neoliberalism

The Consumer Authority of Sri Lanka has set guidelines to the manufacturers and importers of paints regarding the lead content of their products. Sri Lanka is one of the countries which has high lead levels.

The Consumer Affairs Authority published the standards for lead in paints in response to the Fundamental Rights application filed by the Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ) /Friends of the Earth Sri Lanka in the Supreme Court.

Speaking about the victory CEJ Executive Director Hemantha Withanage said: "The standards just established are a great achievement for consumers who get contaminated every minute due to unknown toxics in consumer products such as decorative paints at home, in the school or in the work place".

The ruling states that no manufacturer, importer, packer, distributor or trader shall manufacture, import and use or distribute, pack, store or sell or display for sale, expose for sale or offer for sale, wholesale or retail any paints unless such paints shall conform to the corresponding Total Lead Content given hereunder as specified by the Sri Lanka Standard Institution for such paints.

Permissible maximum lead content Paints for toys and accessories for children (soluble in HCI acid) 90 mg/kg, Enamel Paints 600 mg/kg, Emulsion Paints for Exterior use 90 mg/kg, Emulsion Paints for Interior use 90 mg/kg and Floor Paints 600 mg/kg.

In the application Hemantha Withanage sought the Consumer Affairs Authority and others to formulate suitable regulations to compel the manufacturers and distributors to comply with the international standards relating to the presence of lead in paints considering the serious health impacts caused by adding lead to decorative paints.

Lead in paints is highly toxic. It is especially damaging to children. It impacts over 40 million children worldwide, more than 97 per cent of those live in developing countries.

Campaigners singled out prominent EU lobby group and summit organiser, BusinessEurope, for blocking ambitious climate action. BusinessEurope presents itself as the voice of the business  community when in fact it favours the most polluting industries and  denies there are economic benefits for Europe of early action against climate change.

Friends of the Earth is calling on European policy-makers to reject the skewed arguments of BusinessEurope.

Sonja Meister, climate campaigner for Friends of the Earth Europe, said:

“BusinessEurope has been resisting tougher emission reduction targets and obstructing the climate action we desperately need. BusinessEurope speaks on behalf of the most polluting sectors of industry and ignores its members which have realised ambitious climate policies can be good  for our economy and create millions of jobs. BusinessEurope is pushing  Europe into the role of laggard in the fight against climate change and  decision-makers should stop accepting their arguments.”

The European Business Summit is Brussels' biggest lobby forum and is attended by business leaders and prominent EU decision-makers. This year ten European Commissioners, including Commission President Barroso, will participate. The theme of the event is ‘Europe in the world: leading or lagging?’.

Summit organisers claim, ‘EU decision-makers should put companies first for Europe to maintain a leading position in the world’. Friends of the  Earth Europe believes that it is exactly this approach that is fuelling the climate crisis, and has led to Europe’s most severe financial crisis in the last 80 years.

Read European Noise here

The Robin Hood Tax is a tiny tax on banks and other financial institutions that would raise billions to tackle poverty and climate change, at home and abroad.

It can start as low as 0.005 per cent - and average 0.05 per cent . But when levied on the billions of dollars, pounds, euro and yen sloshing round the global finance system every day through transactions such as foreign exchange, derivatives trading and share deals, it can raise hundreds of billions of pounds every year.

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What would it cover?

It would include transactions involving stocks, bonds, foreign exchange, and derivatives (including trade of futures and options related to stocks, interest rate securities, currencies and commodities).

It would cover all transactions traded on exchanges as well as off-exchange or "over the counter" (OTC).

It would be limited to transactions between financial market actors. Ordinary consumer transactions such as payments for goods, paychecks and cross-border remittances would not be subject to the Robin Hood Tax. Short-term inter-bank lending and central bank operations would also be excluded from the Robin Hood Tax.

Who's in?

Angela Merkel (the German Chancellor) and Nicolas Sarkozy (the French President) have all spoken out in support of a tax on financial transactions.

Plenty of business bigwigs are on-board too. Lord Turner (from the UK Financial Services Authority), George Soros (the philanthropist) and Warren Buffet (US businessman extraordinaire) have all backed transaction taxes. And then there are the hundreds of economists who have backed the idea, too.

This isn't some crazy pipedream. It's a simple and brilliant idea which transcends party politics and which - with your support - can become a reality.

Take action!

Please sign the petition on the Friends of the Earth Europe website calling on the The Group of Twenty (G-20) Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors to support the tax.

Activists gathered outside the meeting at which bankers, EU officials, industry representatives and other stakeholders were discussing the future of the bank’s energy lending. They staged a peaceful 'black comedy' and handed out dirty contracts for so-called 'clean coal' to expose the disastrous impacts of the bank’s financing on climate change and the world’s poorest people. Civil society representatives later went inside to participate in the consultation.

The World Bank has ear-marked massive funds for investment in fossil fuels, especially large coal projects. Between 2007 and 2009, the World Bank increased funding for fossil fuels by 22%. Since 2007 the World Bank Group has provided $6.6 billion for coal-based energy development. This strategy locks developing countries into carbon intensive energy models for decades instead of helping developing countries to make the transition to sustainable energy production.

The latest illustration of the bank's climate-damaging lending is the Eskom project in South Africa, to which the World Bank approved a $3.75 billion loan in April. Most of the money will be used for the building of the Medupi power plant, one of the largest and dirtiest coal fired plants in the world. Over 165 civil society groups and some governments were opposed to the World Bank loan to Eskom, because of its disastrous environmental and climate impacts, and as it will mainly benefit large foreign multinational corporations to the detriment of South Africans, perpetuating a serious energy apartheid in the country.

Anne-Sophie Simpère of Friends of the Earth France said:

"The World Bank should use its energy strategy review to stop financing fossil fuels and to redirect its investments to renewable energies and energy efficiency. The World Bank must make the needs of local communities and the global need to fight climate change paramount in its lending policy."

Similar demonstrations have taken place in South Africa and the United States.

further information

Read a full press release from Friends of the Earth Europe here
Read a report on the World Bank involvement with the South African energy company Eskom

On February 25, Friends of the Earth Europe, in conjunction with Corporate Europe Observatory, SpinWatch and LobbyControl, protested against the fact that an EU committee, set up to advise European leaders on the economic crisis, is largely made up of financial industry insiders.

Activists dressed as sheriffs made their protest outside the European Commission by carrying 'Unwanted' posters with pictures of the 'cowboy' bankers who make up the committee.

Paul de Clerck of Friends of the Earth Europe said:

"Most of these guys have acted like wild cowboys. They have brought misery to millions of people. Their one-sided advice is not wanted. They are part of the problem, not part of the solution. The Commission should not rely on a group with such close ties to the financial industry."

The protest was in support of a new report, entitled 'Would You Bank on Them?', which examines the track records of the committee members and argues that, instead of repeating mistakes of the past, the European Commission should investigate how financial industry lobbying contributed to the present crisis, and employ entirely new consultation methods.

Read the full report here