radiofree.asia

Category: Business

  • 17 years old dispute between EU and US come to an end.

    Muqeem Ahmed, UK,

    The 17-year-old dispute between the European Union and the United States over concessions to aircraft manufacturers has come to an end. US President Joe Biden has called it a major achievement. The two sides have been pursuing lawsuits against each other at the World Trade Organization since 2004. Both sides accused each other for creating unfair competition by giving unfair concessions to companies owned by them.

    In March, tariffs on $11.5 billion worth of goods between Brussels and Washington were suspended for four months. Europe’s cheese and wine, while the United States’ tobacco and wine industries suffered severely. Both powers have now suspended tariffs for five years.

    EU President Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the agreement, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai says the two sides have settled issues and will now focus on China. However, many Trump-era disputes remain unresolved, including the imposition of US tariffs on European steel and other metals which the US industry considers beneficial itself and excludes European companies.

    This post was originally published on VOSA.

  • Flight Risk: pressure to bring back travel agent trust accounts, save travellers from insolvency

    Travel insurance, travel agents, trust accounts, Flight Centre, STA Travel

    In 2014 intensive lobbying by travel agents got rid of protections for the travelling public when companies went bust. When Covid hit, many thousands of people lost huge amounts of money. Pressure is now growing for travel agents to set up mandatory trust accounts. Tasha May reports.

    For years Joyce Sherman saved the carer’s payments she receives for her son Kenny, who has an intellectual disability, to take him to Disneyland, Universal Studios and Las Vegas for his 25th birthday.

    Joyce cares for Kenny almost around the clock, except for when he goes to a day program for a few hours from Monday to Thursday. She said the holiday would have offered them “a relief from the daily grind and a bit of fun”.

    Kenny was looking forward to the new Star Wars area of Disneyland, while Joyce wanted Kenny to have some memories of travelling.

    “I’m not getting any younger. When I’m gone, I don’t know if anyone will take him travelling.”

    Joyce transferred more than $8400 to STA Travel in 2019. When Covid-19 hit in March 2020, not only were Joyce and Kenny not able to share this special birthday trip, but she lost all her money when STA filed for insolvency in August.

    Mandatory trust accounts

    “This could all have been avoided if trust accounts for travel agents were mandatory,” says consumer advocate Adam Glezer.

    Glezer runs several Facebook groups, including Travel Industry Issues: The Need for Change for Australians. The groups, with more than 17,000 members in total, act as forums for people to share their experiences.

    Following extensive media coverage of the huge amounts of money that people have lost as a result of holidays being cancelled due to Covid, momentum has been building for more consumer protection.

    Earlier this month, Liberal MP Kevin Andrews put forward a motion in parliament arguing for stronger consumer protections when it comes to travel in Australia. These include establishing “mandatory trust accounts for all travel agents”.

    History repeats

    While the pandemic has exacerbated the lack of financial protection, Covid isn’t the first time consumers have been hit hard due to travel companies folding. When Bestjet collapsed in 2018 hundreds of customers lost many thousands of dollars each after paying for holidays that never eventuated.

    Up until 2014, Australian travellers were protected in such circumstances. If a travel provider became insolvent, they would be reimbursed through the Travel Compensation Fund (TCF).

    Travel agents paid about $15,000 to become members of the TCF, but paid less if they had a trust account, says travel lawyer Tony Cordato.

    However, after extensive lobbying by the travel industry, the TCF as well as state-based consumer protections were scrapped in 2014.

    Cordato said that when the fund was cut in 2014, it should have been replaced by a requirement that travel agents and tour operators have trust accounts.

    Instead consumers have since been left without any protection as no travel insurance policy covers a travel agency’s insolvency in Australia.

    Customers who paid with a credit card can go through the lengthy process of claiming a chargeback, but those who didn’t use a a credit card – like Joyce – are left with no protections.

    Glezer says trust accounts are important because they ensure the customer’s money is only used for its intended purpose.

    He highlights that lawyers and real estate agents are required to use trust accounts.

    “The common denominator there is that they all deal with large sums of money intended for a third party.”

    Gerard Brody, the chief executive of the Consumer Action Law Centre, believes trust accounts are beneficial to businesses generally as they mitigate the risk of insolvency.

    However, the Australian Federation of Travel Agents (AFTA) does not believe the industry needs mandatory trust accounts.

