Covalence SA » News

Deutsche Telekom introduces a “women’s quota”

info — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 22:53:52 +0000

Deutsche Telekom, the company behind T-Mobile, has announced plans to introduce a “women’s quota” – ensuring 30% of its management positions are filled by women by the end of 2015. The move will make Deutsche Telekom the first Dax 30 company to introduce a women’s quota. The firm said it plans to ensure that 30% of its upper and middle management positions worldwide are filled by women and said it “expects to add value to the company in the long term with greater diversity at management level.” “Taking on more women in management positions is not about the enforcement of misconstrued egalitarianism. It is a matter of social fairness and a categorical necessity for our success. Having a greater number of women at the top will quite simply enable us to operate better,” said Deutsche Telekom’s CEO René Obermann. Kristina Schröder, Federal Minister for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, praised Deutsche Telekom’s initiative, said: “Women have long since established themselves in the working world. But when it comes to important decision-making, men still rule the roost. More…

News selected by Covalence | Country: Global | Company – Ethical Quote link: Deutsche Telekom | Source: ICM

Anheuser-Busch InBev to make ‘green’ beer by cutting down on water

info — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 22:13:17 +0000

Budweiser brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev plans to start making watered-down beer — as in cutting down water usage in its production process to help make the company’s operations more eco-friendly. By the end of 2012, the company plans to whittle down its worldwide water use by 30% to 3.5 hectoliters of water for each hectoliter of product. Each hectoliter is about 26.4 gallons. In 2007, each hectoliter of production required 5.03 hectoliters of water. The company’s brewery in Cartersville, Ga., has already reached the 3.1-hectoliter mark. Reaching the goal would be the equivalent of saving enough water to fill 25,000 Olympic-size swimming pools, Anheuser-Busch InBev said. Since 2000, the brewer has already decreased water use by nearly 37%, it said. More…

News selected by Covalence | Country: USA | Company – Ethical Quote link: Anheuser-Busch InBev | Source: Los Angeles Times

P&G Expands ‘Future Friendly’ Marketing Effort

info — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:57:01 +0000

Procter & Gamble is expanding its Future Friendly marketing effort that promotes environmental responsibility under the guise of consumer education. P&G, which owns Tide, Pampers, PUR and Duracell, among other brands, first introduced Future Friendly at the 2009 Clinton Global Initiative in September of 2009. Now, with a full marketing launch kicking off the week of March 29, P&G hopes to reach or exceed its original pledge of providing conservation education to at least 50 million U.S. households by the end of 2010. In addition to television advertising and an extensive social networking and consumer engagement component, more than 15,000 retail locations will participate in the initial phase of Future Friendly. More…

News selected by Covalence | Country: USA | Company – Ethical Quote link: Procter & Gamble | Source: Environmental Leader

Google vs. China: Claws Come Out, Search Giant Sounds Like Sovereign Nation

info — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:51:03 +0000

The spat between Google and the Chinese government has been rumbling along for weeks, but just now it’s been elevated to “fist fight” status: The inevitable strongly-worded Chinese warning about “consequences” has arrived. The warning came today from the Minister of Industry and IT, Li Yizhong, who was speaking to reporters at the annual National People’s Congress meeting. Li was, of course, diplomatic about the matter and noted that the government does actually support Google in its efforts to “expand is business and market share in China.” But then the gloves came off: “If [Google] violates Chinese laws it would be unfriendly and irresponsible and [it] will definitely be responsible for the consequences.” This is the most direct threat yet toward the global search engine giant, and highlights that the Chinese government is not going to budge one millimeter from its official legal position. If Google, for whatever reason, decides to stop censoring its search results which it currently does to comply with the strict Dark Ages-style active censorship laws the Chinese demand, then China will simply snip off access to Google, and really won’t care about the matter. More…

News selected by Covalence | Country: Global | Company – Ethical Quote link: Google | Source: Fast Company

Tropicana: Trying to Make a Greener Orange Juice

info — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:31:10 +0000

How green is your orange juice? A couple of years ago, PepsiCo, which owns the orange-juice brand Tropicana, tried to size up the carbon footprint of the popular morning tonic. It found that each half-gallon carton of OJ is responsible for 3.75 lbs. of CO2. What was particularly surprising was where much of that CO2 was coming from. The single biggest contributor to Tropicana’s carbon footprint wasn’t the transport of the juice to stores, or the energy required to operate a modern citrus farm. Rather, it was the fertilizer being used to grow the orange trees. A great deal of natural gas is used to make nitrogen fertilizer, and a great deal of fertilizer is used on citrus trees — so much so that fertilizer accounted for 35%, the largest share, of the carbon footprint of orange juice. “We thought it might be transport or packaging,” says Tim Carey, director of sustainability and beverages for PepsiCo. “But the agricultural aspects of the operation are more important than we expected.” (See the top 10 green ideas of 2009.). More…

