United States retailing giant Wal-Mart yesterday launched its own investigation into the findings of a New-York based human rights group, which levied serious labor abuse allegations against the company after inspecting five of its supplier factories in China. “We take such reports very seriously,” a statement from Wal-Mart said. “We will take prompt remedial action [...]

The US oil company, Chevron, on the auspices of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)/Chevron joint venture, on Thursday in Yenagoa in the Niger Delta donated internet facility and computer accessories to the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ). The donation was made in line with Chevron’s commitment to developing mutually beneficial partnerships and to improve [...]

UN member states should take strong action in response to new information about companies and individuals who trade in minerals from areas of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) controlled by armed groups, Global Witness said today. The latest report from the Group of Experts was submitted to the UN Security Council last [...]

Anti-smoking groups say they are outraged at the inclusion of British American Tobacco (BAT) in a best workplace competition. BAT’s participation in the JRA Best Workplace Awards, where it was a finalist in the small to medium workplace category, was a cynical corporate social responsibility stunt, said Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) director Ben [...]

Representatives of retail stores and the packaging industry told state environmental officials last week they shouldn’t ban disposable bags because voluntary efforts are increasing recycling and reducing the number of bags used. Their remarks at a Florida Department of Environmental Protection hearing followed the posting of [...]

Three major jewelry retailers today announced their decision to shun irresponsible gold mining and seek cleaner sources of gold and precious metals.  Sears Holdings (parent company of Sears and Kmart), Ultra Stores, and Blue Nile all signed the No Dirty Gold campaign’s Golden Rules for responsible sourcing of precious metals, bringing the total number of [...]

The move from the company more usually associated with expensive footwear and celebrity sponsorship was inspired by Bangladesh’s Nobel prize winner, Muhammad Yunus, the pioneer of micro-loans which help the poor start their own businesses. He told the company, which has been criticised for [...]

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is to donate 50 million doses of pandemic H1N1 vaccine to the World Health Organization (WHO) under an agreement signed at WHO headquarters in Geneva by the WHO Director-General, Dr Margaret Chan, and the Chief Executive Officer of GlaxoSmithKline, Mr Andrew Witty. “We welcome this very generous [...]

The Yadkin Riverkeeper® has announced that an internal document recently discovered indicates that Alcoa knew it had contamination in Badin Lake caused by its old smelting operation near the lake 12 years ago but hid that investigation from the public, indicating a pattern of deceit regarding its environmental record which continues to the present as [...]

M. Antoine Gabriel Kyungu wa Kumwanza, président de l’Assemblée provinciale du Katanga, invite toutes les entreprises minières opérant dans la province à suivre l’exemple de Tenke Fungurume Mining (TFM) en ce qui concerne le respect du code minier de la RDC. Cet appel a été lancé récemment à l’issue d’une [...]