Search Results for: Climate change

BY POORNA RODRIGO

Sweden’s Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) has told just-style global clothing brands are pressing the Bangladesh government to establish "a forum where buyers can raise concerns and discuss current topics", following waves of labour unrest.

An H&M spokesperson said Marks & Spencer, Walmart, The Gap and Carrefour joined it and 15 other buyers have been pressing Bangladesh labour minister Khandker Musharraf Hossain for a permanent liaison body.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has warned there is little time to develop new control systems for assessing and approving biocidal products now the European Union’s (EU) biocides directive is in force.

Its legal authority has been in place since July 17, and the paint and coatings sector must comply with its terms as soon as September 1, next year warned ECHA.…

BY WANG FANGQING, IN SHANGHAI

A new Chinese food information regulation in force from January 1 (2013) should change Chinese consumer behaviour, encouraging the purchase of healthier foods, a government health expert has told just-food. Part of a government programme to improve safety in an industry rocked by a series of contamination scandals, the Chinese ministry of health (MOH) published the new law on August 13.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission will postpone auctioning pollution permits sold under its emissions trading scheme (ETS) to potential further price falls, but has not decided how many allowances will be sold later. ETS permit prices are already depressed as Europe’s economic woes left oil and gas users with unused rights to emit carbon.…

NEW Zealand used to be known as an exporter of raw materials and food – butter, wool, lamb – but in recent years, its government has been trying hard to boost local entrepreneurs by streamlining business regulation. Ken Warren, the country’s chief accounting advisor to New Zealand’s government, has been front-and-centre in these reforms, providing officials and politicians with the necessary data to make bold decisions.…

BY ANDREW GREEN, IN KAMPALA

For publishers working in east Africa, textbooks spell survival, but two major western publishers have found recently that the ethical dilemmas of working in the region can be hard to navigate.

With fierce competition for those contracts and limited local oversight capacity, the industry is dogged by persistent rumors of requests for and payments of bribery, money paid to delay rival’s books and other forms of corruption.…

BY JONATHAN DYSON, IN LIMA

Peruvian andalusite producer Andalucita SA, which started operations three years ago, is capitalising on the growing demand for aluminosilicates, which are used in refractories and ceramics, with plans to almost double its production of the mineral and launch a major new product by next year.…

BY CARMEN PAUN, IN BRUSSELS

THE EUROPEAN automotive industry denounced the CO2 emissions targets for 2020 announced by Brussels yesterday as being too ambitious to be realistic. "These are tough targets – the toughest in the world", said Ivan Hodac, the secretary general of the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), reacting to the announcement of the European Commission, European Union’s (EU) executive body, that it would require new cars to emit on average 95g CO2 for each kilometer by 2020.…

BY ANDREW GREEN, IN KAMPALA

Uganda is undergoing a higher education boom. The result of introducing universal primary education in 1997 and universal secondary education a decade later is a surplus of students looking for a university placement. Uganda’s 30 public and private universities offer 50,000 spots for qualified secondary school graduates.…

BY CARMEN PAUN, IN BRUSSELS; DAVID HAYHURST, IN PARIS; MICHAEL KOSMIDES; AND KEITH NUTHALL

THE DEBATE about whether compulsion or voluntarism best aids energy efficiency is one of the oldest in the electricity sectors: do we save more energy by being ordered to switch off the lights; or by being advised our bills will fall if we do?…