Ethical Corporation’s latest update on responsible business stories

Gold star

Public and press attention refocused on the ethics of investment bank Goldman Sachs in mid-March, after one of its 12,000 vice-presidents resigned, signing off with an article in the New York Times accusing the bank of being “toxic and destructive”. Greg Smith, who worked for 10 years at the bank, says its executives were relentlessly prioritising profits over the interests of customers. “It astounds me how little senior management gets a basic truth: if clients don’t trust you they will eventually stop doing business with you,” he wrote. Goldman Sachs, famously once labelled a “great vampire squid”, said Smith was “disgruntled”, and that internal surveys show its employees believe they provide “exceptional service” to clients. “We are far from perfect,” the bank conceded.

Gender agenda

Quotas for women in corporate boardrooms have come a step closer following a European parliament vote backing the idea. Women should hold 30% of boardroom positions by 2015, and 40% by 2020, the MEPs said. The European commission is consulting on possible EU-wide legislation, which could be proposed by the end of 2012. According to commission figures, 15.6% of the positions in the boardrooms of Britain’s largest companies are filled by women, ahead of the 13.7% EU average. The leading countries are Finland, Latvia and Sweden, where company boards are more than 25% female. The laggards tend to be the Mediterranean countries, especially Cyprus, Malta, Portugal and Italy, though Spain has introduced a 40% quota to be achieved by 2015.

Magnum opus

Magnum has said it will be the first ice cream brand to buy all of the cocoa that goes into the its crunchy chocolate coating from sustainable sources. The brand, owned by Unilever, plans to meet the target by 2015 with, as an interim step, 60% of its cocoa to be certified sustainable by the end of 2012. The goal is a product of a partnership with the Rainforest Alliance, which will provide the independent certification. “This is as much about making a difference at origin by helping farmers and improving their livelihood and environment, as it is [about] delivering pleasure,” says Magnum senior vice-president Mick Van Ettinger. About 1bn Magnum ice creams are sold each year.

Rank and spank

Israel’s most polluting companies have been listed by the country’s environmental protection ministry, in a first exercise of its type. The biggest polluters out of the Tel Aviv 100 largest publicly traded firms, according to the ranking, are Israel Chemicals, Granite Hacarmel and the Delek Fuel Group. However, Israel Chemicals is also cited as one of the companies making the greatest effort to clean up its act. The ministry said the ranking would be a useful guide for investors, but the Manufacturers Association of Israel was not happy, saying: “Publishing the ranking in its current form seriously misleads investors and the public at large.”

Palmed off

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is to name and shame members that are falling short of their promised switch to certified palm oil. The body requires members to set a date by when their production or use of palm oil will be certified fully sustainable, and to report on their progress, but about 40% of producer, processor and retailer members are not reporting, or have not even set themselves a target date. A spokesman said the names of non-compliers would be “disclosed by RSPO in the near future”. The UK is the country with the most RSPO members, accounting for about 18% of the membership. British members include Tesco, which is keeping to its commitments under the scheme, and Associated British Foods and BP, which are not.

Green leanings

Britain’s office workers are glad to be green, and report greater job satisfaction when their employers behave sustainably, but are hesitant about suggesting green initiatives in case they are seen to be “nagging”, research for office supplies brand Avery has found. According to a study prepared ahead of Avery Green Office Week (14-18 May), 41% of office workers said attempts to promote greater greenness to bosses resulted in “awkward situations”. Jobseekers are also more likely to apply to companies with good green credentials, suggesting that “companies who don’t take the environment seriously enough may be missing out on top working talent”, Avery said.

Vodaphoney

A sting operation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism has shed more light on Vodafone’s much-maligned tax activities. According to the Bureau, one Vodafone company made profits of £1.6bn in 2011 that were taxed at a rate of about 1%. The most likely explanation of this is that the profits were declared in Switzerland. But the phone giant’s presence in Switzerland amounts to one man, an accountant, who told the journalists he spends less than 5% of his time on Vodafone. The set-up suggests Vodafone’s “main purpose [in Switzerland] is tax avoidance”, the Bureau alleged. Vodafone said its structure was “totally transparent”, and British tax authorities were aware of the Swiss office.

The kids are all right

Companies should respect 10 basic principles in their dealing with children, according to the Unicef, the Global Compact and Save the Children. The principles would help companies “maximise positive business impacts on children’s lives”, the organisations say. Among the principles are elimination of child labour, ensuring child-safe products, responsible advertising to children, and consideration of the interests of children in land acquisition and use. “When it comes to children, we all need to do more,” UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon says. Under-18s comprise nearly a third of the world’s population.

Bank bonus

Britain’s Green Investment Bank will be headquartered in Edinburgh, the government has said, though some transaction activities will take place in London. The bank, which was the idea of Gordon Brown’s Labour government, has been progressed under the coalition, and is expected to start providing loans for wind farms and other low-carbon schemes during April. The GIB will have up to 70 full-time staff, with £3bn to dish out. Business secretary Vince Cable says Edinburgh had been chosen because it had a “thriving green sector and respected expertise in areas such as asset management”. But the decision means disappointment for other locations that bid for the bank, including Durham, Norwich and Torbay.

Bag ban reversed

An Italian ban on non-biodegradable supermarket carrier bags has been temporarily lifted – because there are not enough biodegradable bags to go round. Under the temporary reversal of the ban, “traditional” plastic bags can be used again as long as retailers charge customers at least €0.40 for them, with the money going towards recycling initiatives. Italy banned non-biodegradable bags from the beginning of 2011, and expects to reinstitute the prohibition from the start of 2013, once the biodegradable bag supply problems have been solved.



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