Bin Laden Adds Climate Change to List of Grievances Against U.S.

Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda, blamed the United States and developed countries for not halting climate change and said that the global economy should immediately abandon its reliance on the American dollar, according to an audiotape released Friday by the broadcaster Al Jazeera.

“Talk about climate change is not an ideological luxury but a reality,” Mr. bin Laden was quoted as saying in a report on Al Jazeera’s English-language Web site. “All of the industrialized countries, especially the big ones, bear responsibility for the global warming crisis.”

The authenticity of the tape could not be immediately confirmed, and Al Jazeera, which is based in Qatar, did not say how it had obtained the message.

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Wind Power Has Another Banner Year

Despite a crippling recession and tight credit markets, the American wind power industry grew at a blistering pace in 2009, adding 39 percent more capacity. The country is close to the point where 2 percent of its electricity will come from wind turbines.

While that is still a small share, it is up from virtually nothing a few years ago. Continued growth at such a fast pace could help the nation lower its emissions of the gases that cause global warming.

The American Wind Energy Association, in its annual report to be released on Tuesday, said the amount of capacity added last year, 9,900 megawatts, was the largest on record, and was 18 percent above the capacity added in 2008, also a banner year.

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Challenge Ideas, Not People

Those who resist your ideas will undoubtedly outnumber your supporters at first, but persistence pays off. Begin by challenging “the way we’ve always done it.”

At the same time, you may find it uncomfortable to challenge those in authority. It’s a natural feeling. The trick is to challenge assumptions, not the individuals in positions of power. Focus on ideas, not personalities.

Push Back

Not all bosses want to be led. Some fear their authority will be undermined. Others are so insecure that leadership from below is a threat that must be stamped out at all cost.

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Cervecerías se unen para producir combustible con desechos

Cervecerías californianas destinan miles de toneladas de su desperdicio anual para un novedoso proyecto de producir combustible a partir de los desechos industriales.

Karl Strauss Brewing Company, con sede en San Diego, es una de tres cervecerías californianas que en asociación con la compañía ecológica GreenHouse provee unas 29.000 toneladas de su desperdicio anual para convertir el alcohol residual en etanol.

“Cuando se empezó este proyecto y se vio lo valioso que era la levadura residual nos preguntaron si podíamos ser unos de sus miembros fundadores”, dijo a Efe Melody Daversa, gerente de mercadotecnia de Karl Strauss.

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Stop Eating Meat and Save the Planet?

Delegates arriving at the gates of the climate conference in Copenhagen last month were met by women in furry animal suits holding placards showing pictures of lambs, cows and pigs and warning, “Don’t Eat Me.”

The women were representatives of Ching Hai, the leader of a group that advocates adherence to Buddhist precepts, including following vegan or vegetarian diets.

As they lined up for hours in freezing conditions, many of the delegates seemed grateful for the neatly wrapped snacks — meat-free sandwiches — that the women were handing out free.

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Los 10 pasos para una oficina verde, inteligente y menos costosa

Sí hay un interés común en todas las empresas, se trata sin duda de la reducción de gastos.

Además, para algunos, las oficinas verdes son sinónimo de oficinas inteligentes, lo que también es un excelente argumento para atraer nuevos clientes.

Por ello, le brindamos 10 consejos que pueden ayudarlo a disminuir los gastos en la oficina y “enverdecer” su empresa:

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Davos 2010 - Race Is on to Develop Green, Clean Technology

It is shaping up to be the Great Game of the 21st century. To top officials and business executives here at the World Economic Forum, Topic A this year was the race to develop greener, cleaner technology, which is emerging as one of the critical factors in reshaping the world economy as emerging powers snap at the heels of battered Western economies.

With the United States and China sizing each other up across the Pacific and Europe seeking to maintain its economic stature, it is a battle for potentially millions of jobs and trillions of dollars in export revenues. The outcome — which pits a venture capital-driven market approach relying on government subsides against a top-down system of state capitalism — has the potential to influence how economic and political systems evolve.

