13 Matching Annotations
  1. Oct 2021
  2. Mar 2021
  3. Jun 2020
  4. Mar 2019
    1. Experts estimate that in Africa alone, conservation efforts have created 14 million "conservation refugees" since the colonial era. In this model, some of the indigenous people, if they were lucky enough, could work as park wardens, preventing their relatives from entering the protected zones.

      This adds to the conflicting reputation and credibility of WWF. I think that sometimes they put animals above people when, in reality, we need to honor both animals and people for sustainability. We're all part of the ecosystem. Having 14 million displaced people is not sustainable. WWF is very complicated; they seem to have great intentions but sometimes poor execution. It's hard to say whether or not to trust them.

    1. You might expect global food conglomerates to resist such a diversity push. But Dorothy Shaver, who is head of sustainability for Knorr, says the company wants to be part of this movement. She says the shift in the amount and types of food people eat is inevitable and will also open new markets. "This actually gives us a major opportunity to identify some of the flavors that people are missing out on," she says. "And then we can get them on people's plates. We can get people to switch out one of their white potatoes that they eat potentially four or five times a week with a purple yam. Or in Indonesia make it an Indonesian sweet potato instead of white rice." Shaver says doing this all over the planet would have an enormous impact on the environment. She says Knorr will try to mainstream 10 or 15 of these so-called future foods in its dishes. She says its popular cheddar and broccoli rice dish will soon have versions featuring black beans and quinoa instead of rice.

      Dorothy Shaver designed the report. This article shows she is personally committed to the cause.

  5. wwf.panda.org wwf.panda.org
    1. WWF wishes to convene stakeholders from across the food system and integrate decisions that will ensure human and planetary health. Together, we have the power to bring food to the top of the conservation agenda and help deliver tangible results which protect our future. Our goal is to create sustainable food systems that safeguard the variety of life on Earth while ensuring food security, now and in the future. To achieve this, WWF works to improve how our food is produced, to change the way we eat, and to ensure food goes in our bodies not in the bin. Together with others, we are focusing on three key outcomes by 2030: - Half of the area used for agriculture and aquaculture is sustainably managed, with no new areas being converted - Global food waste is halved and post-harvest loss is reduced - Half of food consumption is in line with World Health Organisation dietary guidelines in target countries:

      Still unsure how credible I find WWF but they seem to have good ideas about food sustainability.

    1. The unwashed masses will not be moved by this stunt which validates the idea that it’s okay to peddle fake news for a just cause. Sitting on the opposite end of the spectrum, Joseph Barratt, CEO of Mutant Communications lauded the campaign for the impact it had. “It provoked emotions and discussions in households and workplaces around Singapore in an area where it is typically difficult to break through the noise. The outrage at the faux business drove awareness with limited resources,” he said, adding: Any allegations that the campaign spread fake news is misrepresenting a real issue in the media today.

      This article is interesting. I don't think in this instance that WWF was involved in spreading fake news, but it does show they are capable of devising plans that don't necessarily put ethics first. It's a good reminder that WWF is still involved in trying to market itself and get press. I think that WWF doesn't take a comprehensive approach to understanding the ivory trade, which is largely a result of poverty. This makes them a little less credible to me. Although, some people might find them more credible for going so far for a cause.

    1. A yearlong BuzzFeed News investigation across six countries — based on more than 100 interviews and thousands of pages of documents, including confidential memos, internal budgets, and emails discussing weapons purchases — can reveal:Villagers have been whipped with belts, attacked with machetes, beaten unconscious with bamboo sticks, sexually assaulted, shot, and murdered by WWF-supported anti-poaching units, according to reports and documents obtained by BuzzFeed News.The charity’s field staff in Asia and Africa have organized anti-poaching missions with notoriously vicious shock troops, and signed off on a proposal to kill trespassers penned by a park director who presided over the killings of dozens of people.WWF has provided paramilitary forces with salaries, training, and supplies — including knives, night vision binoculars, riot gear, and batons — and funded raids on villages. In one African country, it embroiled itself in a botched arms deal to buy assault rifles from a brutal army that has paraded the streets with the severed heads of alleged “criminals.”The charity has operated like a global spymaster, organizing, financing, and running dangerous and secretive networks of informants motivated by “fear” and “revenge,” including within indigenous communities, to provide park officials with intelligence — all while publicly denying working with informants. { "id": 122412833 } Jorge Silva / Reuters World Wildlife Fund activists demonstrate on the sidelines of the UN Climate Change conference. { "id": 122247237 } WWF has launched an “independent review” led by human rights specialists into the evidence uncovered by BuzzFeed News. “We see it as our urgent responsibility to get to the bottom of the allegations BuzzFeed has made, and we recognize the importance of such scrutiny,” the charity said in a statement. “With this in mind, and while many of BuzzFeed’s assertions do not match our understanding of events, we have commissioned an independent review into the matters raised.” The charity declined to answer detailed questions sent by BuzzFeed News.

