Confronting complexity

A new study from KPMG International examines the causes and impact of complexity among businesses globally. The study shows that business is taking significant actions to address complexity, particularly in the areas of information management, business organization and human resources, but success has been mixed. More than 90 percent of senior executives across 22 countries say their organization’s success depends on managing today’s complex business issues, but less than half believe the actions they are taking to manage complexity have been very effective, says a new study from KPMG International.

The study, Confronting Complexity: How business globally is taking on the challenges and opportunities, is based on interviews with 1,400 senior executives in 22 countries. The research found that at least seven out of ten executives believe complexity can create new opportunities for their businesses, including gaining competitive advantage, creating better strategies, expanding into new markets and improving efficiencies.

See full Article.

Supermarkets fight to prove green credentials

‘…The extent to which this whole green phenomenon is being driven by genuine consumer demand or by the retailers is a moot point. In truth, the answer is probably a bit of both. Justin King, chief executive of Sainsbury said: “This is customer-led. But in terms of solutions, it’s largely in the hands of retailers and manufacturers. Customers find it difficult to work out what the right answers are and they need help.”

Some argue it does not really matter as the outcome is positive. Tony Hoskins of The Virtuous Circle, a reputation-management firm, said: “Tesco is a very significant influence, probably more so than government as regards consumer behaviour.”

See full Press Release.

IFRS Handbook: Share-based payment

This publication provides a comprehensive analysis of IFRS 2 Share-based Payment and addresses practical application issues that we have encountered. The Handbook includes extensive interpretative guidance and illustrative examples to elaborate or clarify the practical application of IFRS 2.

See full Details.

The Application of IFRS: Technology companies

The application of IFRS: Technologies focuses on providing an understanding of the approaches taken by technology companies in dealing with some of the industry-specific accounting issues that they face; and to illustrate disclosures made by these companies in their consolidated financial statements that the ISG believes are useful in assessing the type of information being disclosed in practice, and the formats and methods of disclosure.

Each section is accompanied by survey results and a high-level summary focusing on technology-specific issues. A summary of the main differences between US GAAP and IFRSs also is included.

See full Press Release.

Why should sustainable finance be given priority?

Abstract:

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that the relatively new concept of sustainable finance, although very apt and timely, needs to address many major issues for it to be meaningful and if it is to achieve its desired objectives.

Design/methodology/approach – The study identifies some of the major issues that need to be clarified and addressed including: defining the kind of sustainability that is envisaged; examining issues relating to the use of high-discount rates and its compatibility with the goals of sustainability; the case of excessive pollution due to adverse selection, moral hazard and lobbying; and specialisation and path dependent systems that are detrimental to future production.

See full Article.

Creating the environment for progressive innovation

The New Year is always the time to reflect on the past and plan for the future. Unfortunately few of us have a clean sheet on which to pen an entirely new future, but it's always useful to think the unthinkable before we jump back on the tread mill of life.

It's difficult to predict what 2011 has is store but I suspect here in the UK as in other parts of the world it's going to be another year of re-adjustment brought about by the state of the economy and changes to the norms we have come to take for granted. I had the pleasure of spending some time in Japan before Christmas and had the opportunity to reflect on how Japanese society and business has come to terms with a low growth decade. I joked that perhaps the Japanese experience was something all of us in the western world needed to understand and learn from - "success and happiness with no growth."

See full Article.

FASB scales back fair value proposal

The US Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has relented on its previous plans to require companies to report all of their financial instruments at fair value. Yesterday, the FASB tentatively decided to permit accounting for financial assets for which an entity's business strategy is managing the assets for the collection of contractual cash flows through a lending or customer financing activity at amortized cost. This reversal from the original idea of requiring accounting for most types of financial instruments, including bank loans, at fair value brings the FASB closer to the mixed measurement approach adopted by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) under which some assets would be reported at fair value and others at amortized cost.

See full Article.

National Trust enters English forest sell-off row

The National Trust is promising to "play its part" in protecting England's ancient woodlands if a planned sell-off of publicly-owned forests goes ahead.

Up to 2,500 sq km could enter private hands, but critics say that would damage nature and restrict access.

The National Trust says it is looking at various options, including buying the most sensitive areas, such as the New Forest, itself.