    As AFTA notes on its website:

    “Calls for Travel Agents to have mandatory trust funds are misguided… because travel agents only hold consumer funds for a very short period of time before it is passed on to the end supplier (airlines, hotels, cruise lines, tour operators etc).”

    AFTA told Michael West Media that the statement “still stands and is accurate”.

    However, it is simply not the case that “travel agents only hold consumer funds for a very short period of time”.

    In Joyce’s case, and that of other customers of STA, it appears STA held on to the money because the end suppliers never received the money.

    Joyce said she rang Air New Zealand, which confirmed it never received her money.

    Natalie Hahn is out of pocket more than $16,000. Also through STA, Hahn had booked with Italian tour company G-Adventure Tours. She contacted G-Adventure Tours, which confirmed in a letter that it hadn’t received the money she had deposited with STA.

    While Hahn is trying to remain positive and is saving hard for another holiday eventually, she says: “I want to make sure that the money I pay to a travel agent is put in trust.”

    Travellers last in line to be refunded

    When a company goes under, secured creditors like banks are first in line. Customers are considered unsecured creditors so are last in line if the money hasn’t been paid into a trust account.

    Deloitte has been appointed administrators and liquidators of what’s left of STA’s defunct business.

    According to Deloitte’s ‘Report to creditors: STA Travel Pty Limited (In Liquidation)’ released 29 December 2020, more than 37,000 customers are owed an estimated $48 million.

    As at 30 November 2020, Deloitte had recovered more than $1.2 million of customers’ money. However, the total cost of external administration (ie. the fees paid to Deloitte) was double the amount recovered – more than $2.4 million – meaning there would be nothing left for customers.

    Cordato says that under the liquidation process, he liquidator (Deloitte), secured creditors such as banks and directors, staff and shareholders are all paid ahead of customers.

    An earlier report to creditors released in September identified an account that was referred to as a ‘trust’ account, but in fact did not operate as a trust account should. Deloitte found “a co-mingling of operating cash flows and customer monies”.

    Flight Centre similarly does not hold customers’ money in trust.

    On its website, the terms and conditions state:

    “Monies paid by you to us will not be held by us on trust for and on behalf of you and we may hold such monies in any account as we see fit.”

    Consumer advocate Adam Glezer says: “Covid has exposed a number of cracks in consumer protection, specific to the travel industry.”

    And if nothing changes, people will continue to lose their hard-earned money.

    Travel insurance: beware bogus clauses which deny your claim

    This post was originally published on Michael West.

  • The European Court of Justice ruled in favor of Miley Cyrus.

    Muqeem Ahmad, London,

    Leading pop star model and actress Miley Cyrus has won a unique lawsuit in a European court and will now be able to use her name as a trademark.

    The lawsuit began in 2014 when Miley Cyrus required permission from the European Union’s intellectual property company to use her name as a trademark on various products.

    Cyrus Trademark Ltd, registered in the British Virgin Island in 2010, it is alleged that the two trademarks could cause confusion among consumers.

    Milli Cyrus appealed but she could not satisfy the European body, after which Miley Cyrus appealed to the European Court of Justice. The court ruled in favor of Miley Cyrus

    Milli Cyrus attained Golden Globe, MTV, World Music, Teen Choice Award and numerous other awards. Her assets are estimated to be worth more than $160 million. Miley Cyrus has helped the homeless and she also runs a charity organization.

     

    This post was originally published on VOSA.

  • New Article: Human Rights Disclosure and Due Diligence Laws: The Role of Regulatory Oversight in Ensuring Corporate Accountability

    Rachel Chambers and Anil Vastardis, Human Rights Disclosure and Due Diligence Laws: The Role of Regulatory Oversight in Ensuring Corporate Accountability, 21 Chicago Journal of International Law (2021). Abstract below. The proliferation of human rights disclosure and due diligence laws…

    This post was originally published on Human Rights at Home Blog.

  • Pakistani born Lina Khan to chair Federal Trade Commission.

    Washington, DC,

    Lina Khan picked by US President Joe Biden to chair the Federal Trade Commission. Khan took oath on June 15 as the FTC chair for a term that expires September 25, 2024,

    The antitrust researcher is known for her criticism of Big Tech’s immense market power. The Senate confirmed her nomination with a vote of 69 to 28 on Tuesday. Khan, who was nominated by President Biden in March, got elevated to the post the same day.

    “It is a tremendous honor to have been selected by President Biden to lead the Federal Trade Commission,” Khan said in a statement. “I look forward to working with my colleagues to protect the public from corporate abuse.”

