Many communities have mobilized in opposition to prevailing mining models in Argentina this year. The use of road blocks to obstruct exportation of goods has been one popular tactic. However, these demonstrations have often been suppressed by police force. On several occasions the residents and activists have been beaten, abused and detained by the police with the approval (tacit or not) of provincial and national authorities. The development of these mining projects has already interfered with people's fundamental right to water and their constitutional right to a healthy environment. There are growing concerns that individual political freedoms are also in danger. more[...]
As the ISO 26000 guidance standard on social responsibility reaches its second anniversary, ISO Secretary-General, Rob Steele, challenged participants at a two-day open forum in Geneva, Switzerland, to consider what has been done so far, and where the road should take us next, by asking, "So what?" more[...]
A two-day workshop on the experience of developing countries in implementing and promoting the ISO 26000 guidance standard on social responsibility opened on 5 November 2012, in Geneva, Switzerland. Some 120 participants from about 70 countries are exchanging their experience on ISO 26000:2010, Guidance on social responsibility. The workshop is organized by the Development and Training Services of ISO. more[...]
Mention the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank” or the “Act”),[1] and most people think of legislation aimed at “fundamental reform of the financial system”[2] focused on regulation of Wall Street practices and complex financial products. But tucked within the voluminous text of the Act (which consists of 2,300 pages and stipulates the passage of 387 rules by 20 different agencies[3]) is a provision having nothing to do with these issues or anything remotely related to them. Instead the “conflict minerals” provision of the Act requires companies that are subject to the reporting requirement of the federal securities laws to disclose whether they manufacture products using so-called “conflict minerals” sourced from the Democratic Republic of Congo (“DRC”) or contiguous countries.[4] more[...]
Capturing the Gains research into the global production of mobile phones traces the connections between armed factions, poverty and violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and mobile phone users worldwide. The critical link is coltan, or columbite tantalite. It is the raw material for tantalum, an essential mineral in the manufacture of mobile phones, computers and other electronic equipment. more[...]
Three months after the Rio+20 Conference on sustainable development and shortly before the UN General Assembly in New York will take important decisions on the follow-up to Rio, leading figures from UN and EU institutions, governments, environmental organizations and other stakeholders have come together in Brussels at the EEB Annual Conference [1] to debate the outcome of Rio and its implications for Europe. more[...]
The Equator Initiative - a United Nations-led partnership which recognizes the success of local sustainable development projects with the biennial Equator Prize - has launched a series of 127 case studies and a volume of “lessons-learned” outlining the key components of successful, community-based development initiatives. more[...]
Gold smuggled from eastern Congo’s war zone is now the most lucrative conflict mineral and is ending up at jewelry stores and banks, according to a new investigative report by the Enough Project. The study found that following a 65 percent drop in profits from the conflict minerals tin, tungsten, and tantalum, armed groups have increasingly turned to smuggling the fourth conflict mineral, gold, to generate income that finances mass atrocities in eastern Congo. The armed groups use poorly paid miners, who work in dangerous conditions, including thousands of children as young as eight years old. The study maps out how conflict gold makes its way from eastern Congo to consumers worldwide who purchase it in the form of wedding rings and watches, and investment banks that buy gold bars. more[...]
This is the first of two papers on the illegal conflict-gold trade from eastern Congo that is fueling one of the most violent conflicts in the world. This paper tracks the transnational trade from mines in eastern Congo to consumers. The second paper will map a way to resolve this problem by setting out recommendations to formalize the trade, cut down conflict-gold smuggling, and create jobs to provide living wages to Congolese miners. more[...]
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