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Huge penalties and prosecutions could be in store for the oil companies whose offices have been raided by European Commission officials on suspicion of fixing prices. The Brussels teams pounced on the London offices of Shell, BP, the Platts energy reporting agency and the Norwegian company Statoil as part of an oil price-rigging investigation. Shell’s Rotterdam offices were also visited.

The oil companies have been accused of conspiring since 2002 to keep prices artificially high in breach of competition law.
If the allegations are confirmed the Commission can impose fines up to 10% of turnover. A similar inquiry is being considered by the Serious Fraud Office, a UK government department that can bring criminal prosecutions.

David Cameron, the UK prime minister, has said that if price-fixing is proved he wants prosecutions with the “full force of the law”.
He said: “It’s very concerning because this government is trying to do so much to help people with the cost of living.”

According to estimates UK customers have overpaid by £300bn ($450bn, €355bn) during the past decade because of inflated oil prices. Protesters complain this has raised the cost of food, clothing and other goods, closed businesses, thereby causing unemployment, and helped to spark the recession.

The European investigation was begun even though the UK’s Office of Fair Trading, an official consumer watchdog, ruled out an inquiry, announcing that competition in the industry was “working well”.

Robert Halfon, a UK Conservative MP, said: “Last year we urged the Office of Fair Trading to launch a full inquiry into alleged price-fixing by oil companies. I had a whistleblower approach me with a dossier, which we put up on our website called petrolpromise.com, and sadly nothing was done.”

Mika Minio-Paluello, an oil and gas specialist and campaigner, said of Shell and BP: “Their trading floors seem to think themselves above the law and are largely hidden from the public eye, speculating on billions of pounds’ worth of crude every day.”

Observers think Cameron’s stand may lead to criminal prosecutions of companies that manipulate household gas and electricity prices.

• Royal Dutch Shell made a £17bn profit last year, just below the previous year’s record £18bn. 

For nearly two decades I have been privileged to lead many of The Co-operative Group’s excellent ethical and environmental programmes. The Co-operative Bank’s charismatic md, Terry Thomas, first drew me in to Europe’s largest consumer co-operative back in 1994. My brief was to embed ecological sustainability and to push forward what was already a radical agenda. It was a time of change and optimism. Political change and economic prosperity was in the air. More to the point, a new phase of CSR was kicking-in; although in retrospect, it had a distinctly amateurish feel to it.

Most of the opposite numbers I met were amiable old men at the end of their careers who had been shunted sideways from roles in human resources or public affairs.

How things have changed. At the top end of CSR (and I know it’s not fashionable to say so) matters have improved fantastically. I look back on some of the things The Co-operative Group was commended on in those early years and cringe – was our threadbare first Sustainability Report of 1998 really commended as the best in Europe; did we really stick 17 micro-wind turbines on a low-rise building in the centre of Manchester and expect to kick-start a new renewable energy sector?

I believe that the next phases of CSR and sustainability will involve leaders ‘Standing up for what’s right’ and ensuring that laggards and free-riders don’t undermine the more progressive business models. The ‘business case’ for CSR will never be strong enough to support an isolated business in its competition against the unscrupulous.

And that’s why, after nearly twenty years, I’ve left what is possibly one of the cushiest CSR jobs out there. I want to focus on helping more business become a vocal force for good – one that recognises that not all legislation is cumbersome red tape. The Co-operative has more than done its bit. It was out there in 2008 raising the issue of neo-nicotinoid pesticides and unconventional fossil fuels when most mainstream environmental groups wouldn’t touch the subjects (I was told that they were ‘too complex’). Now look, we have a two-year temporary embargo against certain neonics applications, and the possibility of a European Fuel Quality Standard that would effectively bar tar sands.

The last thirty years have seen a hallowing out of Government across the world, but particularly in the UK - together with a parallel reluctance of legislators to legislate. In order to plug this hole in societal governance, business is called on to work voluntarily and collectively to solve problems, with many politicians reduced to the role of mere award presenters. The next waves of CSR and sustainability heroes need to be (will be!) out and out campaigners. They will be brave, articulate and hark back to the great Victorian interventionists; the likes of Robert Owen, John Cadbury and William Lever. More significantly, they will act as a tipping point in the battle for a more sustainable economy.

