Latest news on ethical and eco friendly living in the United Kingdom
published twice a week
Ethical Ads
Ethical Ads
July 2010
UN votes water and sanitation a human right, UK abstains 30 Jul 10
Safe and clean drinking water and sanitation is a "human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights," the General Assembly declared today, voicing deep concern that almost 900 million people worldwide do not have access to clean water. Source: Transnational Institute
Read more100 B&Q stores start to sell Fairtrade Cotton 30 Jul 10
B&Q announces that it will be selling its first Fairtrade products in store this year. From August 2010, B&Q will sell a range of Fairtrade cotton bedding in 100 stores. 2010 is an important milestone as it marks the fifth year anniversary of the introduction of Fairtrade cotton into the UK market. Source: Fairtrade Foundation
Read moreProgress possible in Bonn climate talks says WWF 30 Jul 10
The odds for progress at the UN climate talks in Cancun this December are still good, says WWF, if governments focus on delivering key ingredients through a “Cancun package” that forms a stepping stone for a legal framework to be finalised at the end of 2011.
Read moreTriodos Bank sees record increase in lending of £34 million for the first six months of 2010 30 Jul 10
Triodos Bank, the global leader in ethical and sustainable banking, today announced growth to its UK lending of 14 per cent during the first half of 2010. Loans to customers including the Glastonbury festival’s Michael Eavis have enabled the bank to increase its total UK lending to £282m, a £34m net increase on the end of 2009.
Read moreBP - Was this inevitable? 30 Jul 10
BP look to have finally managed to stop America’s worst oil spill in history. One wonders if it was an unfortunate accident or the result of a culture change in the company. The ethical funds have in the past loved this company, but lately that support has drained faster than the oil from their pipes, writes Investing Ethically founder Alan Kirkham.
Read moreThe Carbon Carousel: VAT Tax Fraud 30 Jul 10
VAT tax fraud – dubbed by the mainstream media as ’carousel fraud’ or ’missing-trader fraud’ – has been troubling the carbon trading industry for a few years, reports Corporate Watch.
Read more2000-2010 A History of Oil Disasters 30 Jul 10
A new report catalogs a decade of serious oil spills, fires, leaks and loss of life over the last decade that National Wildlife Federation(USA) says underscores petroleum company malfeasance. The report, “Assault on America: A Decade of Petroleum Company Disaster, Pollution, and Profit,” shows that it is not just BP but the entire industry that has put profit before lives, local communities and the environment.
Read moreTrident- who’d buy it? 29 Jul 10
Trident replacement is looking less likely today , says Greenpeace, after Chancellor George Osborne told media that the Treasury weren’t willing to stump up for the project out of central funds. Speaking in New Delhi, where he is accompanying David Cameron on his visit to India, Mr Osborne told the Bloomberg newswire: "All budgets have pressure. I don’t think there’s anything particularly unique about the Ministry of Defence. I have made it very clear that Trident renewal costs must be taken as part of the defence budget."
Read moreFarmland bird populations in sharp decline 29 Jul 10
Overall farmland bird populations in England fell by 5 per cent last year to their lowest level for 40 years, according to official figures released today (July 29, 2010). Source RSPB
Read moreGreen Campaign Builds for RBS’s Capital To Be Used Productively 28 Jul 10
Campaigners have called for the Royal Bank of Scotland to be transformed into a Green Investment Bank to kick start a wave of investment in green technologies, writes Socialist Economic Bulletin’s Michael Burke.
Read more£500 million Hawk jet deal with India aids arms companies, not the poor 28 Jul 10
Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) has condemned the sale of Hawk jets to India, a country where poverty is rife and which is situated in a conflict zone. The deal was announced to coincide with Prime Minister David Cameron leading a heavy-weight ministerial and trade mission to India from 28 to 30 July. Source Campaign Against the Arms Trade
Read moreLabour Activists slam Bangladesh Garment Workers Wage Proposal 28 Jul 10
Garment-workers unions and labour-rights organisations have reacted with indignation and disappointment at the newly-proposed increase of minimum wage in Bangladesh’ garment industry. Yesterday the National Wage Board recommended an increase of the minimum wage to 3000 Bangladeshi ’taka’ (€33). Source: Clean Clothes Campaign
Read moreNew report argues RBS should be turned into Green Investment Bank 27 Jul 10
New research released today finds that transforming the Royal Bank of Scotland into the Green Investment Bank would kick start the green energy revolution. The research, by former Pricewaterhouse Coopers consultant, James Leaton, finds that it would bring 50, 000 new green jobs a year, increase efficiency, reduce the UK’s carbon emissions and improve international competitiveness - whilst not increasing the budget deficit. Source: Platform
Read moreSureblades rises from Vestas ashes 26 Jul 10
One year after workers occupied the Vestas wind turbines factory on the Isle of Wight in protest at the company’s decision to cease production a new organisation, Sureblades, set up by former Vestas employees, has risen from the ashes and is due to begin production of blades within two months just yards from the closed factory.
Read moreGreenest Government ever cuts Sustainable Development Commission 23 Jul 10
Will Day, Chair of the Sustainable Development Commission, today (Thursday 22 July) expressed his disappointment at Defra’s announcement that it intends to withdraw its funding for the SDC from the next financial year, and paid tribute to the Commission’s ten years of putting sustainability on the political map.
Read moreClimate Committee demands Government support for renewable energy 20 Jul 10
The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) today advised that the UK should protect funding for a suite of low-carbon technologies, which if developed here, will help to reduce emissions by 80% by 2050, whilst also providing the basis for green economic growth in the longer term. Without government support, a range of essential low-carbon technologies are likely to get stuck in a so-called ‘valley of death’, where development is curtailed, and will fail to make it to market.
Read more
|
