5 June 2014
After a critical report by Oxfam last year, two world players in the sugar industry – Coca-Cola and Pepsi – have published new policies on land grabs by their suppliers. In March 2014, Pepsi announced ‘a land policy with zero tolerance for illegal activities in our supply chain and for land displacements of any legitimate land tenure holders’. Coca-Cola made a similar announcement late last year. (more…)
Source: The Guardian | Can Pepsi and Coke end land grabs for sugar?
3 May 2014
In a letter to the World Bank, twenty-eight Honduran and international NGOs and civil society groups have expressed their concerns over a proposed USD 15m loan to the commercial bank Davivienda in Honduras by the bank’s private lending branch, the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The proposed investment was classified as ‘medium risk’ by the IFC, even though it was admitted that child labour and land disputes could be potential impacts. (more…)
Source: The Guardian | World Bank loan to Honduran bank comes under scrutiny
20 January 2014
On 16 December 2013, the fourth SHARES Debate entitled Protecting the Arctic area – a responsibility of the Netherlands? was held in Amsterdam. The panel consisted of three speakers: Louwrens Hacquebord, René Lefeber, and Daniel Simons. André Nollkaemper acted as moderator. This blog post highlights the main parts of the debate.
Background – changes and threats
Through the melting of the ice of the Arctic, as a consequence of global warming, new economic opportunities for states and businesses arise. Areas that until recently were covered in ice are now opening up, creating, for example, permanent navigational routes between Asia and Europe, and enabling the exploitation of oil and gas resources that had been previously located in inaccessible areas. The Netherlands, as well as companies incorporated in the Netherlands, are among the many actors that want to capitalise on these new opportunities. The increase of economic activities can pose significant risks to the fragile ecosystem of the Arctic. This raises a fundamental question: who is responsible for the management, use and protection of the Arctic area? In this complex situation, question arise over the role and responsibility of the Netherlands and other actors, including Dutch companies such as Van Oord, Boskalis and Shell. (more…)