Anti-poaching technology, more fires in Bangladeshi garment factories and Greenpeace scores Detox direct hit
WWF launches anti-poacher drones
WWF was recently presented with a $5m grant from Google, as part of the internet giant’s new Global Impact Awards, which recognise organisations with innovative, tech-savvy ideas that have the potential to deliver transformational impact. For WWF, the grant will support its efforts to combat the illegal poaching of endangered species such as rhinos, elephants and tigers, using new technology.
According to Crawford Allan, WWF’s North American director of the wildlife trade monitoring programme (Traffic), the first phase of the project will test aerial surveillance technologies equipped with sensors to detect poachers on the ground, and determine the most economical and easy-to-use technologies for anti-poaching teams.
WWF is also working to combine the power of new animal tagging technology with remote aerial survey systems and ranger patrolling, to increase the likelihood of catching (and deterring) poachers operating in vulnerable regions such as Africa and Asia.
“Poaching has become a problem of epic proportions and, as such, it requires a big, innovative solution,” says Allan. “Google’s grant to WWF supports our efforts to integrate the best technologies – something Google itself has mastered – and develop an ‘umbrella of technology’ that protects Earth’s greatest wildlife treasures, and end this conservation crime that threatens both people and the planet.
Retailers detox after Greenpeace campaign
After a major social media blitz, Greenpeace has compelled high street fashion brands Zara, Esprit, Mango and Levi’s to join its global Detox campaign to eliminate the release of all hazardous chemicals by 2020, and disclose the chemicals its suppliers are currently releasing from their facilities.
Late last year, Greenpeace released its Toxic Threads: The Big Fashion Stitch Up report, which tested 141 products made by 20 leading brands such as Zara, Victoria’s Secret, Calvin Klein, Levi’s, Mango, and Giorgio Armani. The study found residues of hazardous chemicals in every item tested, including nonylphenol ethoxylates which, when released into the environment (for example in water), break down to form toxic, hormone-altering chemicals that can endanger wildlife.
As part of the Detox campaign, Greenpeace is asking retailers to provide a clear timeline and plan for identifying and phasing out such toxic chemicals, says John Deans, a Greenpeace toxics campaigner.
“Companies from all industries need to recognise that it is unacceptable to pollute the world’s waterways in order to make consumer products,” says Deans. “It is experts in corporate social responsibility that are going to have to work with corporations to make the necessary changes that will protect rivers around the world.”
Bangladesh fire sounds activist alarm
In the wake of a major fire at Tazreen Fashions, a garment factory near Dhaka, Bangladesh, the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) is working with trade unions and labour rights organisations to demand recourse by the factory’s retail buyers, including C&A, Dickies, Disney, Edinburgh Woollen Mill, KIK, Li & Fung, Sears Holding, Sean Comb, and Wal-Mart.
The fire was probably caused by an electrical short circuit, which ultimately took 112 lives. Because the windows were barred (to prevent theft), and there was an insufficient number of emergency exits, many workers were left trapped inside the burning building. CCC reports that the factory managers initially stopped workers from leaving, deeming the fire warning a false alarm.
The groups are now calling on the buyer brands to support a thorough and transparent investigation into the fire, provide full compensation to the victims, and sign the Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Agreement, to ensure the right protocols are in place to prevent such deadly fires from recurring.
Thus far, the brands’ responses have been insufficient, according to Ineke Zeldenrust at CCC. While the organisation has been in contact with most of the brands, and some have agreed to offer compensation, the sum is far too low to meet the needs of the victims, many of whom are currently receiving inadequate medical care for their injuries.
Several brands also announced that they would investigate their operations and improve their auditing schemes, but Zeldenrust says this would be “more of the same, and thereby unlikely to make a difference”. None of the brands have met with the trade unions representing the Tazreen workers, or signed the Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Agreement.
So why the hesitation?
“I think part of the reason is that the brands are trying to hide behind the employers’ association, and to a certain extent the government, because it will enable them to continue with business as usual instead of taking the structural measures needed, [which] will cost money and necessitate a different way of organising their sourcing,” says Zeldenrust.