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Allowing workers to sit on company boards would mean top executives' pay was set at more reasonable levels, according to a new report from the Trades Union Congress (TUC).

The TUC has long argued that corporate governance laws in the UK are missing a trick by preventing worker representatives from sitting on remuneration committees. It also sees an important role for workers on boards as a way for companies to emerge stronger from the economic crisis.

The new TUC report Workers on Board - which looks at how the UK workforce might become more involved in the running of companies they work for - says that the UK's corporate governance rules have failed to keep pace with the new world of share ownership.

With over 50% of UK shares held by overseas investors, and with UK institutional investors increasingly reliant on short-term share trading as a route to profit, deciding what lies in the best long-term interests of a company can no longer be left to shareholders alone, says the report.

Instead the TUC suggests that involving employees in the running of companies would not only be a genuine break with the past and the UK's failed system of corporate governance, but would also harness the contribution of people who have the long-term development of the company at heart.

The report also highlights the fact that countries which have included the participation of worker representatives within their company structures are also economies with higher R&D investment, better employment rates, stronger economic success and lower rates of poverty.

The report, Workers on Board,  is available here.
 

The most comprehensive inventory of climate finance to-date shows investment is far short of the need, and falling further behind each year.

Global investment in climate change plateaued at USD $359bn in 2012 and falls far short of what’s needed, according to a new Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) study, The Global Landscape of Climate Finance 2013.

The International Energy Agency projects that an additional investment of USD $5 trillion is required by 2020 for clean energy alone, to limit warming to two degrees Celsius. However, the gap is likely to be wider with The World Bank saying a four degree Celsius warming is more likely. This suggests that efforts to scale up finance are falling further and further behind.

Public sources provided $135bn, or 38% of total finance, and played a critical role in enabling private finance through incentives, low-cost loans, risk coverage mechanisms, direct project investment, and technical support. These public measures facilitated $224bn in private investment, or 62% of total investment, from sources such as project developers ($102 bn); manufacturers and corporations ($66 bn); and households ($33 bn).

While public support for climate activities was significant, it was still dwarfed by current government support to fossil fuel energy consumption and production, estimated at $523bn each year for developing and emerging economies alone, according to a recent report from the OECD.

"Investment to combat and adapt to climate change is happening around the world, but it's short of where it needs to be and efforts to grow it have not been successful enough," said Thomas C. Heller, executive director of Climate Policy Initiative, while announcing the report at the Global Green Growth Forum. "Leveling the playing field can help unlock significant additional finance."

Climate investment was split almost evenly between developed and developing countries, with $177bn and $182bn respectively. Private investment into renewable energy projects in Europe totaled $73bn, while investment in China was $68bn, the US $27bn, Latin America $7bn, and India $5bn. Notably, Latin America also received additional $19bn in public money.

However, the report shows that 76%, or $275bn, of all spending was domestic (ie originated in the country in which it was used). Of the remaining $84bn that flowed between countries, a significant amount was private money flowing between developed countries. On the other hand, public sector money made up the vast majority of developed to developing country flows. These figures illuminate a bias by private investors toward environments that are more familiar and perceived to be less risky.

You can read the report here.

 

Picture credit: © Melonstone | Dreamstime.com

BHP Billiton is to fund an additional 90 scholarships for Indigenous students in Australia to the tune of AUD$10m (USD$10m, GBP£6m).

The Anglo Australian mining and petroleum compay has been a supporter of the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation (AIEF) for the past three years.

BHP Billiton Iron Ore President, Jimmy Wilson, said the partnership with AIEF demonstrated BHP Billiton's commitment to supporting educational and development opportunities for Indigenous people in Australia: "Not only does the scholarship recipient benefit, they also become role models to other young people in their communities, who can then follow in their footsteps. This ripple effect is very powerful and something that we're incredibly proud to be associated with.”

Andrew Penfold, AIEF's ceo, added: “One of the biggest barriers to achieving Indigenous equality in Australia is education - we know we have found a sustainable, and scalable, solution that works.”

Students who receive secondary scholarships board at a range of Perth-based private schools. The tertiary programme encourages students from across Australia to apply for degrees in mining-related disciplines such as engineering at Australian universities.

To date, under the partnership 35 Indigenous students in Western Australia have received secondary scholarships, with an additional four students receiving tertiary scholarships this year. The company says that all of the secondary scholarship recipients have gone on to pursue a university education.
 