See full Article.

Richard Black's Earth Watch: Real world of climate: How scary?

+Earlier this week I posted on uncertainty in climate model projections, raising the question of whether lack of certainty made the future more or less "scary" - and what it should mean for policymaking.

As would have been expected, I guess, your responses varied greatly - from Maurizio Maurabito's

See full Article.

Building a Robust Case for Microsavings

Editor's Note: The following post was submitted jointly by Jake Kendall and Ignacio Mas of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

At the Financial Services for the Poor team at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation we have made a deliberate choice to focus on promoting savings (you can read about our strategy here). We think that saving in a formal, prudentially regulated financial institution is a basic option that everyone should have. Having a safe place to save allows people to manage what little they have more effectively and to self-fund life-improving or productivity-enhancing investments without paying the high interest rates associated with small loans. Accessing other people’s money through credit may not be right for everyone, but making the most out of your own income surely is. From a donor perspective, we need to move beyond microcredit and support the development of broader markets. In fact, too much focus on microcredit risks tilting the incentives of local financial intermediaries to funding their credit portfolio from external soft funds rather than via mobilizing local deposits.

See full Article.

El número de consejeras en empresas del IBEX creció el 23,2 % en 2010

El número de puestos en los consejos de administración de las empresas del IBEX 35 ocupados por mujeres creció el 23,2 % en 2010 respecto al año anterior, y se situó en 53, según el VI informe sobre gobierno corporativo publicado hoy por la escuela de negocios IESE y el grupo Inforpress.

No obstante, el informe recuerda que cinco de las cotizadas del IBEX -Bankinter, Endesa, Gas Natural Unión Fenosa, Sacyr y Técnicas Reunidas- no contaban en 2010 con ninguna mujer en sus consejos de administración, aunque señala que un año antes eran ocho.

De este modo, en 2010 el 10,56 % de los consejeros de las empresas del IBEX eran mujeres, frente al 8,48 % de 2009 y el 5,14 % de 2008.

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Quantifying informality in Latin America

In a series of earlier posts, I discussed a number of findings about informal (unregistered) firms in 6 African countries, including Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Cape Verde, Cameroon, Madagascar and Mauritius. These findings were based on Informality Surveys collected by the Enterprise Analysis Unit to better understand the functioning of the informal sector—a large sector for which we have virtually no systematic data. Recent estimates suggest that for the world as a whole, between 22.5 and 34.5 percent of all economic activity occurs in the informal economy; for countries in the lowest quartile of GDP per capita, the estimates range between 29 and 57 percent (La Porta and Shleifer, 2008).

See full Press Release.

FACT SHEET: The World Bank, Transparency and Anti-Corruption

Issue: Stepping up the game in anti-corruption.

Fact: The World Bank has been leading anti-corruption efforts for over a decade and has closed down projects and whole country programs where there is evidence of corruption.

 Governance and anti-corruption are central to the World Bank’s overall mission – in country programs, sector engagements, and project design and implementation – and the Bank has multiple systems in place to ensure that money is used for its intended purposes.
 We focus on these issues at the country, operational, and global levels.
 The Bank’s Controller's Vice Presidency provides strict financial reporting and analysis.
 Country teams undertake regular and rigorous supervision of Bank-financed projects.
 The Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) reviews the Bank’s work and reports its findings directly to the Board, followed by public disclosure.
 The Bank’s Integrity Vice Presidency (INT) has a highly specialized team of investigators and trained forensic accountants who investigate fraud and corruption allegations, prevent recurrence, and support the capacity of national authorities.

See full Fact Sheet.

Does efficient corruption pay?

Buying and selling a product or service involves a number of costs, including time spent searching for the best prices, negotiating for good discounts, researching product quality and writing contracts where applicable. Broadly, these are called the transaction costs of economic exchange, and part of the reason firms exist is to keep transaction costs at a minimum.

Recently, I came across an interesting paper by Fisman and Gatti which suggests that bribery also involves a transaction costs—it takes time to negotiate a bribe rate and the terms of the favor to be done, e.g. the number of regulations to be avoided. The interesting point here is that if a transaction cost is indeed present, then the greater the number of regulations a firm would like to avoid, the more time negotiations require. Further, we can expect the bribe amount to increase too with the number of regulations the firm wants to avoid. Now putting these results together gives us a couple of testable hypotheses:

See full Article.

