New initiative aims to advance responsible sourcing in technology supply chains
The Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition and the Conflict-Free Sourcing Initiative have announced the launch of the Responsible Raw Materials Initiative, to address the most significant impacts related to the extraction and processing of raw materials used in global technology supply chains. The initiative aims to drive meaningful social and environmental improvements for a variety of metals and minerals, beyond the “3TGs” (tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold) covered by the US Dodd-Frank Act rule on conflict minerals. The members, including Acer, Cisco, HP, Sony, Microsoft and Samsung, aim to engage with stakeholders including governments, civil society, industry and others to develop responsible sourcing strategies. (CSR Wire)
Strategy
Mars calls for bold climate action, accelerates renewables commitments
Global food company Mars has urged the business community and global leaders at climate talks in Marrakech to take bold action to implement the Paris Agreement. The company has also announced plans for a wind farm in Mexico, the latest in a series of major renewable electricity projects. Since last year, Mars has unveiled major wind projects in Texas and Scotland, which now generate the equivalent of 100 percent of the company’s US and UK electricity consumption. Mars has an ambition to eliminate all fossil fuel use from its operations by 2040, and last year signed up to the American Business Act on Climate, led by the White House. (PR Newswire)
Governance
UK backtracks on putting workers on company boards
The UK Prime Minister has ruled out forcing companies to appoint workers to boards or create continental-style dual boards. Theresa May said that the Government would publish a Green Paper within weeks that will set out reforms to shareholder accountability, executive pay and employee representation. She told business leaders: “I can categorically tell you that this is not about mandating works councils, or the direct appointment of workers or trade union representatives on boards.” The update will please many businesses, who have lobbied against direct employee representation, citing fears over confidentiality and diluting boards’ primary responsibility to act in the interests of shareholders. (Telegraph)
Corporate Reputation
40,000 Nigerians take Shell to UK court over oil spills
UK based oil firm, Shell, is facing fresh environmental claims in a London high court from two Nigerian communities. The communities say they have been subjected to repeated oil spills from Shell’s pipelines over a number of years, which have still not been cleaned up. Lawyers for Leigh Day, which last year won £55 million in damages for a separate community, argue that Shell controls and directs its Nigerian subsidiary and should ensure that its operations do not systematically pollute the environment. Shell argues that the cases should be heard in Nigeria and not in the English Courts. (Nigeria Today)
Credit scores ‘pushing millennials towards payday loans’
Millennials are typically paying a higher rate on loans and credit cards than those born earlier, because poor credit scores lock them out of the best deals, according to analysis undertaken in the UK by the charity Toynbee Hall and the employee loan firm SalaryFinance. The study found that younger borrowers were twice as likely to have taken out high-cost payday loans than those from the baby-boomer generation, and on average had used them twice as often. It also found that millennials were much more likely to have poor credit records than older people, partly because the use of payday loans drags scores down. This “catch-22” means young people find it difficult to access mainstream finance that helps to build their credit score. (Guardian)
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