January 27 2012
by CCB TeamThe latest headlines from around the world;
EU warns wasting environmental resources could spark new recession
The overuse and waste of valuable natural resources is threatening to produce a fresh economic crisis. Janez Potocnik, the EU commissioner for the environment, linked the current economic crisis gripping the eurozone with potential future crises driven by price spikes in energy and raw materials. He said: "We have to use what we have more efficiently, or we will fail to compete.” The warning highlighted the increasing scarcity and rising price of some key resources, including energy, water, food and raw materials from metals.
India plans science policy to help tackle poverty and development
India will press science and technology into serving a national policy of more inclusive, sustainable and rapid growth for its people. Addressing the 99th Indian Science Congress, the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, said the occasion demanded looking anew at the role of science in a country "grappling with the challenges of poverty and development". India's National Innovation Council plans to set up an India inclusive innovation fund that will catalyse entrepreneurship to target solutions for people at the bottom of the pyramid.
NGOs upbeat over China's environmental transparency progress
Green activists applauded steady progress on environmental transparency in China after public campaigns forced major players to release sensitive information on pollution and its origins. A recent survey on openness and accountability showed that an increasingly informed public is putting greater pressure on companies and local authorities to clean up. The report also noted that more than 500 enterprises are now communicating with environmental NGOs about their monitoring and disclosure systems.
Africa begins to rise above aid
An increasing number of African countries are beginning to step away from aid dependency, as the domestic private sector becomes the engine of growth across much of Africa. This is a significant change from years of high dependency on aid. These are countries that have made the most progress towards replacing aid with domestically mobilised resources. On average, Africa has managed to raise an estimated 441 dollars in taxes per person per year while receiving 41 dollars per person per year in aid, according to the African Economic Outlook 2011, a report combining the expertise of the African Development Bank, the OECD Development Centre, the United Nations Economic Commissionfor Africa, the United Nations Development Programme and a network of African think tanks and research centers.
Nigeria reels after oil subsidy row turns into country's biggest ever protest
Nigeria has been convulsed by the biggest protests in its history after the government abruptly announced an end to subsidies on the 1st January 2012 which would have kept fuel prices at 25p a litre. Economists and organisations, such as the International Monetary Fund, have long said such painful shock-therapy economics are necessary if Nigeria is to haul itself into the middle-income bracket. But the overnight doubling of prices at the petrol pump unleashed years of festering anger and the ensuing several days of strikes brought much of the country to a halt. The protests have forced trade unions call off a plan to stop the country's oil production, but analysts say the root causes underlying the outrage remain.
Ecuador appeals court rules against Chevron in oil case
An Ecuadorean appeals court has upheld a ruling that Chevron should pay damages totalling $18.2 billion (£11.5 billion) over Amazon oil pollution. Chevron said the judgement was "illegitimate". Texaco, which merged with Chevron in 2001, was accused of dumping toxic materials in the Ecuadorean Amazon.
Eon to buy 10% stake in Brazil’s MPX Energia
German utility Eon plans to spend €350 million on a 10 % stake in Brazil’s MPX Energia as a prelude to forming a joint venture with the power company to run and build fossil fuel and renewable energy plants in Brazil and Chile. The deal marks a first success for Eon in its year-old quest to reduce its exposure to low-growth Europe by investing in selected fast-growing markets such as Brazil, whose 200m inhabitants are pushing electricity use up each year.
Haiti two years later: businesses that help rebuild a country
The United States Chamber of Commerce Business Civic Leadership Center (BCLC) has introduced an online portal, ‘Haiti: Two Years Later,’ to mark the two years that have passed since the devastating earthquake. The portal’s focus is on the entrepreneurial opportunities for rebuilding and social progress that exist today in Haiti, as well as the important role of business investments, including CSR programmes, are playing.