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Eighty per cent of Chinese cities are failing to achieve a balance between economic growth, resource efficiency and sustainable development, according to a study by Accenture and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The joint research, covering 73 cities, also shows that China’s mid-sized cities are in the best position to achieve that balance in the future.

The study, published in a report entitled Creating Prosperous and Livable Chinese Cities, was conducted to help city authorities benchmark their progress in sustainable development in the context of China’s urbanization policy agenda.

It includes the New Resources Economy Index, designed by Accenture, which scores cities’ capacity for future sustainable growth by measuring their level of infrastructure, technology innovation, and investment on environmental protection, as well as their institutional and policy capabilities.

The Index categorizes Chinese cities into four groups. Twenty five ‘Conventional’ cities face the greatest danger, given their underdeveloped but resource-based economies, high emissions, reliance on heavy industry and a tendency to ‘grow first, clean up later.’

Beijing and Tianjin are the two mega cities classified as ‘Wealthy,’ along with cities in the Bohai Rim and Yangtze River Delta regions. These enjoy leading rates of economic growth, but face deteriorating environments, characterized by rising levels of congestion, smog and waste, coupled with shortages of water and other resources.

The ‘Balanced’ group of cities achieves strong economic performance, environmental quality and managed emissions. Smaller cities dominate this group, but are joined by Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, three megacities in southern China.

Accenture and CAS regard cities in the ‘Potential’ category as having the greatest chance of becoming champions of the New Resource Economy, thanks to the opportunity for strong growth combined with a lack of existing environmental degradation. They are dominated by medium-sized cities with populations of 1 to 3 million or per capita GDP of between 50,000 and 70,000 RMB yuan (US$7,738 and US$10,833).

Read the full story in the October issue of Ethical Performance.

Picture credit: © Andrea La Corte | Dreamstime.com
 

American food company General Mills is continuing to make strides in sustainable sourcing with a new $1.1m programme aimed at helping smallholder artichoke farmers in Peru.

The Green Giant brand owner has partnered with supplier AgroMantaro in a four-year commitment aimed at helping the farmers increase their yields and improve profitability. The programme will provide training on crop management and post-harvest practices as well as offering microloans to purchase artichoke shoots and seeds.

Peru’s central region was previously known for cultivating crops such as potatoes and grains, which have lower income potential. General Mills says that depending on how much land farmers devote to artichokes, families can increase their income by an average of 36% annually.

General Mills and its Foundation are also partnering with global humanitarian organisation CARE on the programme.

See the full story in the October issue of Ethical Performance.
 

The leader of Bangladeshi garment workers, Amirul Haque Amin, is to address delegates at the TUC’s annual conference demanding a living wage for people making clothes for UK retailers.

Arriving in Britain ahead of London Fashion Week, Amin, president of the National Garment Workers’ Federation, will join forces with union campaigners battling to win a living wage for employees at British universities and further education colleges.

His visit coincides with the publication of a new report from charity War on Want which highlights the world’s only supplier producing clothes for a mainstream brand that pays workers a living wage – the Alta Gracia factory in the Dominican Republic.

The living wage at the former sweatshop, one hour from the capital Santo Domingo, has not just tackled poverty, but increased productivity, reduced absenteeism and boosted consumer support.

Amin commented: “The Rana Plaza disaster not only exposed unsafe conditions for workers turning out British stores’ clothes, but the pittance on which they struggle to survive.

“It is high time UK retail chains, and other companies sourcing from Bangladesh, matched ethical claims with action to lift their suppliers’ workers out of poverty.”

Picture credit: © Suprijono Suharjoto | Dreamstime Stock Photos

Among UK Registered funds Guinness Alternative Energy C, a £2.46m fund, produced a stunning +80.95% over the past one year to 31 July 2013. However, this must be put in context with a -17.99% performance (ranked 150th/2nd bottom) over the past three-year time horizon. Sarasin Sustainable Equity USA P US$ acc, a £18.27m fund, was second top over the past 12-month view with a +50.72% return, just pipping KBI Instl Alternative Energy A EUR to the runners up spot. SUNARES produced a -24.70% performance over the past year .

Guinness Atkinson Alternative Energy fund ranked top among US mutuals with a +65.58% cumulative return over one year to date. This compared with a -26.12% (201st rank) performance for the past three years. In a similar vein, Firsthand Alternative Energy fund took the second top spot with a +62.50% performance against a -18.51% (200th rank) for the past three-year view. GuideStone Funds Inflation Protected Bond GS4 bottom ranked over a 12-month view with a miserable -5.95% return. The bottom five funds in this US mutuals universe for the past one year were nevertheless tightly bunched.

