Surveillance Capitalism

Airbnb Faces Blowback over Ban of West Bank Settlement Listings

January 11, 2019

Forbes reports that online rental company Airbnb is facing investigations and lawsuits following its decision to ban from its website listings for properties in Israeli settlements in the disputed West Bank territory.
Activists Eye “Attribution Science” as Climate Compensation Tool

January 11, 2019

Lawyer Stephanie Morton explains how campaigners on climate change are using an emerging field called “probabilistic event attribution science” to place various levels of blame on companies over their contributions to global warming with an eye to extracting resources from them to redistribute to alleged victims of their “climate impacts.”
EU Bans “Unfair” Supermarket Trading Practices

January 11, 2019

The activist organization Oxfam has applauded new EU rules prohibiting supermarkets from using “unfair trading practices,” such as unilateral changes to orders and to supply agreements, in their dealings with food suppliers inside and outside the EU.
EU Advances Ban on Broad Range of Plastic Items

January 11, 2019

Politico reports that negotiators from the European Parliament and European Council have reached an agreement to advance a “single-use plastics directive,” which will ban, beginning in 2021, broad categories of plastic items, including straws, plates, cutlery, and drinking cups made from a certain type of plastic, from circulation in the EU.
NGO Accuses Facebook of Rights Violations in Myanmar

January 10, 2019

A pressure group called Burma Campaign UK has listed Facebook among 49 companies it accuses of involvement in human rights violations and environmental degradation in Myanmar, citing the use of the tech giant’s social-media platform to “incite hatred and violence” against minorities in the country.
UN, Sports Groups Launch Climate Action Framework

January 10, 2019

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the International Olympic Committee, and other sports organizations have launched a Sports for Climate Action Framework aiming to reduce sports-related greenhouse gas emissions and use sporting events to promote the goals of the UN’s Paris climate accord and “sustainable development” agenda.
Businesses, NGOs Launch Fashion Climate Charter

January 10, 2019

A group of businesses and nongovernmental organizations have launched a Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action, a set of 16 principles and targets to be monitored and defined by 6 working groups seeking to “address the climate impact of the fashion sector across its entire value chain” in line with the UN’s Paris climate accord.
“Green New Deal” Plan Includes Vast Changes to Industry

January 09, 2019

Tom Elliott of Grabien examines the plan championed by newly elected House of Representatives Member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for a “Green New Deal,” which echoes the comprehensive UN Sustainable Development Goals in targeting a vast reorganization of American industry in pursuit of social and environmental goals.
UN, Partners Host Event on “Investment-Ready” Climate Projects

January 09, 2019

The UN Development Programme, the World Bank, and consulting company World Climate Ltd organized an inaugural “Investment Conference of Parties (COP)” at the recent UN climate summit in Poland pushing global and regional investors to fund projects aimed at combating the impacts of climate change.
UN Report Examines National Plastics Strategies

January 09, 2019

The UN Environment Programme has produced a report describing national efforts across the globe to limit and regulate the manufacture, sale, and use of so-called “single-use” plastics and microplastics to help guide research on future measures to combat the production and use of such plastics.