Open pit bitumen extraction is capable of causing mass mortality events of resident and migratory birds. We investigated annual avian mortality in the tailings ponds of the Athabasca tar sands region, in northeastern Alberta, Canada.

The most reliable studies suggest that the EROI for oil shale falls between 1:1 and 2:1 when self-energy is counted as a cost. Self-energy is energy released by the oil shale conversion process that is used to power that operation.

Since 1994, the Green Scissors Campaign, led by Friends of the Earth, Taxpayers for Common Sense and U.S. Public Interest Research Group, has been working with Congress and the Administration to end environmentally harmful and wasteful spending. Working to breach party lines, the Green Scissors Campaign has helped cut more the $26 billion in environmental wasteful programs from the federal budget.

Published in May 2010, the paper describes how the climate change and human rights issues have developed in practice, assessing its application in the work of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR).CIEL is a non-profit organization dedicated to advocacy in the global public interest, including through legal counsel, policy research, analysis, education, training and capacity building.

It has taken nearly a decade, but the class action suit brought on behalf of over one million women looks, almost, like it’ll make it to court reports Women’s eNews. That day in court is likely to bloody Wal-Mart.

United States law enforcement agencies, from the FBI to local police, have a long history of spying on American citizens and infiltrating or otherwise obstructing political activist groups. Political spying was rampant during the Cold War under the FBI’s COINTELPRO, the CIA’s Operation Chaos, and other program.

One-page report card on the Kerry-Lieberman "American Power Act" (pdf) from CRC: "We are an alliance of groups dedicated to solutions to climate change that withstand the reality check of the best scientific evidence, the precautionary principle, the values of fairness and justice, the polluter pays principle, and the need for U.S. policies to be consistent with robust international responses.

Land grabbing is an issue of concern broader than foreign land acquisitions. A range of actions are therefore required to address the threats and challenges we face.

Last year, scores of members of Congress reported holdings in energy giant BP and Transocean, the offshore drilling company from which BP had leased the now-sunken Deepwater Horizon. In the aftermath of the oil spill, did any of them drop their stocks or buy more?

Pharmaceuticals turning up in streams and rivers have made headlines in recent years. Now for the first time in the U.S., researchers have shown that such drugs may come directly from plants that manufacture them.

The current financial crisis has highlighted the failure of the federal regulatory system to ensure honest accounting. The meltdown of trillions of dollars of value followed upon regulatory failures earlier in the decade.

The full report on findings on weed resistance and other problems with glyphosate and other organic and GMO news

In April 2010 Chevron released its 2009 Annual Report. It would not take long for the cover design – Chevron's Gulf of Mexico ultra-deepwater drillship, the Discoverer Clear Leader – to seem a terribly poor choice.

Manufacturers have been adding the germ fighter triclosan to soaps, hand washes, and a range of other products for years. But here’s a dirty little secret: Once it washes down the drain, that triclosan can spawn dioxins.

An estimated 1.5 million tons of oil has spilled in the Niger Delta ecosystem over the past 50 years. This amount is equivalent to about one “Exxon Valdez” spill in the Niger Delta each year.

Four new reports show why expanding the Canadian tar sands industry to the Gulf of Mexico is bad policy for the United States.

Saying “the true burden of environmentally induced cancers gas been grossly underestimated,” a White House cancer panel has urged President Obama “to use the power of your office to remove the carcinogens and other toxins from our food, water, and air that needlessly increase health care costs, cripple our nation’s productivity, and devastate American lives.”

A rose may be a rose. But that rose-like fragrance in your perfume may be something else entirely, concocted from any number of the fragrance industry’s 3,100 stock chemical ingredients, the blend of which is almost always kept hidden from the consumer.

A battle is quietly being waged between the industry that produces genetically modified seeds and scientists trying to investigate the environmental impacts of engineered crops. Although companies such as Monsanto have recently given ground, researchers say these firms are still loath to allow independent analyses of their patented — and profitable — seeds.

According to the Energy Information Administration's (EIA) Annual Energy Outlook Report released today (May 11) output fell much further than 2008's 1% drop in 2009.

Tar sands production exerts little if any influence over global oil prices because it maintains no spare production capacity. Tar sands production is a symptom of high oil prices and not a basis for lower prices.