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An Employee Happiness Revival: Five Ways Leaders Can Help Put the Spring Back into Their Workers' Steps

An Employee Happiness Revival: Five Ways Leaders Can Help Put the Spring Back into Their Workers' Steps

Redefine the vision for your company in 2010. Get clear about where you're going and enroll others in the campaign. It's time for leaders to pull those dreams out of the mothballs and create a new and bold vision for their organization. They should also redefine performance and behavioral expectations (core values) for their people. These aspects of business are often watered down or forgotten about completely during a downturn. But the fact is, it motivates people to know where they're going and what is expected of them along the way-as well as what's in it for them when they reach the destination.

"Without clarity of vision, core values, and performance expectations, you have chaos in the cubicles as people run on their own agendas-and unwittingly work against one another-since the leader failed to create a common vision that unites the team," says Anderson

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Value Creation: The Ultimate Goal of Innovation

Why innovate?

Some would argue that companies innovate to achieve a heightened competitive advantage, streamline the organization, or create intellectual property - including patents, trademarks and other protected property - that create value in the portfolio.

Many reasons and rationales can be argued for the pursuit of innovation. Yet no purpose for or result from innovation can be more compelling than Value Creation. This metric is the ultimate measure of return on investment when measuring innovation's role in creating value.

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Climate bill setback forces clean development rethink

Still reeling from disappointing UN climate talks in Copenhagen in December, clean energy project developers were dealt another blow this week when U.S. Democrats lost their Senate supermajority, potentially killing a federal cap-and-trade scheme for years to come.

Although the passage of a U.S. bill to cap greenhouse gas emissions in 2010 was far from certain, the election of a Republican in Massachusetts to the Senate on Tuesday derailed any momentum President Obama had following his healthcare push toward introducing a cap-and-trade scheme this year.

This, coupled with a disappointing UN climate summit in the Danish capital last month where leaders from over 190 countries failed to agree a legally-binding pact to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, is causing concern for some clean energy project developers and forcing them to reassess their game plan.

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Informe de riesgos 2010 del Foro Económico Mundial

El Foro Económico Mundial (FEM) celebra su próximas reuniones anuales a finales de este mes con una agenda amplísima. Para preparar estas reuniones, publican estudios de muchos de los temas a tratar y, una año más, han publicado su Informe de riesgos (PDF en inglés).

Es un muy buen Estudio donde detallan muchos de los riesgos que el mundo experimentará durante este año, y nos da muchas relaciones entre ellos, con cuadros de interrelaciones muy interesantes.

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Polémica por el uso de animales en los circos: ¿espectáculo o crueldad?

* El PSOE valenciano ha presentado una moción, que se debatirá en el pleno municipal, para prohibir estos espectáculos en la capital.
* Los empresarios del circo temen una reducción drástica de público.
* La iniciativa ya ha sido aprobada en una veintena de municipios.

Los circos con animales salvajes podrían tener los días contados en Valencia. Ése es al menos el propósito con el que parte una moción que ha presentado este jueves el PSOE valenciano, junto a la asociación en defensa de los animales AnimaNaturalis. La iniciativa será debatida por el pleno municipal, que se reunirá en la capital del Turia el próximo 29 de enero.

"Es una realidad evidente que los animales salvajes son maltratados en el circo", explica Juan Soto, concejal del grupo socialista, a 20minutos.es. En estos espectáculos los animales son sometidos "a entrenamientos con técnicas de castigo, a viajes largos y a aptitudes antinaturales, como saltar por un aro de fuego", sostiene Soto.

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Study: Companies Fare Better Long Term When Hiring a CEO from Within

According to a new study from Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business, when a company wants to appoint a new CEO for strategic changes, it would be better off in the long term by promoting someone from inside the company rather than hiring someone from the outside.