25th Annual ICGFM International Conference

When: May 15 - May 20, 2011
Where: Miami, Florida, USA

Achieving Real Accountability: a Balancing Act Among Stakeholders

Learn how governments are meeting the demands of its citizens, civil society, the media, and donors for greater impact on the shape of PFM policies.

In this era of greater transparency, citizens and civil society are demanding not only greater insight into public finance but an ability to actively influence policies and spending priorities. Citizens, civil society, the media, and donors constitute the stakeholders of government and are establishing communication channels to assert their priorities to their governments and attempting to shape debate and decision making. Governments must strive to listen to these voices even when the messages are not consistent. Valuable information on how countries are meeting these challenges and examples from these stakeholder groups will be the theme of this conference. Representatives from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, and North America will share their practical experiences in meeting the new demands for greater interaction between government and its stakeholders.

See full Details.

Cleanequity Monaco 2011

CleanEquity Monaco, now in its 4th year, is the ultimate forum for emerging cleantech companies of all nationalities to present their credentials to financial investors, strategic investors, world media, government & other end users.

CleanEquity Monaco, hosted by Innovator Capital & the Monaco Chamber of Economic Development, is a forum that provides a window for investors on the latest technology developments and optimal growth acceleration opportunities for cleantech companies.

See full Details.

Accountability Results from a Broad Range of Stakeholders: ICGFM Issues Call for Speakers at its 25th International Conference

In this era of social media, rapidly expanding access to a variety of information outlets, greater activism by civil society groups, and a greater demand for results, public sector accountability has grown beyond the traditional institutions that exercised oversight of public expenditure. While auditors and legislative oversight continue to play a key role, anyone with the ability to create or read a blog can be part of the growing intertwined mechanisms to hold government accountable for how it spends public funds and what outcomes result.

The International Consortium on Governmental Financial Management (ICGFM) has issued a call for speakers, panel members, and presentations to be made at its 25th Annual International Conference which will be held in Miami from May 15-20. The theme of the conference will be: Achieving Real Accountability: A Balancing Act Among Stakeholders.

See full Article.

India plans Asian tidal power

The Indian state of Gujarat is planning to host Asia's first commercial-scale tidal power station.

The company Atlantis Resources is to install a 50MW tidal farm in the Gulf of Kutch on India's west coast, with construction starting early in 2012.

The facility could be expanded to deliver more than 200MW.

See full Article.

Computer memory heralds green PCs

A new form of computing memory which could lead to faster starting, user-friendly computers has been developed by US researchers.

The device, developed by a team at North Carolina State University, claims to combine the advantages of two commons forms of memory used today.

See full Article.

CleanEquity Monaco - Se anuncian nuevas compañías y ponentes. europapress.es

Fecha: 3 y 4 de marzo de 2010
Lugar: Mónaco

CleanEquity Monaco, el foro de compañías emergentes de tecnología limpia de todas las nacionales, se presenta a inversores especializados financieros y estratégicos, responsables políticos y usuarios finales y medios internacionales y comerciales.

CleanEquity se complace al anunciar a 21 Ventures como socio para el año 2011. Con sede central en Nueva York, 21 Ventures invierte en tecnologías limpias y empresarios centrados en la resolución de los retos del siglo XXI: cambio climático, urbanización mundial, clase media cada vez mayor en los mercados emergentes y agotamiento de los recursos naturales.

Desde 2004, 21 Ventures ha proporciona más de 40 sociedades mixtas de tecnologías limpias con raíces, puentes y capital de valores cada vez mayor.

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Case for man-made warming increased in 2010, scientists say

Evidence of man-made warming has increased in the past year, according to one of the world's leading climate research centers.

The UK's Met Office Hadley Center says data from a range of climate indicators continues to make an "overwhelming" case for long-term man-made global warming.

"It is clear from the observational evidence across a wide range of indicators that the world is warming," Matt Palmer, an oceans expert at the Met Office, said in a statement.

See full Article.

UN defends Ban Ki-moon against rights 'cowardice' claim

The UN has defended its Secretary General Ban Ki-moon over accusations that he has failed to speak out over human rights issues.

