Latest news with #environmentalrights
Irish Times
28-07-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
The Irish Times view on the ICJ climate change decision: a far-reaching legal statement
The decision by the International Court of Justice on the responsibility of states to protect the rights of current and future generations to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment is the most far-reaching legal statement on the issue to date. The verdict, delivered in the Hague late week, has immense implications in spelling out who is responsible for climate change and an overheating world. It has brought consolation to states that are most vulnerable to human-induced global warming, particularly Africa and low-lying Pacific island states who were instrumental in having the case heard at the UN court. It is a key decision which should guide delivery of climate justice across the planet. It is considered the clearest legal affirmation to date that cooperation among states to address climate change is not optional, but rather is a binding obligation. Governments must tackle fossil fuels, the single biggest contributor to the climate crisis. Critically, failing to prevent harm to the climate could result in them being ordered to pay reparations or other forms of restitution. While this is an advisory opinion, it provides unprecedented legal clarity on how existing international norms apply to addressing climate change, with significant implications for fossil fuel production and transitioning to a clean energy future. Moreover, the courts also found states were legally liable for the actions of the private sector and must regulate corporate activities. READ MORE According to environmental law specialists, the ruling could open the door for more litigation against corporate carbon polluters and allow for states to return to the ICJ to hold each other to account. The world's largest emitters are most liable. Within that cohort, major economies – notably the US, China, India and Russia as well as petrostates – will not be deterred by this outcome. Their attempts to justify continued fossil fuel extraction have been rejected by the world's highest court. The spectre of reparations will lurk around every corner for decades to come. Fossil fuel companies, especially those recently reverting to the core activities of generating oil and gas and divesting from renewables, should take heed of this judgement as such activity will be regarded as reckless – and aggravated damages will be justified. This decision will embolden progressive countries increasingly aware that swift emissions reductions are needed to ensure a safe future for humanity. The Irish Government in line with its wish to be a global leader in addressing the climate crisis should be proactive and consider enshrining the right to a healthy environment in the Constitution. And it must join others in taking concerted global action by reducing emissions, removing carbon, restoring ecosystems and building resilience for what is come.
Yahoo
25-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Inditex Has a Flights and Rights Problem, Activists Say
When a slew of labor and environmental campaigners converged outside Inditex's annual meeting in the Spanish port city of A Coruña last week, it wasn't to wish the Zara owner a happy 50th anniversary. Representatives from Campagna Abiti Puliti, the Clean Clothes Campaign, Fair, Fondazione Finanza Etica, Public Eye and Sete—to name a few—were there, instead, to take the fast fashion OG to task for what they said are its 'severe' environmental and human rights failures, including a reliance on air freight transportation and its alleged failure to get its suppliers to drop outstanding criminal charges against workers in who protested the insufficiency of Bangladesh's minimum wage in 2023. More from Sourcing Journal US DOT Slams Mexico Over Relocation of Air Cargo Flights As US Tariff Pressure Grows, Can Bangladesh Still Manifest a Just Transition? Trump's Trade War Could Kill Lesotho's Garment Industry It's the least that the Spanish conglomerate, which gleaned a record profit of 4.5 billion euros ($5.3 billion) in 2024, can do, they said. And though Inditex has since posted weaker-than-expected earnings in the first fiscal quarter of 2025—the result, it said, of a slower start to its summer sales because of cooler weather, along with overall economic uncertainty—it still managed to eke by with 8.3 billion euros ($9.7 billion), just a a hair short of the 8.4 billion euros ($9.8 billion) forecast by LSEG analysts. Net income also came in at 1.3 billion euros ($1.5 billion) for the quarter, a rounding error less than what was expected. A spokesperson said that Inditex, which also operates Bershka, Massimo Dutti and Pull&Bear, declined to comment. David Hachfeld, textiles expert at Public Eye, was among those calling Inditex to pull back on its 'airborne fashion.' A report from the Swiss watchdog group said that the retail giant's transport emissions jumped by 37 percent in the 2023 fiscal year. In 2024, Inditex's greenhouse gas emissions from transport and distribution rose by another 10 percent, surpassing 2.