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Unilever:
Cleaning up the Brantas River [Indonesia] - The Brantas River project and
Unilever Indonesia’s Village Adoption Program are engaging local communities
in cleaning up polluted waterways where they reside, allowing them a healthier
environment in which to live and new income generating possibilities. This
partnership program, involving local government organizations and NGOs, has led
to a new model for rehabilitating rivers that the company is seeking to
replicate with other businesses and river communities throughout Indonesia.
(World Business Council for Sustainable Development)
Other
materials:
2003:
Dial
settles sex harassment suit [USA] - Lawsuit was among the largest brought by the
EEOC since 1994 Mitsubishi settlement - Dial Corp. Tuesday settled a sex
harassment lawsuit brought on behalf of 91 female workers at the household
products maker's Montgomery, Ill., soap-making plant (Reuters, 29
Apr. 2003)
Religious
Shareholders to Challenge PepsiCo To Report Effect of AIDS in Africa Operations
- Coalition's Resolution Asks Company for Report on Business Impact of AIDS -
Concerned PepsiCo shareholders today announced their sponsorship of a proxy
resolution asking the soft drink industry giant to report on how it plans to
deal with the business and employee impact of the AIDS pandemic in Africa. (MMA,
24 Apr. 2003)
The
UK Corporate Sustainability Reporting Awards [refers to The Co-operative Bank,
Shell, BT Group, Risk and Policy Analysts Ltd., Unilever, Scottish Power,
Canary Wharf Group, Best Foot Forward Ltd, FRC Group, Co-operative Insurance
Society, Traidcraft, British American Tobacco] (Tobias Webb, Ethical
Corporation Magazine, 25 Mar. 2003)
The
launch of the UK Corporate Responsibility Index - Toby Kent reports from the
launch of the BitC [Business in the Community] Corporate Responsibility Index,
highlighting its main components and the major issues it raises. (Toby Kent,
in Ethical Corporation Magazine, 14 Mar. 2003)
Global
Compact Participants Implementing Host of Supply Chain Initiatives - Reflecting
a growing trend within the Global Compact initiative, Tweezerman, a leading
manufacturer of personal-care products, announced that it plans to implement a
new supplier agreement that mandates adherence to the nine principles of the
Global Compact...Other companies that have submitted related examples [actively
incorporating the Global Compact principles into their supply chains] to the
Global Compact Learning Forum are: Petro-Canada, William E. Connor &
Associates, Bayer AG, Li & Fung (Trading) Ltd., Ericsson, Robert Stephen
Holdings, OneNest, and Engineers India Limited (U.N. Global Compact, 13 Mar.
2003)
Beyond
philanthropy - Roger Cowe looks at attempts by major corporations to tie social
opportunities into the very core of product and market development [refers to
Lattice work with young offenders & school truancy; Centrica recruitment of
disabled workers; BG Group funding a geosciences course at Univ. of West
Indies; EdF providing solar energy in Mali; Hewlett-Packard project in Sao
Paolo to bridge digital divide; National grid Transco work with young offenders;
Deutsche Bank’s experiments with micro-credit; HSBC’s development of Islamic
mortgage products; work by Barclays and LloydsTSB on diversity; Unilever “small
pack” initiative that makes detergents affordable to the poor, and its role in
creating the Marine Stewardship Council; Procter & Gamble developing
products which meet social needs] (Roger Cowe, in Ethical Corporation
Magazine, 28 Feb. 2003)
UNEP:
Agency Seeks More Appealing Environmental Message - UNEP praised KIA for a
British campaign urging people to use cars on long trips only and European
detergent makers for their Wash-Right campaign calling on people to wash clothes
at low temperatures (UN Wire, 5 Feb. 2003)
2002:
Companies
Will Pay for Polluting New Jersey Water [USA] - Nineteen polluters will together
pay a total of $3 million to compensate the state of New Jersey and East Hanover
Township for contamination of the local drinking water supply...The settling
parties are: Voltronics Corporation; G & F Management; Vincent and Irene
Muccione; Viscot Industries, Inc.; MCE/KDI Corporation; Colgate-Palmolive
Company; Deforest Investment Co. L.L.C.; Philomena Gasparine; Estate of Sylvio
Gasparine; Prime Fabricators, Inc.; Township of East Hanover; Novartis
Pharmaceuticals Corporation; Foster Wheeler Energy Corporation; Dorine
Industrial Park Partnership; Precision Rolled Products, Inc.; Phelps Dodge
Corporation (f/k/a Cyprus Amax Mineral Company); GTE Operations Support
Incorporated; Ingersoll-Rand Company and Royal Lubricants Company, Inc.
