Living wage project for tea farmers in Malawi launched
The Ethical Tea Partnership (ETP), Oxfam, sustainable trade initiative IDH and the German development agency GIZ are leading a project to establish a living wage for the tea industry in Malawi, which if successful will be developed in other countries.The measures to increase wages for those dependent on the tea industry have been put forward after research revealed that tea farmers are paid as little as $2 a day. Malawi is the second biggest tea producer in Africa and one of the world’s poorest countries. The research also found that there was no difference between wages on Fairtrade and other certified estates, mainly because wages are set nationally and pay is usually based on the legal minimum. The ETP and IDH are also working on an initiative to roll out Farmer Field Schools to provide training and knowledge-sharing opportunities to tea farmers. 1,600 such schools have already been set up in Kenya, and are estimated to have improved yields by 36%. Last year, the ETP also partnered with GIZ in an award-winning project to help more than 100,000 farmers secure their livelihoods against climate change. (Blue and Green Tomorrow)
Thailand gets lowest rating in human-trafficking report
The US administration has downgraded Thailand and Malaysia to the lowest possible rating in an annual report on combating modern slavery, while lifting China and Sudan from that status to a “watch list.” The downgrade follows a recent Guardian investigation which found that seafood from Thailand being sold in Western supermarkets was connected to slave labour. According to the new US State Department report, men, women and children in Thailand, most from neighbouring countries, are “forced, coerced, or defrauded” into labour in fishing-related industries, garment production, factories and brothels. “The government demonstrated few efforts to address these trafficking crimes,” the State Department said in the report. The State Department notes that countries on the lowest tier may be subject to certain sanctions, including the withholding or withdrawal of non-humanitarian, non-trade-related foreign assistance. (Bloomberg)
Technology & Innovation
Unilever, John Lewis and EE help launch £1 million Internet of Things competition
Unilever, UK retailer John Lewis and mobile provider EE have lent their support to a £1 million Launchpad competition seeking game-changing innovations in Internet of Things-related technologies brewing in the UK. Launched in collaboration with Tech City UK, the Technology Strategy Board and Cambridge Wireless, the competition is open to early-stage UK startups working within the London or Cambridge tech clusters that are developing ideas, prototypes or have existing businesses working within the Internet of Things space. The competition will offer grant funding alongside marketing and business support, mentorship and routes to market, including retail space for winning companies in EE and John Lewis stores. The launchpad competition comes three months after Prime Minister David Cameron announced that the UK government is planning to double the amount of funding it places into research for Internet of things technologies. Research analysts Gartner predict that by 2020, nearly 26 billion physical devices will be transmitting data to each other via the Internet. (Sustainable Brands)
Environment
Half of Germany’s power now comes from solar
According to Fraunhofer ISE research institute, Germany can now produce more than half of its energy from solar power. Due to better weather in Germany this year, the production of solar power increased 34 percent during the first half of 2014. Much of Germany’s increase in solar energy has come from ordinary citizens installing photovoltaics onto their homes, rather than from large farms of solar panels. More than 90 percent of solar panels installed in Germany are on homeowners’ roofs; however, installations are declining due to cuts to government subsidies. If the trajectory continues, Germany will miss its target of 2.5 to 3.5 gigawatts. A recent report by the Clean Energy Ministerial‘s Multilateral Solar and Wind Working Group found that implementing the right policies and frameworks can achieve large-scale deployment of renewable energy that creates jobs, increases incomes, improves trade balances and contributes to industrial development. (Sustainable Brands)
Longer flight paths may help cut climate impact
Researchers from the University of Reading, UK claim that airlines may reduce their impact on global warming if they can avoid places where they produce more condensation trails, even if it means flying further and emitting more carbon dioxide. Just like natural clouds, contrails reflect some of the sun’s incoming energy, producing a cooling effect. However, they also trap some of the infra-red energy that radiates from the Earth into space, and so have an overall warming effect. Dr Emma Irvine of Reading’s Department of Meteorology argued that “if we can predict the regions where contrails will form, it may be possible to mitigate their effect by routing aircraft to avoid them. Our work shows that, for a rounded assessment of the environmental impact of aviation, more needs to be considered than just the carbon emissions of aircraft.” The researchers have devised a framework to calculate how much further an aircraft could travel in a single flight before the extra carbon dioxide that is emitted causes more warming than the contrail would have caused. (Eco-Business)
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