HEALTH

Health groups call for global fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty

The World Health Organization (WHO) and almost 200 other health associations have made an unprecedented call for a global fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty. The call to action urges governments to agree a legally binding plan to phase out fossil fuel exploration and production, similar to the framework convention on tobacco, which was negotiated under the WHO’s auspices in 2003. The WHO argues that as well as a threat to future generations, fossil fuels are a hazard in the present, claiming more than 8 million lives prematurely in 2018, 18% of that year’s total deaths. The campaign to end fossil fuel exploration and production has won support from the Dalai Lama and 100 other Nobel laureates, the Vatican, several cities and island states, and more than 1,000 health professionals and almost 3,000 scientists and academics. (The Guardian)

COLLABORATION

“Align NDCs with 1.5°C”, $39trn investor coalition tells governments

A $39 trillion coalition of institutional investors has called on world governments to scale up the provision of climate finance for climate mitigation, adaptation and resilience. A total of 532 investors signed the Global Investor Statement to Governments on the Climate Crisis, which also calls on policymakers to align their 2030 nationally determined contribution (NDC) targets for climate mitigation with 1.5°C, support the implementation of the ‘Global Methane Pledge’, and strengthen climate disclosures through mandating TCFD reporting. The statement was coordinated by the Investor Agenda, a collaboration between seven investor groups including PRI and UNEP FI. The signatory list includes large asset managers and owners such as LGIM, UBS Asset Management, CalPERS, and both New York State and City pension funds. (Responsible Investor)*

EMPLOYEES

Sainsbury’s injects £20 million into boosting shop workers’ wages

UK supermarket Sainsbury’s has said it will boost pay for its shop workers in London to £11.20 per hour, as well as offering employees free food amid the cost-of-living crisis. The supermarket said it was investing £25 million into supporting its hourly paid workers, with some £20 million being injected into employees’ pay packets. Employees at Sainsbury’s and its acquired catalogue retail company Argos will see their pay boosted from £10.00 to £10.25 and from £11.05 to £11.30 per hour in London. It is the first time the supermarket is pushing up pay in autumn outside of an annual pay review, representing a yearly increase of 7.9% for hourly paid staff. Pay increases will be introduced in October 2022, impacting some 127,000 workers who work at shops, fulfilment centres and customer service contact centres. (City AM)

DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

Wells Fargo launches third-party racial equity audit in diversity push

Financial services company Wells Fargo said it would commission a third-party racial equity audit that will include inputs from both internal and external stakeholders, as the bank pushes to boost its diversity credentials. The results of the audit are expected to be published by the end of 2023. The move comes after Wells froze its hiring policy in June that requires recruiters to interview a diverse pool of candidates, after the New York Times reported that such interviews were often fake and conducted even though the job had already been promised to someone else. In August, Wells reinstated its diverse hiring policy, saying it had completed a review of diverse candidate hiring approaches and improved implementation of guidelines. (Reuters)

CAMPAIGNS & ACTIVISM

Indigenous leaders seek global pact to preserve 80% of Amazon

Indigenous representatives from all nine Amazon Basin countries have gathered in Peru’s capital Lima to encourage world leaders to adopt a global pact to protect 80% of the Amazon Forest by 2025. The call comes as the world’s largest tropical rainforest edges closer to a tipping point beyond which it might never recover, according to scientists’ warnings. The plan for an ‘80x25’ pact will be presented to governments at November’s UN COP27 climate conference in Egypt and the UN biodiversity summit in Montreal. Deforestation in the Amazon surged to unprecedented levels in 2021, alongside violent attacks on the local communities crucial to protecting them. Research has found that Brazil and Bolivia are home to 90% of total deforestation and degradation in the Amazon region. (Eco-Business)

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