An Analysis of Methods and Tools for Measuring Water Use and Its Impacts

In 2009, Corporate Ethics International further established itself as a key player in the arena of climate change with our work helping to coordinate the Climate Reality Coalition (CRC) and the Tar Sands Oil Campaign (TSC). We began to phase out two projects that we had taken as far as we could, i.e., the Wal-Mart Campaign and Strategic Corporate Initiative. We now have two primary foci, BEN and projects related to our capacity building work, and TSC the international campaign to stop the expansion of Alberta’s tar sands. We remain committed to the mission of transforming the role of corporations so that they are once again in service to and under the control of citizens.

Citigroup is among the world’s largest financial institutions. As of July 2009, it was also one-third owned by the U.S. government. Without the various subsidies and guarantees — totaling hundreds of billions of dollars — made available to Citigroup, it is very likely the bank would be insolvent. Many believe that — even with the government supports — with an honest accounting, it would be insolvent today. In the case of the failure of Citigroup, it would be taken over by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) which has a long record of “resolving” failed banks — albeit not banks of the size and reach of Citi.

A new report from RiskMetrics Group, a financial research firm, warns investors that some leading oil sands companies may be particularly exposed to financial risk from toxic waste water liabilities.

In this policy brief we summarize the ways multinational livestock firms have benefited from both trade and agricultural policies. We explain the gains NAFTA gave them in both Mexico and the United States, in a wide variety of surprising ways.

A new report released today by the Environmental Justice Foundation exposes how cotton production in the Central Asian Republic of Uzbekistan remains one of the most exploitative enterprises in the world.

Report for the UN into the activities of the world's 3,000 biggest companies estimates one-third of profits would be lost if firms were forced to pay for use, loss and damage of environment

UK Beverage Firm, Swiss Mining Co., Arizona Utility Post Highest Scores Among 100 Companies

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation...today released its annual list of “Best Places to Work for LGBT Equality.”

The report exposes the role of EU institutions in constructing a complex political and legal architecture which allows European transnational companies to operate with impunity in the region.

On January 10, 2010, the Legal Clinic for Corporate Social Responsibility in the Academic Center of Law & Business (Ramat-Gan, Israel) held a conference on the issue of Practices of CSR in Israel

We believe that the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act (Kerry-Boxer), S.1733, falls short of what is needed and we urge you to strengthen the legislation before it comes to the Senate floor.

American farmers are feeling the effects of a concentrated seed industry. Seed options are diminishing while prices increase at historic rates. A new report by the Farmer to Farmer Campaign

A study published in the International Journal of Biological Sciences demonstrates the toxicity of three genetically modified corn varieties

Canada's tar sands have been internationally criticized as one of the world's largest industrial sources of greenhouse gases, but the energy-intensive extraction of oil also has a less-noted impact on the local environment.

Company actions to manage and disclose environmental and social risks from vast oil extraction undertaking fall short of what investors want

The significance of hunger lies primarily in the damage it does to those who suffer it, and secondarily in the ramifications of efforts made to avoid it. Figure 1.1 shows how some of the consequences at the individual level can easily lead to extreme changes at the other levels of social organization. This figure is a great oversimplification of both the causes and consequences of hunger but it helps highlight some of the significant relationships between hunger and human development, including the impact of hunger on the environment, economic growth, health and family planning, and political order.

“There’s a big gap in federal procurement policies,” says Bjorn Claeson, executive director of Sweatfree Communities, the non-profit organization that unites the movement.

How can I achieve sustainability in everyday life? Is consistent, sustainable behaviour possible and practicable at all?

The American public is about to find out how the government has been spending their stimulus money.

Multiple studies released in August 2009 provide evidence of rising mercury contamination of the environment, fish and people.

Throughout its value chain, the US Food System employs approximately 18% of all US workers. Yet, food workers are being exploited - many are even going hungry!

Leading corporate law firms are working with UN Special Representative John Ruggie to identify, in a series of reports, whether and how national corporate law principles and practices currently foster corporate cultures respectful of human rights.

Policy Innovations interviews Robin Hodess of Transparency International on her organization's brand new Global Corruption Report 2009, an "authoritative annual report on the state of the fight against corruption."

Contraception is almost five times cheaper than conventional green technologies as a means of combating climate change, according to research published today (Wednesday, September 9).

Number of corporate mergers involving health insurers that took place over the past 13 years: more than 400

This report details the range of existing and emerging risks that BP and Shell face from their expansion of production in the Canadian tar sands. We believe the risks are significant for BP and Shell shareholders, and that investors should question the companies more deeply on their tar sands strategies and call for greater transparency regarding the assessment of the mid to long term viability of these projects.

The 16th annual Institute for Policy Studies "Executive Excess" report exposes this year's windfalls for top financial bailout recipients.