Mr Ban has been singled out for harsh criticism by Human Rights Watch in its annual report.

The group said he had been "notably reluctant to put pressure on abusive governments".

See full Article.

Transparency in the financing of Europarties

Yesterday, we – the Transparency International EU Office – were invited to speak at a hearing of the Constitutional Affairs Committee of the European Parliament about the need for transparency of political parties at European level (“Europarties”). As basis for this presentation and future debates, we had prepared a 3-page discussion paper titled “Transparency in the Financing of Europarties” (just follow the link to read it).

Therein we make clear that we see political financing such as the financing of political parties as an important area in which (political) corruption may happen. It is also an area where corruption may seriously harm trust in democracy and democratic institutions.

See full Article.

Climate Change Practice Areas

Holland & Hart has joined the small but growing ranks of law firms with a dedicated practice group focused on legal issues surrounding climate change / global warming. This according to an article in the Denver Business Journal. I haven't time to search anything like a comprehensive list of other law firms that have established climate change practice groups, but to date they include Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, Morrison & Foerster, Davis Wright Tremaine. If your firm also has a climate change practice group, or you know of any others, please post the details in comments below so that readers of this blog can take note.

The Department of Geosciences at the University of Arizona has a truly excellent interactive set of maps, one of the whole world and one of North America, that illustrate the levels of inundation that will occur with different degrees of sea level increase. It is truly terrifying! Even with just a three foot (one meter) increase, for instance, much of Florida disappears. (See below.) Countries like Bangladesh and the Maldives would cease to exist.

See full Article.

2.4 billion extra people, no more land: how will we feed the world in 2050?

The finite resources of the Earth will be be stretched as never before in the coming 40 years because of the unprecedented challenge of feeding the world in 2050, leading scientists have concluded in a report to be published next week.

Food production will have to increase by between 70 and 100 per cent, while the area of land given over to agriculture will remain static, or even decrease as a result of land degradation and climate change. Meanwhile the global population is expected to rise from 6.8 billion at present to about 9.2 billion by mid-century.

See full Article.

Apple Ranks Last for Environmental Response

A coalition of 36 environmental groups has accused Apple of ignoring unhealthy conditions at the Chinese factories of its suppliers.

A report (Chinese only) by the Beijing-based non-profit Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPE) ranked Apple last among 29 tech companies for their responsiveness to health and environmental concerns in China.

See full Article.

Para evitar hambre global, científicos piden actuar ya

Un informe exhaustivo sobre la producción de alimentos y el estado del sector agropecuario global advierte que garantizar la seguridad alimentaria es un reto que se debe afrontar a la par de la lucha contra el cambio climático.

El estudio publicado este lunes, comisionado por el gobierno británico, muestra que si la producción de comida debe incrementarse en un 40% en 20 años, los gobiernos deben actuar en forma urgente.

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Apple, cómo no organizar una sucesion

Estos días hemos visto el anuncio de Apple que uno de sus fundadores originales y actual Presidente, Steve Jobs, se apartará de sus funciones directas en la empresa por razones médicas. Este anuncio tuvo un impacto negativo importante sobre el valor de sus acciones, confirmando la importancia del Sr. Jobs sobre su empresa. La situación del Sr. Jobs en Apple, tiene mucha historia, muchos acontecimientos y muchos impactos a lo largo de la historia de esta empresa.

Como co-fundador, como Presidente, con su destitución y reemplazo por otro presidente, con su regreso, con la suspensión de su actividad por razones de salud, con su regreso a la presidencia y, ahora, con el reciente anuncio, Por eso me pareció un grave error la forma que siguieron con este reciente anuncio.

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El Banco Mundial introduce nuevas herramientas para promover soluciones innovadoras a los desafíos del desarrollo

El Grupo del Banco Mundial está dando a conocer una amplia gama de herramientas y aplicaciones de tecnología para promover soluciones innovadoras basadas en mayor medida en la colaboración y más eficaces frente a desafíos mundiales, como parte del compromiso de la institución de promover un “desarrollo abierto”.