    “Prior to becoming Chair of the FTC, Lina was an Associate Professor of Law at Columbia Law School,” FTC website said. “She also previously served as counsel to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law, legal adviser to FTC Commissioner Rohit Chopra, and legal director at the Open Markets Institute.”

    Khan’s scholarship on antitrust and competition policy has been published in the Columbia Law Review, Harvard Law Review, University of Chicago Law Review, and Yale Law Journal. She is a graduate of Williams College and Yale Law School.

    “The Biden administration’s designation of Lina Khan as Chair of the Federal Trade Commission is tremendous news,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who championed breaking up Big Tech in her 2020 presidential campaign, said in a statement Tuesday. “Lina brings deep knowledge and expertise to this role and will be a fearless champion for consumers.”

    According to FTC website “The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition, and protect and educate consumers. You can learn more about consumer topics and report scams, fraud, and bad business practices online at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Like the FTC on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, read our blogs and subscribe to press releases for the latest FTC news and resources.”

    Khan was born to Pakistani parents on March 3, 1989, in London. At 11, she, moved to the US along with her family.

    This post was originally published on VOSA.

  • Climate activists take Norway to human rights court over Arctic oil plans

    Activists allege decision to grant oil exploration licences violated right to healthy environment

    Six climate activists and two environmental NGOs have taken Norway to the European court of human rights (ECHR), arguing the Nordic country’s plans to drill for oil in the Arctic are harming young people’s futures.

    The activists, Greenpeace and Young Friends of the Earth want the court to rule that Oslo’s 2016 decision to grant 10 Barents Sea oil exploration licences violated article 112 of Norway’s constitution, which guarantees the right to a healthy environment.

    Related: Court orders Royal Dutch Shell to cut carbon emissions by 45% by 2030

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Twitter loses ‘safe harbour’ shield in India over non-compliance to IT rules

    Earlier this month, the government had given one last chance to Twitter to comply with the new IT rules

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • TV networks join Netflix crusade against Australian arts and screen content

    Netflix, local content
    The TV networks have joined Netflix to oppose local TV content quotas. It’s too expensive, they say. Yet the local arts and screen sector says the industry which employs 200,000 Australians would be devastated. Elizabeth Minter reports on a crucial decision for Communications Minister Paul Fletcher.

    This post was originally published on Michael West.

  • Retail inflation hits 6-month high of 6.3 pc in May on costlier food, fuel

    Wholesale price-based inflation too accelerated to a record 12.94 per cent in May

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Gold, silver prices fall as demand decreases

    Gold contracts for the August delivery traded lower by Rs 476, whereas silver contracts for the July delivery tumbled by Rs 713

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Biophore applies to DCGI for emergency-use approval for COVID treatment drug

    The company plans to commence commercial production of the product immediately after the approval is received

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Sensex, Nifty start on choppy note

    Tech Mahindra was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 2 per cent

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Propaganda Machine: Deloitte skews fact on economy, media laps it up

    Deloitte's dodgy data
    Deloitte Access Economics’ claims about Australia’s economic recovery were repeated verbatim by media outlets, even though many of the claims were based on cherrypicked data and mixed verified GDP figures with unverified data in a classic apples with oranges comparison. Alan Austin takes a closer look.

    This post was originally published on Michael West.

  • Petrol crosses Rs 100/litre mark in Leh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana

    Petrol price was increased by 27 paise per litre and diesel by 28 paise a litre

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • RBI lowers GDP growth projection to 9.5 pc for 2021-22

    The RBI Governor said the RBI will ‘continue to think and act out of the box’, planning for the worst and hoping for the best

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Protection Racket: Digital Media Code a farce as Google and Facebook not “designated”

    digital media bargaining code, Rupert Murdoch, News Corp,
    Google and Facebook are yet to be “designated” under the Digital Media Bargaining Code, leaving the Code a farce rather than the touted “world-first reform”. Pressure on the platforms meant a small transfer of money from them to the old media allies of the Government such as News Corp and Nine but the essential challenge of reforms to the “surveillance capitalism” giants remains unaddressed. Kim Wingerei reports.

    This post was originally published on Michael West.

