Press Release | Geneva (Switzerland), 1 September 2010
French version
The ethical reputation of banks shows a smaller progress than other sectors, according to the Covalence Banking Sector Report 2010 released today. The reasons are a low volume of positive news regarding products, as well as criticisms related to remunerations and gender discriminations.
After two years of sharp [...]

Communiqué de presse | Genève (Suisse), 1 Septembre 2010
English version
La réputation éthique des banques progresse moins que celle des autres secteurs, observe la société genevoise Covalence dans son Banking Sector Report 2010. En cause, un faible volume d’informations positives sur les produits, ainsi que des critiques sur les rémunérations et sur le statut des femmes [...]

Nestlé will invest CHF 500 million to address responsible farming, sourcing and consumption across its coffee supply chain. Under the Nescafé Plan, the company intends to double the amount of coffee it buys directly from farmers by 2016, and to reduce the environmental footprint of its coffee producing factories, among a series of objectives.
Nestlé is [...]

Google is partnering with U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation (USBCDC), a division of U.S. Bank; to create an $86 million Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) fund. According to a release issued today, the funding will be used towards the construction and operation of 480 affordable rental housing units for low income families [...]

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has asked the US Supreme Court to “throw out a massive class action lawsuit alleging gender discrimination”. The lawsuit was first filed by six women in federal court in 2001. They allege that female employees are less paid than men for the same job, receive fewer promotions and have to wait longer [...]

Peugeot announced that its 3008 HYbrid4, the world’s first diesel hybrid car, will be presented next month at Le Mondial de l’Automobile in Paris, and that it will be available in 2011.
Many websites relay this announcement, commenting on the technical and environmental characteristics of this vehicle, such as an emission rate of 99 grams of [...]

Fact: most electronics manufacturers bury their products in excessive amounts of packaging. For proof, look no further than Dell, which managed to eliminate 18.2 million pounds of packaging since 2008 and 8.7 million pounds in the last year alone. So how did they do it? Dell’s reductions are the direct result of [...]

A UNEP report says that Shell is only responsible for 10% of oil spills in the Niger delta over the last 40 years, “the rest has come from local people illegally stealing oil and sabotaging company pipelines”, reveals The Guardian. The report by the United Nations Environment Programme generated many entries in Covalence EthicalQuote database [...]

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – More than 600 workers have downed tools at diversified miner Exxaro’s KwaZulu-Natal Sands (KZN Sands) operation, while more than 1 700 employees at Rio Tinto’s Richards Bay Minerals operation planned to start industrial action later this week. Employees at both companies were protesting over wage increases. The National [...]

Impala Platinum and South Africa’s National Union of Mine Workers (NUM) found a deal on wages and housing allowances on Saturday, according to a union official. This ends risks of strikes (see Daily Move 16.08.2010). The parties agreed on an 8% wage increase for the lowest categories and a 7.5% increase for the highest categories.
Among [...]