Corporate Citizenship’s Linnea Texin is an exclusive keynote speaker at the upcoming ACCP Measurement Summit in Washington D.C. She’ll be sharing the latest trends in impact measurement, addressing the challenges and unlocking the wealth of opportunities that measurement brings. Register here
Corporate Reputation
Far-right accounts lose Twitter verified tick
Twitter has stripped several far-right accounts of their “verified” badge, after changing its policy. Among them are Jason Kessler who helped organise a far-right march in Charlottesville and English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson. Twitter said the badge was being interpreted as an “endorsement or an indicator of importance” and said it would change the scheme. The blue badge was first introduced to indicate the authenticity of prominent profiles on the social network. Last week, the social network was criticised for giving Mr Kessler a verified badge. The new guidelines say verified status can be lost if a person breaks Twitter’s rules or “promotes hate” on the basis of “race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or disease”. It said behaviour both on and off Twitter would be taken into account. Mr Kessler suggested Twitter had changed its rules to “censor” his views, while Mr Robinson said Twitter now classed the truth as “hate speech”. (BBC)
Banks increased credit card limits of six million customers without their consent
Fears of a credit card debt bubble were mounting last night as figures showed banks are increasing the borrowing limit of six million customers a year without their consent. Next month City watchdogs will publish new voluntary guidelines asking banks to stop the practice, but experts warned the action may not be enough to avert a debt crisis. UK’s Citizens Advice is calling on MPs to stop the practice by forcing credit card providers to stop increasing people’s credit limits. A Daily Telegraph analysis of 12 of the UK’s biggest credit card providers’ terms and conditions found that 11 had clauses which allowed them to raise customers’ credit limits without their consent. The practice is pushing millions of people further into debt at a time when an increasing number are struggling to manage their repayments, the charity said. (Telegraph)*
COP23
‘Political watershed’ as 19 countries pledge to phase out coal
A new alliance of 19 nations committed to quickly phasing out coal has been launched at the UN climate summit in Bonn, Germany. It was greeted as a “political watershed”, signalling the end of the dirtiest fossil fuel that currently provides 40% of global electricity. New pledges were made on Thursday by Mexico, New Zealand, Denmark and Angola for the Powering Past Coal Alliance, which is led by the UK and Canada. The UK was the first nation to commit to ending coal use – by 2025 – but the electricity generated by coal has already fallen from 40% to 2% since 2012. The current alliance does not include any Asian countries where much of the world’s coal is used. Australia, where coal generates about 75% of power, has refused to join. Australia’s environment minister Josh Frydenberg, said coal was expected to remain the bedrock of Asia’s power supply, providing about a third of electricity in 2040. (Guardian)
Inclusive Business
Airbnb acquires Accomable to offer home rentals for disabled travelers
Airbnb said it acquired London startup Accomable to expand home-renting opportunities for people with disabilities, the latest expansion as Airbnb grows its global travel business. The deal includes adding to the Airbnb website Accomable’s roughly 1,100 house and apartment listings that can accommodate guests with physical disabilities, the companies said. The Accomable website, which is similar to Airbnb but only features properties accessible to people with disabilities, will be shut down in the coming months. Airbnb said it hired Accomable’s founders and most of its seven-person staff to build out Airbnb’s wheelchair-accessible housing inventory and provide more complete and accurate information to disabled travelers, who often rely on a hotel emailing pictures of a room to determine whether it is accessible. Airbnb said it will add features so home owners can detail in their listings whether their homes have stairs or an elevator, doorways and bathrooms wide enough to fit a wheelchair and showers with handlebars or a chair. (Reuters)
Technology
Elon Musk unveils Tesla electric truck – and a surprise new sports car
Elon Musk unveiled Tesla’s first electric semi-truck at an event in Los Angeles that also included the surprise reveal of a new Tesla sports car. The new Roadster emerged from the back of one of the trucks at the end of a presentation that focused largely on the economic and performance needs of truck drivers. The CEO promised a laundry list of features that he claimed would ensure the overall cost of ownership will be 20% less per mile compared with diesel trucks. Safety features include enhanced autopilot, lane-keeping technology, and a design that makes jack-knifing “impossible”. The company plans to build a network of “Megachargers” (as opposed to the “Superchargers” used by other Tesla vehicles) that can produce a 400-mile charge in 30 minutes. Musk claimed it would be “economic suicide” to continue using diesel trucks, saying the Tesla version, if driven in convoy, would be cheaper than shipping goods by rail. (Guardian)
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