  • Pakistan KPK first cryptocurrency Advisory Committee Dissolves

    Peshawar, Pakistan,

    The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Government Has Dissolved The Advisory Committee On Digital Assets As The Decision On Digital Currency Can Only Be Taken By The Federal Government. The KP government launched Pakistan’s first advisory committee for cryptocurrency and crypto mining, marking a major step for the province’s plans on formulating a set of laws to regulate the use of cryptocurrency and crypto mining. An inaugural meeting of the committee was also held.

    However, as per the provincial Science and Technology Department, the federal government has the prerogative over digital currency and therefore, the decision on digital currency and cryptocurrency will be taken by the center.

    “As per provisions of the Fourth Schedule, Article 70 (4) clause (8) currency, coinage and legal tender on the Federal Legislative List Part 1 of the Constitution of Pakistan is the sole prerogative of the Federal government. The currency includes metal, paper, plastic, digital etc. Whereas, the Digitization including Information Technology is the mandate of the IT board is being carried out by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa IT Board,” read the notification.

    Therefore, the Advisory Committee formed on 9th February, 2021 is withdrawn and the sub committees formed as a consequence stand dissolved. It added that the matter of Digital Assets at allied matters will be submitted for consideration of the Provincial Cabinet as per the rules of business of the provincial government. The statement said that Science and Technology Advisor Ziaullah Bangash has also resigned. It should be noted that media personality Waqar Zaka and other provincial members were among the members of the Advisory Committee.

     

     

    Read also,

    KP Government Appoints Waqar Zaka as Crypto Expert.

    This post was originally published on VOSA.

  • Shell’s historic loss in The Hague is a turning point in the fight against big oil | Tessa Khan

    The oil giants that have helped drive the climate crisis are finally being forced to take responsibility for their actions

    On a rainy afternoon in The Hague, the district court delivered a judgment against Royal Dutch Shell, the parent company of the Shell group. It refuted the excuses regularly relied on to continue extracting oil and gas and vindicated longstanding calls to keep fossil fuels in the ground. The court held that Shell’s current policy of merely reducing the “carbon intensity” of its products by 20% by 2030, and aiming to reach net zero by 2050, would contribute to climate impacts that endanger the human rights of the plaintiffs.

    The extraordinary events preceding the oil industry’s so-called Black Wednesday bring to mind the proverbial path to bankruptcy: it happens gradually, and then all at once. Hot on the heels of a landmark report by the global energy body the International Energy Agency warning against new fossil fuel production, Wednesday’s historic ruling has blown another hole in the defences of an industry that has overwhelmingly failed to accept responsibility for driving the climate emergency.

    Related: We are passionate climate warriors. Our legal battle is not over but my heart is a bit lighter | Ava Princi

    Tessa Khan is an international human rights and climate crisis lawyer and campaigner, and the founder and director of Uplift

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Coronavirus eats into Indian economy, GDP shrinks 7.3%

    The 7.3 per cent contraction is the worst-ever economic performance that India has witnessed in over four decades

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Trade and tourism resume’s on Pak-China border with strict SOPs.

    Gilgil Baltistan, Pakistan,

    The Pak-China Border on Gilgit-Baltistan has been reopened for all kinds of trade and tourism activities after a closure of almost one and a half years due to fears of Covid-19 pandemic, reported Pakistan local News Tv Channel.

    The Pak-China border on Gilgit-Baltistan was closed for every kind of trade and tourism activity since 2019 in an effort to contain coronavirus spread. The border closure caused severe economic hardships for traders of not only GB but all over the country.

    In a notification released by the federal ministry for foreign affairs on Monday, it was stated that the Chinese embassy had informed about the reopening of the border (from Chinses side) for every kind of trade and tourism goings-on.

    The border area from the Pakistani side of Gilgit-Baltistan is also being reopened with stringent standard operating procedures in place, the notification said.

    The trader community has hailed both governments decision regarding the reopening of the border.

    This post was originally published on VOSA.

  • A huge financial loss to Britain’s retailers.

    Muqeem Ahmad, London,

    British retailer Marks & Spencer’s suffered an 88% drop in revenue last year, resulting in a loss of 201.21 million as of March 27.

    According to data released by M&S, business activity remained positive at the beginning of the year and will improve in near future. Following this encouraging statement, Marks & Spencer’s shares rose to 6%.

    According to the 137-year-old business, clothing and home appliances fell 31.5% last year, mainly due to the closure of all UK outlets during the lockdown. However, food sales remained 1.3% higher.

    The heads of the companies have announced revolutionary changes in their business activities. These include the closure of non-profit stores, the use of information technology, the focus on e-commerce and the improvement of product quality.