British home secretary Theresa May has revealed plans to publish a Modern Slavery Bill as well as appoint an Anti-Slavery Commissioner.

Today’s announcement coincides with anti-slavery day, which aims to raise public understanding of modern slavery and calls to eliminate it.

The bill, which will be published this year in draft form for prelegislative scrutiny, will consolidate into a single act the offences used to prosecute slave drivers. It will also introduce Trafficking Prevention Orders to restrict the activity and movement of convicted traffickers and stop them from committing further offences and a new Anti-Slavery Commissioner to hold law enforcement and other organisations to account.

Action is being taken as numbers of identified trafficking victims across the UK continues to rise. A report published today by the Inter-Departmental Ministerial Group on Human Trafficking shows that 1186 people were identified and referred for support in 2012 - an increase of 25% in the number of referrals from 2011.

The report shows that trafficking remains primarily an organised crime associated with gangs.
 

The first thing you notice is the quiet. The only interstate in the U.S. to ban cars, M-185, has no honking horns, no exhaust, no road rage. Only the clop-clop-clopping of horse hooves, the Lake Huron waves hitting the lakeshore and the faint clicking of gears changing. Every so often, someone calls, "Coming on your left!" as they pass. Everyone smiles and pedals on.

In our recent series, The Business of Biking, we have explored how bike lanes bring revenue to stores and the health benefits and increased productivity when employees bike to work. Unknown to many, there is a town in the U.S. that banned cars in the late 1890s, later doubled down by making it law, and has excluded them to this day.

Mackinac Island, located in Lake Huron, between the lower and upper peninsulas of Michigan, is completely car-free (with the exception of a few emergency vehicles). But, it isn't for any of the reasons that listed above, or any you could guess. It's actually all about the horses.

In the 1890s, tourists attempted to bring cars (horseless carriages) to Mackinac Island, immediately alienating the residents with their noise, spooking the horses and disrupting the island's quiet, contemplative way of life. It rapidly became a safety issue, as well as a lifestyle one. The year-round residents wanted nothing to do with these new-fangled contraptions, so in 1898, the town banned them.

In 1923, one resident was determined to bring the auto back, countering that it wasn't against the law, and proceeded to zip around the island in it. Again, the residents banded together and this time made it law that no vehicles were allowed onto the island for personal use. The island, which is a designated historical monument, has a vast majority of buildings made of wood and has an extensive state park, does have a fire truck and police vehicles for safety.

Mary McGuire Slevin, Executive Director of the Mackinac Island Tourism Bureau, explains that the town, which has about 450 residents year around, has always embraced a slower way of life. The island's narrow streets are designed for horse-drawn carriages, not automobiles, and the residents saw no reason to change their infrastructure for them. When bikes came along, islanders saw a way to zip around town and welcomed them onto the island.

Bikes are just our way of life," Slevin said. "They are like a part of our bodies, we don't even think about it. When I see a tourist go out for a bike ride around the circumference of the island [about 8 miles], you can just tell the difference when they come pedaling back into town - they are more relaxed and have a big smile on their face."

Bike rentals are an extremely big business, especially during the peak tourism season in the summer, when the island population swells to more than 15,000. Slevin estimates that at any one time in the summer, more than 10,000 bikes are in use on the 3.8 square mile island, along with horse-drawn taxis and carts, horse tours and horseback riders and pedestrians. Along with the bike rentals, she estimates that around 30 percent of tourists bring their own bikes with them on the ferries. Even without cars, it can be a busy metropolis during peak season.

But not just anyone can set up shop and rent bikes. The town did a traffic study (yes, a traffic study) and from that determined how many bikes could be rented at any one time. Each business is allotted a certain number of bikes to rent and must pay a fee to the township for each rental bike.

An employee at bikemackinac.com said that during the summer, the line for bike rentals stretches down Main Street past the ferry docks and each bike rental business easily rents out all of its allotted bikes several times a day. Bikemackinac.com itself is allowed 300 bikes to rent (other equipment like Burley trailers and Wee-hoos do not require a license and as many can be rented as many times as they want) and routinely rents them all out 3-4 times a day, resulting in 1200 rentals plus equipment each day, just for one rental business.

Bikes and horses coexist fairly amicably on the island, but on the main drag it can be a mishmash with slow and steady horses carrying their passengers and cargo stoically along, while bicyclists zip in and out, sometimes narrowly missing the horses. The horse taxi drivers can be heard calling out at pedestrians and bicyclists that don't move or are too close.