LSF Asian Solar & Wind A1 fund took the yellow jersey for the past 12 months to end July 2013 amongst European Funds with a stellar +100.44% performance out of 1,139 funds in the universe. However, over a three-year view the fund performed far less well posting a -37.27% performance (1,018th rank). MAP Clean Technology Fund I came a close second for the past one year by posting a +97.74% performance. Guinness Alternative Energy A came in third at +63.24%, but ranked 1,008th over three years. Triodos Vastgoedfonds ranked bottom in this sector over a past 12-month view and marginally improved on its three-year performance of -44.28%. SUNARES, a consistent sector lagger, ranked second from bottom here. 

Top ranked among UK Pension funds was FL/Premier Ethical EP Pension fund with a one-year cumulative return of +40.28% versus +58.08% (18th rank) over the past three years. The fund beat Skandia/Premier Ethical Pension fund into second place with a +39.5% performance. Sector winner up to 30 June 2013 (see previous Ethical Performance issue) – Skandia/Ecclesiastical Amity Europe – came out third top.

Little change was seen at the top of the UK Insurance Funds sector with Skandia/Ecclesiastical Amity Europe Life again top ranking with +35.68% over one-year performance gain. 

Bogota, Rio and Mexico City are three of the 10 cities recognised for excellence in urban sustainability by Siemens and the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40) in their inaugural City Climate Leadership Awards.

Bogota was recognised for its efforts to green its bus and taxi fleets (category, Urban Transporation), Rio for its Morar Carioca programme (category, Sustainable Communities) and Mexico City for its "ProAire" programme (category, Air Quality).

Roland Busch, ceo of Siemens' infrastructure & cities sector, commented: "The world's cities are facing similar problems. And taken together they account for up to 70 percent of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. We all know two things: the fight against climate change will be decided in cities. And it is through co-operations that we can tackle climate change. The City Climate Leadership Awards are a prime example of our successful cooperation with C40. It helps cities to optimize their performances and share their experiences. Its value is immeasurable."

The other seven cities honoured were: Copenhagen (Carbon Measurement & Planning), Melbourne (Energy Efficient Built Environment); Munich (Green Energy), New York City (Adaptation & Resilience), San Francisco (Waste Management), Singapore (Intelligent City Infrastructure) and Tokyo (Finance & Economic Development).

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MillerCoors is using less and less water to brew its beers, according to its 2013 sustainability report. America’s second-largest brewer decreased water use by 6.1% to a record low 3.82 barrels in 2012. By comparison, some breweries use as much as 6.62 barrels of water to produce a single barrel of beer.

“Our employees are the driving force behind our sustainability efforts,” said Tom Long, ceo, MillerCoors. “Whether it’s reducing water use in the brewery, finding ways to send zero waste to landfills or ensuring that our consumers get a safe ride home, our people are committed to doing the right thing.”

In the new report, entitled Brewing for Good, MillerCoors said the use of short interval controls throughout the brewing and packaging process has yielded significant water savings across its breweries.

MillerCoors also reported on efforts to assess its overall water footprint with an eye toward reducing water use in the agricultural supply chain.

Teaming up with The Nature Conservancy, the brewer built a farm in Idaho’s Silver Creek Valley to pilot new farming techniques that save water. Using those techniques, the farm has saved more than 270m gallons of water over two years.

The company is now expanding its efforts to water-stressed areas in Montana, Wyoming and Colorado.

The full report can be viewed here.

As yet another corporate tax avoidance story hits the headlines – Vodaphone will not be liable for tax in Britain following the sale of its £84bn stake in Verizon – a new briefing document endorsed by 34 charities and NGOs warns that governments’ attempts to curb the epidemic of tax evasion and avoidance will only succeed if politicians stand up to lobbying by the powerful companies and individuals who benefit hugely from the status quo.

The new briefing  argues that governments should explore a range of possible ways to make multinationals pay their fair share.

James Henry, chair of the Global Alliance for Tax Justice, said: "The G20 and other governments, as well as the OECD, should explore credible alternatives to the existing rules. At present, despite its good intentions, the OECD seems to be trying to save an international corporate tax system which is fundamentally flawed."

The G20 leaders meet later this week in St Petersburg.

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The International Tourism Partnership (ITP) warns that by 2030 demand for freshwater may outstrip supply by 40%.

