Global responsible
investment specialists EIRIS has been awarded top honours in this
year’s World Finance Awards. Created in 2007 by World Finance Magazine,
the Awards are designed to identify industry leaders, individuals,
teams and organisations that represent the benchmark of achievement and
best practice in the financial world.

This year, the awards highlighted Socially Responsible Investments (SRI)
for the first time. The panel of independent awards adjudicators
considered a range of criteria including adoption of the UNPRI
principles, meeting the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)
demand of institutional investors and quality of research. Other criteria
included innovation, originality and quality of products, as well as
proof of market development and excellence in client representation.

Over
the last few years, EIRIS has continued to develop the scale and scope
of its research to match the needs of investors wishing to mitigate ESG
risks and maximise investment opportunities. EIRIS’ extra-financial
research is based on a fully transparent and robust methodology and in
2008 EIRIS became the first ESG research house in the UK to be awarded the CSRR-QS 2.1 Quality Standard.

EIRIS’
global extra-financial research is used by more than 100 institutional
investors around the world. Developed with direct input from investors,
EIRIS has recently launched a new Climate Change Toolkit to enable
investors to fully integrate climate change, as well as a UN PRI
Toolkit to help asset owners and asset managers implement their
commitments to the Principles for Responsible Investment. 

Peter
Webster, EIRIS’ Executive Director said ‘We welcome this award as a
reflection of EIRIS’ dedication to producing high-quality, relevant
research on a broad range of environmental, social, governance and
other ethical issues.’

For more information on the 2009 World Finance Awards visit www.worldfinance.com 

We know it’s always disappointing when summer ends
and it’s back to work so we’ve saved our best ever sale to cheer
everyone up and help while away the longer evenings.

From Tuesday 15th September, there’s 20% off everything at howonearth, yes everything! But… only while stocks last, so you need to be quick!

As always, we’re packed full of organic skin care and ethical beauty products.

Our fantastic brands include:
Burt’s Bees,
[A'kin],
Suki,
John Masters Organics,
Trilogy,
Barefoot Botanicals and
Weleda.

How on Earth, the ethical skincare boutique is an eco-beauty site
offering luxury skin care and beauty products that look after your body
and the planet. With hundreds of organic, fairly traded and
eco-friendly ranges, we’re proof you can be green and gorgeous!

Stephen Anderton has
written an article on wildflowers in the Times which talks about
Charles Flower and Habitat Aid.

http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/gardens/article6827659.ece

Fairwind has teamed up with Danish Christmas tree grower Bols Forstplanteskole to bring the first ever fair trade real Christmas trees to the UK.

“I am absolutely thrilled that fair trade has reached the poor cone pickers of Georgia. Fair Trees is a wonderful project that helps improve the lives of many people in remote areas of Georgia, the country where I was born.” – Katie Melua

Ethical issue
About 5 million Nordmann Fir Christmas trees are sold in the UK each year. But until now, very few people in the UK have been aware of the serious ethical issues behind buying these trees at Christmas. Although they are farmed in a responsible way the seeds for Nordmann Firs are sourced from natural forests, mainly in Georgia.

Harvesting of the seeds in Georgia is carried out by hand under remarkably primitive conditions. The Georgian cone pickers climb up 30 metre high fir trees in order to reach the seeds. They work entirely without safety equipment and in 2004 two workers fell to their death during the harvest. Several accidents happen each year, but despite working in such dangerous conditions the cone pickers are usually paid such low wages that it is difficult for them to support their families.

Fair trees®
This Christmas Fairwind will be selling
the first ever Fair Trees® in the UK – fair trade Nordmann Fir
Christmas trees grown in Denmark. The trees are supplied by Bols
Forstplanteskole, a successful Danish Christmas tree grower that
achieved Danish fair trade accreditation in 2007 (see below). For the
first time, consumers in the UK will be able to buy real Christmas
trees with a clear conscience.