Paul Monaghan, director, Up the Ethics, email: paul@uptheethics.com 

While the US drinks giant ended advertising to under 12s in the UK as far back as 2009, Coca-Cola is now making it a global initiative as part of its anti-obesity drive. The move comes amid a raft of pledges made to address consumer concerns that its sugary carbonated drinks are helping to fuel the global obesity problem.

“Obesity is today’s most challenging health issue, affecting nearly every family and community across the globe. It is a global societal problem which will take all of us working together and doing our part,” said Muhtar Kent, chairman and ceo of The Coca-Cola Company. “We are committed to being part of the solution, working closely with partners from business, government and civil society. Our announcement is another step forward on our journey, as we take action with scale and reach across every country and continent where we operate.”

The drinks giant has also pledged to offer low- or no- calorie beverage options in every market in which it operates (200 in all); it will provide transparent nutrition information, featuring calories on the front of all of its packages and also “help get people moving by supporting physical activity programmes”.

Coca-Cola has committed to publicly and actively measure the scale and reach of its efforts on www.comingtogether.com. The digital platform provides further details about the company’s global commitments and invites consumers to learn more about what the company is doing, track its progress, post feedback and exchange ideas on how it can collectively promote choice, energy balance and movement.

The Coca-Cola Company is the world’s largest beverage company, boasting more than 500 sparkling and still brands, including Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Fanta, Sprite, vitaminwater, Powerade and Minute Maid.
 

British telecoms giant BT is working with international charity SOS Children’s Villages on its latest CSR programme, Connecting Africa, which will connect 20 of the charity’s sites in 12 African countries via its global satellite network. BT and SOS Children’s Villages estimate that the project could directly and indirectly benefit around 700,000 people.

Anna Easton, BT’s Connected Society programme director, told Ethical Performance that digital inclusion was fundamental to the telecoms group’s strategy.

Connecting Africa has a small project team built on a peripatetic model. One BT engineer trains 6 SOS Children’s Villages engineers, who then go out to train others.

BT designs and builds the network infrastructure using underutilised or decommissioned BT equipment in each country. For example, using BT Home Hub 3s as BT Home Hub 4 is now the new offering.

The first two SOS Children’s Villages in The Gambia have already been brought online and the remaining Children’s Villages are scheduled to be connected by October 2013. Connecting Africa is built on the model of connectivity that BT set up in Germany, again in partnership with SOS Children’s Villages. Easton hopes that the initiative will go global for BT (which operates in 170 markets). The charity itself operates in 120 markets, so the potential is definitely there, maintains Easton.

The Connecting Africa project will bring numerous benefits to the children living in the Children’s Villages, enabling them to get online and helping with their education. It will also bring benefits to SOS Children’s Villages as an organisation, helping the charity run its operations more efficiently.

Easton says that BT is very focused on measuring the social impact of the programme. While it is currently measuring impact via direct feedback and output data (such as the number of children online and the number of children who have improved in their school grades), BT is also developing a Socially Responsible Investment measurement tool – a ‘holy grail’ says Easton - that should be ready during the current financial year. BT will be opening it up to other companies to use too.
 

The first billboard ever to create drinking water from humidity in the air has produced 15,000 litres of water in six months.

Launched at the end of 2012, the billboard is now a prominent feature of the skyline in Bujama, a small village just south of Peru’s capital city, Lima. The climate is oppressive, with some residents of Bujama having no access to a clean water supply. Since the billboard’s arrival, residents of Bujama now have access to an average of 96 litres of drinking water a day.

The unique billboard was co-produced by outdoor advertising owner Clear Channel Peru and researchers at UTEC, University of Engineering and Technology in Lima. Media agency Media Connection BPN and advertising agency, Mayo Draft FCB Perú, have also been full partners in the project.

The billboard cost $32,600 to set-up and works by using a panel to trap humidity in the air, transforming it into water. Internally, the panel consists of five devices that extract water vapour from the air using a condenser and filters.

The water is stored in tanks at the top of the structure, and then filtered before flowing down a pipe to a tap that is accessible to all who walk past. On average, 15 to 18 families arrive at the billboard to access the water every day.  

In the wake of recent horse meat scares and supply chain scandals in Europe, McDonald’s is opening up its supply chain to public scrutiny in the UK.

The US burger chain giant has launched a search for ‘Quality Scouts’, members of the public who will go behind the scenes and report back on how some of its most famous products are made, in response to increased interest from consumers in where the food they buy comes from, says the company.