Exposure to dust and river sediment in the area of the massive coal ash spill from the Tennessee Valley Authority's Kingston power plant could present a health risk to local communities.

most investor-owned water utilities have a long way to go in order to provide adequate environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosure to investors, according to a major new study from the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR)…The new report, “Liquid Assets: Responsible Investment in Water Services,”

The US Geological Survey reported today that nutrient loading in the Gulf of Mexico will be among the highest measured in the past 30 years. This news underscores how decades of broken funding promises are a big reason why agriculture is a leading cause of pollution in American lakes, rivers, and streams.

“This is a life or death situation for people of the North,” says Yellowknife Councillor Kevin Kennedy, a member of the municipal council that brought the resolution to this year’s annual meeting. “The Government of Canada needs to take stronger steps to protect water, fish, migratory species and people living in downstream communities.”

Today, hundreds of consumer products incorporating nanomaterials are on the market. Many of these contain nano-silver. This new report from Friends of the Earth highlights the potential environmental and human health risks associated with this new technology.

IBM recently completed its second annual survey of senior executives from around the world about the importance of green and sustainability issues to their corporate strategies, and the results are encouraging in some respects. But they also indicate how far businesses still need to go to be truly sustainable.

The UN Global Compact and the Pacific Institute today jointly released a white paper which explores the linkages between climate change and water – from both the scientific and corporate management perspectives. Entitled "Climate Change and the Global Water Crisis: What Businesses Need to Know and Do", the paper covers a number of critical areas...

The corn ethanol industry is misrepresenting scientific facts in efforts to dupe the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) into waiving critical public health protections for the sake of boosting ethanol sales.

The past year has seen the announcement of a number of FCPA enforcement actions with unprecedented fines and penalties. However, while such major cases as Siemens and Halliburton/KBR have obviously dominated the news, it is hard to say whether they represent a trend toward large-scale high-penalty FCPA prosecutions although there are likely several cases with similarly substantial fines to come.

Multinational corporations today operate seamlessly across national boundaries. But the way in which the human rights and environmental impacts of major companies are governed is far from seamless.

For decades, the Clean Water Act protected the Nation’s surface water bodies from unregulated pollution and rescued them from the crisis status they were in during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Now these vital protections are being lost. This report details the threat to our Nation’s waters by examining dozens of case studies, and highlights the urgent need for Congress to restore full Clean Water Act protections to our waters.

According to a new study by the Massachusetts Division of Health Care Finance and Policy, Wal-Mart, with 4,796 employees on the list, was the largest user of public health care last year.

The long awaited response from the Canadian government to a multi-stakeholder report on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and the Canadian Extractive Industries in Developing Countries is evidence that the government has wasted two years in responding to this report and is not serious about assuring corporate accountability for Canadian extractive companies operating overseas.

Babies conceived in the spring and summer are more likely than others to be born with a range of birth defects, according to new research. A possible reason: The levels of pesticides and other agrichemicals in surface water happen to peak at the same time.

Despite marketing claims like “gentle” and “pure,” dozens of top-selling children’s bath products are contaminated with the cancer-causing chemicals formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane, according to the March 2009 Campaign for Safe Cosmetics report, "No More Toxic Tub."

Via Independent Street, I see a new study on how Wal-Mart affects small retailers. The study found that when Wal-Mart comes into town, local mass merchandisers, supermarkets and drug stores all see significant sales declines.

Music players and game console manufacturing in China: FinnWatch, SACOM and SOMO - March 2008

A Media Matters review of the ABC, CBS, and NBC evening news programs from January 25 through February 15 found that of the 59 broadcasts that addressed the economic stimulus package and debate in Congress during the three-week period leading up to and immediately following its passage, only three of those broadcasts included discussion of whether that package was big enough, despite statements from many economists that it may not be.

As the Mobile World Congress opens in Barcelona...Global Witness is calling on mobile phone manufacturers to audit their supply chains in order to exclude minerals financing the armed conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

A new survey of scientific evidence conducted by researchers working with the Breast Cancer Fund makes a persuasive case that the industrialized world's rising breast cancer rate may stem from exposure to radiation and chemicals in plastics, pesticides, cosmetics and other common household goods.

WRI [World Resources Institute] analyzed existing community engagement standards and guidance, as well as experiences in several high profile projects. Based on this analysis, WRI developed seven Principles for Effective Community Engagement for extractive and infrastructure projects...

Nearly 80 percent of land deforested in the Amazon from 1996-2006 is now used for cattle pasture, according to a report released today by Greenpeace at the World Social Forum in Belem, Brazil.

