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It always horrifies me when I see consumers clamor for the latest and throw out the old.  It's disturbing that most lack the curiosity to ask where their latest trinket came from, or who made it.  Even the best of us give in to such temptations on occasion. Here are two articles to help you give a second thought to the choices you make.  We live in a finite world, and need to look beyond the horizon of our own lives. Dire Glimpses of What Pollution Is Doing in Bangladesh  -- Bangladeshi photojournalist Probal Rashid's disturbing photos of his country's transformation as the world's clothier Faster, Cheaper Fashion  -- Irish fast fashion retailer, Primark, is coming to North America.  Their grand openings rival the black Friday shopping horrors we see south of the border.

The Guardian recently ran  an article  referencing a few pieces of research that make a compelling argument for a balanced executive team.  Numbers are numbers, and while there are always exceptions to the rule, apparently, having women in leadership roles bode well for environmental and social issues.  Women seem wired to take the long view, where men are focused on the short-term -- which isn't a bad thing if you have shareholders. Vision, and the ability to convey it convincingly to others, are two core attributes that McElhaney ascribes to female leadership, and ones that differ from male traits of goal-driven short-termism.  They also help explain why, according to McElhaney’s research ( pdf ), companies with higher female representation on their boards tend to give higher priority to environmental and social issues. The more gender-balanced an executive team, the more likely the company is to invest in renewable power, low-carbon products and energy...

Related to my previous post , Pew Research recently published findings on how richer the world is getting -- and from this marco perspective, it's a lot of good news. Overall, the world is getting richer, and more people are being pulled out of poverty. The greatest shift is of course, coming from China, where there is a rapidly growing middle class -- but the promise of a global middle class is still a dream. The rich world remains the same -- North America, Western Europe and Australia. More, here: Mapping the Global Population: How Many Live on How Much, and Where | Pew Research Center There's lots of data and graphs to explore. Enjoy.

The race to the bottom continues. The OECD Employment Outlook 2015 is bad news cloaked in good news. Yes, unemployment is dropping across the world, but those returning to work are coming back part-time and/or for less money. Read more: http://www.oecd.org/newsroom/jobs-outlook-improving-slowly-but-millions-risk-being-trapped-at-bottom-of-economic-ladder.htm

The latest OECD report on inequality paints a disturbing picture. The world is getting more unequal. The richest 10% of the OECD population now earns 9.6 times more than the poorest 10%. In 2012, the poorest 40% owned 3% of the household wealth in the OECD countries -- while the top 10% controlled over half; with the top 1% owning 18%. Increasingly, the culprit is low paying, non-standard work (temporary and contract). Between 1995 and 2013, 50% of new jobs created fell into this category -- and the disproportionately are youth and females. No surprise there. The OECD warns that the long term economic and social cohesion impacts will be significant if governments don't take steps to address the gap. Businesses also need to step up, as there is a direct impact to their viability. In Canada, income inequality has not increased during the economic downturn -- with Canada trending with the OECD average. But, the gap in pay between full-time workers and non-standard work...

I don't entirely agree with Foster's take, but he provides a context for the state of worker safety and rights in Bangladesh; as well as the unintended consequences that could result from the lawsuit against Loblaw (there's one in the US as well, against Wal-mart, et al).  The issue is more complex than western businesses taking advantage of cheap labour. Peter Foster: Why a $2-billion lawsuit against Loblaw, Joe Fresh could bring unintended results to Bangladesh | Financia…

I didn't know about the IDRC ... discovered the organization today, and they were too exciting not to share. IDRC - International Development Research Centre This how they describe themselves: I DRC believes that research and innovation hold the keys to progress in developing countries.  To make knowledge a tool for addressing pressing challenges, we provide researchers in developing countries with the financial resources, advice, and training that will help them find solutions to the local problems they identify we encourage sharing knowledge with policymakers, other researchers, and communities around the world we foster new talent by offering fellowships and awards we disseminate research findings and strive to get new knowledge into the hands  of those who can use it. In doing so, we make an important contribution to Canada’s foreign policy, complementing the work of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada, and other government departments ...

