Business is failing in sustainability, says UN study
A REPORT from the United Nations says that the private sector’s record on bringing about the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is “patchy.” Remi Erikson, CEO of the risk management company DNV GL, who led the team that drafted the report Uniting Business in the Decade of Action, published last month, said that only 39 per cent of companies surveyed believed that they had targets that were ambitious enough to meet the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. “The scale and pace of change, to date, to deliver SDGs has not been big enough or fast enough,” he said.
US Episcopal Church welcomes pipeline ruling
THE Episcopal Church in the United States has applauded the decision on Monday by a federal judge to have the Dakota Access Pipeline drained of oil while the US government undertakes an environmental review. It signals a temporary victory for the Standing Rock Sioux, who were supported in their efforts to oppose the pipeline by the Episcopal Church because of fears that it could contaminate drinking-water supplies. The project had ground to a halt in December 2016, but was fast-tracked in 2017 by US President Trump (News, 17 March 2017).
Rohingya camps vulnerable to Covid, says charity
CARITAS, the Roman Catholic aid and development network, says that the cramped conditions of refugee camps in Bangladesh have left the more than one million Rohingya who live in them highly vulnerable to the coronavirus. Immanuel Caritas Bangladesh’s communications officer for its Rohingya Response Programme, Chayan Biswas, said last month that overcrowded shelters, communal sanitation facilities, and small food-istribution spaces had made social distancing impossible (News, 22 May).