The Quality Scouts will investigate and chronicle the supply chain journey from some of the 17,500 British and Irish farms that supply McDonald’s through to food production and restaurants. They will meet and interview farmers, food suppliers and McDonald’s employees to find out the facts about what’s in their chosen product and how it is made. McDonald’s will then publish the Quality Scouts’ reports on its interactive website whatmakesmcdonalds.co.uk later this year.

According to a recent Populus poll of 2,000 consumers, knowing more about where food comes from is now an important issue for most UK adults. Four out of five people (81%) said it is important that ingredients are traceable to the farm they came from, and over half of adults (53%) consider how food is produced when deciding which products to buy.

Warren Anderson, vice president, Supply Chain, commented: “Every day, people ask us questions about our food and our ingredients, so we’re inviting members of the public to see for themselves what’s in some of our most popular products and follow the journey from farm to restaurant.”

The Quality Scout visits will take place throughout summer 2013. 

Japan has introduced legislation to rid its atmosphere of hydro-fluorocarbons, or HFCs, the so-called super-greenhouse gases.
HFCs were initially commercialised to replace the chemicals that were destroying the ozone layer, but are themselves contributing to global climate change. In fact they are considered to be hundreds of times more damaging to the global climate than carbon dioxide.

HFCs are used primarily in refrigeration, air conditioning, aerosols and foam blowing and as fire suppressants and solvents, but commercial alternatives, kinder to the climate, do now exist for most of these functions.

Japan’s new law demands measures at every step of the HFC life cycle, including manufacture and the importing of refrigeration and air conditioning units.

The law also sets a timetable for switching to HFC-free goods or products using HFCs with minimal effects on global warming.
Japan joins the EU and Australia in regulating and lowering HFC levels. The revision of the European F-gas regulation for phasing down HFCs in the EU is now in operation, and last year Australia imposed an HFC tax.
This leaves the US as the only leading industrialised nation not to have acted to cut HFC use.

The US spearheaded proposals at the Montreal Protocol for a global cut in HFCs, and it co-founded the Climate and Clean Air Coalition to encourage reductions. However, despite its international activity, the US remains the world’s largest user of HFCs and lacks policies of its own to curb HFC emissions.

Mark W. Roberts, international policy adviser for the Environmental Investigation Agency, the UK-based NGO, commented: “The US has led the way in eliminating ozone-depleting substances and calling for a global phase-down of HFCs which would prevent the emission of 87bn to 146bn tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents by 2050.

“However, the US needs to join the rest of the industrialised countries and take serious actions domestically, if it is going to convince the developing countries that they should agree to the proposal for a phase-down of HFCs.”
The agency has formally urged the US to act immediately to halt unnecessary HFC use.  

Save the Children and pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) are ramping up their collaborative efforts with an ambitious new partnership to save the lives of a million of the poorest children in the world. While the two organisations have been working together for eight years on a number of public health projects, this initiative takes the relationship to a new level.

For the first time, Save the Children will be involved in helping GSK to develop medicines for children, with a seat on a new paediatric R&D board to accelerate progress on innovative life-saving interventions for under- fives.

The GSK-Save the Children partnership will also focus on widening vaccine coverage to the poorest children, increasing investment in health workers, as well as developing a low-cost nutritional product.

Amongst the key initiatives are the transformation of an antiseptic used in mouthwash into a life-saving product for new-borns and the roll-out of a powder-form of an antibiotic.

Flagship programmes will run initially in Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya. These will be closely monitored and the evidence on how to save children’s lives at scale will be used to replicate programmes in other countries.

Simon Wright, Head of Child Survival Policy and Advocacy at Save the Children told Ethical Performance that by partnering with the charity GSK is able to connect with the social purpose of what it does. “We’ll be able to offer advice on how they should be thinking; what their R&D priorities should be. We also offer the opportunity to be a combined voice on access to healthcare.”

In light of criticism levelled at the pharma giant a decade ago (for its high price tags on HIV drugs for the developing world), Wright said that GSK had changed. “GSK is on a journey. Its ceo Sir Andrew Witty set out a different agenda in 2009 where he acknowledged that GSK would have to be proactive in building the health infrastructure in nations where it wishes to operate,” he said. “Yes, it remains a private company out to make profits and we’re a not- for- profit organisation but within that framework we can influence each other and we’ll see that a company of that size can still have positive social outcomes.”
 