      Again, this is very hard to ignore. This is the biggest thing cutting into the campaign. It makes me suspicious. Even if everything WWF said in the campaign was true and ethical, I think it's a bad idea to work with a company that's involved in such abuses. Hopefully Unilever was unaware of these problems. If they had known and collaborated with WWF anyway, that would be a serious knock to their credibility and reliability.

    2. Shikharam’s alleged murder in 2006 was no isolated incident: It was part of a pattern that persists to this day. In national parks across Asia and Africa, the beloved nonprofit with the cuddly panda logo funds, equips, and works directly with paramilitary forces that have been accused of beating, torturing, sexually assaulting, and murdering scores of people. As recently as 2017, forest rangers at a WWF-funded park in Cameroon tortured an 11-year-old boy in front of his parents, the family told BuzzFeed News. Their village submitted a complaint to WWF, but months later, the family said they still hadn’t heard back. { "id": 122251936 } Tsering Dolker Gurung for BuzzFeed News People living near Nepal's Chitwan National Park. { "id": 122247237 } WWF said that it does not tolerate any brutality by its partners. “Human rights abuses are totally unacceptable and can never be justified in the name of conservation,” the charity said in a statement.But WWF has provided high-tech enforcement equipment, cash, and weapons to forces implicated in atrocities against indigenous communities. In the coming days, BuzzFeed News will reveal how the charity has continued funding and equipping rangers, even after higher-ups became aware of evidence of serious human rights abuses.

      This shows that WWF breaks its own rules. It makes me wonder if their partnership with Unilever is about sustainability or money. Unfortunately I think very few people know of this scandal, so it hasn't impacted WWF's reputation. But I think it could.

    3. WWF Funds Guards Who Have Tortured And Killed People

      This comprehensive article is the biggest blow to Unilever's campaign. WWF is one of the main partners who wrote the report. Although WWF has a history of doing good things for the planet, this article is very hard to swallow. It made me completely distrust WWF.

    1. Polman was perhaps the most vocal advocate for the food industry – and business in general – to embed sustainability in how companies operate. On issues from climate change and water scarcity to energy use and ethical trading, the Dutchman was almost Polman the preacher. In 2010, Unilever launched its Sustainable Living Plan, a ten-year programme to reduce the company's impact on the environment and "decouple" that impact from its growth. "It's our business model. This is the way we do business. This is our permission to operate ten, 15 years from now," Polman just-food in an interview in 2012. Not everyone in the investor community welcomed Polman's position (nor, for that matter, those of peers like Danone CEO Emmanuel Faber), arguing the purpose-led approach to running the business was in danger of being at the expense of shareholders.

      This description of the former CEO of Unilever shows that sustainability is not a new value for Unilever. Former CEO Polman introduced many, at the time, controversial practices that were more sustainable. This establishes a history of Unilever caring about ethics and sustainable food.

    1. In January 2017, corporate behemoth Unilever unveiled a new commitment to ensuring that all of its plastic packaging is fully reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025. The commitment was built on a recognition that the global plastics market was broken; nine months later, Blue Planet 2 aired, alerting the public to the environmental hazards of plastics.

      This article describes Unilever's plans to change the way it uses plastic. It shows that Unilever cares about sustainability because they are transparent about the economic benefits of being more sustainable as well as the benefits to the planet.