The study looked at the tenure and performance history of 193 CEOs in the industrial sector between 1993 and 1998. The researchers found that in the first few years of tenure, there is very little difference between the performances of CEOs promoted from within a company and CEOs hired from the outside. However, in later years, internally promoted CEOs outperformed externally hired CEOs.

“Newly appointed CEOs, both outsiders and insiders, tend to make changes, and it may take years to observe the performance impact of the changes,” Anthea Zhang, study coauthor, said. “Therefore, the relative advantage or disadvantage between ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ CEOs in initiating and implementing appropriate strategic changes is not seen immediately.”

See full Details.

Stepping Up the Fight Against Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing

The international community has made the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing a priority. The IMF is especially concerned about the possible consequences of money laundering and the financing of terrorism on our members’ economies and on international financial stability.

The IMF’s Legal Department has the lead on the Fund’s work in combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism, and our work includes assessments of countries’ compliance with the international standard on anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT), technical assistance, research, and policy development.

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Changing Times: Global Governance Reform and the IMF

The economic and financial crisis of the past two years has placed in high relief profound changes in global economic and financial realities. Most notably, the crisis has underscored the shift in relative economic weight in favor of dynamic emerging market economies. In response, the G-20— a grouping that includes both advanced and large emerging economies—has stepped forward as the premier political venue for addressing economic and financial policy challenges.

These changes are exerting significant influence on the evolution of global governance, and they directly involve the IMF in two concrete ways. First, new advances are taking place in multilateral economic policy cooperation, with Fund participation. Second, realignment of Fund governance has been put on a fast track, with delivery scheduled for January 2011.

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CEPAL y BID colaboran en el estudio de la economía del cambio climático en América del Sur

La Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL) y el Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID) iniciaron un proceso de colaboración en estudios sobre la economía del cambio climático en ocho países de América del Sur.

A partir de un convenio de cooperación, ambas instituciones contemplan realizar estudios nacionales y uno regional con el fin de sensibilizar a los tomadores de decisiones de los sectores público y privado de los países sobre la necesidad de adelantar acciones de mitigación y adaptación al cambio climático.

Con la colaboración del BID y otras instituciones, la CEPAL coordinará la asistencia técnica para la realización de estos estudios, que se completarán durante 2010.

Ver Nota de Prensa completa.

Obra social de entidades financieras: analizada la dotación a iniciativas sociales de 21 cajas de ahorro y cinco bancos españoles

·Las cajas de ahorro destinan a iniciativas sociales una proporción de los beneficios 15 veces mayor que la de los bancos.
·El porcentaje de beneficios para obra social de las dos grandes cajas se ha reducido drásticamente en los cinco últimos años.
·El dinero dedicado al apartado sanitario-asistencial ha crecido un 63% en detrimento del ámbito cultural y de tiempo libre

El destino de los beneficios de las cajas de ahorro se bifurca en dos vías: la de la garantía de solvencia y la de la solidaridad. Así lo marca la ley. Cuando la confianza y los resultados positivos imperan, el dinero fluye con más facilidad por la senda de las obras sociales. Cuando la incertidumbre y la inquietud brotan en la cuenta de resultados, la prudencia, la presión institucional y la de los propios clientes limitan la vertiente filantrópica. Ésta es precisamente la dirección que han tomado las principales cajas de ahorro de nuestro país, tal y como ha comprobado CONSUMER EROSKI tras el análisis de la cuantía y características de la obra social de 21 de las 46 entidades españolas.

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China doubles wind power in 1 year

China has doubled the amount of energy generated from windmills last year, a report from the global wind industry said Wednesday.

The Global Wind Energy Council, which represents companies that make and manage wind power stations, said the sector grew rapidly last year — with total wind capacity up 31% — despite the economic downturn.

The market for new wind turbines was worth $63 billion in 2009, it said.

