• In brief
• Dutch media focuses on abuses in the Indian textile sector
• European banks provide fuel for the conflict in Sudan
• Seminar to curb food speculation
• Sustainability considerations of the Dutch government
• Speakers tour and petition Procure IT Fair
• SOMO welcomes new members of Parliament
• New Publications
• Upcoming publications

In brief

• Support the campaign Rights for people, rules for business and sign the petition for improving European regulations in order to prevent harmful practices of multinationals.
• Debate Rights for people, rules for business on 11 November 2010 in the Balie in Amsterdam.
• The makeITfair Youth Round Table is organised in Berlin from 15-17 October.
• Subscribe to the bi-monthly EU Financial Reforms newsletter of the project Towards a Global Finance System at the Service of Sustainable Development.
• GoodElectronics nominated Foxconn for the Public Eye Award 2011 as worst corporation of the year.
• GoodElectronics and makeITfair will provide a critical contribution to the Nokia ‘Human Rights Summit’ on 29-30 September.
• On 12 September, the ISO 26000 Guidance on Social Responsibility was approved by a large majority of the voting countries. The definitive guideline will probably be published on 1 November.

Dutch media focuses on abuses in the Indian textile sector

Indian textile workers make clothing in harrowing conditions for clothing chain stores such as C&A and H&M. The workers are barely permitted to leave the factory site, are paid more than a quarter of their wages only after three years, and there are no trade unions. These findings were published by the Dutch newspaper Volkskrant in September, after a visit, together with SOMO, to the textile factory KPR Mill. Other Dutch and Belgian newspapers, television and radio also showed interest in the story. Dutch political parties submitted written questions about this issue in Parliament. H&M and C&A both responded in the press. SOMO argues that companies and their customers should work to improve working conditions in the clothing factories, rather than break their ties with the manufacturers.
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European banks provide fuel for the conflict in Sudan

This week president Obama is attending a UN summit on Sudan to direct attention to the ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis in Darfur. Last year ING, BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank together owned almost €150 million of shares in PetroChina, one of the most important players in the oil industry in Sudan fuelling the conflict. This alarming example in the new SOMO publication Investing Responsibly: A Financial Puzzle reveals the severe limitations of Sustainable Asset Management in the financial sector. The SOMO study into the investment policy of European banks shows that a coherent application of CSR policies to all business activities is lacking and their level of transparency is still a far cry from reality.
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Seminar to curb food speculation

Banks, hedge funds and pension funds are betting on food prices in the financial markets, causing drastic price swings in staple foods such as wheat, maize and cocoa. Heavy lobbying from the financial world is undermining strict regulation to curb this financial speculation on food. On 20 September SOMO co-organised a training and strategy seminar in Brussels for capacity building of NGOs to curb speculation in food. Also on 21 September, SOMO spoke at the hearing of the European Commission on commodity and energy derivatives. More civil society organisations willing to engage in this debate are welcome to join.
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Sustainability considerations of the Dutch government

The effectiveness of sustainable development and the fight against poverty is partly dependent on policy coherence. For this reason, SOMO is presenting a series of Dutch papers on practical and idealistic considerations in the area of trade and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The this year published second paper Sustainability in Dutch Trade Policy, focuses on social and ecological considerations in Dutch trade policy. In recent years, the Dutch government has made various commitments in this area. The memo could urge a potential new right-wing cabinet to actually convert commitments made into concrete policy.
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Speakers tour and petition Procure IT Fair

Sustainable procurement of IT hardware is one of the tools to improve working conditions, human rights and environmental protection in the global electronics supply chain. Because public institutions, such as universities and technical colleges, can make a difference, the European campaign Procure IT Fair started a petition which targets these institutions and their procurement. They also invited Pathma Krishnan from the Malaysian NGO Monitoring Sustainability of Globalization to travel throughout Germany, Spain and the Netherlands from 10 to 22 October 2010 and share her practical experience in lectures and workshops.
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SOMO welcomes new members of Parliament

On Sustainable Tuesday, 7 September 2010, SOMO offered all new members of the Dutch parliament copies of the book Het Onzichtbare Label (The Invisible Label). This book, published by SOMO, provides an analysis of the problems surrounding sustainability, and insight into alternatives and structural solutions. SOMO wants to encourage the members of Parliament to integrate sustainability into their political policies. The book provides handholds for realising sustainable policy.
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New Publications

• Sustainability in Dutch Trade Policy (in Dutch)
  
• Investing Responsibly: A Financial Puzzle
• EU Investment Agreements in the Lisbon Treaty Era: A Reader
• ING - Overview of controversial business practices in 2009
  Social Dialogue at Philips Lighting
• Heineken - Overview of controversial business practices in 2009
• European Works Councils and Corporate Social Responsibility in the European Energy Sector
• 10 Years On - Assessing the effectiveness of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises to responsible business conduct
• Reset - Chinese version
  

Upcoming publications

• Report: EU financial regulation and impact on developing countries. Developing country perspective on financial reform
• Making private standards work for you - United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)
• makeITfair: What a waste - how your computer causes health problems in Ghana
• makeITfair: Voices from Below: Local Views on Mining Reform in Eastern DR Congo
• Brochure: introduction on European Financial Reforms
• OECD Watch - Quaterly Case Update
• Three reports in the series 'Sustainability in the Power Sector' 
• Mango’s from Peru: socio-economic issues and commercial relations in the supply chain of EU supermarkets