Slevin explains that the island has a close relationship with the Amish, who help train their horses and construct special carts that help the residents tow awkward cargo like golf clubs or (as in Slevin's case) even a water heater, with their bikes.

"We really work with the best people we can find to help us adapt to doing everything with our bikes," Slevin said. "We haul anything we need to haul. We drink coffee and text while on our bikes. We ride right up to the front door of our workplace and park right outside."

In bike-friendly towns, some businesses place bike racks outside their doors to entice employees to ride to work, but here, Slevin explained, business owners have the opposite problem, and often businesses want their employees to park elsewhere to leave those spaces free for customers. Laughing, she said it doesn't really work. The employees continue to park in front, and for most businesses, they want the bikes there anyway - lots of bikes signifies that your business is where the action is.

Horses rule

During the tourist season there are about 600 horses on the island. When the tourist season is over, all but about 30 horses are transported by boat back to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where they spend a leisurely winter in the Rudyard/Pickford area until it is time to go back to work in the spring.

"We get the horses from the Amish, who use them to plow for 5 or 6 years. After that, they can work a few days a week during tourist season and take it easy in the winter for the rest of their lives, " Slevin says.

Snowmobiles dominate the winter

When winter hits, bicycles are all but abandoned in favor of snowmobiles. Instead of looking forward to getting a driver's license at age 16, the island kids wait to turn 12 and get a snowmobile operator's license.

"It is the best way to get around the island in the [sometimes deep] snow - it's either that or walking."

For a short time, around February, if conditions are right, an ice bridge forms, and while it remains, residents can snowmobile from the island to mainland Michigan freely, the only time of the year they can come and go outside of a ferry schedule.

The few vehicles allowed on the island include a police Jeep that is also used to check on elderly residents during the winter and give them rides to town in the snow to get their mail and groceries. And while the island embraces a slower way of life, they have an excellent cell tower system (everywhere, five bars) and utilities. Those maintenance trucks are allowed onto the island at certain times of the year for repairs.

No to electric bikes. Just no.

As electric bikes have become more popular, naturally, tourists looked to bring them to the island. It seems like a great match, but again the islanders voted them out. It was back to a safety issue, and a nod to the slower island pace.

"We didn't want people to be zipping past the horses and spooking them or causing accidents with other bikers."

That ban includes electric scooters and Segways, unless accompanied by a doctor's note, approved by the town leadership, permitted by the island police and the state of Michigan (in order to be ridden on M-185).

Crime wave: Bike theft

It probably comes as no surprise that bike theft is the biggest crime on the island. Most bikes are not secured, so Slevin says that the most common "theft" is by tourists late for their ferries who grab the nearest bike, ride it to the docks and abandon it when they jump on the boat. In reverse, rather than wait in long bike rental lines, they will "borrow" a bike to get to their hotel or resort.

"We find a lot of bikes on the docks and up by Mission Point [where there is an upscale hotel]," Slevin says.

The locals decorate their bikes to be distinctive, which on one hand, pinpoints their location anywhere on the island, and on the other, makes them quickly recognizable in case they are "borrowed." Slevin will even let you in on a little secret to getting your bike back - slip the hotel porters some cash and ask them to be on the lookout. They spend all day every day transporting luggage from the boat docks to every location on the island and see everything.

Drunk biking

The island does have a "pub culture." And why not? It's a beautiful setting, looking out over Lake Huron at the Mackinac bridge, relaxing after perhaps riding some of the 70 miles of mountain bike trails available in Mackinac Island state park or simply navigating the 8-mile round trip that is M-185. But, it's a bad idea, Slevin says.

Tourists mistakenly think that they can ride a bike after drinking, ride in around in circles and end up falling down, sometimes injuring themselves or others. The locals, of course, know to walk to the bar and then home (or catch a horse taxi). One lifelong island resident laughed uproariously as he talked about riding his horse to the bar. His horse, however, does not like the overwhelming scent of alcohol, so he would sometimes come out of the bar only to find that his ride had walked home without him.

Mitt Romney on a bike

The island is a popular destination for conferences, but many attendees get a sharp lesson in island ways soon after getting off the boat if they aren't willing to pedal. Eschewing bicycles, many are stuck waiting for horse taxis, since there are only so many on the island.

If you want to move around quickly, use a bike, if you want to see the island in a laid-back, beautiful way, take a horse tour."

