Sustainable Luxury, Beauty & Sport

PUMA and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) were joined  on January 06 by the Indomitable Lions – Cameroon’s national football team – with team captain Samuel Eto’o, to announce a strategic partnership to support biodiversity worldwide and specific initiatives in Africa.

The ‘Play for Life’ partnership will support the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity by raising awareness about habitat and species conservation among football fans and the general public during worldwide football events, including the Orange Cup of African Nations in Angola later this month and international friendly games leading up to the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa. With 12 African football team sponsorships to its name and a history of innovation with Africa, PUMA is uniquely positioned to help drive this effort with UNEP.

The International Year of Biodiversity (IYB) is a global initiative launched by the United Nations for 2010 to help raise awareness on the importance of biodiversity and to encourage worldwide action to conserve plants and animals and the environments in which they live. The ‘Play for Life’ campaign focuses on Africa, a continent that hosts exceptional biodiversity.

At their ‘Play for Life’ press conference in Nairobi, Kenya, PUMA unveiled their key fundraising lever, the revolutionary new Africa Unity Kit – the world’s first ‘continental football kit’ designed to be worn by the 12 African football national teams that PUMA sponsors. These include the World Cup qualified teams Ghana, Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Algeria who are headed to the Africa Cup of Nations’ with hosts Angola and the national teams of Egypt, Mozambique, Togo and Tunisia, as well as non-qualified federations of Senegal, Morocco and Namibia. Puma also sponsors some of the continent’s best players – Samuel Eto’o, Emmanuel Eboué and John Mensah.

The Africa Unity Kit has been approved by FIFA who have officially recognised it as the Official 3rd kit to be worn by those PUMA-sponsored African teams.

The reported human rights abuses in the Marange diamond fields in Zimbabwe are of grave concern to all who advocate responsible practices in the jewellery supply chain.

The RJC Executive Committee has authorised the distribution of the attached RJC Statement to Members on Marange Diamonds and the RJC Certification System, so as to alert Members to their responsibilities to strictly adhere to the recent decision of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS). 

Specifically, RJC reminds its members that no one should be dealing in recently exported Marange diamonds and are therefore expected to demonstrate due diligence as they continue to fully comply with the KPCS and World Diamond Council System of Warranties. Members are advised to exercise extreme caution when buying rough diamonds on the market to ensure that they do not originate from Marange, despite the current KPCS suspension. Once the KP Monitor is in place in Zimbabwe, all exports from Marange must bear the signature of the Monitor on the KP Certificate. Source : RJC. Full RJC Statement

Growing competition for scarce water resources is a growing business risk, a major economic threat, and a challenge for the sustainability of communities and the ecosystems upon which they rely. It is an issue that has serious implications for the stability of countries in which businesses operate, and for industries whose value chains are exposed to water scarcity.

Charting our water future: Economic frameworks to inform decision-making shows that while meeting competing demands for water will be a considerable challenge, it is entirely possible to close the growing gap between water supply and demand. This report provides greater clarity on the scale of the water challenge and how it can be met in an affordable and sustainable manner.

The report offers case studies from four countries with drastically different water issues, which will collectively account for 40 percent of the world’s population, 30 percent of global GDP and 42 percent of projected water demand in 2030: China, India, South Africa and Brazil. The report’s methodology identifies supply- and demand-side measures that could constitute a more cost effective approach to closing the water gap and achieve savings in each country. McKinsey Company

Over two-thirds of people believe the current economic crisis is also a crisis of ethics and values
• Report based on opinion poll of over 130,000 respondents from 10 G20 economies on Facebook
• Global religious leaders identify the key values for a more just and sustainable post-crisis economy

Geneva, Switzerland, 18 January 2010 – Over two-thirds of people believe the current economic crisis is also a crisis of ethics and values. But only 50% think universal values exist. These are among the findings of the World Economic Forum’s Faith and the Global Agenda: Values for the Post-Crisis Economy, an annual report on issues related to the role of faith in global affairs.

The report contains a unique new public opinion poll on values conducted through Facebook. The poll reached over 130,000 respondents in France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey and the United States.

The poll results point to a trust deficit regarding values in the business world. Only one-quarter of respondents believe that large, multinational businesses apply a values-driven approach to their sectors, while over 40% believe that small and medium-sized businesses apply such an approach.

Almost two-thirds of respondents believe that people do not apply the same values in their professional lives as they do in their private lives. When asked whether businesses should be primarily responsible to their shareholders, their employees, their clients and customers, or all three equally, almost half of the respondents chose the option of “all three equally”.

When asked to identify the values most important for the global political and economic system, almost 40% chose honesty, integrity and transparency; 24% chose others’ rights, dignity and views; 20% chose the impact of actions on the well-being of others and 17% chose preserving the environment.

The CBC reports Vancouver 2010 is looking to spectators travelling to the Olympic Winter Games to help with carbon offsets for the estimated 268,000 tons of emissions the Games will be responsible for.

Spectators travelling to Vancouver to attend the Winter Games will be responsible for almost half of the carbon footprint, 130,000 tons, and organizers say they would encourage Games tourists to buy carbon offsets to balance the environmental impact of their travel.

VANOC corporate sustainability officer Ann Duffy said, « because of the nature of individuals taking responsibility for where they want to travel, we’re trying to make it easy », reports the CBC. Duffy said the hope is that « people include this in some of their decisions to travel and enjoy the Games ».

Tourists are directed to a VANOC-sanctioned website called offsetters.ca, as one place where they could calculate and pay for their carbon offsets. The website acts as a brokerage, connecting individuals and corporations to offset projects to which they can contribute, reports the CBC.

Vancouver 2010 organizers said they would only take responsibility for offsetting the estimated 118,000 tons of direct emissions from the Games that have been generated by venue construction and athletes’ travel. Duffy said, « one has to draw the line somewhere. We’re doing some heavy lifting in terms of covering the footprint for our direct operations ».According to the CBC, VANOC anticipates that sponsors and governments will pick up the offset costs for the estimated 20,000 tons of carbon emissions not paid for by organizers and Games’ tourists.

It is clear that BaselWorld, SIHH, GTE or other Luxury Events have nothing to compare with the Olympic Game in terms of carbon footprint. But…., they should take the lead in planning, organising and staging sustainable and responsible luxury and use it as a platform to raise the awareness among the entire Luxury Community. Why not ? How to start … More News.