China became the biggest market for new wind turbines last year, as it doubled power capacity from 12 gigawatts to 25 gigawatts. The world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases is turning to renewables as well as coal as its growing economy calls for more power.

See full Article.

There’s nothing wrong with inequality

A report detailing the gap between Britain’s rich and poor has been met with universal shock and promises to narrow the divide. But why? Isn’t inequality not only inevitable but desirable?

Even Tories reacted to the report by condemning the inequality gap with no apology for widening it when last in power and plans to widen it further when they return. But why do they think we should all earn the same? Are they Conservatives or Communists?

Surely inequality is the healthy outcome of people wanting to improve their circumstances? Some people will do better than others, either through opportunity, ability or inclination. Taxing the rich to subsidise the poor may be socially necessary (the poor cannot be abandoned and who else is there to tax but richer people) but it should not be an objective.

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Afganos pagan US$2.500 millones en sobornos

Los afganos han pagado unos US$2.500 millones en sobornos durante los últimos 12 meses. Una cantidad equivalente a un cuarto del PIB de Afganistán.

El año pasado, más de la mitad de la población tuvo que pagar al menos una vez un soborno a un funcionario del gobierno.

Las cifras las dio a conocer este martes la oficina de Crimen y Drogas de Naciones Unidas (UNODC, por sus siglas en inglés) en un informe donde señala que la corrupción es el mayor problema en ese país.

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Mujeres directivas: ¿un techo de cristal inquebrantable?

Mujer joven, casada o en pareja, con un alto nivel de formación, de nacionalidad española y mayoritariamente empleada en el sector servicios. Esta frase condensa, a grandes rasgos, el perfil de la alta directiva en España. Condición no siempre fácil, ni frecuente: la equiparación de la presencia femenina en relación con los varones en altos cargos empresariales sigue siendo un objetivo hacia el que falta camino por recorrer.

“El artículo 14 de la Constitución española proclama el derecho a la igualdad y a la no discriminación por razón de sexo”. Con esta frase comienza la Ley Orgánica 3/2007, de 22 de marzo, para la igualdad efectiva de mujeres y hombres. Y su artículo 1 no puede ser más explícito: “Las mujeres y hombres son iguales en dignidad humana, e iguales en derechos y deberes. Esta ley tiene por objeto hacer efectivo el derecho de igualdad de trato y de oportunidades entre mujeres y hombres, en particular mediante la eliminación de la discriminación de la mujer, sea cual fuere su circunstancia o condición, en cualesquiera de los ámbitos de la vida y, singularmente, en las esferas política, civil, laboral, económica, social y cultural”.

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La economía del cambio climático en América Latina y el Caribe

El cambio climático global, expresado fundamentalmente en el aumento de la temperatura media, las modificaciones en los patrones de precipitación, el alza del nivel del mar, la reducción de la superficie cubierta por nieves y glaciares y la modificación de los patrones de los eventos extremos, representa uno de los grandes desafíos para la humanidad en este siglo. Sus consecuencias en las actividades económicas, la población y los ecosistemas son significativas y, en muchos casos, irreversibles. El reto de adaptarse a las nuevas condiciones climáticas y participar, simultáneamente, en una estrategia internacional de mitigación supone costos económicos de tal magnitud que hacen del cambio climático un factor condicionante esencial de las características y opciones de desarrollo económico en las próximas décadas.

El cambio climático tiene particular relevancia para los países de América Latina y el Caribe debido a las características socioeconómicas, institucionales y geográficas de la región. La elevada sensibilidad climática de algunas de sus actividades económicas, como la agricultura o el turismo, las pérdidas potenciales de biodiversidad o de vidas humanas e, incluso, los riesgos potenciales de sufrir eventos climáticos extremos revelan la importancia del análisis económico del cambio climático para la formulación de una estrategia de desarrollo sostenible a largo plazo, que cuente con un sólido fundamento científico y un amplio consenso social.

