Top Stories
Nestle bows to Greenpeace pressure with
beefed up palm oil policy.—reliability high.
"After months of criticism from campaign group Greenpeace over its
alleged use of palm oil grown in illegal plantations on previously
forested land, Nestle yesterday announced a major overhaul of the food
giant's supply chain policy designed to help bring an end to rainforest
destruction. The company's executive vice president José Lopez
announced that the company would partner with independent NGO The
Forest Trust to develop a more responsible supply chain policy that
takes better account of environmental and social issues." See BusinessGreen
story. [Seems
to indicate they are abandoning the ineffective industry-sponsored
Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil.]
No Silver Lining: An Investigation into
Bisphenol A in Canned Foods.—reliability high.
"Eating common canned foods is exposing consumers to levels of
bisphenol A (BPA) equal to levels shown to cause health problems in
laboratory animals, according to a new study released today by The
National Work Group for Safe Markets, a coalition of public health and
environmental health groups." Story at GreenBiz.
PDF of report here.
[Check your supply
chain. Of course unless you eat nothing but these particular
canned foods you won't be exposed to the dietary levels that caused
problems in lab animals. But journalists and consumers won't notice
that.]
Companies,
Industries, Markets and Supply Chains
Bonuses can be a good thing - if they're
linked to carbon emissions.—reliability high.
"In its 2009 corporate proxy statement, Xcel explains how a range of
sustainability indicators fit into annual incentive objectives for all
executives so that it can weigh greenhouse gas reductions and safety
performance alongside earnings per share when deciding how to divide up
bonuses. ... Xcel is one of a small but growing group of companies,
increasingly aware of the power that executive pay policies can exert
on environmental behaviour." See The
Guardian from BusinessGreen.
Unilever to keep buying Indonesia palm oil
despite row.—reliability high.
"Anglo-Dutch food and cosmetics giant Unilever said Wednesday it would
continue to get 65 percent of its total palm oil purchases from
Indonesia, despite concerns about deforestation by the industry.
... 'Most of the purchases under the current contract (with Sinar Mas)
have already been fulfilled and the contract is due to end in weeks,'
Unilever Indonesia corporate secretary Sancoyo Antarikso said. 'We have
not determined which company will take over the contract, but it will
be an Indonesian company.' Greenpeace Southeast Asia forests campaigner
Joko Arif said Unilever needed to ensure that "sustainability of
forests" was a priority as it seeks a new supplier of palm oil, a key
ingredient in many of the company's products." See AFP story in Yahoo.
Americans Strongly Favor Raising Fuel
Economy Standards to 50 MPG, Poll Finds.—reliability medium.
"A national survey and report released today by the Consumer
Federation of America show that, even before the oil gusher in the Gulf
of Mexico, Americans strongly supported reduced oil consumption and
tougher fuel economy standards. In a late March survey commissioned by
the CFA and undertaken by Opinion Research Corp., 87 percent of
respondents said it is 'important that the country reduce its
consumption of oil,' while 54 percent said this was 'very important,'
.... This strong support for reduced oil consumption helps explain why
nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of respondents agreed that 'the
government should increase the fuel economy standard to an average of
50 miles per gallon by 2025,' Gillis said." See edmunds.com Green
Car Advisor blog. PDF of survey results here.
PNC Bank: Helping to destroy mountains.—reliability
medium.
"PNC, a big regional bank (annual revenues: $16 billion) based in
Pittsburgh, has become the bank that environmental activists love to
hate because of its support for mountaintop removal mining. The bank
was identified as the worst of the worst in Grading the Banks: A
Mountaintop Removal Scorecard, a new ranking compiled by the Rainforest
Action Network and the Sierra Club." From Marc
Gunther blog. Access report here.
[Illustrates how
NGOs are watching you, and can make you look bad. Plan for it.]
Science and
Economics
2010 on track to be hottest ever: U.S.
climate data.—reliability high.
"This year is on track to be the hottest ever after data published by
America's climate agency this week showed record global temperatures in
April and the first four months of 2010. ... These temperatures
surpassed the previous record set in 1998, NOAA added." See Reuters.
NOAA report here.
[Crossposted from HaraBara.com courtesy of HaraBara, Inc. Copyright © 2010 HaraBara, Inc.]
