Deforestation detection, electronics industry and conflict minerals, changing behaviour through towel use and Foxconn makes positive moves

A Nasa team and the environmental science and conservation news website Mongabay have joined forces to create a global deforestation alert tool to better identify newly deforested areas.

The Nasa Ames Research Centre approached Mongabay’s founder, Rhett Buttler, with an impressive new technology that uses satellite data to detect changes in global forest vegetation on scales as small as five square kilometres.

Together the groups used this technology to create a free global forest disturbance alert system (Glof-Das) that can offer any subscriber – whether it be non-profits, journalists, academics, industry bodies, or government agencies – an opportunity to sign up for a particular region and be alerted of any change in forest vegetation four times a year.

The Glof-Das pilot will launch in Indonesia, as Mongabay already has an on-the-ground presence there. So if there are any major changes in forest vegetation, local journalists will be at the ready to verify the findings, and investigate whether the deforestation was legal or not. In fact, a major NGO has already asked to use Glof-Das to monitor zero deforestation agreements with some of its corporate partners.

Down the line Buttler says they would like to add features such as text-message alerts and software that would allow mash-ups with other data, such as protected and indigenous areas. They’re also considering increasing data collection from quarterly to monthly, and boosting the system’s resolution to detect smaller forest disturbances.

“The implications for the private sector is that if your supply chain is linked to deforestation, chances are better than ever that an activist group like Greenpeace will discover and publicise that link, which of course could tarnish a brand's reputation,” says Buttler. “And I think this trend will continue and intensify. The days of anonymous commodity sourcing may be numbered, at least for conspicuous western brands.”

Rankings on conflict minerals

In its second report on the use of conflict minerals in consumer gadgets, activist organisation the Enough Project ranks 24 of the world’s largest electronics companies’ progress in addressing the issue in their supply chains.

Those who came out on top include Apple, Intel, HP, and Motorola Solutions, which were applauded for their efforts to combat the use of conflict minerals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, including new tracing projects to determine the precise numbers of smelters used, developing low-cost auditing programmes, and creating aid projects for lagging smelters.

Contrastingly, the major laggards identified in the report – Taking Conflict Out of Consumer Gadgets: Company Rankings on Conflict Minerals 2012 – were Canon, HTC, Nikon,Nintendo and Sharp, which are making nominal progress in comparison with industry leaders. Nintendo came in last because it “made no known effort to trace or audit its supply chain”, according to the report.

“The issue of conflict minerals in electronics has received widespread media and public attention for the past four years, and forward-leaning companies such as Intel and Apple have shown other tech companies exactly what steps to take to eliminate conflict minerals from their supply chains: trace, audit, and certify,” says Sasha Lezhnev, senior policy analyst at the Enough Project. “At first, companies could reasonably hide behind the ‘my supply chain is too complex’ excuse, but given the significant progress made over the past four years, this is now impossible.”

While the electronics industry has made significant strides in the area, the jewellery, automotive, and industrial machinery industries are not as far along, largely due to a lack of consumer awareness about and action against these industries’ use of conflict minerals. (See also EthicsWatch p8 for details of the recent SEC announcement on supply chain conflict minerals.)

How to shift consumer behaviour

A new study published in the Journal of Consumer Research reveals that getting specific about eco-friendly commitments most effectively boosts participation and compliance.

The Commitment and Behaviour Change: Evidence from the Field study was performed at a popular hotel chain (whose name was not revealed) over 31 days analysing 2,416 guests.

As part of Google’s annual developer conference Google I/O 2012, the search giant’s philanthropic arm Google.org added the Develop for Good Hackathon to the mix, challenging developers to explore innovative ways that technology can tackle pressing global issues.

The hackathon concentrated on three areas: develop a means for people use technology to communicate during blackouts in conflict regions with repressive regimes; create a practical way for citizens to learn about or interact with government or voting; and make a tool, app or platform that rewards people for sustainable behaviour (such as recycling).

Each winning team is awarded the 2012 Google Developer for Good title and featured on the Google Developers blog and Google Chrome blog, receives tickets to the 2013 I/O conference, and is mentored by a Google team to expound on the idea.

The winning app for the first challenge was Silent Lens, which can be installed on any Android device without being detected, and enables users to transfer information with limited connectivity, to help those living under repressive regimes communicate. A Nigerian developer group won the government and voting challenge with the Assembly Bills platform, which enables citizens to provide input on bills in the Nigerian legislature. The green challenge was won by a Google Group in Karachi, Pakistan, with Green It, which uses the Google+ platform to crowdsource information on local sustainability issues that citizens are concerned about, such as garbage collection and traffic congestion, and can subsequently be verified by local authorities and acted upon.

Foxconn starts improving working conditions

On the heels of Apple’s report revealing its leading suppliers, the company fulfilled its promise to allow the Fair Labour Association (FLA) to audit its suppliers’ performance. Just months later, the FLA reported that Apple’s largest supplier, Foxconn, implemented all of the FLA’s primary action items, and made several changes ahead of schedule.

In February and March 2012 the FLA published reports concerning the working conditions in Foxconn’s three factories that manufacture Apple products, including a 15-month action plan to tackle 360 issues in need of improvement.

According to the FLA’s August 2012 verification report, Foxconn had completed 100% of the 195 remedial tasks due by May 31, and completed an additional 89 action items due in June and July. Such changes include enforcing ergonomic breaks, updating maintenance policies so equipment works properly, and testing emergency protective equipment.

The facility also started to address major changes on union elections, worker representation, and compliance with Chinese labour law, agreeing to cut back on working hours and ultimately comply with the Chinese legal limit of 40 hours a week (plus nine hours of overtime). Thus far, Foxconn has completed 79% of the FLA’s full remediation plan.

“Apple and Foxconn’s progress since the March assessment, combined with the additional actions planned through July 2013, would create the roadmap for all Chinese suppliers in the tech industry,” says Auret van Heerden, chief executive of the FLA.

Mobile payment app

A host of big-name brands including Wal-Mart, Target and Shell Oil Products US are working together in a new venture called the Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) to develop a mobile commerce application that will integrate a payment process plus a range of special offers and loyalty programmes.

What differentiates MCX from other popular mobile payment apps such as Square and Google Wallet is that it’s created by the merchants directly, who know their customers’ shopping behaviours better than third-party services, argues Jeremy Mullman at MCX.

The size and reach of participating companies using the app could also make for an easier and more efficient mobile shopping experience for consumers. Additionally, the mobile app will help cut paper waste from printed receipts and coupons, though it’s not the driving factor behind the app’s creation.

While the company is staying mum on the app’s technical specs and expected launch date, Mullman says it will work on all major smartphone platforms and with merchants of all sizes, including ecommerce companies. Other participating retailers include 7-Eleven, Best Buy, CVS, Lowe's, Publix, Sears, Sunoco, HMSHost, Hy-Vee, Alon, and Darden Restaurants. Together, the companies involved make annual sales of about $1tn.