As not only a former Michigan resident, but a former Governor's son, Mitt Romney grew up spending summers on Mackinac Island where there is a governor's residence. When he and his wife returned for the Republican conference a few years ago, Slevin described how they zipped around town on their bikes like locals, not only getting to events faster (Rudy Giuliani and his entourage went the horse taxi route), but avoiding the paparazzi, who didn't recognize them.

A bike culture model

The islanders initially banned the automobile due to noise and pollution to preserve their horse-drawn way of life, and as the years went on and cars boomed in popularity, especially in Michigan, the island was considered out of touch. Now, attitudes are coming full circle as gasoline continues to rise in price, and Millennials, especially, are embracing biking as a valid transportation option.

"We went from being considered backward, to forward-thinking," Slevin laughed.

Why don't more bike enthusiasts know about Mackinac Island? "I think most bicyclists are looking for cities that let them bike, not a town where biking is the lifestyle."

On the flip side, Slevin says that many former islanders now live in Portland because of its bike culture. As more people discover that bikes can be a way of life, perhaps bike infrastructure will become a priority in even more city planning. However, the horse taxis might not catch on in many places.

Image credit: Jasperdo/Flickr

Around 90% of people who live in cities in the European Union (EU) are exposed to air pollutants at levels deemed harmful to health by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The result comes from the latest assessment of air quality in Europe, 'Air quality in Europe - 2013 report', just published by the European Environment Agency (EEA).

Despite falling emission levels and reductions of some air pollutant concentrations in recent decades, the report highlights the fact that Europe's air pollution problem is far from solved. Two specific pollutants, particulate matter and ground-level ozone, continue to be a source of breathing problems, cardiovascular disease and shortened lives.

Hans Bruyninckx, EEA Executive Director, commented: "Air pollution is causing damage to human health and ecosystems. Large parts of the population do not live in a healthy environment, according to current standards. To get on to a sustainable path, Europe will have to be ambitious and go beyond current legislation."

Between 2009 and 2011, up to 96% of city dwellers were exposed to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations above WHO guidelines and up to 98% were exposed to ozone (O3) levels above WHO guidelines.

Some rural areas also have significant levels of air pollution, the report notes.

Picture credit: © Joloei | Dreamstime.com
 

A new website offers consumers a new resource to make ethical and spiritual decisions about the use of money.

The ‘your faith your finance’ website contains facts, links and case studies covering issues ranging from banking and shopping to biblical parables about money.

The site is being launched at an Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility (ECCR) debate on church investment. It has been developed jointly by ECCR and Quaker Peace & Social Witness (QPSW). They say they aim to meet the growing demand from faith groups for help with the complex ethical and practical questions around the use of money.

Debate on ethical finance and its relationship to faith has become particularly intense in recent months, following the Archbishop of Canterbury’s criticisms of Wonga, the Pope's critique of global economic systems based on "a god called money", and British Quakers' recognition that continuing to invest in fossil fuels is incompatible with their faith commitment to low-carbon sustainable living.

John Arnold, director of the Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility (ECCR), commented: “Between them, the UK’s churches, congregations and individuals own billions of pounds in investments and their bank accounts. Many Christians want to use their money in a way that witnesses to the Gospel but lack the information and resources that will help them to do so; ‘your faith your finance’ will help fill the gap.”

Helen Drewery, general secretary of Quaker Peace and Social Witness (QPSW), added: “Like many faith groups, Quakers try to put our whole lives under the guidance of the Spirit. This includes using our money wisely to work for sustainability and economic justice, but these are complex issues and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by ethical confusion.”

 

Picture courtesy: Jenny Soloman / Dreamstime.com
 

Boeing and South African Airways (SAA) are to work together to develop and implement a sustainable aviation biofuel supply chain in Southern Africa, a first for the continent.

The collaboration between Boeing and SAA is part of the companies' broader efforts to support environmental sustainability for the airline's operations and the commercial aviation industry overall, in addition to advancing South Africa's social and economic development.

"South African Airways is taking the lead in Africa on sustainable aviation fuels and, by setting a best practice example, can positively shape aviation biofuel efforts in the region," said Ian Cruickshank, SAA Head of Group Environmental Affairs. "By working with Boeing's sustainable aviation biofuel team, which has a history of successful partnerships to move lower-carbon biofuels closer to commercialization, we will apply the best global technology to meet the unique conditions of Southern Africa, diversify our energy sources and create new opportunities for the people of South Africa."

