‘Chevron Tapes’ allegedly show oil giant covering up Amazon contamination
Environmental group Amazon Watch has released footage described as evidence of attempts by Chevron to cover up oil contamination in the Amazon. The tapes, mailed to Amazon Watch by an apparent Chevron whistleblower, appear to show workers looking for clean, uncontaminated soil but instead finding samples tainted with crude oil. In one video, a Chevron employee taunts a consultant for not being able to find clean soil. Others include interviews with local residents who complain of water contamination and health problems, and say that Chevron covered some spills with dirt rather than clean them up. The work appears to take place in an area of the jungle that has been the focus of a $9.5 billion ruling against Chevron by Ecuador’s highest court. This month, a federal appellate court in Manhattan will hear oral argument as part of the company’s retaliation strategy to avoid paying the judgment. Chevron public affairs officer Morgan Crinklaw told VICE News that there was nothing improper in the company’s soil sampling work. (VICE News; CSR Wire)
Australia chases BHP, Rio Tinto on Singapore tax shelter
Australia is pursuing global miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto for shifting billions of dollars in iron ore profits through marketing hubs in Singapore that pay almost no tax, the Australian Financial Review has reported. The Singapore arrangements save the two companies more than AUS $750 million (US $569 million) a year in Australian tax. BHP did not comment on whether it received a tax bill tied to its Singapore hub, but said in an emailed statement it “already pays income tax in Australia on a substantial portion of the revenue earned by the Marketing Operations as required under Australian tax law”. Rio Tinto told the Financial Review it had not received a tax bill, but declined to comment further. Both companies say their Singapore operations were not set up to cut tax but to be closer to their customers. (Reuters)
Governance
Greater economic and political power gives women more seats in boardroom
Women are more likely to be promoted to company boardrooms in countries where they hold greater economic and political power, according to research commissioned by BNY Mellon and Newton Investment Management. Women’s economic power, as measured by years of schooling and percentage of women in the labour market, is the most important factor in ensuring greater gender equality in the boardroom, according to a survey of 1,002 companies in 41 countries. Female political power, as measured by the number of MPs, as well as rights to maternity and paternity leave, also strongly corresponded to opportunities in the boardroom. The report found that boardroom quotas played a limited role. Australia, Norway, Denmark and Finland, where women have high levels of economic power, scored highly for numbers of women serving on company boards. The UK was judged to be in 9th place, behind the Netherlands and ahead of France. (The Guardian)
European Commission agrees to use social progress tool alongside GDP
The European Commission has committed to integrating social and environmental considerations into its economic decision making alongside GDP. The Social Progress Index (SPI) enables countries to evaluate how effectively they translate economic success into social progress, and will be considered a key tool in deciding how to allocate €63.4 billion to deprived regions in the European Union. According to Michael Green, who runs SPI, countries cannot boost their SPI score by only improving the lives of the most well off, unlike with GDP. The index uses 52 indicators ranging from healthcare and housing to ecosystem sustainability and freedom from discrimination. Initiatives using the index are already underway at either national or local level in more than 40 countries including the USA, Brazil and Paraguay. On a corporate level, Coca-Cola and Natura, Brazil’s largest cosmetics company, will soon be releasing their own community-level SPI to guide their social investments in Brazil. (The Guardian)
Supply Chain
Unilever fast-tracks deforestation pledge into 2015
Consumer goods giant Unilever has pledged to sustainably source 100 percent of its wood-based packaging by the end of 2015, five years ahead of schedule. The original target for 100 percent sustainable wood packaging was 2020, but Unilever reached 87 percent in 2014, up significantly from 62 percent the previous year. The company said the pledge was motivated by a commitment to zero-deforestation, but added it was a sound financial decision. The move could also boost sales, as Unilever research across 11 countries found that three quarters of consumers would be more likely to purchase a product if they knew it was made from sustainably sourced ingredients. Last week, the company finished first in Oxfam‘s ‘Battle of the Brands’ campaign, which looks at environmental and social impacts of the top ten food and beverage companies. (Edie)
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