I had the opportunity to attend the ESF (an Intertek shindig) in NY.  So much of my last two years have been tied up with worker safety efforts in Bangladesh, that I took note of the presentation given by Sarah Labowitz of NYU Stern.  The Sourcing Journal has a piece on her presentation that may be of interest: https://www.sourcingjournalonline.com/ethical-sourcing-forum-subcontracting-prevalent-brands-believe-td/ Labowitz describes Bangladesh’s RMG sector as a hub and spoke model of production, where the hub factories are the ones that have direct relationships with foreign brands, are often in good condition, with their own power plants, and are well lit and ventilated. And those hub factories have a lot of relationships with spoke factories. “The spoke factories are the invisible factories,” Labowitz said. They are often in mixed-use buildings, above auto repair shops, for example, and some don’t appear on any registry of factories in Bangladesh. Labowitz and her...

The Ontario government (Minister of the Environment and Climate Change) is currently in public consultations on Ontario's plans to tackle climate change. ref:  http://www.downloads.ene.gov.on.ca/envision/env_reg/er/documents/2015/012-3452.pdf The government is looking to implement a carbon pricing policy, with four potential approaches: a cap and trade system; baseline and credit system; carbon tax; and, regulations and performance standards. Have your say, here:  Environmental Registry

It's time to drop a double from your double-double.  The World Health Organization finds that there are significant benefits to health (obesity and tooth decay) with the reduction of sugar intake.   The " WHO guideline recommends adults and children reduce their daily intake of free sugars to less than 10% of their total energy intake. A further reduction to below 5% or roughly 25 grams (6 teaspoons) per day would provide additional health benefits ." These are steps that most could take.  It doesn't require significant lifestyle changes -- just a little nudge in the right direction.  No sugar in coffee and tea; water instead of juice or pop; and read nutrition labels, you'd be amazed at what you find. ref.  WHO | Sugars intake for adult and children  

Recently, MIT Sloan Management Review published the above titled report.  It makes for an interesting read.  If you're working in industry, it doesn't matter your size -- sustainability isn't something you can tackle alone and in isolation.  It's something that requires collaboration -- and not just the basics of collaboration -- but meaningful effort beyond the sharing of ideas, best practices and standards.  Effort to develop and implement solutions to collectively have a bigger impact than one company, one industry, going at it alone. "In the 2014 Sustainability Report, new research by MIT Sloan Management Review, The Boston Consulting Group and the UN Global Compact, shows that a growing number of companies are turning to collaborations — with suppliers, NGOs, industry alliances, governments, even competitors — to become more sustainable. Our research found that as sustainability issues become increasingly complex, global in nature and pivotal to success, ...

I've been absent for a while, but thought I'd impose by reminding you, who don't need reminding, that there's a huge untapped potential in terms of science, economics and general progress in our species.  Do your bit to promote equality. Related reading: Women, Business and the Law 2014: Removing Restrictions to Enhance Gender Equality (PDF)   -- analyzes laws that impact women entrepreneurs and employees globally. The new edition highlights reforms carried out over the past two years and expands coverage to examine legal protections addressing violence against women. Women and Leadership  (PDF) -- According to the majority of Americans, women are every bit as capable of being good political leaders as men. The same can be said of their ability to dominate the corporate boardroom. And according to a new Pew Research Center survey on women and leadership, most Americans find women indistinguishable from men on key leadership traits such as intelligence ...

The Economist declares that the notion of "peak oil" is being dealt a death blow in its latest special report on energy and technology. There is no shortage of hydrocarbons in the Earth’s crust, and no sign that mankind is about to reach “peak technology” for extracting them. That of course, is a short-term view.  We are living off the past with hydrocarbons, and as large as the planet is, and as long as the past is, hydrocarbons are a finite resource.  Cutting dependence on this finite resource that has long term negative consequences to sustaining a planet as we know it.  And here, the Economist helpfully suggests curbing subsidies that encourages dependence on hydrocarbons. For now, though, low oil prices put money in consumers’ pockets and give a bit of breathing space to governments, making it easier to cut fossil-fuel subsidies (and perhaps even tax carbon emissions). In 2013 some $550 billion was spent on subsidising fossil fuels, a policy of extraordi...