Market leading CSR and sustainability newsletter Ethical Performance has relaunched its website with a new look as well as offering additional content. Users of the site will find a greater array of free to read news whilst subscribers will have access to an even greater level of news coverage as well as more in-depth articles from across the sector.

The new website marks a step change in the delivery of Ethical Performance content and users will find much improved signposting of various content as well as a more impactful design. Content is now clearly ordered by section and service and the search bar will return results based on individual words or phrases from the 14-year editorial, company and directory archives.

Gareth Hector, publisher, said the site would herald a key milestone in how CSR and sustainability news content is delivered.

He said: "Ethical Performance really wants to make a difference to people working in all aspects of CSR and sustainability. As a key media player it means that we have the opportunity, and responsibility, to deliver key information on the latest issues. This is also why we have launched a new weekly e-newsletter to help keep the industry better informed than ever."

During the next few days, the team at Ethical Performance be carrying out some live testing, but should any visitors experience any difficulties they can contact Gareth directly at gareth.hector@ethicalpeformance.com"

By Lisa Marie Chirico

Maybe John Milton got it half right. During his fiery rant in "The Devil's Advocate" he blames God for setting the rules in opposition after giving man instincts, but ultimately concludes that free will plays a big role in our lives. For companies who create products that are deemed unhealthy, such as soda and cigarettes, consumers' free will takes center stage. Corporate profits have swelled over the years thanks in part to consumers saying "yes" when it may have been in their best interests to say "no." So, when a public health crisis - such as obesity - occurs, who is to blame?

Although data shows that Americans are consuming fewer soft drinks and more bottled water, current research blames sugary, carbonated drinks for the rise in childhood and adult obesity in the United States. It appears that soft drink giant Coca-Cola (who received an overall scientific rating of 6.1 out of 10 from the GoodGuide) is taking the "best defense is a good offense" approach when it comes to thwarting claims and eliminating perceptions that their products contribute to obesity.

After launching an anti-obesity campaign earlier this year, the company recently rolled out a multi-faceted approach that emphasizes a reduction in advertising specifically targeting children. According to the Wall Street Journal's reporting on this story, "reduction" is the key verb. Coke intends to aim their ads exclusively at viewers where the audience tuning in consists of no more than 35 percent children, and none to children under 12. Is Coke's new strategy enough to actually decrease obesity rates for children who drink soda on a regular basis, or is it just a public relations move intended to bolster the company's ongoing rebranding efforts?

It seems that Coke is concerned about obesity in everyone, not just children. Earlier this month, the Atlanta, Georgia-based company expressed their commitment to fight global obesity by announcing their Foundation's pledge of $3.8 million in grants. According to the company's website, the grants will support statewide initiatives, similar to others they've launched in Chicago and other cities around the U.S. to help get people active and enjoy a balanced lifestyle. Coke has also taken responsibility for the number of calories in their beverages by promising to offer their zero and low-calorie products in every market, in addition to supplying easy-to-read labeling that features both calorie and nutrition information.

So, just what's in Coca-Cola anyway? According to Coke, their "secret formula" continues to remain a secret, but we know that some of the ingredients in the beverage include: high-fructose corn syrup; caramel coloring; vanilla; cinnamon; processed coca-leaf; kola nut; and caffeine. These ingredients may not seem particularly harmful, but collectively, appear to cause measurable harm. Half the U.S. population consumes sugary beverages (energy, sports drinks, soda) on any given day. In addition to obesity, sugary drinks are believed to increase the risk of diabetes, heart disease, and gout. According to the Harvard School of Public Health, one out of three children and two out of three adults in the U.S. are obese or overweight.

With estimates that show U.S. beverage companies spending billions on marketing soda directly to children, Coke's new advertising approach for this market segment should prove to be interesting. Coke reported sales of $48 billion in 2012, and is considered the fifth most valuable global brand according to BrandZ's 2013 Top 100 list.

Is Coke's recent change of direction in their advertising to children, along with their various CSR initiatives, enough to change hearts and minds about how their products may affect public health? A decade from now, if the soda industry goes the way of big tobacco, what will be Coke's ultimate brand legacy?

[Image Credit: http://flic.kr/p/sYSNq]