Report urges governments to take action to control climate change costs
Governments must urgently step up support for emerging low carbon technologies, such as renewable energy, in order to stop the costs of tackling climate change from “spiralling out of control”. That is the conclusion of a new report by the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economicsand Political Science (LSE) published today, which calls for concerted efforts to introduce higher levels of carbon taxation in order to drive clean tech investment. The study finds that levels of clean energy R&D are still not at the level necessary to help limit global temperature rises to two degrees Celsius by the end of the century and as a result the global economy is “locking in” unsustainable investment in fossil fuel infrastructure. (Business Green)
EU voting today on rules to cut plastic bag waste
Representatives from the European Parliament and the EU Council will today vote on an agreement to cut the use of thin-gauge plastic carrier bags. Draft measures are expected to be formally approved which will mean member states will have two choices of policy: to ensure that the average annual consumption of bags does not exceed 90 per person by 2019 and 40 by 2025, or ensure that bags are not handed to customers free of charge by 2018. Green MEP Margrete Auken, who is steering the legislation through Parliament, said: “This is an historic moment for all of Europe.” The vote follows news that Scotland’s recently imposed plastic bag tax has resulted in a 90% reduction in the use of bags by shoppers. The European plastics industry has expressed concern that a ban on plastic bags could create trade barriers and hinder the EU internal market. (Edie.net)
Corporate Reputation
UK supermarkets to hide tabloid front pages because of sexual content concerns
Two of the UK’s leading supermarkets are to change the way they display newspapers because of fears about children being exposed to sexual content. Tesco and Waitrose have both announced changes to their displays so some front pages can be moved from children’s lines of vision. The announcements follow months of campaigning by the groups Child Eyes and No More Page 3. Tesco said it had listened to campaigners and customers and the changes would “strike the right balance for everyone”. Waitrose tweeted: “We’ve been working on this for some time and will soon be changing our newspaper fixtures so we can display some newspaper covers out of the eye line of children.” No More Page 3, which campaigns for the end of topless photographs of women in newspapers, said the changes were “a massive step in the right direction”. (BBC)
Burger King axes German franchises over working conditions
Following earlier reports of poor hygiene, the fast food giant Burger King has announced it is terminating contracts for 89 franchised outlets in Germany because of continued poor treatment of staff. Many of the outlets had already been temporarily closed for improvements to hygiene standards and working conditions after a damning undercover report in May by the RTL television channel. According to the report, expired food products were relabelled as fresh ones and burgers were often kept warm for hours. Other sanitary violations included personnel cleaning toilets and then preparing food in the same clothes. According to Burger King, the German franchise holder Yi-Ko also failed to observe contractually fixed working conditions for its 3,000 restaurant staff. The decision to close the franchises affects 89 out of almost 700 German Burger King outlets, and 3,000 employees now face an uncertain future. (The Local)
Water
Coca-Cola bottling factory attacked for depleting water source in India
Government authorities have declared that Coca-Cola is ‘over-exploiting’ the groundwater around its controversial bottling factory in Mehdiganj, Northern India. When Coca-Cola began operations on the site, the groundwater was categorised as ‘safe’, but in 2009, the national government changed the designation to ‘critical’. “As the single largest user of groundwater in the area, Coca-Cola bears major responsibility for the water resources becoming over-exploited, and that too at the expense of water for residents and farmers,” said Amit Srivastava of the India Resource Center, which has campaigned against the factory since 2003. Coca-Cola’s most recent sustainability report claims the company replenished 108.5bn litres of water last year – about 68% of its total usage – and is on track to being water neutral by 2020. (Edie.net)
COMMENTS