Hello! The 'social' – 'S' – in ESG, is today's primary focus as around half a million workers took to the streets in the UK, demanding higher wages, better benefits, and improved working conditions this week. Meanwhile, it's a bitter-sweet moment in today's ESG Spotlight as an Italian ship managed to break a record due to the melting ice in the Antarctic. Britain is facing its most sweeping wave of industrial action in decades, with workers across sectors including healthcare, transport and education all walking off the job. At the heart of the unrest is pay. Average wage growth in Britain slowed after the global financial crisis, and while it gradually picked up in the second half of the 2010s, pay rises were generally smaller for public-sector workers and brought little or no real-term increase. |
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Striking workers attend a march, in London, Britain February 1, 2023. REUTERS/Toby Melville |
Avid readers may know Sustainable Switch covers industrial action a lot. But why is this a 'social' aspect of ESG, you ask? Well, social "risks" such as rising levels of poverty, inequality and a lack of decent work are key elements that the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) address. To achieve a better and more sustainable future for all, the U.N's SDGs serve as a blueprint for governments and companies to aim for. A lack of equitable pay and opportunities goes against those goals. The mass walkouts across the country shut schools, halted most rail services, and forced the military to be put on standby to help with border checks on a day dubbed "Walkout Wednesday". According to unions, as many as 300,000 teachers took part, the biggest group involved, as part of wider action by 500,000 people, the highest number since 2011, when civil servants walked out en masse. Over in France, more than 1.2 million people took part in industrial action this week. Franck Viger-Brunet says he and his comrades have to count the costs of going on strike to force President Emmanuel Macron to back down on plans to hike the retirement age by two years to 64. "We pay for the days we strike. I have budgeted for the last month to be able to strike for a month (against this reform)... We've got to keep going," the 58-year-old CGT union member said at a march in Paris during a second nationwide strike against the reform. So far unions have tried to space strikes out to minimize wage losses. The next strike is due on Feb. 7 and unions have also called for nationwide demos on Saturday Feb. 11, which would allow more workers to protest without having pay docked. |
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An aerial view shows power-generating windmill turbines in a wind farm in Graincourt-les-Havrincourt, France, April 27, 2020. Picture taken with a drone REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol |
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- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen set out its Green Deal Industrial Plan, designed to ensure the European Union does not lose ground in the green tech race and can counter massive subsidies by the United States and China. Read our Reuters Factbox on what it contains.
- Air pollution in Bangkok and neighboring Thai provinces spiked past safe levels, prompting authorities to urge people to stay indoors and avoid strenuous outdoor activity.
- Brazil is preparing a task force of armed forces, police and government agencies to launch an operation to expel illegal gold miners who invaded the Yanomami indigenous reservation, officials said.
- Top U.S. proxy advisers Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services defended their corporate voting recommendations on environmental and social matters, with both saying they remain focused on long-term shareholder value.
- Expert Comment: "The rich ‒ individuals and big corporations ‒ have rarely had it so good, while extreme poverty has increased for the first time in 25 years. This growing inequality is a threat to democracy the world over. Either we tax the very rich properly or sit back and watch society fall apart at the seams," writes Sandrine Dixson-DeclĆØve, chair of the European Commission, Expert Group on Economic and Societal Impact of Research & Innovation (ESIR).
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Arthur Sadoun, chairman & CEO at multinational marketing firm Publicis Groupe shares his thoughts about working with cancer in the buildup to World Cancer Day on Feb. 4: "It is a tough reality, but whether directly or indirectly, every one of us will have to confront cancer in our lives and in our workplaces. "Companies have a key role to play in that. Working with cancer is an increasingly important initiative, on a front that many businesses are already invested in. "By making their existing efforts more accessible and visible, together we can reduce the anxiety and stigma of cancer in the workplace and positively impact our people's health. "Through a truly collaborative approach, a light lift from everyone becomes a deep and lasting impact for cancer patients at work. "The Working with Cancer pledge is already positively impacting the lives of 20 million people. "Of course, we will continue to rally more companies to the movement. But just as vital is the role all of us can play by standing with our colleagues with cancer. "That is why we are launching a call not only for awareness, but for action from everyone, to create a real cultural shift in the workplace." |
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Business groups want the government to relax its post-Brexit immigration rules as firms are struggling to find workers, something the Bank of England fears is stoking inflationary pressures. And unlike most of its G7 peers, Britain's employment rate has yet to recover to its pre-pandemic level. |
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Italian ice breaker vessel Laura Bassi carrying scientists in the Antarctic, sails near the Bay of Wales, Antarctica, handout photo obtained by Reuters on Jan. 31, 2023./File Photo |
It's a bitter-sweet moment in today's ESG Spotlight as an Italian ice-breaker carrying scientists researching in the Antarctic has sailed further south than any ship has done before due to the retreating ice. Elsewhere, Dubai state-owned airline Emirates is trialing out sustainable aviation fuel. |
The Laura Bassi vessel reached a point with the coordinates of 78° 44.280 S in the Bay of Whales in the Ross Sea, according to Italy's National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics. "I am happy with setting a record, but at the same time I am sad to see that things are really changing here in Antarctica and in the world in general," Franco Sedmak, the ship's captain, told Italy's ANSA news agency. |
Staff pictured next to Emirates Airlines Boeing 777-300ER, while running one of its engines on 100% (SAF) at Dubai airport, UAE Jan 30, 2023. REUTERS/Rula Rouhana |
Meanwhile, Emirates airline took its Boeing 777-300ER aircraft for a demonstration flight, marking an important step towards the United Arab Emirates' goal of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050. The aviation sector currently accounts for about 2.8% of global CO2 emissions. But through the use of feedstocks like cooking oils, sustainable aviation fuel – or SAF – can reduce emissions by up to 80% from conventional fuel. Some see SAF as the carbon savior for an aviation sector often cast as a villain in the fight against climate change. But the nascent industry makes up less than 1% of fuel used and costs between three to five times more than traditional jet fuel. |
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"Employees value sustainability. In fact, 84% of companies believe that they are likely to lose employees without a clear sustainability strategy." Nadeem Malik, vice president & country manager, UK and Ireland at German software company Software AG |
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- Feb. 3, Frankfurt, Germany: European Central Bank board member Frank Elderson speaks at an ECB industry outreach event on climate-related and environmental risk.
- Feb. 6, Stockholm, Sweden: EU competitiveness ministers meet as the bloc debates answers to the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act.
- Feb. 7, France: French SNCF railway workers on a 2-day strike against the government's pension reform plan.
- Feb. 7, Portugal: The Portuguese Nurses' Union (SEP) has called a strike over career progression issues and better working conditions.
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