CORPORATE REPUTATION

Whistleblower accuses Facebook of misleading public and investors

A whistleblower has accused tech giant Facebook of placing profit over safety, as it emerged that she had complained to US securities regulators that it was misleading investors. The former Facebook product manager leaked internal company documents to the Wall Street Journal, suggesting that Facebook had lied to the public by exaggerating the progress it had made tackling hate, violence, and misinformation on its platform. She claims that Facebook prematurely disbanded its civic integrity team — responsible for protecting the democratic process and tackling misinformation — after the 2020 US election, which she believes contributed to the storming of Capitol Hill by supporters of Donald Trump in January. She also stated that whenever the interests of the public and Facebook’s interests clashed, the company continuously chose to optimise for its own interests. (Financial Times)*

CIRCULAR ECONOMY

Net-A-Porter launches its most extensive fashion resale offering yet

Luxury fashion platform Net-A-Porter is launching what it claims is its most extensive resale scheme to date, pledging to 'unlock recommerce'. The firm has partnered with resale technology provider Reflaunt to launch the service, which will cover bags, shoes and jewellery. Customers can register items for Reflaunt to collect from their homes for authentication, pricing recommendations, photography and listing on international online marketplace sites. Once items are sold, customers either receive a Net-A-Porter store credit voucher with 10% added to the value, or immediately receive credit. The initiative is launching for UK customers, and in 2022 may be extended to the US, Hong Kong and Germany. It forms part of its parent company, Yoox Net-A-Porter, commitment to bring re-commerce options to customers across all its online stores by 2025. (Edie)

DEFORESTATION 

Asian companies lag behind in the adoption of sustainable palm oil

Efforts by businesses to switch to purchasing sustainable palm oil are falling short of reducing the harmful environmental and social impacts of the cash crop, with Asian firms the slowest to take action, a report from WWF indicates. The ‘WWF Palm Oil Buyers Scorecard’ critiqued 227 major retailers, manufacturers and hospitality companies on the progress they have made in the past year on palm oil sustainability metrics. Asian respondent companies have the lowest uptake of RSPO-certified palm oil (CSPO), at only 22% of their reported palm oil volumes. Singapore-headquartered food and beverage company Fraser and Neave and Denis Asia Pacific, the maker of Ayam Brand, scored the highest, but were classed as “middle of the pack” compared to the report’s top performers —Coop Switzerland, Ferrero, IKEA, John Lewis and Mars. (Eco-Business)

STRATEGY

GM speeds up renewable energy goal & sets carbon tracking initiative

Automotive giant General Motors (GM) has announced that it plans to achieve its goal to source 100% renewable energy to power its US sites by 2025, five years ahead of its prior 2030 target, and significantly ahead of its initial 2050 goal. The company outlined the key pillars of its renewable energy strategy, which includes sourcing renewables, initiatives to increase energy efficiency, advocating for policies supporting carbon-free and resilient power systems, and addressing intermittency by creating technology to store renewable energy over the medium- and long-term. The company also announced it will deploy a carbon-emissions tracking system at its facilities, enabling it to optimize its use of clean energy. For its carbon tracking initiative, GM is partnering with regional transmission organization PJM Interconnection and technology-enabled energy company TimberRock. (ESGToday)

HUMAN RIGHTS

California to require garment industry to pay hourly wages to workers

California’s Governor has signed a bill that will ensure thousands of workers in the garment industry are paid an hourly minimum wage instead of piece-rate compensation. The ‘Garment Worker Protection Act’ aims to pave the way for garment workers in the US state to get a minimum wage of $14 per hour for employers with 26 or more employees. The measures aim to protect marginalised low-wage workers, many of whom are women of colour and immigrants. In California, about 85% of garment workers earn below the minimum wage and are instead paid a piece rate of between 2-6 cents per piece. Most garment workers work 60–70-hour weeks with take-home pay of about $300. Many small factories often operate without proper registration or enforcement, contributing to exploitation in the industry. (Thomson Reuters Foundation)

*Subscription required

CURRENT OPENINGS

Would you love to work in sustainability, supporting big brands in their responsible business journeys? Click here to see info on our current openings. We can't wait to hear from you