In its latest report on water risk issues, the ITP highlights a range of potential impacts the industry could suffer due to shifts in the availability and quality of water resources and points out potential areas where additional costs can be expected.

In particular the report highlights risks for key development areas for the hotel industry, ie Rio de Janeiro, Beijing, Shanghai, Dubai and India’s Golden Triangle. In Dubai, for example, excessive consumption of groundwater and increasing pressure on desalination facilities could lead to severe water shortages in the near future.

Fran Hughes, head of programmes at ITP, commented: “Whilst there is a lot of information available to hoteliers about water efficiency, what has been lacking are clear facts on water issues in specific areas. As such, it is sometimes hard to build the case for investment and action. We hope the findings of this report will help hoteliers to understand the local context where they operate and develop appropriate water management strategies.”

The report can be downloaded here. 
 

Global FMCG giant Unilever is backing a new international awards programme designed to inspire young people around the world to tackle environmental, social and health issues. In partnership with the Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership (CPSL), the overall winner will receive the HRH The Prince of Wales Young Sustainability Entrepreneur Prize.

Open to anyone aged 30 years or under, the awards are seeking innovative but practical solutions to help make sustainable living commonplace. Ideas should focus on enabling changes in practices in one or more of seven categories: water, sanitation and hygiene; nutrition; water scarcity; greenhouse gases; waste; sustainable agriculture; and helping smallholder farmers.

A total of more than €200,000 in financial support and individually tailored mentoring is on offer to help entrepreneurs develop and scale-up their initiatives.

Unilever ceo Paul Polman commented: “I believe that this award has the potential to be really exciting. Why? Because it provides a focal point for the power and creativity of young entrepreneurs who want to help find solutions for some of the world’s most urgent issues. There is no better way to use our energy, innovation and resourcefulness than spending it trying to create a better future for all in a world we want.

Applications must be submitted on-line by the closing date of 1 November 2013.

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Five multinational mobile phone manufacturers are now committed to urgent action over the damage from the mining of tin used in their products.

The environmental group Friends of the Earth had investigated the devastation on the Indonesian islands of Bangka and Belitung, where tin is extracted for use as solder in mobiles and other electronic devices.

The investigation revealed that silt from the mining was killing coral reefs and the sea grass eaten by turtles and was driving away the fish on which fishermen’s livelihoods depend.

On land, said the investigators, forests had been destroyed to make way for mines, and agricultural soil was being made acidic so that farmers struggled to grow their crops.

In the mines themselves deaths from accidents were put at one every week in 2011, and in the unofficial mines there were many accounts of child labour being used.

The phone manufacturers responded after representations from Friends of the Earth and more than 15,000 individual complainants.

The Japanese conglomerate Sony and other members of the US-based Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition, which promotes social, ethical and environmental responsibility in supply chains, have been discussing how the industry and its stakeholders can achieve sustainability in their operations and minimise their effect on the Indonesian islands.

Sony’s policy contains a commitment to “working toward a sustainable society for the next generation”.
The Canadian Blackberry company says it is working with its stakeholders to understand the issue better and find ways to improve conditions for the islanders affected.

LG Electronics, the South Korean manufacturer, another member of the coalition group, is helping to fund a study being run by the Netherlands-based Sustainable Trade Initiative to understand the issue. LG intends to “take further action based on the results of this study”.

Andy Coughlin, LG UK’s head of mobile communications, said the company was “concerned” to learn of the claims made about the Bangka working conditions.

He told Ethical Performance: “We already have a code of conduct in place which states that our suppliers must not use materials obtained through any illegal form of mining and we are reviewing our sourcing policy in the light of these claims.”

Motorola, a US participant in the coalition group, is working with a number of bodies, including local government councils, smelters and NGOs, in order to offer “meaningful assurances that tin mining on Bangka island is done in an environmentally and socially responsible manner”.

The Finnish company Nokia, which has joined the other manufacturers in working with the coalition and the Sustainable Trade Initiative, said: “We are committed to ensuring that all materials used in our products come from socially and environmentally responsible sources.”

Friends of the Earth welcomed the industry’s “great” response. However, it criticised Apple, the world’s second most valuable corporation, which is involved in the coalition effort but has not answered more than 24,000 customers who had asked whether the group obtains its tin from Bangka.

It said: “Apple’s … public refusal to give a straight answer to concerned customers is totally at odds with its competitors and contradicts its own chief executive’s commitment to be more transparent about Apple supply chains.”

The environmental group is following up its report by urging tough new EU laws on non-financial reporting to compel companies to reveal the human and environmental impacts of their activities.