Resource Sustainability

Palm oil processors top plantations in destroying proboscis monkey habitat (8 Jan)

The oil palm processing industry has overtaken palm plantations as the biggest cause of the loss of habitat for the endangered proboscis monkey in Indonesia’s Balikpapan Bay. A new study pinpoints the shift to 2007, when suitable land for palm oil plantations ran out and there was a boom in building the industry and infrastructure to process and ship out the commodity. Plantations continue to be a key factor in the loss of habitat, with RSPO-certified companies clearing proboscis monkey habitat despite such activity being prohibited under the terms of the sustainability scheme. The area continues to face further threats with plans for greater industrial expansion and the development of a new capital city nearby.

Sources: Mongabay

Climate change: Australia fires will be ‘normal’ in warmer world

UK scientists say the recent fires in Australia are a taste of what the world will experience as temperatures rise. Last year was Australia’s warmest and driest year on record. While natural weather patterns have driven recent fires, researchers said it’s “common sense” that human-induced heating is playing a role. UK researchers have carried out a rapid analysis of the impact of climate change on the risk of wildfires happening all over the world. Their study looked at 57 research papers published since the last major review of climate science came out in 2013. All the studies in the review showed links between climate change and the increased frequency or severity of fire weather. This is defined as those periods of time which have a higher risk of fire due to a combination of high temperatures, low humidity, low rainfall and high winds.

Sources: BBC

Carbon concession linked to fires sealed off (13 Jan)

The Indonesian Environment and Forestry Ministry has sealed off the PT Rimba Makmur Utama (RMU) ecosystem restoration concession (Jan 6) because it is linked to peat fires raging across an area equivalent to 1,700 soccer fields in its concession which spans two regencies in Central Kalimantan province. The RMU concession, which is twice the size of Singapore and home to Bornean orangutans, is also known as the Katingan Mentaya project. This carbon finance-based concession also endured burning in 2015, while last year it was struck by haze-causing peat fires from August until early November.

Sources: Foresthints

Malaysian PM Mahathir defends criticism of India’s citizenship law despite palm oil backlash (14 Jan)

India, the world’s biggest buyer of edible oils, last week changed rules that traders say effectively ban imports of refined palm oil from Malaysia, the world’s second-biggest producer and exporter of palm oil after Indonesia. Malaysia is concerned about India’s new curbs on imports of palm oil after a diplomatic row, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Tuesday (Jan 14), but indicated he would continue to speak out against “wrong things” even if it costs his country financially.

Sources: Channel News Asia

Green Finance

JetBlue says to go carbon neutral by July 2020 (6-7 Jan)

JetBlue Airways Corp announced it plans to become carbon neutral on all domestic flights by July 2020 and would use an alternative fuel source for flights leaving San Francisco. The announcement comes as consumers are increasingly focused on the environmental impact of flying. The carrier said it is relying on an existing partnership with Carbonfund.org, as well as the companies EcoAct and South Pole to reach its new goal. JetBlue also said it will support solar and wind-powered electricity farms, the capture of gas from landfill and forestry projects, among others, to offset an additional 7 to 8 million metric tons in emissions each year – representing the company’s entire carbon footprint from aviation. JetBlue is not the first airline to outline plans for becoming carbon neutral, but it is the first US-based airline to target becoming carbon neutral. Other airlines, however, do have carbon offsetting programmes, including Delta and United.

Sources: CNBC, The Business Times, Reuters

China must cancel new coal plants to achieve climate goals: Study (7 Jan)

A study by the Chinese government-backed Energy Research Institute and the University of Maryland Center for Global Sustainability calls for China to end the construction of all new coal-fired power plants to meet long-term climate goals in the most economically feasible manner. At present, the country has more than 1,000 GW of coal-fired power, comprising about 60 percent of its total installed generation capacity. While Beijing promised last year to show the “highest possible ambition” when drawing up new climate pledges for the coming decade, it has built 42.9 GW of new coal-fired power capacity since the start of 2018, with another 121 GW under construction. A research institute run by the State Grid Corp found that China will still need 1,250 GW to 1,400 GW of coal-fired power over the long term to guarantee stable electricity supplies.

