Davos – Corporations and Health Watch

Eighty two percent of the wealth generated last year went to the richest 1% of the global population, while the 3.7 billion people who make up the poorest half of the world saw no increase in their wealth, according to a new Oxfam report released at the World Economic Forum. Billionaire wealth has risen by an annual average of 13% since 2010 – six times faster than the wages of ordinary workers, which have risen by a yearly average of just 2%. The number of billionaires rose at a rate of one every two days between March 2016 and March 2017. This huge increase could have ended global extreme poverty seven times over.

Shaping the Future of Retail for Consumer Industries

Posted on January 25, 2018 by Corporations and Health Watch

A new report prepared by Accenture, the global professional services company was released at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The report highlights the game-changing technologies which will fundamentally change how retail and consumer brands do business over the next decade and shape new frontiers for physical stores, breakthrough approaches to e-commerce, new capabilities, and implications on society. Accenture paints a rosy picture of the future of retail consumption:

The next decade is expected to be the golden age of the consumer, with shoppers having more choices and control than ever before. They will be presented with a growing array of products and services, often personalized to their specific needs and wants. Consumers will continue to demand price and quality transparency along with a wide range of convenient fulfilment options. Overall, the retail experience is poised to become more inspirational, exciting, simple and convenient, depending on the consumer’s ever-changing needs.

Our food system needs an overhaul. Let’s start now: A corporate view

Posted on January 25, 2017 by Corporations and Health Watch

Unilever’s ice cream brands credit

At the recent World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Amanda Sourry President, Global Foods for Unilever presented her company’s views on how food companies need to change. Excerpts from her talk:

At Unilever, we are committed to sustainable nutrition – to food that is both made and consumed sustainably. For us this means producing safe, high-quality, nutritious food that is accessible to all, with respect for the environment and less waste, benefiting the livelihoods of food growers and helping to improve the nutrition and well being of consumers. We recognize the role we have to play as one of the largest food companies in the world to help redesign the global food system, so that it can provide a growing world population with healthy food from a healthy planet….

We must also recognize, however, that the “broken food system” has resulted in a lack of consumer trust in “big food” companies. An external environment shaped by confusing, complicated and sometimes even contradictory nutrition guidance means that consumer trust in science and in scientific experts has often been diminished. It is not enough to fix the system that provides the food we eat, we must also rebuild consumer trust in the food industry, so that we can empower consumers to make healthier and more sustainable food choices every day.

Players in the food industry need to ensure that they are putting consumer health first and foremost when considering corporate policies towards issues like food labelling and marketing to children, and ensuring their activities encourage responsible consumption, so that healthier choices become easier choices for consumers.

Additionally, recognizing the impact of global climate change on the agriculture system, we big food companies must continue to make climate-smart interventions along supply chains, and encourage consumers to transition to more plant-based nutrition…We cannot achieve such massive transformation to the global food system alone. That’s why I think that of all the Sustainable Development Goals, Number 17 – Partnerships for the Goals – is the most important. No single organization can fundamentally change our food system: collaboration, co-creation and partnerships with a variety of stakeholders are key. From the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative, to the Alliance for Good Breakfast in Kenya – a partnership between the UN World Food Programme, GAIN, the Health and Education Ministries and our fortified Blue Band spreads – we seek to collaborate with like-minded organizations to create food that tastes good, does good and doesn’t cost the earth…By mobilizing like-minded partners to view the food system holistically from production to consumption, I believe we can co-develop a new global food system that provides universal access to healthy, nutritious food, grown sustainably, while at the same time protecting the natural environment, improving livelihoods of producers and suppliers, and the health of consumers as well. I’d like to think that now is the time, in the spirit of responsive and responsible leadership, for us to come together to do just that.

For the full text, click here.

An Economy for the 99 Percent

Posted on January 18, 2017 by Corporations and Health Watch

Credit

Eight men own the same wealth as the 3.6 billion people who make up the poorest half of humanity, according to a new report published by Oxfam today to mark the annual meeting of political and business leaders in Davos. Oxfam’s report, ‘An economy for the 99 percent’, shows that the gap between rich and poor is far greater than had been feared. It details how big business and the super-rich are fuelling the inequality crisis by dodging taxes, driving down wages and using their power to influence politics. It calls for a fundamental change in the way we manage our economies so that they work for all people, and not just a fortunate few.