Making the world a greener place through clean energy is hard enough. Doing so while also avoiding human rights violations looks even harder.
The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which came into force on June 21, 2022, dictates that goods and articles produced in China’s Xinjiang region are banned from entering the United States. Banned materials include polysilicon, an ultra-pure form of silicon, that is the key raw material used to make solar panels. Last year Xinjiang accounted for 35% of total solar-grade polysilicon output, according to preliminary estimates from market specialist Bernreuter.
Under Germany’s supply chain act, which came into force in January, companies with more than 3,000 employees must ensure their supply chains are free of human rights and environmental abuses or risk a fine of up to 2% of their turnover. From 2024, the law will apply to companies with more than 1,000 staff.
The European Commission published in February 2022 a draft proposal aimed at forcing companies to better police their global supply chains. The proposal is being negotiated by EU states and the European Parliament. A second European Commission proposal, unveiled in September 2022, seeks to eradicate forced labour from supply chains of all products entering the 27-nation market.Opinions expressed are those of the author.
Malaysia Latest News, Malaysia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Breakingviews - Breakingviews: G7 says “de-risking”, China hears “containment”At the just-concluded conclave of the Group of Seven in Hiroshima, the world’s wealthiest democracies said they want to de-risk, not decouple, from China. Yet Beijing sees them hobbling its strategic industries and ramping up their defence budgets.
Read more »
Breakingviews - G7 says “de-risking”, China hears “containment”At the just-concluded conclave of the Group of Seven in Hiroshima, the world’s wealthiest democracies said they want to de-risk, not decouple, from China. Yet Beijing sees them hobbling its strategic industries and ramping up their defence budgets.
Read more »
Breakingviews - Revolut-SoftBank fight exposes VC share artificeRevolut has hit yet another snag on its journey to revolutionise the financial sector. The startup may only win a UK banking licence if it gets rid of preference shares held by investors including Japan’s SoftBank Group . It could turn out to be a solvable problem for founder Nik Storonsky, but the fracas shows that a rampant form of financial engineering in startup land also comes with downsides.
Read more »
Breakingviews - Meta becomes cross-border tech mascotMeta Platforms is acting as a Big Tech mascot in a cross-border decision about the transfer of data. A European Union privacy regulator charged the $630 billion social media giant a record fine over its transfer of Facebook user data from Europe to servers in its home country, the United States. The $1.3 billion fine is a drop in the bucket for Meta, which has over $40 billion in its cash coffers. But the resolution will have big impacts on its business – and the use of personal data for all tech companies.
Read more »
Breakingviews - EU will go easy on Indian resale of Russian fuelWestern pledges to prevent the circumvention of anti-Russian sanctions risk falling flat in India. Fuelled by cheap imports from Moscow, the Asian country’s yearly oil products sales to Europe have surged over 70% to $15 billion in the past year, according to data from the Indian Ministry of Commerce. The trend shows trade restrictions are not watertight. And the Group of Seven vowed on Friday to plug sanctions loopholes. Yet, the risk of an energy inflation resurgence makes a European Union ban on Russian oil reselling a tough call.
Read more »
Martina Navratilova says she's doing 'OK' after being diagnosed with cancerMartina Navratilova is doing “OK” after being diagnosed with throat cancer and breast cancer.
Read more »