Boeing has collaborated extensively with airlines, research institutions, governments and other stakeholders to develop road maps for biofuel supply chains in several countries and regions, including the US, China, Australia and Brazil. The aerospace company's plan to work with SAA is the first such project in Africa.

"Sustainable aviation biofuel will play a central role in reducing commercial aviation's carbon emissions over the long term, and we see tremendous potential for these fuels in Africa," said Julie Felgar, managing director of Environmental Strategy and Integration, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "Boeing and South African Airways are committed to investigating feedstocks and pathways that comply with strict sustainability guidelines and can have a positive impact on South Africa's development."

Flight tests show that biofuel, which is derived from organic sources such as plants or algae, performs as well as or better than petroleum-based jet fuel. When produced in sustainable ways, biofuel contributes far less to global climate change than traditional fuels because carbon dioxide (CO2) is pulled out of the atmosphere by a growing plant-based feedstock.

Boeing is also collaborating with America's Cup winner, ORACLE TEAM USA, to recycle 7,000 pounds (about 3,175kg) of carbon fibre of USA-71, a yacht built for the America's Cup campaign in 2003. The hull and mast of the racing yacht will be processed and repurposed, a first-of-its-kind effort for what will likely be the largest carbon structure ever recycled.

Boeing and ORACLE TEAM USA will utilize a technique developed to recycle composite materials from Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, which is 50 percent composite by weight and 20 percent more fuel-efficient than similarly sized aircraft. Composite materials allow a lighter, simpler structure, which increases efficiency, and do not fatigue or corrode. In yachts, composite construction also provides the ability to develop a lighter vessel that is stronger and stiffer at the same time.
 

Pharmacy giant Alliance Boots has been accused of using a legal loophole to avoid paying £1.1bn in tax in the UK. 

In a new report trade union Unite and the charity War on Want claim that after private equity bosses borrowed £9bn to buy Boots in 2007 they used interest due on the huge debt to cut UK tax bills by 95%.

An official Boots statement in response to the allegations says that the company “fully complies” with UK law and paid more tax last year than before the 2007 buyout.

Demanding the tax loopholes be closed, Unite General Secretary Len McCluskey commented: “Tax avoidance is now part of the DNA of a corporate British culture that is rotten to the core. The revelation that yet another high street name fleeces Britain, taking work from our NHS while avoiding tax responsibilities, will leave taxpayers furious.”

Associate director of retail initiatives Nell Geiser, from Change to Win, the federation of US trade unions added: “After avoiding millions in UK tax through massive borrowing, Alliance Boots’ private owners are selling out and stand to profit handsomely. Corporate tax avoidance is not going away unless we shine a light on it and unless policy-makers act decisively.”

However the Boots statement questioned some of the accuracy of the report and highlighted the fact that neither Unite nor War on Want contacted the company during the preparation of their report or subsequently: "We have published a detailed Annual Report on our website containing comprehensive information on both our tax charge and tax paid. In recent years this has included details of our tax charge and tax paid between the UK and other countries in line with evolving best practice."

A string of multi-nationals have been accused of using legals loopholes to avoid UK taxes in recent years, including Starbucks, Vodafone, Google, Facebook and Apple.

You can read the War on Want report in full here.
 

Unilever soap brand, Lifebuoy, is to expand its Help a Child Reach 5 campaign. The campaign, which was launched earlier this year, sets out to end preventable deaths of children aged under 5 by changing the handwashing behaviours, one village at a time.

The pilot project was established in a rural village, Thesgora, known to have one of the highest rates of diarrhoea in India. Early results showed a significant impact on the health of the community and the programme will now extend to communities and villages across 17 countries globally.

Samir Singh, Global Brand VP, Lifebuoy said: “We know that handwashing with soap is one of the most effective and low cost ways to prevent diseases like pneumonia and diarrhoea, which are responsible for the deaths of 2m children under 5 years of age every year.

"In the past three years we have taught 130m people healthy hand washing habits for life and integrated this successfully into our business model. Child mortality has gone down considerably, but there is still a long way to go.”

The handwashing programmes implemented as part of the Help a Child Reach 5 campaign are part of Lifebuoy’s broader handwashing programme portfolio, run in partnership with partners including PSI, Millennium Villages Partnership and UNICEF.

The programmes targeting school children, new mothers and community groups, all support Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan target – to help more than one billion people take action to improve their health and well-being by 2020.