“Estamos trabajando para lograr que las herramientas de análisis y elaboración de modelos de datos sean de más fácil utilización para el usuario, para que los investigadores, la sociedad civil y las comunidades locales puedan aportar sus propias conclusiones y para poder cotejarlas con las nuestras”, dijo el presidente del Banco Mundial, Robert B. Zoellick. “Debemos abrir las puertas, aceptando que hay otros que pueden encontrar y crear sus propias soluciones”.

Ver Nota de Prensa completa.

Follow a family's effort to reduce their carbon emissions by six tonnes

Follow the Lindell family's progress online as they participate in the "One Tonne Life" project and attempt to reduce their carbon footprint from seven tonnes per person per year to a mere one tonne.

In order to prevent climate change, it is estimated that emissions of greenhouse gases have to decrease from current levels of around seven tonnes* per person per year to an average of one tonne per person per year.

See full Article.

Price negotiations with a dentist

Biodiversity Conservation and Child Malaria: Microeconomic Evidence from Flores, Indonesia

Abstract:
In remote areas of developing countries, people's health and livelihoods are closely intertwined with the condition of the natural environment. Unfortunately, claims regarding the role of ecosystem degradation on disease outcomes rest on a short list of rigorous empirical studies that consider social, cultural and economic factors that underpin both ecosystem disruptions and behaviors related to exposure, prevention and treatment of diseases such as malaria. As the human ecological tradition suggests, omitting behaviors can lead to erroneous interpretations regarding the nature of the relationship between ecological changes and disease. We specify and test the relationship between child malaria prevalence and forest conditions in a quasi-experimental setting of buffer zone villages around a protected area, which was established to conserve biodiversity on Flores, Indonesia. Multivariate probit regressions are used to examine this conservation and health hypothesis, controlling for several individual, family and community variables that could confound this hypothesized link. We find that the extent of primary (protected) forest is negatively associated with child malaria, while the extent of secondary (disturbed) forest cover is positively correlated with child malaria, all else equal. This finding emphasizes the natural insurance value of conservation because children are both especially vulnerable to changes in environmental risks and key players in the future growth and prosperity of a society.

See full Article.

Celebrities voice forest privatisation fears

Famous names ranging from Annie Lennox and Dame Judi Dench to the Archbishop of Canterbury have implored the Government not to sell off the country's publicly-owned forests.

Almost 90 prominent figures signed a letter claiming that such a sale would be "misjudged and short-sighted".

The long list of concerned celebrities, politicians, media figures and others includes artist Tracey Emin, model Lily Cole, chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone, novelist Julian Barnes, actress Gillian Anderson, broadcaster Dame Joan Bakewell, actor Richard E Grant and designer Dame Vivienne Westwood.

See full Article.

Hackers target carbon emissions trading market

In a digital heist reminiscent of a John le Carré novel, more than $9 million worth of greenhouse-gas emissions permits were stolen from the Czech Republic electricity and carbon trading registry this week and transferred to accounts in other countries, at the same time as the Prague-based registry office was evacuated due to a bomb threat.

That electronic theft, the latest in a series of security breaches affecting the market for carbon emissions, led the European Commission to suspend transactions in national European Union registries on Wednesday for a week.

See full Article.

Las iniciativas medioambientales del Banco Mundial con la India

Una de las iniciativas del Banco Mundial que está tomando cada vez más importancia es el fomento del desarrollo sostenible, con mucho más énfasis en la segunda palabra, y la protección del medio ambiente. Como parte de su labor, está trabajando con los países menos desarrollados para asegurar que sus planes de crecimiento están dirigidos en direcciones donde el medio ambiente también tiene un papel importante. Además, su labor está atendiendo a esos países que, hasta ahora, han seguido el camino de crecer como sea, el camino del primer mundo, para ayudar a estos países a dar marcha atrás en términos medio ambientales.

Como parte de estas iniciativas estos días están reunidos con el gobierno indio para ayudarles a elaborar planes para efectuar estas dos iniciativas muy importantes, más medio ambiente en su crecimiento y la limpieza y la mejora de lo que ya está deteriorado.

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Electric cars you can buy

The time for talk is over; electric cars are hitting the streets. Over the next few years, at least 14 electric car models are slated for mass production. Although Tesla took an early lead with its Roadster in 2008, the risky move by Nissan to put the Leaf on sale late last year appears to have opened the flood gates. Now, names such as Ford, Honda, and Toyota are ready to join the fray.