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La codicia no tiene la culpa

Es interesante porque ahora los críticos de Wall Street dicen que por culpa de su codicia es que estamos viviendo la crisis económica actual. ¿Acaso la codicia es un monopolio de Wall Street?

Consumidores que buscaban comprar la casa de sus sueños no importando si les decían que no la podrían pagar o agentes hipotecarios que vendían los préstamos que más dinero les generaban. ¿Aquí no existió la codicia?

Qué me dicen de los políticos que aumentaban las cuotas de préstamos y beneficiaban a sus constituyentes para recibir más votos en las elecciones. ¿Aquí tampoco?

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ACCA warn of impact of new FSA rules on entrepreneurs

New mortgage rules could act as deterrent.

ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) is the latest professional body to question the new proposals put forward by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) on mortgage reforms.

ACCA has argued that the banning of self certified mortgages, or 'self-cert' mortgages, could potentially deter entrepreneurship.

John Davies, head of business law at ACCA, says:

See full Article.

FBI charges 22 over alleged foreign bribery

The US has charged 22 executives or employees of security-related firms with conspiring to bribe an African country over a $15m (£9m) arms sale.

Some 150 FBI agents took part in an operation involving a sting, which led to the arrest of 21 suspects in Las Vegas and one in Miami.

Five of those charged are UK nationals and City of London Police were also involved in the operation.

See full Article.

Less Water Vapor Slows Earth’s Warming Trends, Researchers Say

A decrease in water vapor concentrations in parts of the middle atmosphere has contributed to a slowing of Earth’s warming, researchers are reporting. The finding, they said, offers part of the explanation for a string of years with relatively stable global surface temperatures.

Despite the decrease in water vapor, the study’s authors said, the overall trend is still toward a warming climate, primarily caused by a buildup in emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases from human sources.

See full Article.

SEC Issues Interpretive Guidance on Disclosure Related to Business or Legal Developments Regarding Climate Change

The Securities and Exchange Commission today voted to provide public companies with interpretive guidance on existing SEC disclosure requirements as they apply to business or legal developments relating to the issue of climate change.

Federal securities laws and SEC regulations require certain disclosures by public companies for the benefit of investors. Occasionally, to assist those who provide such disclosures, the Commission provides guidance on how to interpret the disclosure rules on topics of interest to the business and investment communities. The Commission's interpretive releases do not create new legal requirements nor modify existing ones, but are intended to provide clarity and enhance consistency for public companies and their investors.

See full Press Release.

The Female Factor - Female Bankers in India Earn Chances to Rule

In New York and London, women remain scarce among top bankers despite decades of struggle to climb the corporate ladder. But in India’s relatively young financial industry, women not only are some of the top deal makers, they are often running the show.

HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, Royal Bank of Scotland, UBS and Fidelity International in India are run by women. So is the country’s second-biggest bank, Icici Bank, and its third-largest, Axis Bank. Women head investment banking operations at Kotak Mahindra and JPMorgan Chase and the equities division of Icici. Half of the deputy governors at the Reserve Bank of India are women.

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Auditing standards converging

Independent study highlights closeness of international convergence of auditing standards.

ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) has today said a global convergence of auditing standards is drawing near following the publication of a European Commission study comparing future EU and US standards.

The European Commission report, prepared independently by the Maastricht Accounting, Auditing and Information Management Research Center (MARC) evaluates the differences between International Standards in Auditing (ISAs) and the standards of the US Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB).

See full Article.

Cambio climático costaría 137% del PIB actual de América Latina y el Caribe para 2100

En caso de no haber un acuerdo internacional para mitigar los efectos del cambio climático, el costo para América Latina y el Caribe podría equivaler hasta 137% del PIB regional actual para 2100, señala el informe de la CEPAL La economía del cambio climático en América Latina y el Caribe. Síntesis 2009.

