Vodafone, Google and Toyota top list of companies “changing the world”
Fortune Magazine and social consulting firm FSG have produced a new ranking of global companies who are “doing well by doing good”. Fortune’s first “Change the World” list identifies 51 companies that have “made significant progress in addressing major social problems as a part of their core business strategy”. Vodafone and its Kenyan subsidiary Safaricom top the list for their “revolutionary” mobile-money platform M-Pesa, used by 17 million people, while Google comes second for providing a “springboard for academic collaboration” through services such as Google Scholar and Google Earth. Toyota’s hybrid and hydrogen cars put it in third place, Walmart and Enel place fourth and fifth for commitments on renewable energy, and GSK’s development of the world’s first malaria vaccine puts it in sixth. Fortune and FSG asked dozens of global experts for their recommendations, and vetted the candidates based on the degree of innovation and impact, and the significance of the shared value effort to the overall business. (Fortune; 3BL)
Environment
California drought is made worse by global warming, scientists say
Global warming caused by human emissions has most likely intensified the drought in California by 15 to 20 percent, states a new study released on Thursday, warning that future dry spells in the state are almost certain to be worse than this one as the world continues to heat up. Even though the findings suggest that the drought is primarily a consequence of natural climate variability, the scientists added that the likelihood of any drought becoming acute is rising because of climate change. The odds of California suffering droughts at the far end of the scale, like the current one that began in 2012, have roughly doubled over the past century, they said. Scientists not involved in the work described it as more thorough than any previous effort because it analysed nearly every possible combination of data on temperature, rainfall, wind speed and other factors that could be influencing the severity of the drought. (NY Times)
Corporate Reputation
Global Witness: The media is dependent on NGOs to investigate corruption
Media outlets are becoming more reliant on NGOs to uncover corporate wrongdoing, says Global Witness’s new executive director, Gillian Caldwell. London-based NGO Global Witness has spent the past 20 years delving into natural resource corruption issues to expose some of the worst wrongdoing, starting in the mid-90s with its campaign against the illegal timber trade between Cambodia and Thailand, used to fund the genocidal Khmer Rouge rebels. At a time when the media industry faces its own struggles, Caldwell says the work of NGOs work is arguably more important than ever in holding companies to account. Just this year Global Witness alerted Coca-Cola that one of its directors in Burma had links to a jade business, a sector notorious for corruption, military involvement and environmental and human rights abuses . (Guardian)
Coca-Cola to disclose its spending on research into soft drinks and health
Coca-Cola says it will begin disclosing its investments in scientific research and advocacy about the impact sugary soft drinks have on public health. Muhtar Kent, chief executive of Coca-Cola, also said the company would assemble a panel of independent advisers on its financial support for academic research. “As we continue to learn, it is my hope that our critics will receive us with an open mind,” Mr. Kent wrote. A front page article published this month revealed the between Coke and the Global Energy Balance Network, a nonprofit advocacy group that contends people worry too much about what they eat and not enough about how much they exercise. Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University, said it often was hard to determine the origins of research funding, so the decision by Coke to increase disclosure of its investment would be helpful. (NY Times)
Policy
EU calls for urgency in ‘seriously lagging’ Paris climate talks
With 100 days to go until the Paris climate summit, the EU’s climate chief has warned that progress in thrashing out a draft negotiating text is proceeding too slowly and urgently needs to be stepped up. Miguel Arias Cañete, the EU’s climate commissioner, said that the 85-page draft agreement currently being pored over by diplomats still contains far too many bracketed options that need to be rapidly narrowed. An analysis by the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change earlier this week found that pledges made so far would have to almost double by 2030 to have a more than 50 percent chance of limiting global warming to 2⁰C. Climate pledges have now been received from 56 countries, which collectively represent some 61 percent of global emissions. (Guardian)
Image Source: Soft, Drink by dmcclay / CC0 Public Domain
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