Many of the electric cars hitting the road in the next couple of years will first find their ways into testing programs, leased to utilities and private companies that can maintain a fleet with unique maintenance needs. These programs let the automakers collect data on how the cars perform in the real world under more-defined circumstances.

See full Article.

Launch of our Quantitative Ratings

These ratings are purely based on quantitative aspects - at no point do they involve the personal interpretation of an analyst who must read through text or survey responses. We believe that numbers in large volumes speak for themselves and can serve as a foundation for a more qualitative analysis.

Carbon accounting and metrics are still in the early stages of development and we have chosen the Quartiles approach to set the right level of granularity for comparison. This approach splits the spectrum of performances into 4 ranges, each capturing 25% of the companies. The first quartile for example represents the range of the Top 25% performances.

See full Details.

Less Fuel Also Means Less Revenue

For environmentalists and others eager to reduce reliance on foreign oil, the advent of electric cars and other fuel-efficient vehicles is cause for celebration.

Yet for governments, the trend has a distinct downside: their fuel-tax receipts will dwindle, because drivers will buy less gasoline.

In the United States, national and state taxes on fuel are the most important sources of funding for the maintenance of roads and bridges. In recent years, particularly with the economy in a slump, fuel tax receipts have fallen, and the strain on highway funding has grown more acute.

See full Article.

BP and makers of iPod in line for 'shame' awards

Swiss environmentalists hope this week's prizes will force 'rogue' companies to mend their ways

The award for what environmentalists regard as the world's "most evil corporation of the year" will be presented this week to a reluctant winner, with finalists ranging from the manufacturer of your iPod to the troubled oil giant BP.

Six companies face the dubious distinction of winning a Public Eye Award for "the worst corporate offences against human rights and the environment", according to the organisers, Greenpeace Switzerland and the Berne Declaration, a Swiss economic justice campaign group.

See full Article.

S.E.C. Study Recommends More Oversight of Brokers

Investment advisers and stockbrokers should be subject to the same fiduciary standard of conduct — putting a customer’s interests above their own — rather than the different governance regimes that currently apply to the two groups, the Securities and Exchange Commission recommended on Saturday.

In a report closely watched by Wall Street, the commission’s staff said retail investors “generally are not aware” that stockbrokers and their firms are subject to a lesser legal standard, one that requires brokers to make sure the products that they sell are suitable for their clients. Investment advisers are already subject to the higher fiduciary standard.

See full Article.

A Point of View: Has our relationship with nature changed?

The environmental dangers that now face mankind put non-scientific philosophical types like me in an awkward situation. We have to acknowledge that we can have precisely nothing interesting to say on the two most important questions in the air right now, namely: "What is going to happen to the human race?" and "What should we do about it?" It is not from a philosopher that you stand to be enlightened.

See full Article.

Empresarios sociales: hacer dinero para el bien de todos

Hacer dinero y donarlo son dos acciones que generalmente son consideradas distintas.

Primero hay que facturar y hacer dinero para que luego la vena filantrópica inspire la generosidad, mucha o poca.

Pero ¿y si se pudiera combinar el espíritu emprendedor y su aprovechamiento para el bien común?

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Greentech Media’s 2011 Solar Summit

When: MARCH 14 – 15, 2011
Where: Palm Springs, CA, USA

For the fourth consecutive year, Greentech Media presents its successful Solar Summit. Bringing together leading solar companies, influential regulators and policymakers, forward-thinking utilities and bullish investors, the Solar Summit is the place where the industry comes to learn and do business. Powered by the research and economic analysis of GTM Research’s team, participants at this event gain access to the freshest, most innovative research on the maturing PV market.

See full Details.

La importancia de la educación continua

Un Estudio de la Bertelsmann Stiftung (la Fundación Bertelsmann) nos trae el European Lifelong Learning Index (la ELLI) un índice que analiza y de hace tangible, medible y comparable el estado de la educación continua en los distintos países.