El estudio, que identifica los impactos económicos del cambio climático en la región, fue presentado hoy en un evento paralelo a la XV Conferencia de las Partes en la Convención Marco de las Naciones Unidas sobre el Cambio Climático (conocida como COP 15), que se realiza en Copenhague.

El informe proyecta que, sin acciones internacionales de mitigación, la región podría sufrir para fines del siglo pérdidas importantes en el sector agrícola y en la biodiversidad, fuertes presiones sobre la infraestructura y aumento en la intensidad de eventos extremos, que se acumularían hasta representar cifras importantes del PIB actual.

Ver Nota de Prensa completa.

Bank transparency - the best form of regulation

One can question if the root causes of the financial crisis were lack of regulation and that the OTC derivatives markets were not properly monitored.

Surely the explosion of OTC derivative contracts was an effect of the credit expansion started in the early 80-ties rather than the other way round. The main cause behind the large swings is too much debt. We need to keep that in the back of our mind.

I have studied the work by the EU commission on regulation of OTC derivatives . What strikes me is that regulating separate areas independently seems to be easier than putting the new regulatory framework into context. I am particularly struck by the limited perspective of the discussion. It mainly revolves around banks and other financial institutions when it actually affects the whole society. The corporates are only involved in the periphery of the regulatory discussions.

See full Article.

Global accounting harmonisation

Bridging the Ga(A)p: What accountants need to know about global accounting harmonisation.

Late in 2008 the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the US Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) affirmed their commitment to a globally applicable set of high quality accounting standards and laid out a timetable for completing the harmonisation process. Dave Marlow, Training Consultant at CTG - a division of ILX Group plc, highlights some of the issues that still need to be addressed and what accountants should be doing to prepare for the coming changes.

A year ago, the IASB and the FASB updated their 2006 Memorandum of Understanding regarding the convergence of IFRS and US GAAP.

See full Article.

International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC)

When: 10 Nov 2010 - 13 Nov 2010, Where: 60 New Rachadapisek Road, Klongtoey, Bangkok
10110, Thailand
Organiser: Transparency International, Transparency Thailand, National Anti-Corruption Commission, IACC Council

The IACC is the world premier forum that brings together royalty, heads of state, civil society and the private sector to tackle the increasingly sophisticated challenges posed by corruption. The IACC:

* takes place every two years in a different region of the world
* attracts up to 1500 participants from over 135 countries
* serves as the premier global forum for the networking and cross-fertilisation that are indispensable for effective advocacy and action, on a global and national level

The IACC draws attention to corruption by raising awareness and stimulating debate. It fosters the global exchange of experience and methodologies in controlling corruption. The conferences promote international cooperation among agencies and citizens from all parts of the world. They also help to develop personal relationships by providing the opportunity for face-to-face dialogue and direct liaison between representatives from the agencies and organisations taking part.

The title of the 14th IACC is Restoring trust: Global action for transparency, focusing particularly on the themes of good governance and sustainable development.

See full Details.

Davos 2010: Leaders vow climate deal in Mexico

Politicians at the World Economic Forum in Davos have vowed to reach a "substantial" deal on climate change.

The world's leaders will meet in Cancun, Mexico, later this year - after a disappointing conclusion to talks in Copenhagen last month.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon acknowledged that there were "low expectations" for Cancun.

But he said: "Our objective is to reach a robust, substantial and comprehensive agreement".

He stressed that the economic costs associated with tackling climate change would be central to the challenges facing governments.

See full Article.

Glaciers and the IPCC: Off-base camp

A mistaken claim about glaciers raises questions about the UN’s climate panel

THE idea that the Himalaya could lose its glaciers by 2035—glaciers which feed rivers across South and East Asia—is a dramatic and apocalyptic one. After the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said such an outcome was very likely in the assessment of the state of climate science that it made in 2007, onlookers (including this newspaper) repeated the claim with alarm. In fact, there is no reason to believe it to be true. This is good news (within limits) for Indian farmers—and bad news for the IPCC.