The trees are genuine
Nordmann Fir trees of exceptional quality, grown using the best and
ethically sourced seeds. They retain their needles exceptionally well
and are no more expensive than other Nordmann Fir trees.
 
The following trees will be on sale this Christmas:

Fair Trees
100-130cm (4′) £28 plus £4 delivery
130-150cm (5′) £33 plus £4 delivery
Ethical,
high-quality and extremely convenient, these trees will be delivered to
the customer ready to put into a stand; no need to chop off the end of
the tree as this will already be done. Simply remove the tree from the
box and place it where required. For an extra £5 we can also supply a
woo! den stand into which the tree can be simply slotted. The wood used
for the stands is sustainably sourced. Available to order from
www.fairwindonline.com from the end of September.

80-90cm (3′) Potted Fair Tree  £44 plus £4 delivery
Ethical,
reusable, eco-friendly and convenient, these gorgeo! us little trees
are pot grown and come in a pot. After Christmas they can be moved
outdoors and re-used the following year, thus reducing waste and CO2
emissions. These trees are perfect for homes where there is little
space. They also look great placed in front of the house or in the
porch, and they are ideal for children’s bedrooms. Available to order
from www.fairwindonline.com from the end of September.

130-150cm (5′) and 175 -200cm (6′) netted trees  £28 and £44
A
limited number of netted Christmas trees will be available from
Fairwind’s shop in Crouch End, North London. These trees will have the
ends chopped off ready for placing in a stand. They will be available
for collection from early December. A limited number of the potted
trees will also be on sale at the Fairwind shop from early December.

The
first 50 people to pre-order a fair trade Chris! tmas tree will receive
a handmade, fair trade silk star tree decoration worth £3.50. These
stars are handmade in Cambodia by polio and landmine survivors, the
perfect decoration for a fair trade Christmas tree.

Danish fair trade accreditation – The Bols Xmas Tree Fund
The
Bols Xmas Tree Fund was founded in 2007, and shortly afterwards the
Fair Trees® brand was certified by Fair Trade Danmark. The Fund aims to
create awareness about and improve the terrible conditions under which
the Georgian cone pickers live and work. The Fund provides the cone
pickers with Danish-made safety equipment and ensures that the workers
are instructed on safety. In addition, the Fund works towards creating
proper conditions for workers and their families through financial
support for schools, books and health care. And of course the workers
are paid a fair price for their work.

Katie Melua
Fairwind
and the Fair Trees project us supported by Katie Melua, the
multi-platinum selling singer and songwriter, who was born in Georgia
and lived there until she was 8 years old.

“I am
absolutely thrilled that fair trade has reached the poor cone pickers
of Georgia. Fair Trees is a wonderful project that helps improve the
lives of many people in remote areas of Georgia, the country where I
was born. I urge anyone who loves a real Christmas tree to buy a fair
trade one this year – after all, it won’t cost any more than a non-fair
tree.”

For more information please contact:
Teresa Owen                             Marianne Bols
Fairwind                                   Bols Forstplanteskole
t.owen@fairwindonline.com          mb@bolsforst.dk
Tel: 020 8374 6254                    Tel: 00 45 75760043 

Brought to you by Social Enterprise
magazine, in partnership with the Department of Communities and Local
Government, the Office of the Third Sector and NESTA, Good Deals is
back with one bold aim: to bring together the most inspirational social
entrepreneurs with the most innovative investors to get good deals done.
Space is limited so book now to make sure you don’t miss your chance to meet over 100 social investors

The full programme can be found at www.good-dealsuk.com. Highlights include:

• Social investment: the new engine of social, environmental and economic change?
• Getting investment ready – understanding what type of finance you need, assessing risk and return, approaching investors
• Investing in communities – social impact bonds, community shares and making best use of physical assets
• The
  Good Deals pitches – social entrepreneurs will face a panel of leading
  social investors to find out if they will sink or swim. If you would
  like to be considered as a pitcher, find out more here
• Supply
  and demand – Good Deals ‘09 is in the process of handpicking a
  selection of real life examples of successful good deals. Both investor
  and investee will discuss the secrets behind their success. The names
  will be revealed shortly

As a valued reader of Social Enterprise LIVEWIRE, you can claim a 10% discount if you book before the 18th September.
Click here and enter LW09 into the ID Code box after entering your email to claim your discount

The
investors, speakers and the Good Deals team hope you’ll be able to join
us for what promises to be the landmark conference for social
investment.

