Moves from Gunns, BP, Bangladesh Ship Breakers Association, and all the latest from other brands in corporate responsibility and sustainability this month
Power of Scotland
Scotland took another step towards becoming one of the world’s main renewable energy centres in September with the announcement by Spanish power generator Iberdrola that it would spend up to £3bn on Scottish projects over the next two years. The money will go to onshore and offshore windfarms, carbon capture and storage projects, and upgrades to the electricity grid. Iberdrola owns Scottish Power, which it bought three years ago.
Great Gunns
Australian forestry giant Gunns has said it will stop logging in native forest areas in Tasmania as part of a move to source wood from plantations only. The decision earned plaudits from environmental groups in Australia, which called it a “breakthrough” that would allow forests to be managed for conservation rather than timber output. Gunns said its aim was to bring an end to “age-old conflicts” over forest protection, and to move in the direction of “a real, sustainable forest industry”. Tasmania has 50% forest cover and accounts for 2% of Australia’s remaining native forest.
FTSE4Good-bye, BP
BP’s clumsy handling of the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, the spill’s environmental and social impact, and the company’s track record of other incidents has proved too much for the policy committee overseeing the FTSE4Good ethical investment index. BP has been unceremoniously delisted, echoing its expulsion from the DJ Sustainability Index earlier in the year. David Harris, FTSE’s director of responsible investment, says the oil giant “did not have an exemplary record and its response to the incident was not exemplary either”.
Sudden drop
The economic downturn and sharply reduced industrial production caused European Union greenhouse gas emissions to drop significantly in 2009, the European Environment Agency has reported. Preliminary figures show that, compared with 2008, emissions were down 6.9%, while compared with 1990, the decline was 17.3%. This puts the EU within touching distance of its target of a 20% reduction relative to 1990 to be achieved by 2020. However, when and if the economy recovers, emissions are likely to rise again.
Down under
Meanwhile, in Australia, the newly formed government of Labour prime minister Julia Gillard has said it will try afresh to put a price on carbon. Unsuccessful attempts to introduce a cap-and-trade scheme were among the reasons blamed for the fall of Gillard’s predecessor, Kevin Rudd.
After a close election, Gillard has been forced into alliance with a small number of independent and green lawmakers, who have secured the concession that a climate change committee should be formed to study the options. Gillard’s government has formally acknowledged that “reducing carbon pollution by 2020 will require a carbon price”. However, the opposition Liberal Party is likely to continue its strong resistance to any form of emissions trading.
Broken eggs
A salmonella outbreak in the United States has lifted the lid on what critics are calling the broken modern food system. US authorities have recalled half a billion eggs that were distributed under numerous brand names, having come from two giant factory farms in Iowa. The eggs were blamed for sickness in 1,500 people – the US’s worst salmonella outbreak since the 1970s.
Investigators found multiple health and safety shortcomings at the farms, which are owned by Austin DeCoster, an industrial agriculture magnate who is infamous for a string of animal welfare and workers’ rights abuses. In the mid-1990s, he was fined $3.6m over working conditions for a largely immigrant workforce, followed by various other prosecutions and lawsuits. In 2000, the state of Iowa officially listed him as a “habitual violator” of environmental laws. DeCoster’s comeuppance may now be at hand, with the US Congress investigating the contamination scare.
Empty vessels
A battle in Bangladesh over the country’s shipbreaking yards looks likely to resume. The country’s supreme court has said that beaches and coastal areas cannot be used for the dismantling of old vessels, and the government must designate areas in which breaking can take place. The ruling follows another, in late August, which attempts to impose environmental certification rules on shipyards, restating an earlier judgment that was resisted by shipbreakers and not enforced.
The Bangladesh Ship Breakers Association says it will appeal against rulings that are likely to result in the wholesale loss of jobs. About 30% of the world’s derelict vessels go to Bangladesh for breaking, generally in the absence of environmental or worker-safety standards.
Great wall of China
Seeking compensation for pollution incidents in Chinese courts – not easy at the best of times – has become even harder. China’s Supreme People’s Court has ruled that only state authorities can file cases. The judgment effectively prevents community organisations or individuals from going to court over environmental matters. In practice, however, little will change, as few cases reach court anyway. Plaintiffs are either ignored, or reach out-of-court settlements designed to limit any bad publicity. Courts, especially local courts, are also ill-equipped to deal with environmental cases. The official explanation for the limitation on court access is that it will make the process of hearing cases more efficient, and will create clear responsibility for state environmental agencies to pursue compensation from polluters.
Tracking back
The adoption by the US of rules designed to limit trade in “conflict minerals” has led to calls for the European Union to follow suit. While passing financial reform laws, US legislators tacked on an obligation for companies to declare their use of substances such as coltan and tungsten, sourced from the mineral-rich Democratic Republic of Congo and surrounding countries. The law was passed in response to concern that, like diamonds, the minerals are used to finance warlords in whose name atrocities are perpetrated. The minerals are in demand for electronic goods including mobile phones. The law also requires the US administration to develop a conflict mineral strategy.
Missed goal
Most poorer countries are unlikely to meet the first United Nations Millennium Development Goal of halving hunger by 2015 relative to 1990. Difficulties are compounded by biofuels policies in the developed world, says the NGO ActionAid. If current rates of progress continue, India will only meet the target in 2081, while many in Kenya will have to wait until 2124 for a decent and reliable food supply. Other countries, such as Pakistan, Tanzania and Zambia are going backwards when it comes to combating hunger. Food needs are behind a surge in investor interest in agricultural land, especially in the developing world, but this is also being driven by demand for biofuels, which “could push up the price of staple food by as much as 15% by 2020, driving millions more into hunger”, according to ActionAid.