    In the next ten years, 30 stores will be closed and 80 stores will be relocated.

    It should be noted that Marks & Spencer has so far relocated 59 stores to other locations and laid off thousands of employees.

    This post was originally published on VOSA.

  • Ford halts southern India plant production as pandemic surges

    The automaker will stop work at its Chennai plant on Friday and Saturday

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Inland Ports, Tricky Politics: Chris Corrigan’s Qube reels in $1.7bn public land sale

    Chris Corrigan and Qube
    Chris Corrigan, golden boy of the Liberal Party, villain of Labor, won a $1.7bn windfall for his company Qube in a Sydney land deal. Luke Stacey investigates the business and politics of the Corrigan deal as Melbourne prepares to announce its own inland port. Taxpayers beware.  

    This post was originally published on Michael West.

  • Human Rights and the Financialisation of the US Water Market

    Early last December, water futures were traded on Wall Street for the first time in history. Introduced by CME Group, the contracts are linked to the California water index and intended to measure water scarcity for major consumers (Chipman, 2020). The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to water condemned the creation of a water futures market, concerned that it would invite speculative trading (OHCHR, 2020). However, proponents of the water futures market contend that futures trading will safeguard water access as the American Southwest experiences increasingly dangerous droughts (Fickling, 2020). What both parties fail to acknowledge is that, regardless of its efficacy, the water futures market represents another frontier at which the state retreats from its obligations to the public and normalises the intercession of private interests into the distribution of an essential resource. Human rights practitioners are familiar with the concept of progressive realisation and the significance of norm-building. The water futures market embodies a progressive degradation of our recognition of water as a vital public good. Also, the financialisation of water resources cannot be extricated from its context: though a water protection bill has recently been introduced in Congress, the US has a demonstrable record of contempt for the equal allocation of water resources.

    California’s water management systems support the country’s most populous state of 40 million residents, as well as millions of acres of irrigated farmland, and CME Group has directed their marketing materials primarily to California farmers (CME Group, 2021). The process of futures trading is meant to proceed thusly: during January, farmers will purchase futures contracts for their anticipated water shortfall, for example, 100 acre feet of water. If the spot price (the actual price of water rights) and the futures price are each at about $500, farmers will post margin, paying a percentage of the $50,000 total price to secure their position. If the spot price and futures price have risen when they later require that water, farmers will close their position and sell their futures contracts the day prior to purchasing water rights, having offset the increased spot price with the sale of their futures contracts.

    Beyond the UN, multiple outlets have observed that the creation of a water futures market could lead to speculative trading (Tappe, 2020; Hodgson, 2020). If hedge funds and banks were to bet on water futures contracts, driving up the price, the futures price could influence the spot price and provoke an affordability crisis for the state of California, repeating in miniature the global food crisis of 2007 when, as a result of commodity trading, grain prices soared, exacerbating global hunger (Kaufman, 2011). Burgeoning water prices could threaten food production, reduce the performance of California’s environmental protection programs, and increase the costs of urban living, precipitating a cascade of potential human rights violations (Public Policy Institute of California, 2019).

    However, analysts have discounted the possibility of trade-induced price inflation. Washington Post contributor David Fickling argues that water’s abundance and weight preclude it from becoming the next site of global commodities investment, therefore decreasing the likelihood of speculative activity (2020). Fundamentally, water is difficult to ship and, relative to other major commodities, easy to acquire. In a column for Global Water Intelligence, Christopher Gasson concurs and asserts that water is only valuable if it is used, thereby necessitating that investors commit to its distribution (2021). Camilla Hodgson joins them in the Financial Times, stressing the significance of the limits imposed by the water market’s modesty and inherent regionality (2020). In 2019, just over 200 transactions were made in the water rights spot market in California, a miniscule number in the context of global commodity trading (Hodgson, 2020). Further, water scarcity in the American Southwest is not necessarily a meaningful indication of global water scarcity. Ultimately, it is likely that the localised nature of the California water market will insulate it from injurious speculative activity. Furthermore, several analysts anticipate that CME’s projections will hold true, allowing futures trading to operate as a means by which to improve the distribution of water resources.