News selected by Covalence | Country: Nigeria | Company – Ethical Quote link: PepsiCo | Source: Time

Unholy alliance: green NGO’s buddy up with big corporations

info — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:05:04 +0000

Nature Conservancy, Conservation International, WWF, Sierra Club — are the biggest environmental NGO’s losing credibility by receiving funds from major corporations? While at Copenhagen I found myself faced with a troubling reality — as more and more corporations realize there is a wealth opportunity in climate and environmental initiatives, they are starting to throw big dollars at environmental NGO’s to help them green up.The only problem is that both are now walking the fine line between greening and greenwashing . Nature Conservancy, Conservation International, WWF, Sierra Club– all have taken on substantial corporate dollars. Some of those dollars are going to great things. Take WWF whoseClimateSavers initiative which is helping big corporations like IBM, JohnsonDiversey, CocaCola, HP reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. But some of that money might end up hurting the environment. Take WWF’s unholy alliance with IKEA , which forced them to release a press statement that essentially relieved IKEA of its corporate responsibility when it wrongly reported that its wood was not taken from endangered forests, which of course it was. More…

News selected by Covalence | Country: USA | Company – Ethical Quote link: IBM, Coca-Cola Co., HP, IKEA | Source: Mother Nature Network

Unilever budgets N25m for water, sanitation

info — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:28:56 +0000

Unilever Plc says it has set aside N25.2m to sink boreholes and construct toilets to demonstrate its commitment to the water, sanitation and hygiene campaign. The company’s Managing Director, Mr Thomas Boedinger, disclosed this on Tuesday at Okpoga, Benue State, during a WASH campaign organised in conjunction with WaterAid Nigeria, a non-government organisation. The campaign was organised for primary schools in Okpokwu, Ogbadibo and Ado local government areas of Benue State. Represented by Mr Yemi Adeboye, Boedinger said the campaign was “a concrete testimony’’ of Unilever’s concern for the welfare of its customers. He said the partnership with WaterAid have had positive impact on some communities in the three local government areas, as well as in some communities in Langtang, Plateau State and others in Ogun State. Image: wateraid.org. More…

News selected by Covalence | Country: Nigeria | Company – Ethical Quote link: Unilever | Source: The Punch

Golden State Warriors And Verizon Wireless Team Up To Call A Timeout On Domestic Violence In California

info — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:19:06 +0000

The Golden State Warriors and Verizon Wireless invite fans to go ‘green’ and help curb domestic violence in the community. Fans attending the Warriors home game against the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday, March 11 can donate their used wireless phones and accessories to the Verizon Wireless HopeLine® phone recycling program. Drop boxes will be located near the box office and on the concourse. (…) Verizon Wireless and the Golden State Warriors also partnered with the Family Violence Prevention Fund to host a Coaching Boys into Men(SM) seminar. Coaching Boys into Men is a Coaches Leadership Program that partners with athletic coaches to help young male athletes practice respect towards themselves and others. In January, more than 100 Bay Area high school basketball coaches attended the event and learned how to use their platform to help young athletes build healthy relationships and serve as role models of respect and integrity in their schools and communities. Image: endabuse.org. More…

News selected by Covalence | Country: USA | Company – Ethical Quote link: Verizon | Source: Verizon

« Des syndicalistes colombiens ont réussi à faire asseoir Coca-Cola à la table des négociations »

info — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:17:05 +0000

Dans « L’affaire Coca-cola », diffusé lors du festival international du film des droits de l’homme*, le réalisateur canadien d’origine colombienne, Germán Gutiérrez suit pendant trois ans l’action de deux avocats américains qui se battent pour que la responsabilité de la multinationale soit reconnue dans le meurtre de 8 syndicalistes colombiens (Sinaltrainal) travaillant dans une usine d’embouteillage de la marque, à la fin des années 90-début 2000. Rencontre avec Germán Gutiérrez et la productrice Carmen Garcia. More…

News selected by Covalence | Country: Global | Company – Ethical Quote link: Coca-Cola Co. | Source: Novethic.fr

IBM makes Earth-friendly plastic from plants

info — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:02:59 +0000

IBM researchers on Tuesday said they have discovered a way to make Earth-friendly plastic from plants that could replace petroleum-based products tough on the environment. The breakthrough promises biodegradable plastics made in a way that saves on energy, according to Chandrasekhar “Spike” Narayan, a manager of science and technology at IBM’s Almaden Research Center in Northern California. Almaden and Stanford University researchers said the discovery could herald an era of sustainability for a plastics industry rife with seemingly eternal products notorious for cramming landfills and littering the planet. “This discovery and new approach using organic catalysts could lead to well-defined, biodegradable molecules made from renewable resources in an environmentally responsible way,” IBM said in a release. More…

News selected by Covalence | Country: Global | Company – EthicalQuote link: IBM | Source: AFP