Ref.  http://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/remington-dont-call-gun-fix-recall-n263851 Remington is being forced to fix 7.85 million guns with a firing mechanism known as the Walker trigger.  The issue: the guns are prone to firing without the trigger being pulled.  But is it a defect?  Remington denies they have a defect and insists the thousands of consumer reports they've had are "user errors." Recalls are still seen as a bad thing in lawsuit happy jurisdictions.  Admitting to a defect and recalling a product opens companies up to liability claims. This is what being between a rock and a hard place must feel like.

Source Intelligence just published a summary of the activities involving their solution for managing conflict minerals risks in the supply chain. ref.  An Insightful Look at 2014 Conflict Minerals Efforts  (free registration required) The report aggregates their client data from 2013 efforts, covering the apparel, electronics, manufacturing, oil & gas and retail industries.  At tier 1 in the supply chain, they have 1,336 suppliers -- which increased significantly as they delved into deeper tiers -- and impacted around 2M products.  Source Intelligence is definitely doing the sales pitch.  Their report shows efficiency and effectiveness gains if you use their resources for education and data collection.  But it isn't smoke and mirrors.  It makes sense that supply chain partners who are educated (having awareness of context) are better suited to effectively participate in reporting.  It also makes sense that automating the data capture is...

DHL last week released the third edition of its Global Connectedness Index -- and despite the global economic malaise, things are looking good for the globalization of trade. DHL's analysis looks at the cross-border movement of goods, capital, information and people, using data that encompasses 99% of the world's GDP, covering 95% of its population -- and the findings are not surprising. The world’s economic center of gravity shifts eastward; emerging economies see bigger connectedness gains than advanced economies Flows of trade, capital, information and people stretched out over more distant geographies, documenting a decline in regionalization Europe remains most globally connected region; Netherlands again ranks No. 1

The cotton harvest was just completed in Uzbekistan. See a summary of events below. With Bangladesh, India and Russia being the largest importer of Uzbek cotton, will you be looking at your clothing labels different this Christmas season? If you understand the cotton supply chain, you'll realize that there is no easily discernible way of segregating cotton from one country. It's a commodity that is purchased, mixed, processed, mixed, processed, etc., before ever ending up in the hands of the cutters and sewers. Traceability is a huge hurdle to overcome. 2014-12-04 2014 Uzbek Cotton Harvest Update Webinar from As You Sow on Vimeo . Source: https://ethicallysourced.wordpress.com/

Here's some news to cheer about -- every little bit helps. Walmart to Add 400 New U.S. On-Site Solar Energy Installations - Store Brands Decisions  -- with their scale, Walmart can have significant impact to the solar power industry.  Targeting to go fully renewable eventually, and having 1B kWh by 2020 is awesome. Ikea Group Purchases 165 Megawatt Texas Wind Farm - Store Brands Decisions  -- Ikea has committed to building its second wind farm in the US, to generate 165MW.  Ikea has committed to own and operate 279 wind turbines in 9 countries (nice round number).

How not to deal with a warning that you're hosting/dealing in counterfeit products: When a consumer watchdog organization alerted eBay that it had found hundreds of counterfeits on the site, eBay blocked the whistleblower's accounts and removed its comments warning people about fake products. Source:  http://www.businessinsider.com/ebay-admits-it-banned-a-whistleblower-2014-11 The Counterfeit Report also bought fake Apple iPhone chargers, which have been implicated in starting fires, as well as counterfeit over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, sporting goods, fragrances, auto accessories, and more. Counterfeit Report:  The Counterfeit Report | Press Release Scary that some of the products bear counterfeit certification and listing marks.  To consumers, these are real products.

Today is World Toilet Day : World Toilet Day is a day to take action. It is a day to raise awareness about all people who do not have access to a toilet - despite the human right to water and sanitation.  It is a day to do something about it.  Of the world’s seven billion people, 2.5 billion people do not have improved sanitation. 1 billion people still defecate in the open. Women and girls risk rape and abuse because they have no toilet that offers privacy.  We cannot accept this situation. Sanitation is a global development priority. This is why the United Nations General Assembly in 2013 designated 19 November as World Toilet Day. This day had previously been marked by international and civil society organizations all over the world but was was not formally recognized as an official UN day until 2013. World Toilet Day is coordinated by UN-Water in collaboration with Governments and relevant stakeholders.