Best wishes,
Deniz Hassan
Good Deals – The National Social Investment Conference
020 853 8890
conference@socialenterprisemag.co.uk
p.s. don’t forget to check out our daily social enterprise news service at www.socialenterpriselive.com

p.p.s. feel free to pass this discount onto a friend…I won’t tell if you won’t! Just click here

The UK’s
latest Veggie Lifestyle Magazine Off The Hoof (www.offthehoof.co.uk) has responded
immediately to Croydon’s 999 emergency health call that went out on
recently, by announcing their first ever Eco Veggie Fayre at The Fairfield
Halls Croydon on November 1^st 09

‘The Eco
Veggie Fayres are a brand new concept in family entertainment’, says show
organiser and magazine editor Tim Barford. ‘They are full of Kids
activities, entertainment, films, talks and workshops as well as loads of food
and products – but everything is eco friendly and veggie friendly, with a
fair trade influence too. It’s got to be one of the best ways of finding
out how to improve the health of ourselves, our kids and our planet, whilst
still having a cracking day out. And its excellent value too – only £3
for adults and £1 for Kids!’

The Eco Veggie
Fayres (www.ecoveggiefayre.co.uk
) will be touring several regional venues including Reading
(Dec 19^th 09) and Brighton (March 20^th 2010) before
heading to Bristol
for a 2 day spectacular at the end of May (29th and 30^th 2010). But
event host Tony Bishop – Weston from Off The Hoof, himself a Croydon resident,
is thrilled that the Veggie Fayres are starting in Croydon.

‘Its just
what we need to help focus the local community in bringing through a designated
veggie day in Croydon’ says Tony, ‘a huge get together with a party
spirit. We need to act together to provide healthy and sustainable choices for
the generations to come.’

Croydon has
recently been named London’s
most unhealthy borough and with obesity rates on the rise it’s time to
act – and act now. A number of health experts such as local nutritionist
Yvonne Bishop – Weston, and healthy food producers (including Heather
Mill’s latest acquisition Redwoods) are gathering their resources
together to try and push through a Veggie Day once a week to be adopted by
Croydon Council in an attempt to encourage a lot more fruit and veg consumption
and less intake of meat and dairy throughout the borough.

The Meat Free day idea has already been adopted in Ghent
(Belgium) and is backed worldwide by hi profile celebrities such as Paul
McCartney and Joanna Lumley (www.supportmfm.org). The organisers of the Eco Veggie Fayres
intend to join the push forward the Veggie Day idea to all the councils they
visit, starting with Reading, Brighton and Bristol after their opening campaign
in Croydon.

European Commission proposals about how poor countries should be
helped financially to deal with climate change show a ‘serious lack of
ambition’ says Christian Aid.

The Commission said that EU should provide poor countries with
between €2 -15bn annually for both adapting to climate change, and
reducing emissions. Christian Aid and other climate justice campaigners say the
figure should be €35bn a year.

Nelson Muffuh, advocacy coordinator at Christian Aid, said:
‘If this figure is accepted, the goal of limiting global warming to 2^oC
becomes ever more remote.

‘Pollution
from rich countries is already having devastating effects in developing
countries, through droughts, floods and tropical storms. Rich countries have to
face up to their historic responsibility for the emissions that have caused
climate change.’

