Australian companies fail to identify sustainability risks and opportunities
This year, the World Economic Forum’sGlobal Risk report, found that 7 of the top 10 global risks of the highest concern to global business leaders during 2014 were sustainability-related. As such, institutional investors in Australia are increasingly demanding that companies are transparent and accountable for their sustainability risks. Over the past year both the Australian Securities Investment Commission and the Australian Securities Exchange have begun asking listed companies to disclose their sustainability risks. The Global Reporting Initiative, together with KPMG Australia and CPA Australia, has investigated how ASX 50 companies identify with sustainability risks and why. The new report finds that only a handful of Australian companies are dealing with sustainability issues and there is significant opportunity to be much more strategic in their approaches to sustainability and extract more value for the business. (Guardian)
Supply Chain
Cargill, Kennedy and Coe to develop beef cattle sustainability assessment
Cargill Cattle Feeders, the cattle supply arm of the company’s US beef business, has entered into an agreement with consultancy Kennedy and Coe, in a joint effort to create a verified beef supply chain sustainability assessment program for Cargill feed yards. The assessment will begin with a yearlong focus on the economic, environmental and community impacts of Cargill’s four feed yards in Texas, Kansas and Colorado. Based on the successful development of benchmarking and measurement criteria, this type of assessment could eventually be expanded to include cattle production in collaboration with stocker operators, ranchers, as well as with Cargill’s strategic feed yard partners. Developing sustainable beef supply chains has been a point of focus for many major brands this year. In January, McDonald’s announced that, by 2016, it will begin sourcing “verified sustainable beef.” (Sustainable Brands)
Environment
Shell pipeline leak spills thousands of barrels of oil into Niger delta
Around 3,800 barrels of oil have spilled into the Niger delta, according to an investigation by Shell and government officials. It ranks as one of the worst in Nigeria for years, local environmental activists said. The spill has had a catastrophic effect on the wildlife, damaging the livelihoods of local fisherman. “We can’t go fishing anymore. It has destroyed our fishing equipment,” Boma Macaulay, a fisherman from Bonny said, adding that it was the worst spill he had seen for at least five years. Shell shut down its 28 inch pipeline carrying “Bonny Light crude” on November 22 but the origin of the spill was from the smaller 24 inch pipe, which was shut last year. A Shell spokesman said the spill was caused by a failed crude theft. Some 1,200 barrels had been recovered as of December 2 and “recovery efforts are continuing” at the site on the Okolo Launch on Bonny Island. (Reuters)
Renewable Energy
Report: UK solar could be “competitive without subsidies” by 2020
Using the experience of the German market to project solar costs in Britain, a new report by German think-tank Thema1 predicts that solar power will prosper in the UK commercial market without subsidies by 2020, and that the domestic rooftop and large-scale solar markets will be economic within the next 10 years. The report suggests solar cost reductions would trigger similar changes in the British power market as already seen in Germany, where utilities have suffered from falls in wholesale power prices, as a result of priority grid access for renewable energy. The news comes as Greenpeace has attacked “misguided” tax breaks given by the UK government to North Sea oil companies. Doug Parr, the organisation’s chief scientist said: “In what looks like the warmest year on record, [Chancellor] George Osborne has strikingly failed to shield the UK economy from climate change and grasp the opportunities of a modern clean-tech economy”. (RTCC; Business Green)
Corporate Reputation
Disney Parks sued for disability discrimination
Twenty-eight separate lawsuits have been filed against The Walt Disney Company alleging discrimination against people with disabilities at Disneyland and Walt Disney World, and more are expected. The families charge that Disney’s Disability Access Service (DAS) program violates the Americans With Disabilities Act by not allowing people with disabilities to cut to the front of lines. One complaint cites a 6-year-old boy with autism whose blood pressure rose so high during waits that he developed nosebleeds. The DAS program began in October 2013 when Disney discontinued its Guest Assistance Card program, which allowed people with disabilities access to rides via a separate entrance. In a letter to guests, Meg Crofton, President, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Operations, US and France, wrote that the GAC program “has been abused and exploited to such an extent that we are no longer able to effectively sustain it in its present form.” (DiversityInc.)
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