Sources: The Business Times, Reuters, Al Jazeera

Shareholders pile pressure on Barclays to cut fossil fuel financing (8 Jan)

A group of Barclays shareholders comprising eleven institutional investors, have filed a resolution to be voted on at Barclays’ annual meeting in May, requiring the bank to set out plans to stop providing all financial services to firms not aligned with the Paris climate agreement. The Barclays resolution will mark the first time a European bank has faced such shareholder action on fossil fuel financing. It calls on Barclays to go further than its previous public commitments to combat climate change by forcing it to set specific targets. ShareAction, the charity that has coordinated the shareholders, said Barclays was singled out because it lags behind its peers and ranks as the biggest financier of fossil fuel companies in Europe.

Sources: The Financial Times, The Busines Times, Reuters, The Guardian  

BlackRock joins US$41 trillion investor climate campaign (10 Jan)

BlackRock, the world’s largest fund manager, has joined Climate Action 100+, an initiative known to cajole companies to detail exactly how climate change will affect their business. This brings total assets under management by its members to more than US$41 trillion. The group already has some notable victories in its campaign of engagement with corporate giants that account for more than two-thirds of global industrial emissions. Observers pointed out that BlackRock’s involvement “sends a powerful signal to companies to reduce emissions, improve corporate governance and strengthen their disclosure”. This is because the New York-based asset manager is among the largest holders of nearly every public company and its support could have made the difference in getting some shareholder climate resolutions majority support.

Sources: The Business Times, The Straits Times, Bloomberg

Social Sustainability

Rise of Chinese-only prostitution catches Philippines by surprise (12 Jan)

Nearly 300 Chinese sex workers and their clients were rounded up in raids by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Philippine National Police on 12 brothels in six cities in the second half of 2019. Agents believe all the raided premises were being run by mainland Chinese, for Chinese clients. The managers and owners of these brothels are to be jailed and charged with human trafficking and the Chinese women will be sent to shelters, their passports confiscated and referred to the immigration bureau.

The sudden proliferation of Chinese prostitution is tied to the explosive growth of Philippine offshore gaming operators, or Pogos, online gambling companies based in the Philippines that cater to players in China, where gambling is illegal. Since coming to power in 2016, President Duterte has bet heavily on Pogos as a lucrative income source for the Philippines. Not only does the government appear to be struggling to control the industry, but officials have also been caught unprepared by the knock-on effects the Pogos are having. Alongside the companies, hundreds of thousands of Chinese citizens have streamed into the Philippines seeking employment with them, many as undocumented workers. Prostitution is increasing because of the increasing number of Pogo workers who require such services. Additionally, many sex workers were themselves victims of the illegal gambling trade – having lost money, they turn to prostitution to pay off their debts.

Source: SCMP

Workers, students continue to protest omnibus bill (14 Jan)

Hundreds of Indonesians representing seven labor unions and organizations, including student groups continue to demonstrate against the government’s omnibus bill on job creation. They argue that the bill will benefit businesses more than workers and that the government is putting the people’s welfare at risk for the sake of economic growth and attracting investment. The bill may have been prompted by the World Bank’s ease of doing business index, which ranked Indonesia 73^rd and stated that the country’s rigid employment and minimum wage regulations are among the factors causing the country’s stagnating rank.

The government is still formulating the bill and plans to submit it to the House of Representatives to begin deliberations this month. While few details have been officially announced, bits of information about what might be included in the labor reform bill have trickled out onto the Internet. For example, in a bid to improve labor market flexibility, the bill will introduce flexible-hours work and allow hourly pay, effectively undermining minimum wage and creating longer working days. The bill could also possibly result in the abandonment of labor rights such as the need to provide severance pay, insurance and healthcare to employees. Easier hiring and firing principles will also be discussed.

Source: The Jakarta Post

PayPal offers up financial data to combat human trafficking (17 Jan)

Trafficking results in modern slavery which generates $150 billion a year in illegal profits, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO). Banks and other financial institutions are under pressure to stop traffickers from laundering cash and, on Thursday, a United States a leading advocacy group, Polaris, said it would work with Paypal to identify red flag transactions. PayPal will share its financial data with Polaris to try and stop human traffickers from moving funds on the digital money transfer platform.

Rights groups have pushed for greater collaboration between governments, companies and non-profits to tighten the noose on traffickers. PayPal and Polaris coming together is a great example of private and non-profit entities joining forces to achieve a positive social impact that neither party could fully realize on their own. Notably, last year, dozens of banks signed up to a United Nations program to offer trafficking survivors accounts and debit cards, tools they may lack if their captor stole their financial identity or ruined their credit.

Source: Reuters