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide and making up 20 percent of the group's total footprint. In contrast, H&M Group keeps air freight under 1 percent of its transport emissions. 'Inditex should publish transparent data on its cargo flights and set clear targets for a logistics model that functions without these climate-damaging practices,' said Hachfeld, urging the company to begin a phase-out that starts with 'being honest' and extends into redesigning a logistics system that's less reliant on flights. Zipping clothing in the skies also has implications beyond fossil fuel pollution that leads to greater climate precarity, Public Eye said. It indicates that larger orders are being split into multiple smaller ones with truncated delivery times that can increase deadline pressures on workers, increasing the risk of forced overtime or subcontracting to shadier outfits. The practice is a hallmark of the 'test and repeat' model that gauges how the first couple of deliveries perform before putting rush orders on popular styles. Unfair contractual conditions that leave no wiggle room for unscheduled delays, say because of last-minute change requests or other hiccups, can also lead to unplanned air transportation, Hachfeld said. 'Above all, Inditex is still uttering the refrain about its well-known climate target of net zero by 2040,' he added. 'If the fashion giant does not change its course and start taking measures to protect the climate, air freight volumes at the airport are likely to increase.' Likewise, Inditex could be doing more to address a pre-Sheikh Hasina crackdown on labor rights that hasn't completely lifted, said Bogu Gojdź, public outreach coordinator at the Clean Clothes Campaign, the garment industry's largest consortium of trade unions and labor rights groups. Nearly 3,000 workers in Inditex's supply chain are still facing prison 'simply for demanding livable wages,' she said, calling the threat of arrest on blanket charges a 'brutal intimidation' tactic that the company has the leverage to stop. 'Its failure to do so makes it complicit in the repression of workers who make their profits,' Gojdź said. More protestors took to the streets outside Inditex stores in cities such as Barcelona and Milan to wave picket signs. Social and climate justice are interconnected, said Deborah Lucchetti, president of Fair and spokesperson for Campagna Abiti Puliti. 'Activists and consumers are demanding clarity from the Spanish giant on its risk mitigation policies for truly responsible business conduct,' she said. 'The demand for a living wage from the workers who make its clothes and the demand to abandon the reckless use of fossil fuels to transport them are two sides of the same struggle.' But despite a request by Fondazione Finanza Etica, the Italian member of Shareholders for Change, a group of institutional investors engaged in progressive causes, to read a statement explaining why it voted against the 2024-2025 Consolidated Sustainability Report, this did not happen, the organization said. In addition, none of the questions sent in writing before the meeting regarding an air-freight phase-out, protection of workers' rights in Bangladesh and an independent review of Inditex's business model received any response, said FFE analyst Mauro Meggiolaro. 'This is not how an AGM should function,' Meggiolaro said, using an acronym for annual general meeting. 'It shows a lack of respect for concerned shareholders.' Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Melden Sie sich an, um Ihr Portfolio aufzurufen. Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten
Reuters
16-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Nigeria's Renaissance Energy halts production into Trans Niger oil pipeline
YENAGOA, Nigeria, May 16 (Reuters) - Nigerian oil firm Renaissance Energy has halted production into the country's Trans Niger oil pipeline, a major oil artery transporting crude from onshore oilfields to the Bonny export terminal, following an operational incident, it said on Friday. An environmental rights group said on Thursday that the pipeline burst on May 6 and spilled oil into the local B-Dere community in Ogoniland, the second such incident affecting the pipeline in two months. Nigerian oil consortium Renaissance Group, which now owns Shell's former onshore subsidiary that operates the pipeline, "immediately isolated the pipeline and halted production into the line", Michael Adande, spokesperson for Renaissance said. "With co-operation from the B-Dere community, our experts accessed the site, clamped the pipeline and recovered spilled oil, with clean-up preparations now underway," Adande said. Renaissance said a team of investigators had confirmed that the incident was an operational one. The Trans Niger Pipeline (TNP), with a capacity of around 450,000 barrels per day, is one of two conduits that export Bonny Light crude from Nigeria, Africa's biggest oil producer.
