Apple has admitted that child labour was used at the factories that build its computers, iPods and mobile phones. At least eleven 15-year-old children were discovered to be working last year in three factories which supply Apple. The company did not name the offending factories, or say where they were based, but the majority of [...]

Mitsubishi Power Systems Europe (MPSE) is investing £100m in offshore wind turbine research in Britain and will create up to 200 jobs by 2014. The plan is one of several boosts to Britain’s wind industry in recent weeks, raising hopes that the UK manufacturing sector will cash in on the rapid expansion needed to meet [...]

The Church of Scotland has branded the decision by Lloyds Banking Group to halt funding to it charitable arm as “unacceptable and shameful”. Cutting cash to the Lloyds TSB Foundation in Scotland will bring to an end a 25-year-relationship that has seen £85 million donated to Scottish charities. Funding will end in nine years. The [...]

The head of the Childhood Obesity Foundation says the association of corporations such as McDonald’s and Coca-Cola with the Olympics sends an unhealthy message to children. Although Olympic organizers promote physical activity and positive health spinoffs from the games, increased consumption of sweet drinks and fast food could have the opposite effect, said Dr. Tom [...]

C’est l’exploitation illégale et illicite des métaux utilisés dans la fabrication des téléphones mobiles, des ordinateurs et d’autres appareils électroniques dans l’Est de la RDC, qui finance les conflits dans cette partie du territoire congolais. L’ONG britannique Global Witness l’a dénoncé lundi à Barcelone, en Espagne, à l’occasion de l’ouvertue du congrès mondial de la [...]

Wall Street tactics akin to the ones that fostered subprime mortgages in America have worsened the financial crisis shaking Greece and undermining the euro  by enabling European governments to hide their mounting debts. As worries over Greece rattle world markets, records and interviews show that with Wall Street’s help, the nation engaged in a decade-long [...]

Liberia has launched a corporate responsibility forum to help rebuild the war-shattered nation. The public private partnership said “sustainable and responsible business practices” should aid development. “We want to rebuild the entrepreneurial class in the country,” Joseph Mathews, chief of ArcelorMittal Liberia, told BBC News in an exclusive interview. The steel giant is investing $1.5bn [...]

Have you been to Times Square lately? You may have seen this Best Buy billboard. At first glance, it looks like just another billboard made out of funky bric-a-brac, but look a bit closer and you’ll notice that it’s made out of old electronics, including VHS players, bulky computer monitors, and all sorts of other [...]

La société civile a exigé aux autorités de Bandundu la libération des 26 villageois arrêtés à Inongo après avoir été invités par la société forestière Sodefor pour chercher leurs biens selon la convention signée entre les deux parties. Le Réseau Ressources Naturelles (RRN), Organisation concertée des écologistes et amis de la nature (OCEAN), Southern african [...]

Covalence Ethical Snapshots are monthly profiles of companies for finance professionals who use extra-financial information in their decision-making. These one-pagers can be ordered on a single or subscription basis, for a company, a sector or the full universe (581 companies within 18 sectors). This product is available at covalence.ch/shop, as well as on major financial [...]