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Filed under: CSR Asia Weekly — Yoshi Ko @ 17:44 pm |
Click here to view this week's issue of CSR Asia Weekly (Vol. 4 Week 34). This week includes the feature articles on: Water scarcity and food security, One small step for carbon? and CSR in the mainstream media.
If you'd like to be included in our e-mailout list, send us an email and subscribe. We upload and email CSR Asia Weekly out every Wednesday. |
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Filed under: Environment Economics Singapore Energy — Vijay Ramani @ 13:32 pm |
Going green's fine, but show us the money. Our compressed natural gas (CNG) taxis are eating into our daily earnings. That angry refrain came from a group of cab drivers who are on a four-year contract to drive Smart Group's Kia Carens taxis which can run on CNG. In the past few months, not only do they have to drive all the way to just two CNG filling stations, but they were also hit by rising CNG prices of up to 49%. CNG is considered to be an environmentally friendly alternative but one driver said: "I can't afford to save the environment when I'm barely earning anything." While the vehicles are 'bi-fuel' and can run on petrol like most CNG cars here, the cabbies said it made no sense to switch to the more expensive petrol mode. More here. |
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Filed under: Cambodia Illegal logging — Vijay Ramani @ 12:51 pm |
Forestry officials and local police in Ratanakkiri province raided five furniture makers for using illegally harvested timber to make their products. Of the nearly 40 furniture makers operating in Banlung district, where the raids took place, only 16 have the necessary documents from the Ministry of Agriculture to use local timber to make their goods. The forestry department said unregistered furniture makers make it difficult to control logging and pose an environmental threat. One of the furniture makers lost over US$2,500 in furniture and goods and said the cost of getting a legal permit, at US$4,000 was too high. More here. |
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Filed under: Malaysia Product responsibility — Erin Lyon @ 10:19 am |
This is a really interesting blog from a consumer in Malaysia. The blogger includes photos of his grievance about a "foreign substance in the Tea Pot condensed milk-tin-can on 20th March 2008". All correspondence is documented, photos are included and the blog is titled "My Grievances with F&N Dairies". The bloggers motivation: "Yes I am a frustrated Malaysian. I am frustrated because in Malaysia our consumer rights and protections sucks". It is a fascinating case study in customer relations and product responsibility and the use of blogging to campaign. More Asian consumers talking back and engaging the online community in discussions. |
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Filed under: China Economics Investment — Richard Welford @ 09:14 am |
China's central bank has more than doubled the amount entrepreneurs and small businesses can borrow as part of efforts to boost employment. The maximum amount that can be loaned to individuals for business purposes was raised to 50,000 yuan (US$7,300 dollars) says this report. The aim is to enhance the policy support for labour-intensive small enterprises and to get them to hire more jobless people, it says. |
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Filed under: Labour Wages Economics Vietnam — Richard Welford @ 09:10 am |
With inflation rising to 27%, the highest in Asia, and food prices rising to 74% above those a year earlier, Vietnam is suffering a serious downturn according to this report. Hundreds of strikes at factories are one of the sharpest signs of discontent. Some factory workers who had been leading Vietnam's emergence from poverty are returning to the countryside, unable to sustain an urban life on a factory wage. |
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Filed under: Environment Sri Lanka Climate change — Richard Welford @ 08:59 am |
Sri Lanka's Environment Minister has said air pollution is estimated to be responsible for about half a million premature deaths every year in the Asian and Western Pacific region and that the importance of the protection of the environment and its natural resources is a vital condition for the sustainable development of the country. This report quotes the minister as saying the priority concern for environment protection is reflected in proposed new initiatives including the introduction of environment taxes and the establishment of the Sri Lanka Carbon Fund. |
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Filed under: Labour Economics India — Richard Welford @ 08:26 am |
With 54 per cent of India’s population of 1.1 billion made up of people age 24 or younger, outsiders view the country as flush with English-speaking workers who can fill advanced jobs in technology, medicine and finance and attract foreign investment. But this perception is wrong and that the know-how employers require is increasingly rare. The crippling shortage of skilled employees now threatens India’s economic growth, says this report. |
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Filed under: Wages Hong Kong Poverty — Richard Welford @ 14:58 pm |
Poverty has replaced unemployment as the top concern of Hong Kong people for the first time, says a new survey reported here. The research found that a rising wealth gap is now a serious issue. For one of the world's richest economies the plight of poor people in Hong Kong continues to be a disgrace. It's serious enough to have prompted the Hong Kong government to put labour rights on top of its work agenda and to seriously consider a minimum wage, resisted by most of Hong Kong's employers. |
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Filed under: China Human rights — Richard Welford @ 14:31 pm |
The major corporate sponsors of the Beijing Olympics have failed to uphold their own principles of corporate social responsibility, Human Rights Watch have said in this report. Sponsors have failed to speak out about human rights abuses linked to the Games, and should be prepared to support the establishment of a permanent body inside the International Olympic Committee to monitor rights abuses at future Olympics, it says. Human Rights Watch says it has documented numerous human rights violations related to the Beijing Games, including ongoing media censorship, the abuse of migrant construction workers who built the Olympic venues, and the unlawful forced evictions of hundreds of thousands of Chinese citizens from their homes to make way for these venues. |
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Paid maternity leave will be extended from 12 weeks to 16 weeks, and the extra four weeks can be taken anytime during the baby's first year. It was previously extended from eight to 12 weeks in 2004. Childcare leave, which can be claimed by either parent, will be extended from two to six days per year. There will also be one week of unpaid infant-care leave per year, and mums or dads can claim it until their child turns two years old. More here
