Companies sign up to pledge to cut plastic pollution
David Shukman Science editor Getty Images More than 40 companies have signed up to a pact to cut plastic pollution over the next seven years. The firms, which include Coca-Cola and Asda, have promised to honour a number of pledges such as eliminating single-use packaging through better design. They have joined the government, trade associations […]
What role could the economy play in indyref2?
Douglas Fraser Business and economy editor, Scotland Getty Images A combination of Brexit and heightened expectations of another Scottish independence referendum have brought economic arguments back to the fore. Some arguments will be familiar from 2014, but important factors have changed: the rest of the UK is no longer ‘the status quo’ option. Choices made […]
Climate assembly considers flying bananas
BBC Marc considers himself a “typical person” and not an environmentalist A citizens’ climate assembly has been established by Commons select committees. It aims to understand public preferences on how the UK should tackle climate change. Roger Harrabin reports from the second session. Flying bananas, fashionable indoor fleeces, carbon allowances and synthetic fuels for aircraft […]
Is it wrong to pay tipped staff less than others?
Kelly-Leigh Cooper BBC News Getty Images Under federal law, tipped workers can be paid as little as $2.13 an hour by businesses Not long ago, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was serving drinks in the Bronx. Now the youngest ever member of Congress, she recently got back behind the bar in support of a campaign called One Fair […]
Why Glastonbury has £10m in the bank
Dominic O’Connell Today business presenter Emily Eavis tells the BBC the organisers try not to plan too far into the future The fields around Worthy Farm in Somerset, would kindle a warm glow in the heart of Donald Trump. An eight-mile long, 20-foot high fence runs round the farm and the 12 neighbouring properties, encasing […]
RHI claimants got a “raw deal” MPs say
Conor Macauley BBC NI Agriculture & Environment Correspondent BBC The scheme offered financial incentives for businesses to use renewable fuels to generate heat Changes to Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme payments earlier this year meant a “raw deal” for participants, a committee of MPs has said. The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee said the Department for […]
How German firm approved Brazil dam before it burst
Jenny Hill BBC News, Brumadinho and Munich The moment the dam collapsed Six months after a deadly dam collapse in Brazil, new evidence has emerged that suggests the disaster could have been prevented. Investigators believe there’s evidence the German company that certified the structure as safe knew it was vulnerable to collapse. Nearly 300 people […]
Why some see Chile’s plastic bag ban as a rubbish proposal
Getty Images Plastic bags get caught in trees and litter the landscape “They are just everywhere and they are polluting our oceans, our fields, our cities,” says Guillermo González of the 3.4 billion disposable plastic bags used in Chile every year. Mr González heads the recycling department at Chile’s environment ministry and is only too […]
The human cost of insulin in America
BBC This is the list of what Laura Marston has sacrificed to keep herself alive: Her car, her furniture, her apartment, her retirement fund, her dog. At 36 years old, she has already sold all of her possessions twice to afford the insulin her body needs every day. Insulin is not like other drugs. It’s […]
Evidence of more business start-ups in Scotland
Douglas Fraser Business and economy editor, Scotland Getty Images The pandemic allowed more people time and space to indulge their interests and start their own businesses The low rate of business start-ups has long been lamented in Scotland, but there is growing evidence that it is picking up. A Strathclyde Business School survey found strongest […]