(Environment News Service, 25 Nov. 2002)
A
War Waiting to Be Fought -...Recently, the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC,
launched an attack on casualisation of the workforce in the country when it went
about picketing companies, which thrived in casual labour in addition to
operating a regime of poor working conditions....the NLC...has visited a number
of companies and told their operators to convert their casual workforce to
regular staff. In Lagos , the NLC officials visited Eleganza Industries
Limited, Dunlop Nigeria Limited, Afribank Nigeria plc and West African Household
and Utensils Manufacturing Company Limited, WAHUM with its picketing hammer.
Chevron Nigeria Limited and Statoil Company were
also picketed in the oil sector. The NLC also picketed factories of Unilever plc
in Agbara, Ogun State as well as the factories of Michelin Nigeria Limited in
Port Harcourt . (Obong Akpaekong, Newswatch
[Nigeria], 6 Oct. 2002)
Corporate
Responsibility: Myth or Reality? [includes references to initiatives by Bell
Helicopter, Bank of America, Wal-Mart, Caterpillar, ITT Industries, John Deere,
General Electric, Procter & Gamble, Sun Microsystems, Daimler-Chrysler]
(Otto J. Reich, U.S. Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Western Hemisphere
Affairs, Remarks to the Inter-American Development Bank Conference on
Corporate Social Governance, 23 Sep. 2002)
Household
chemicals warning - Many chemicals found routinely in products around the home
could be damaging our health...Artificial musks - used as fragrances in
perfumes, cosmetics and household goods....Phthalates - plastic softeners used
in many PVC products, such as children's toys, and in some cosmetics...Bisphenol
A - a component of resins used to line food cans...Organotins - heat stabilisers
used in approximately 8% of PVC products in Europe. Traces have also been found
in some brands of disposable nappies...The makers of Glade air fresheners, and
Dove and Physiosport shower gels contained artificial musks...Avon, Olay and Max
Factor nail varnishes contained phthalates, while several other manufacturers
said they were in the process of "phasing them out", including Boots,
L'Oreal, Lancome and Maybelline...Heinz, John West and Princes use Bisphenol A
to make food and drink cans, and it is an ingredient of most baby feeding
bottles in the UK, including those made by Boots, Mothercare, Tommee Tippee and
Avent. (BBC News, 1 Aug. 2002)
SC
Johnson Commits to Cutting GHG Emissions - SC Johnson – a manufacturer of
household products including Windex, Pledge, and Ziploc -- has announced a
commitment to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 5% per year through 2005,
as part of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change’s Business Environmental
Leadership Council. (GreenBiz.com, 27 June 2002)
MICRONUTRIENTS:
Public-Private Partnership Launches Major Initiative - Microsoft Chairman Bill
Gates and UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy along with several top-ranking
public and private leaders [including Procter & Gamble Chairman John Pepper]
joined together this morning to announce the launch of the Global Alliance for
Improved Nutrition, a partnership to fight micronutrient deficiency in the
developing world. (Michael Kitchen, UN Wire, 9 May 2002)
IBM
Tops List of 100 Best Corporate Citizens: In a survey by Business Ethics
magazine, some corporations shine in their commitment to diverse stakeholders -
A new survey from Business Ethics magazine ranks public companies based on their
relationship to...four groups of stakeholders [shareholders, employees,
customers, and community]...The top five companies, IBM, Hewlett Packard, Intel,
Procter & Gamble, and Herman Miller... (SocialFunds.com, 18 Apr.
2002)
Domini Social Investments announces 2002
shareholder proposals: Socially Responsible Firm Focuses on Sweatshops and the
Environment, Continues Push for Greater Corporate Transparency [refers to
resolutions filed and/or dialogue with: Gap; Sears, Roebuck; Disney; McDonald's;
Nordstrom; Merrill Lynch; Procter & Gamble; Coca-Cola; Pepsi; Emerson;
Cooper Industries; Household International; Johnson & Johnson] (Domini
Social Investments, 18 Apr. 2002)
Broadening
the Corporate Commitment to HIV and AIDS [refers to positive steps by Coca-Cola,
Hewlett-Packard, Unilever, Anglo American, BHP Billiton, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck,
DaimerChrysler, De Beers] (Business for Social
Responsibility, Apr. 2002)
Being
seen to be green helps corporate image: An FT survey that gave companies
plaudits for their environmental record included some surprise choices [includes
reference to Body Shop, BP, Royal Dutch/Shell, Toyota, Microsoft, Procter &
Gamble, Vivendi, Honda, Ford, Siemens, GE, IBM, Volkswagen, ExxonMobil, Ben
& Jerry's, McDonalds] (Michael Skapinker, Financial Times, 1 Feb.
2002)