Trade and economic policies should be guided by human rights standards. This is a simple matter of common sense, yet remains a distant aspiration...We believe that human rights mechanisms, such as the Committees set up to monitor implementation of States' human rights commitments, have an important role in this regard.

Keynote Address:John G. Ruggie UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Business and Human Rights New York, 12 January 2009

In January 2007, an independent geologist named Yong Yang set out from his home in China’s western Sichuan Province with a small team of researchers packed into two SUVs to find the unmarked place on the Tibetan plateau from which the Yangtze River springs. They drove over 16,000 miles through China’s still-wild western frontier – vast hinterlands where no roads cross, with mountainous terrain known only to local herders, antelope and wolves.

COMMENT, Dr Brian John: This new article from CRIIGEN shows that Roundup residues found in GM food and feed can cause cell damage and even death -- even at very low levels. The authors say that their research "... points to undesirable effects which are currently masked or hidden from scientific scrutiny."

Because our analysis of the nation's most active power plant coal ash dumps revealed that the South is home to a disproportionate share of poorly regulated facilities like the one that failed catastrophically at TVA's Kingston plant in Eastern Tennessee, we wanted to take a closer look at the facilities across the region.

On the occasion of the UN-declared International Migrants’ Day, PSI joins the ITUC, Global Unions, civil society and the international community in celebrating the human rights of all migrant workers and members of their families worldwide.

The so-called “world food crisis” that coalesced across the globe in 2007 and early 2008 when the price of rice, corn, wheat, soybeans, cooking oils, and food more generally skyrocketed illustrates many of the crises and contradictions of the contemporary global food economy.

The Council for Responsible Jewellery Practices today released the implementation documents for the Council’s system for certifying responsible ethical, social and environmental practices throughout the diamond and gold jewellery supply chain

Sixty years after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted in Paris in 1948, human rights increasingly resonate with business.

International financial institutions (IFIs), including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), have actively promoted and financed the liberalization of the hydrocarbon and mining sectors of national economies across the globe.

Pass Up the Poison Plastic - the PVC-Free Guide for Your Family & Home lists the most common consumer products made out of PVC and safer PVC-free products including baby products, children's toys, electronics, and more.

When U.S. troops or embassy officials want to track and investigate Iraqis—such as interrogating those accused of terrorism, doing background checks on potential employees, or even to chat with ordinary citizens on the street—the principal intermediary is a relatively obscure company named L-3, that is just over a decade old.

Companies that participate in the UN Global Compact express support for 10 principles, including Principles 1 & 2 on human rights. Here we do not list all Global Compact companies. Only companies that have taken the step of adopting a formal company policy statement explicitly referring to human rights are included, whether or not they participate in the Global Compact.

World Congress III highlights the importance of corporate social responsibility in the fight against sexual exploitation

DANGER IN THE NURSERY: Impact on Birds of Tar Sands Oil Development in Canada’s Boreal Forest is a new peer-reviewed policy and science document outlining the current and projected impacts the tar sands oil industry is having on migratory bird populations in the Boreal forest of Alberta and along the hemisphere’s flyways.

The Case for Increased Federal Investment in Bicycling and Walking

This project was executed within the framework of the Fifth MENA Development Forum (MDF5);a partnership conference of the World Bank Group, the United Nations Development Programme and MENA think tanks.

Three key services provided by coral reefs and mangroves in Belize are worth an estimated US$395 million to US$559 million per year, according to a report released today by the World Resources Institute and the World Wildlife Fund.

When viewed against the backdrop of the challenges of corporate regulation generally, Stateowned enterprises (SOEs) emerge as a form of corporate actor in respect of which there exists significant potential for stronger regulation.

A position paper on the potential environmental impact of the cellulosic ethanol industry

Top Ten List of the world's worst pollution problems 2008

World Investment Report 2008 (WIR08) is the 18th in a series published by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The Report analyses the latest trends in foreign direct investment (FDI) and has a special focus in 2008 on the role of transnational corporations (TNCs) in infrastructure development.

The United States' food safety system is in crisis, with a confusing patchwork of regulations, authority and a dire lack of funding, according to a report released by the Trust for America's Health.

There is currently no international publication that monitors the concept of food as a human right and keeps track of patterns of right to food violations while also monitoring their impact. The Right to Food and Nutrition Watch is therefore the first publication of its kind as it provides a systematic compilation of best practices for the realization of the right to food and also documents where violations have been committed.

The global economy is losing more money from the disappearance of forests than through the current banking crisis, according to an EU-commissioned study.