The IPCC, like ancient Gaul, is divided into three parts. Working Group I looks at the physical science of climate change. Working Group II is concerned with impacts, vulnerability and adaptation. Working Group III deals with mitigation. The claims about Himalayan glaciers come from a short “case study” in a chapter on Asia in WG-II’s report from 2007.

See full Article.

Japan edging closer to accounting convergence

Japans national accounting body has tenth meeting focusing on international standards convergence.

A universal accounting standard for the worlds major economies is a small step closer to reality following the latest meeting aimed at getting Japan to standardise.

The Accounting Standards Board of Japan (ASBJ) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) have held their tenth meeting to accelerate convergence of Japanese generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs).

See full Article.

Auditors and liability

"Audit firms are finding it difficult to persuade their clients even to consider an LLA."

Since 6 April 2008, auditors have been able to agree with a company whose accounts they are auditing a contractual limit on their liability to the company. Yet, almost eighteen months on, very few companies have actually entered into limitation of liability agreements (LLAs) with their auditors.

In addition, it seems increasingly unlikely that the changes introduced under the Companies Act 2006 will be sufficient to deliver the wider public policy objectives of alleviating concerns relating to auditor concentration risk and enhancing competition within the UK audit market.

See full Article.

UK business and politicians playing at being green

In a lecture at the end of December, Lord Stern reiterated his message that the business community and politicians need to act, and act now, on carbon emissions if we are to avoid, what he termed, a catastrophe by the next century.

He also stressed that that this challenge could be an exciting opportunity to become involved in a new technological revolution to rival the industrial revolution. It is disappointing that his lecture was given just before the start of the Copenhagen Summit on Climate Change and that much of the content of his lecture referenced the critical importance of a substantive accord coming out of COP15 (which, as we now know, never happened).

See full Article.

S.E.C. Says Companies Should Disclose Climate-Related Risks

The Securities and Exchange Commission said on Wednesday for the first time that public companies should warn investors of any serious risks that global warming might pose to their businesses.

Although the agency has long required companies to reveal possible financial or legal impacts from a variety of environmental challenges, it has never specifically cited climate change as bringing potentially significant business risks or rewards.

The S.E.C., on a party-line 3-2 vote, issued “interpretive guidance” to help companies decide when and whether to disclose matters related to climate change.

See full Article.

Save the Children says severe child poverty 'going up'

The number of UK children living in "severe poverty" rose in the four years before the recession, research from a children's charity suggests.

Save the Children says the number of children in homes in this category rose 260,000 to 1.7m from 2004 to 2008.

The report warns there is a danger that severe poverty could rise even further.

See full Article.

Global Conference on Sustainability and Transparenc

When: 26 May 2010 - 28 May 2010
Where: RAI Elicium
Amsterdam RAI, Europaplein 22, NL 1078 GZ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Organiser: Global Reporating Initiative

In May 2010 Amsterdam will once again play host to the world’s largest gathering of leaders, thinkers and doers in the field of sustainability reporting. The Amsterdam conference will convene a debate on how reporting can be used to help build a better future.

Thought leaders from

* business
* finance
* government and
* civil society

will debate the political, strategic and practical choices confronting us.

Expert practitioners will lead workshops and interactive sessions to define the building blocks of more effective reporting.

See full Details.

Now companies face a green squeeze on using water

The United Nations is to warn businesses they face significant risks from shrinking water supplies and will eventually be forced to keep formal accounts of their water consumption.

The UN report, expected within the next few weeks, is part of a switch of focus by environmentalists and regulators away from greenhouse gas emissions to water use.

The Carbon Disclosure Project, which popularised the concept of carbon footprints for companies, will produce its first water footprint report for the world’s top companies this year, while Ofwat, the UK water regulator, is increasing its scrutiny of wastage and the energy consumed in water production.

See full Article.

Davos Day 1: Rethinking Risk