UK companies look for loopholes around National Living Wage
Britain’s employers are shifting to more flexible work contracts while cutting overtime, bonuses and other staff benefits to mitigate the cost of the country’s new National Living Wage, which comes into effect on Friday. The changes suggest some workers will not reap the full benefit of the new £7.20 an hour minimum wage for people aged 25 and over. The vast majority of large employers are looking to restructure their compensation packages, according to James Hick, managing director of ManpowerGroup Solutions in the UK. Retailers B&Q, Tesco and Wilko have all cut some premium payments or other benefits in recent months, while raising base pay. The Low Pay Commission, which advises the government, has also warned that some employers could label employees “apprentices” or “self-employed” to avoid having to pay the living wage. But experts predict that those employers who are most affected will have to consider more drastic changes to their business models as the wage floor rises to £9 an hour by 2020. (Financial Times*)
Corporate Reputation
20 US Attorney-generals join forces to tackle corporate ‘climate fraud’
A coalition of state Attorney-generals (AGs) has announced they will work together to investigate corporate ‘climate fraud’, joining investigations launched last year by New York and Californian AGs into whether oil giant Exxon Mobil misled investors about climate change risks. The announcement follows substantial investigations by the LA Times and Inside Climate News, which suggest the company’s scientific experts knew about the environmental damage of burning fossil fuels from the 1980s. Greenpeace US executive director Annie Leonard described the announcements as a “clear demonstration of climate leadership”. The announcement further highlights the legal risk carbon intensive companies can face if they fail to adequately disclose climate and other material environmental risks to investors. It comes during a period that has seen a number of high-profile listed firms face calls from shareholders for them to improve climate disclosure processes and strengthen their emission reduction strategies in the wake of the Paris Agreement. (BusinessGreen)
Apple declares victory in battle with FBI, but the war continues
Apple has declared victory in its battle against the FBI, after the government announced it had found a way into the San Bernardino killer’s iPhone that did not require the manufacturer’s help. “From the beginning, we objected to the FBI’s demand that Apple build a backdoor into the iPhone because we believed it was wrong and would set a dangerous precedent… This case should never have been brought,” said the company in a statement. The FBI has refused to disclose how it extracted the desired information, but has undercut its previous claims that there was no way to decrypt the iPhone without cooperation from Apple. The company acknowledges that the FBI’s withdrawal is likely to be only the end of a battle, not victory in the longer war: “This case raised issues which deserve a national conversation about our civil liberties, and our collective security and privacy. Apple remains committed to participating in that discussion”. (Guardian)
Energy
$1tn could be wasted on ‘unneeded’ new coal plants, report warns
Almost $1 trillion of investment in new coal-fired power stations could be wasted if growing concerns about climate change and air pollution leave the plants unused, according to a new report from the Sierra Club, Greenpeace and CoalSwarm. About 1,500 new coal plants are in construction or planning stages around the world but electricity generation from the fossil fuel has fallen in recent years. In China, existing plants are being used just 50 per cent of the time, and new permits and construction have been halted in half of the nation’s provinces. A second report from the UK’s Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) has found that the Asian nations with the world’s biggest coal power project pipelines – China, India, Indonesia and Vietnam – are likely to build less than half of their planned coal plants due to overcapacity, concerns over air pollution and difficulties in financing. Coal is also under pressure from the plummeting costs of renewable energy. Last year, investment bank Goldman Sachs declared the fuel had reached “retirement age”. (Guardian)
Harvesting sunshine more lucrative than crops at some US farms
Farmland has become fertile territory for clean energy, as solar and wind developers in North America, Europe and Asia seek more flat, treeless expanses on which to build. The rise in solar comes as the value of crops in the south-eastern USA has dropped. Meanwhile, solar companies are offering annual rents of $300 to $700 an acre, according to the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association. That’s more than triple the average rent for crop and pasture land in the state, which ranges from $27 to $102 an acre. “Solar developers want to find the cheapest land near substations where they can connect,” said Brion Fitzpatrick, director of project development for Inman Solar of Atlanta. “That’s often farmland”. Government incentives have played a key role in the spread of solar farms. Developers have installed solar panels on about 7,000 acres of North Carolina pasture and cropland since 2013, while Georgia has added 200 megawatts on fields. (Bloomberg)
Image source: AppleStore Shinsaibashi by Brandon Daniel / CC BY-SA 2.0
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