Bangladesh fashion factory safety work severely behind schedule
H&M is highlighted in a report by workers’ right groups into the state of safety measures at clothing factories in Bangladesh, more than two years after the Rana Plaza factory collapse spurred an international effort to improve safety. More than half of H&M’s top suppliers based in Bangladesh have yet to install basic fire-safety measures, according to the report by the Clean Clothes Campaign and others. More than a third of the company’s top-rated suppliers have not removed sliding doors and collapsible gates, while 13 percent have failed to take the basic step of removing locks from doors. Following Rana Plaza, most European retailers signed up to the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh. But H&M is one of only a handful of brands to reveal a list of all its suppliers internationally, and campaigners have used that to check up on its progress. Anna McMullen, from Labour Behind the Label, praised H&M for its transparency. But she said: “This huge collaboration is not delivering on what it promised to do. Key brands need to lead the way and the biggest bear most responsibility.” (Guardian)
Thousands of Syrian refugees working illegally in the Turkish garment industry
Thousands of Syrian refugees are working illegally in the Turkish garment industry, where child labour, low wages and poor conditions are common, according to a Guardian report. Turkey’s giant textile industry is the third largest supplier of clothing to Europe but remains largely unregulated. An estimated 60 percent of the total workforce is unregistered, meaning they work informally, usually without a contract or any employment benefits. Syrian refugees make up a particularly vulnerable section of the workforce – there are almost 2.3 million registered Syrian refugees living in the country, according to the UN, with only about 9% in refugee camps. The informality of the Turkish textile industry means little is known about how much illegal refugee labour is in the supply chain of European brands. The sector is dominated by medium-sized factories and smaller workshops, often with poor working conditions and no auditing, to which larger factories outsource production. (Guardian)
Strategy
Report: Five sustainable market opportunities in 2016
A week of risks has come to a close with the finalisation of the World Economic Forum in Davos. 2015 was a ground-breaking year, ushering in a new development paradigm, with the Sustainable Development Goals launched by the United Nations and the Paris climate agreement confronting the most severe dangers of climate change. The report, developed by the partners behind the Global Opportunity Network focuses on five global risks: resistance to life-saving medicine, the worsening global food crisis, accelerating transport emissions, loss of ocean biodiversity and a generation lost to unemployment. Based on these risks, the report maps 15 corresponding business opportunities via a thorough review process with experts and a global survey engaging more than 5,500 sustainability leaders. These opportunities include: regenerative ocean economy, new business model for antibiotics, crowd transport and low transport cities, the digital labour market, smart farming and food waste reduction, among others. (EcoWatch)
Waste
Report: UK families lose £60 to food waste per month
British families squander twice as much money on food waste each month as they think they do, according to YouGov research commissioned by Sainsbury’s. The supermarket found that 81 percent of families believe they throw away less than £30 of food a month, when they waste nearly double that. A report from the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, published this week, shows that the UK is throwing away 15 million tonnes of food a year. Only 2 percent of surplus food waste is currently redistributed to charities. Celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has urged MPs to support a bill designed to reduce supermarket food waste. “They need to adhere to the principle that food that is fit to be eaten by people, should be eaten by people,” he said. Sainsbury’s this week started a partnership with Swadlincote in Derbyshire, where it is spending £1 million to cut food waste by trialling new technology. The ‘Waste Less, Save More’ project aims to reduce food waste by 50 percent and save the average household £350 a year. (Guardian 1, 2)
Energy
ExxonMobil targets biofuels with new partnership
ExxonMobil and biofuels developer Renewable Energy Group (REG) have reached an agreement this week that will see the Texas-based oil giant boost efforts to produce biodiesel from sources such as agricultural waste. Using a fermentation process patented by REG and similar to that used for the manufacture of ethanol, the two firms will study the production of biodiesel by fermenting renewable cellulosic sugars and how it can be used to produce biodiesel. “The science is extremely complex, but we hope to identify new affordable and reliable supplies of energy for the world that do not have a major impact on food supplies,” said Vijay Swarup, vice president of research and development at ExxonMobil’s research branch. Eric Bowen, vice president REG, said the research will help lead to the cheaper production of lower carbon specialty chemicals and fuels. (GreenBiz)
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