Surveillance Capitalism

Cement Group Prioritizes Fulfillment of Climate Agenda

July 30, 2018

The World Cement Association recently hosted a Global Climate Change Forum at which it urged industry members to ramp up their investments in new technologies to reduce their climate impacts and has announced plans to develop a “climate change action plan” for the industry.
Initiative Seeks Investor Support for Fossil Fuel Divestment

July 30, 2018

According to the UN-supported initiative Climate Action 100+, the growing number of investor signatories to the initiative, aimed at placing pressure on “systemically important greenhouse gas emitters” to reduce their climate impacts, demonstrates the budding commitment by the financial industry to help fulfill the UN’s Paris climate deal.
NGO Creates Center for Sport and Human Rights

July 27, 2018

The Institute for Human Rights and Business has established a Center for Sport and Human Rights, with members including the International Federation of Association Football and the International Olympic Committee, to pressure businesses involved in sporting events to ensure compliance with the global human rights agenda.
Academic Questions Global Impact of “Social Bonds”

July 26, 2018

Professor David Kinley of Sydney University writes that, while “social bonds, which seek to encourage investment in “socially responsible” activity, are making an impact on global bond markets, they have so far failed to realize a substantial “halo effect” that leads to “sustainable” investing in other areas of these markets.
Dutch Insurers Sign “Social Responsibility” Agreement

July 26, 2018

As part of a broad initiative to bind Dutch industries to global social and environmental standards, a group of Dutch insurers has signed an agreement with nongovernmental organizations, the Dutch government, and others to engage in “socially responsible investing” and to avoid financing negative impacts to the environment.
Google Accounts for Human Rights Agenda in AI Principles

July 25, 2018

Under pressure from an activist community increasingly calling for a human rights focus in the development of artificial-intelligence (AI) technologies, tech giant Google has developed a set of AI principles restricting the use of this technology to contravene “widely accepted principles of international law and human rights.”
NGOs Push for Japanese Firms' Divestment from Coal

July 24, 2018

Environmental activist groups have warned they will closely monitor Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group’s actions following its President’s statement on reconsidering the company’s support of coal-fired power plants, stating that the only viable way forward for the company is a policy that “ceases all new lending to coal fired power generation and coal extraction.”
Dutch Food Industry Agrees to Supply-Chain Standards

July 23, 2018

Dutch government officials, businesses in the food sector, and nongovernmental organizations have signed an International Responsible Business Conduct (IRBC) Agreement setting out standards for Dutch food supply chains to comply with global environmental and human rights standards - the sixth such IRBC deal concluded across the country’s industries.
Businesses Seek UN Approval for Climate Plans

July 18, 2018

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change reports that over 114 companies around the world have submitted their action plans to combat global warming to the UN for approval under the Science Based Targets initiative, aimed at pressuring corporations to reduce their greenhouse-gas emissions in line with the UN’s Paris climate accord.
Business Group Launches Labor Guidelines for Engineering, Construction

July 16, 2018

A coalition of companies called Building Responsibly has published a set of Worker Welfare Principles, developed in consultation with “civil society stakeholders,” to establish a global “baseline” for labor rights in the engineering and construction industries aligned with international human rights standards.