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Filed under: Cambodia Corruption — Vijay Ramani @ 13:47 pm |
With only 17 percent of the population of Cambodia being currently supplied with electricity, villagers in Koh Khel commune in Kandal province are finally being connected after 38 years of living in darkness. But Chhoeung Morn, a member of the Koh Khel commune council, said villagers in the commune have to pay bribes of up to US$30 to have their home connected to the grid, in addition to the standard connection fee. "It isn't surprising that the suppliers have taken this opportunity to earn extra money. Villagers here used to pay 5,000 riel per kWh to use private generators, but now they will have cheaper electricity at 650 riel per kWh," Morn said. More here. |
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Filed under: Labour Vietnam — Richard Welford @ 13:14 pm |
There is a growing number of Vietnamese students going abroad for studies but few return home to participate in the country’s development process. This article says that students should be offered more opportunities for studies in Vietnam and encouragement to return from abroad to contribute knowledge back to the country if a talent shortage is to be avoided. |
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Filed under: Environment Companies — Jacqui Dixon @ 09:46 am |
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The unlinkable SCMP today reports that a carbon emission programme planned for 2012 could see airlines paying for their carbon footprints on every route they fly to and from Europe. Airlines like Cathay Pacific Airways will have to pay taxes to European countries to offset the carbon dioxide they produce on flights heading to or leaving Europe. Tony Tyler, chief executive of Cathay Pacific stated that “the emission trading scheme would not only cost the industry a fortune but also bring about a serious unintended consequence - a distortion in airline competition”. Non-stop flight passengers flying to Europe (e.g. from Hong Kong to London) would pay more than passengers with stopovers (e.g. in Dubai). |
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Filed under: Environment Malaysia — Erin Lyon @ 15:28 pm |
A biodiversity bank has been set up to raise funds to protect and conserve the biodiversity-rich 34,000ha Malua Forest Reserves in the east coast of Sabah. The Malua Wildlife Habitat Conservation Bank, or Malua BioBank will be jointly managed by New Forests and the state government. The Malua BioBank project will entail rehabilitation of the Malua Forest reserves and sell Biodiversity Conservation Certificates. Each certificate, to be offered at US$10, will represent the rehabilitation and conservation of 100 square metres of rainforest. The certificates will be registered in the TZ1 environmental registry and will be tradable, or can be retired. The rainforest is inhabited by the Sumatran rhinoceros, about 1,000 orang utans and other rare animal species. More here. |
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Filed under: Indonesia Investment — Erin Lyon @ 11:42 am |
This report states that according to the Papuan Traditional Council Chairman, anyone can do business in Papua, as long as they do not neglect the traditions and people's vision and that they don't bypass the people's authority. This statement was in response to the Binladen Group's plan to invest in agro business in Fakfak and Merauke. His statement reads " we are building an economic philosophy that brings welfare to the people". He again said that Freeport did not benefit Papuans. The chairman also stated that " Papua is an autonomous region rich in resources which should bring profit and welfare for its people - in reality, they don't." |
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Filed under: Environment Economics Korea — Erin Lyon @ 11:35 am |
President Lee Myung-Bak Friday unveiled a "green growth" strategy to drive South Korea's economy in future decades. "Low Carbon, Green Growth" is cited as the core of the country's new vision with "the renewable energy industry creating several times more jobs than existing industries". This report states the president stated that all-out efforts would be made to raise the use of new and renewable energy from the current two percent to more than 20 percent by 2050. Research funds for green technology would more than double. A package of measures against climate change is to be unveiled next month. |
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Filed under: China Environment Laos Climate change — Richard Welford @ 11:26 am |
At least four people have died in Laos as a result of flooding caused by record high water levels in the Mekong River. Water levels rose 13.68 meters, beating the previous recorded high of 12.38 meters in 1966. A sandbag construction of 2.5-meters had to be built to protect Vientiane from the flooding. Many are pointing to unusually high rainfall and climate change but a lot of local media stories are placing the blame on Chinese dams up river. More here and here. |
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Filed under: Cambodia Human rights — Richard Welford @ 11:08 am |
Boeung Kak Lake is set to be filled with sand and thousands of people removed from their homes, as part of a development project starting next month to build shops, apartments and hotels. The decision has sparked a human rights outcry with protesters saying that under international law, Cambodia's human rights obligations under the international covenant on economic, social and cultural rights, the circumstances surrounding the development and the impending eviction, have all constituted serious violations of law. This report says that people have been intimidated, there's been lack of consultation and a serious lack of information. There has been no transparency surrounding the development of what's happening. The $US79 million leasehold agreement has been made with Shukaku Inc, led by a senior Cambodian politician.
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Filed under: Economics Vietnam Migrant workers — Vijay Ramani @ 17:37 pm |
More than 70 per cent of the estimated 1 million workers in industrial and export processing zones of big cities like Hanoi, HCM City, Da Nang, Dong Nai are migrants from the countryside . Two thirds of them are young people between 15-19 years and are yet to be trained in vocational schools or colleges. They get low salaries which are insufficient for them to survive in big cities, let alone send money to their families in the countryside. Nguyen Thi Hong Nhung, a worker at Duy Thinh Textile and Garment Company says she earns only VND1.4 million (US$87.5) per month with VND400,000 ($25) being spent on rent. Female migrant workers in particular are at risk of being cheated by people traffickers due to lack of information about the places they will work at. More here. |
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