Christian Aid also criticised the EC’s proposals as relying
too heavily on the carbon market to raise the money. The market, it said, does
not guarantee reliable financial flows and has earlier proved to disadvantage
the poorest nations because of a lack of interest in investing in those
countries.

The charity also attacked an annex to the commission’s
proposal which said some of the money could come from official development
assistance (ODA).

‘This is alarming,’ said Muffuh. ‘In the short
term they seem to want to rely totally on ODA for adaptation support which
threatens the poverty eradication objectives of developing countries by
diverting already meagre resources.

‘For the crucial UN climate change negotiations in Copenhagen
in December to stand any chance of success, industrialised countries must
strongly commit to providing substantial funding to cover the full incremental
costs for sustainable development and adaptation to climate change in
developing countries.

‘Many poorer nations are disappointed at the lack of EU
leadership. After decades of broken aid promises, the trust gap between rich
and poor countries, which it is essential to bridge if we are to counter
climate change, simply widens.

One positive aspect was the EC’s proposal that a specific
climate fund be set up under the UN Convention. ‘This is a good
initiative that we would like to see elaborated further since it would not be a
donor controlled fund,’ said Muffuh.                                                   

The proposed takeover of
Cadbury’s by Kraft could be a setback for human rights campaigners
according to Ethical Consumer magazine. Cadbury’s has recently adopted
the Fairtrade standard across its high profile Dairy Milk chocolate
range. Kraft foods has however hitched its wagon to the less stringent
Rainforest Alliance ethical certification scheme, with some Kenco
coffees already bearing the mark.

According to Rob Harrison, editor of the magazine, “whilst
both schemes offer genuine assurances to consumers concerned about
human rights in their supply chains, it is widely accepted amongst
campaigners that the Fairtrade standard is more demanding. Perhaps the
key difference is that the Fairtrade mark sets minimum acceptable
prices for its agricultural commodities. This can make a substantial
difference to endemic poverty in producer communities.

Ethical Consumer’s ethiscore website also gives companies a
score out of twenty across a much wider range of social and
environmental issues. A takeover of Cadbury’s by Kraft would see its
score fall from 5.5 to 2.5.

According to Harrison, “Both companies are large
multinationals attracting criticism from a wide range of civil society
groups, but a fall of three points in our score is probably
significant. Cadbury’s likes to talk up its Quaker heritage and claims
that this leads to a deeper understanding of its corporate social
responsibilities, but evidence of this is now slight. Kraft has also
made some significant progress on ethics since its period as part of
the Philip Morris tobacco group.

Despite this, we are concerned about the potential this
takeover has for an erosion of some of the gains made by ethical
consumers. Perhaps one day regulatory authorities looking at mergers
and acquisitions will be tasked to consider wider societal impacts when
considering approval for major takeovers of this kind.”

For more information call Rob Harrison on 0161 226 2929

Come and hear from
designers who took part in the project (Samant Chauhan, Gaurav Gupta (AKAARO),
Anjana Janardhan and Shazia Saleem) share their experience of sourcing from
India, this unique collaborative project and their vision of sustainability
within the fashion industry.

Shared Talent India is a
DEFRA and Indian government funded project being run by the Centre for
Sustainable Fashion has brought together emerging design talent from the UK and
India along with selected students from Amsterdam Fashion Institute, London
College of Fashion and Pearl Academy of Fashion. In July 2009 the designers and
students came together in New Delhi to take part in collaborative design and
prototype development, using a variety of sustainable textiles, sourced from
all over India.  Selected outcomes are being showcased on the Monsoon
Stand at Estethica at London Fashion Week in September 2009 and then Indian
Fashion Week in October 2009. The panel discussion will be chaired by Jen
Marsden – Home and Lifestyle Editor for the Green Guide.

Monday 21^st
September at 6.45 pm

Asia House, Asia House, 63
New Cavendish Street, London W1G 7LP

For booking:

Tel: 020 7307 5454

Mail to: enquiries@asiahouse.co.uk

www.asiahouse.org

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