Starbucks stores in the Tokyo area to be converted into feed for local dairy cows that produce the company’s milk. Starbucks was looking for a better use than compost for the hill of beans its Japanese stores produce every day. Although compost is an impeccably sustainable solution, composting coffee grounds (known as “bean cake”) leaves significant nutritional value unused. Now they are able to upcycle it into feed for the cows that make the milk that goes in Starbucks coffee. For Menicon, this is an important step toward realizing a corporate vision, adopted in 2009, aimed at evolving to become “a world enterprise friendly to people, animals and the environment.” (Sustainable Brands)
Human Rights
US tobacco child labour: Children working on farms ‘endangered’ by exposure to nicotine
Children as young as 12 are endangering their health by picking tobacco in the United States where the practice of having young people work on farms outside of school is completely legal, Human Rights Watch has warned. According to HRW, some children who work on farms in North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia have reported vomiting, nausea, headaches, and dizziness while working on tobacco farm. These are all symptoms consistent with acute nicotine poisoning or ‘green tobacco sickness’. The children also reported working long hours in extreme heat and sometimes in dangerous conditions. “As the school year ends, children are heading into the tobacco fields, where they can’t avoid being exposed to dangerous nicotine, without smoking a single cigarette,” Margaret Wurth, a children’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch and co-author of the report said. “Tobacco companies shouldn’t benefit from hazardous child labour,” Ms Wurth added. “They have a responsibility to adopt clear, comprehensive policies that get children out of dangerous work on tobacco farms, and make sure the farms follow the rules.” (The Independent)
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