Google’s staff worldwide still overwhelmingly white and Asian men
Google is largely failing to diversify its workforce beyond white and Asian men even though it hired women to fill one in every five of its openings for computer programmers and other high-paying technology jobs last year. The imbalanced picture emerged in a demographic breakdown that Google released on Monday, which underscored the challenges that Google and other major technology companies face as they try to diversify their payrolls. Only 18 percent of Google’s worldwide technology jobs were held by women at the beginning of 2015, but that was up a percentage point from 2014. White people held 59 percent of Google’s tech jobs in the US, and Asian people filled 35 percent of the positions, the report found. “Early indicators show promise but we know that with an organisation our size, meaningful change is going to take time,” said Nancy Lee, Google’s vice-president for people operations. (Guardian)
Environment
$150 billion needed to save world from climate change, warn scientists
It took about $150 billion in today’s money to put a man on the moon in the 1960s, and now it is said we need to come up with the same amount to save the world from climate change. That is the message from Sir David King, Foreign Office climate envoy, and six other prominent British scientists, businessmen and civil servants behind a climate plan modelled on the US Apollo space programme. They want large countries to spend an average of 0.02 percent of gross domestic product a year for the next decade to encourage the technical breakthroughs needed to make renewable electricity cheaper than coal by 2025. The plan is due to be raised at next week’s G7 summit in Germany, and while no government has yet made a firm funding commitment, it is hoped enough will sign up by the year-end to provide $15 billion in funding annually for the next decade. (FT.com*)
Supply Chain
Companies call for tougher sustainability standards for palm oil
Big name companies, including PepsiCo, Walmart and Starbucks, as well as numerous investors and NGOs, signed a letter, released Monday, urging the Roundtable on Palm Oil (PSPO)to enforce stricter standards for palm oil production. “As an international certification scheme, the RSPO is uniquely positioned to support, promote, and enforce the widespread uptake of responsible and sustainable production practices across the palm oil industry,” the letter states. According to the letter, the RSPO is not doing enough to curb deforestation or to ensure companies are complying with standards, forcing many companies, including Colgate-Palmolive and Johnson & Johnson to adopt their own standards. The companies ask the RSPO to do more to conserve so-called “high-carbon stock areas”, typically rainforests. The letter also calls for reporting on greenhouse gas emissions and reduction targets and ensuring palm oil originates from known sources. (Guardian)
Rana Plaza owner charged with murder over 2013 factory collapse
Bangladeshi police have charged over 40 people – including the factory’s owner – with murder, over the 2013 disaster where more than a thousand garment workers lost their lives. Sohel Rana, owner of Rana Plaza, has been charged along with his family and more than a dozen government officials. If convicted they could face the death penalty. The lead investigator for the Bangladeshi police told AFP, “We are going to press charges against 41 people including the owners of the building. It was a mass killing. All 41 of those charged have a collective responsibility for the tragedy”. The Rana Plaza factory collapse is the worst disaster of its kind and led to major debate around poor work and safety conditions of people in the garment sector overseas. Many large brands, including Primark, H&M, Lidl and Gap came under scrutiny after the tragedy and faced calls for greater transparency in their supply chains. (Blue & Green Tomorrow)
Circular Economy
Banks face circular economy funding challenge, says ING
The financial industry will need to undergo a seismic shift in culture, away from the collateral value of assets and towards a cash-flow based approach to lending, if it is to support circular economy business models. That is according to a report by ING on the business opportunities of the circular economy and its potential impact on banking activities. Banks will need to embody the principles of the circular economy in their own thinking and way of doing business. If the circular principles are embedded in the DNA of financers, they can be a credible and valuable strategic partner for entrepreneurs in the circular economy, the report states. “The present model of economic growth is running up against the limits of our planet’s ability to provide everything we need,” said author of the report Gerben Hieminga. “The concept of the circular economy aims to present a solution by combining revenue with social impact.” (Edie)
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