Newsweek has released its 2016 Green Company rankings, which assess the top 500 companies by market capitalisation, both globally and in the US, for corporate sustainability and environmental impact. The ranking uses eight specific metrics, based on publicly-available information, including GHG and water intensity, and “green revenues”. The highest ranked company in the world is Irish pharmaceutical giant Shire, which received a score of 87.7 percent out of a possible 100. In the US, however, Hasbro, the toy company, was ranked first with a slightly higher score of 88.1 percent. Hasbro did not make the global list because it is not big enough. British-based Reckitt Benckiser Group and BT Group came in second and third in the global ranking. Other companies ranked in the global top ten are Nike, Unilever and Schneider Electric. (Triple Pundit; Newsweek)
Global standard launched to tackle swelling food waste issues
The Food Loss and Waste (FLW) standard has been officially launched at the Global Green Growth Forum in Denmark by partners including the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, WRAP, the World Resources Institute and the Consumer Goods Forum. Originally established in 2013, the standard looks to encourage consistency and transparency in quantifying and reporting food waste issues to reap economic benefits, enhance food security, improve natural resource efficiency and reduce environmental impacts. “This standard is a major breakthrough for companies and governments looking to reduce food loss and waste,” said Andrew Steer, WRI’s president. “For the first time, armed with this standard, countries and companies will be able to quantify how much food is lost and wasted, where it occurs, and report on it in a highly credible and consistent manner.” he added. (edie)
Employees
Sports Direct’s Mike Ashley admits paying staff less than minimum wage
Sports Direct’s founder, Mike Ashley, has admitted the company effectively paid staff less than the UK minimum wage and is in talks about compensating warehouse employees. He told MPs on the business, innovation and skills select committee that the company had “probably” outgrown him after hearing a string of allegations about how staff had been treated. But Ashley defended the group’s “hard-working culture”, adding: “I can do a better job for Sports Direct employees than [trade union] Unite.” Luke Primarolo, regional officer at Unite, said there was a culture of fear at Sports Direct’s warehouse in Shirebrook, Derbyshire. “People are scared because they are working under a system when they know they could lose their employment at any moment.” Unite officers said there had been 110 ambulance callouts to the warehouse, including one worker who gave birth in the toilets. (Guardian)
Supply Chain
Malaysian palm oil giant IOI drops lawsuit against green group
One of the world’s largest producers of palm oil has dropped a lawsuit against the sustainability body that revoked its accreditation. IOI Group was suspended from the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) scheme in April in the face of allegations it was not doing enough to prevent deforestation in Indonesia. Major buyers, including Unilever, Mars, Kelloggs and Nestlé, immediately moved to drop IOI as a supplier. The company subsequently sued the RSPO, claiming it had been “unfairly affected” by the decision. On Monday, IOI announced it would be withdrawing the lawsuit. Dato’ Lee Yeow Chor, the group’s CEO, said IOI had engaged with stakeholders ad agreed to an “action plan” that would bring it into line with the RSPO’s highest level of accreditation – the Next certification system – by the end of 2016. (Guardian)
Corporate Reputation
Report: World’s wealthiest people got 5.2 percent wealthier in 2015
Rising numbers of millionaires in the fast-growing economies of China and India helped to push global private wealth to $168 trillion in 2015 according to the BCG annual wealth report. The 5.2 percent increase was driven largely by the Asia-Pacific area, which is expected to overtake Western Europe as the second wealthiest region behind North America next year. The TUC, the umbrella body for British trade unions, said there was still a huge gap between the wealthy and the poorer sections of society. “Unless companies here and across the globe reign in executive salaries, pay their fair share of taxes and invest in decent jobs the yawning gap between the haves and have-nots will continue to grow.” said Paul Nowak, the TUC’s deputy general secretary. (Guardian)
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