La ELLI combina 36 indicadores, e incorpora cuatro sub-índices, que provienen de múltiples fuentes de información y de estadísticas que reflejan la más amplia gama de actividades de aprendizaje, formación y educación. Ejemplos de la información que tienen en cuenta incluyen los siguientes:

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Climate scientists targeted for fraud

Online fraudsters are targeting climate scientists through invitations to fake conferences, often at fictional five-star London hotels.

Scientists are sent e-mails directing them to fake conference websites - often imitating the style of real ones.

Typically they are told their travel costs will be refunded - but they have to pay first "to reserve a hotel room".

See full Article.

Regulation for financial advisers

Investment advisers must hold accreditation in order to operate in the UK from the start of 2013, the City watchdog has announced.

The change comes after a long-running review by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) that aims to bolster public confidence in financial advice.

An adviser will need to sign up to a code of ethics, be qualified and have up-to-date knowledge.

See full Article.

EU investigating carbon trading thefts

All carbon trading in Europe has been halted as the European Commission looks into thefts of emissions permits.

The Czech carbon registry said 7m euros (£5.9m, $9.4m) of permits had seemingly been stolen by hackers on Wednesday.

It followed a similar security breach in Austria on Tuesday, and prompted five countries to suspend their registries before the entire system was shut down.

See full Article.

Harvesting energy: body heat to warm buildings

Body heat is not an energy source that normally springs to mind when companies want to keep down soaring energy costs.

But it did spring to the mind of one Swedish company, which decided the warmth that everybody generates naturally was in fact a resource that was going to waste.

Jernhusen, a real estate company in Stockholm, has found a way to channel the body heat from the hordes of commuters passing through Stockholm's Central Station to warm another building that is just across the road.

See full Article.

The Energy Diet

Trimming your energy use is a lot like taking off extra pounds. You’ve heard all the advice, but the thought of starting a diet can be daunting. Will you feel deprived? Can you stick to all the changes you’ll need to make? And where do you begin? The Energy Diet aims to help you take a step-by-step approach toward a lifestyle that is healthier for the planet, and may end up saving you money.

See full Article.

Focus Electric, el primer coche eléctrico de Ford

Focus Electric, el primer coche eléctrico de Ford. Mañana comienza el Salón de Detroit, el evento norteamericano más importante en materia de novedades automovilísticas, y en él la compañía Ford presentará su más nueva -y ecológica- apuesta: el Focus Electric 2012.

El primer automóvil de pasajeros completamente eléctrico fabricado por la montadora estadounidense llega con la promesa de ser más económico que otros dos lanzamientos muy publicitados, el Nissan Leaf y el Chevrolet Volv. Muy rápido de cargar -entre 3 y 4 horas es el tiempo estimado para alimentar las baterías- estará en las calles de los Estados Unidos antes de fin de año.

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Governance: Everything to Play for at the IASB

Back in the early days of the International Accounting Standards Board, (IASB), its Chairman, Sir David Tweedie, knew what represented the frontline in protecting the independence of the Board. It was a person, a very large person, six foot seven inches tall and big with it. He was Paul Volcker, the Chairman of the Trustees. Volcker had been Chairman of the Federal Reserve in the US and was then, as now as President Obama showed, a go-to person if heavy-lifting was required somewhere in the financial and business world. Tweedie used to refer to him as "a superb second-row", a reference to a key man in the scrum in a game of rugby who provides the shove which would deter, then overpower, and finally defeat the opposition.

But as time went on and the work of the IASB extended across Europe, then out across the rest of the world, and even into the heartland of US corporate life the need for a rather more sophisticated, urbane, but still effective governance system became necessary. It needed the strength to protect the Board's independence. But it needed to show real accountability acceptable to all.

See full Article.

The Effect Of Shariah Principles on Accounting Methods for Islamic Banks

Further to our story published yesterday, we make available a presentation by Daud Vicary Abdullah, Deloitte's Global Islamic Finance Leader. The Effect Of Shariah Principles on Accounting Methods for Islamic Banks points out the rapid acceptance of Islamic finance, explains the fundamental principles and shows the three options for the way forward in Islamic accounting:

• Exclusivity: Live side by side with its conventional counterpart; all Islamic financial institution transactions will be recorded by way of Islamic accounting
  
• Harmonisation: International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) are fine tuned; then certain exemptions are allowed/disallowed
  
• Convergence: Applying IFRS in every aspect

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