Big Four auditing firm KPMG is urging the UK government to make the living wage the minimum wage. In an economic impact assessment, KPMG says that despite a total cost to businesses of £12.4 billion, the government could make significant gains from a national living wage. Set by the Living Wage Foundation, the current living wage is £7.85 per hour for the wider UK, and £9.15 for London, compared to the legal minimum of £6.50. KPMG estimates that some six million people in the UK aged 21 and over are currently earning less than the living wage. According to the report, if businesses met the costs of a living wage by increasing prices or productivity, the government would enjoy the increased revenue with no offset. KPMG, which has voluntarily paid the living wage since 2006, says that it has “seen the benefits of lower absence and a more engaged workforce”. (Economia)
Sainsbury’s and M&S under fire over executive and staff pay disparity
UK supermarkets Sainsbury’s and Marks & Spencer face protests from shareholders and campaigners this week over high executive rewards and low pay for staff. Pirc, a shareholders advisory group, and Manifest, a proxy voting agency, have both raised concerns about excessive pay for Mike Coupe, the chief executive of Sainsbury’s, and a share award for Justin King, his predecessor. The lobby group is concerned that the individual award limit of 400 per cent is ‘highly excessive’. M&S is under fire for offering Marc Bolland, its chief executive, the chance to earn up to three times his salary in long-term share awards based on performance targets that were not linked to financial targets. All the big UK retailers have also been under fire from low-pay campaigners – who will continue their protests this week. (The Guardian; This is Money)
Corporate Reputation
Hack reveals surveillance company sold spy tools to oppressive regimes
Hacking Team, a controversial Italian company which sells powerful surveillance tools to governments and law enforcement agencies, has had its systems breached by unknown hackers and 400GB of internal documents leaked. These documents show that, despite denials, the company has sold its software to regimes in Sudan, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, and “stonewalled” a UN investigation into its relationship with the embargoed Sudanese government. In the US, agencies using Hacking Team’s tools include the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Department of Defence. Hacking Team is listed by Reporters without Borders, an NGO defending freedom of expression, on its Enemies of the Internet index for the alleged sale of cybertools to repressive regimes which are known for illegally monitoring activists. (IBTimes 1, 2)
Responsible Investment
Investors worth $1.5 trillion support White House’s methane emissions reduction plan
As recent data show methane emissions rising from the US oil and gas industry, and the White House moves forward with rules to reduce this pollution, leading investors representing $1.5 trillion in assets under management have released a statement of support for a strong federal standard. “As widely diversified, long-term investors with holdings in the oil and gas industry, we share a vested interest in the industry’s long-term success,” says the statement, which was coordinated by Ceres and Trillium Assets Management. “Consistent with our fiduciary duties, we are concerned that methane emissions pose a serious threat to climate stability, accelerating the rate of warming in the near term and threatening infrastructure and economic harm that will weaken not only the companies we invest in, but the nation as a whole.” (Ceres)
Technology and Innovation
New platform hosts global collection of renewable energy patents
Policymakers and other energy sector players can now access the world’s largest collection of global renewable energy standards and patents, thanks to a new online platform launched today by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). The International Standards and Patents in Renewable Energy platform (INSPIRE), is the first and most complete solution of its kind, helping users search through, locate and analyse 400 international standards and more than 2 million patents for renewable energy technology. IRENA Director-General Adnan Z. Amin said that the platform “can foster collaboration between innovators, spur improvement through product comparison and help identify partners by matching domestic energy needs to innovative energy solutions.” (IRENA)
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