    Despite these innate counterchecks, the increased financialisation of water is nonetheless worthy of scrutiny. The futures market is just one factor in California’s water management, which has for decades been marked by profiteering and privatisation. The state’s water rights spot market is labyrinthian, often capricious, and attracts exploitative private investment. Almarai, a Saudi Arabian agricultural conglomerate, owns 15,000 acres of California farmland and, with the protection of a 150-year-old claim, enjoys unrestricted access to the Colorado river (Markham, 2019). Harvard University’s endowment manager has also been accruing water rights in California, with the value of their investments almost tripling in five years (Gold, 2018). And several million state residents rely on privately held facilities for the distribution of their daily water (Water Education Foundation). These are among the entities most likely to benefit from the water futures market, while small-scale users are expected to be marginalised (OHCHR, 2020).

    In July 2020, the previous Special Rapporteur on the right to water issued a report for the UN General Assembly which noted that “the financialisation of the water and sanitation sector creates a disconnect between the interests of the company owners and the goal of realising the human rights to water and sanitation” (UN General Assembly, 2020: 8). The same report also indicated that private sector involvement in water distribution tends to exacerbate inequality of water resources, as private entities only allocate services to areas that provide financial returns (UN General Assembly, 2020: 17). Researchers at UC Irvine confirm this analysis, finding that low-income and rural communities are disproportionately affected by water quality issues (Science Daily, 2018). Water futures trading is merely one aspect of increased financialisation, which is itself simply one element in the processes of privatisation. But, even if financial analysts are correct in their predictions that the water futures enterprise will have a positive impact on water distribution, futures trading will legitimate the ongoing advancement of governance by market logic and the detachment of water management from human rights priorities.

    The Water Affordability, Transparency, Equity and Reliability Act was recently reintroduced in Congress; if it passes, it will fund the improvement of water infrastructure and includes language that prioritises disenfranchised populations (Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence, 2021). It remains to be seen if the legislation will be signed into law or if the subsequent application is effective in its mandate—there is ample historical precedent to suggest that state funds are often monopolised by subcontractors and consultancy firms to the detriment of the beneficiaries of the appropriated funding. While the WATER Act is promising and stands in contrast to the futures market and its intrinsic prioritisation of investment interests, it arrives after decades in which the US made evident it’s lack of commitment to the equitable distribution of water resources.

    Beyond California’s perpetual droughts, the US is no stranger to water emergencies. The winter of 2021 alone saw disastrous mismanagement of water resources in Texas and Mississippi. In the past decade, there have been a number of contiguous water crises, often affecting Black, indigenous, and immigrant communities at disproportionate rates (National Resources Defense Council, 2019). Perhaps most notoriously, the Flint crisis exposed the country’s indifference to basic water needs of its citizens. Newark subsequently experienced an identical lead-poisoning crisis, while in Alabama the failures of wastewater management in another primarily Black community has provoked a public health disaster that the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty indicated was unprecedented in a ‘developed’ country such as the US (Okeowo, 2020). A 2019 report by the US Water Alliance also found that indigenous Americans were the most likely of any demographic to be disenfranchised of water access (2019). In the Navajo Nation, tribal members are sometimes required to travel for miles to purchase water that is fit for consumption, as the groundwater has been tainted by abandoned uranium mines (Morales, 2019).

    In a history filled with neglectful management of water, the introduction of a water futures market represents an implicit hierarchisation of profit motives above fundamental human rights. More research will be needed to understand how the water futures market actually affects the distribution of water, as well as its overuse, as its current structure offers little incentive for usage reduction (Hodgson, 2020). In the event that the futures market functions as envisioned by CME group, its positive impact would nonetheless entrench the encroachment of private interests into the distribution of a vital public good. Despite an increasing appreciation for the significance of global business to the realisation of human rights, states remain the ultimate guarantors of those rights, and the volatile, profit-driven logic of private investment is not an acceptable equivalent.

     

    References

    Chipman, K. (2020, December 6). California Water Futures Begin Trading Amid Fear of Scarcity. Retrieved January 31, 2021, from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-06/water-futures-to-start-trading-amid-growing-fears-of-scarcity

    Fickling, D. (2020, December 09). Analysis | Why Water Won’t Make It as a Major Commodity. Retrieved January 31, 2021, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/energy/why-water-wont-make-it-as-a-major-commodity/2020/12/08/3a310556-39a9-11eb-aad9-8959227280c4_story.html

    Gasson, C. (2021, January 7). Global water intelligence. Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://www.globalwaterintel.com/news/2021/1/how-the-un-and-dr-evil-get-water-investment-wrong

    Gold, R. (2018, December 10). Harvard quietly amasses California vineyards-and the water underneath. Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://www.wsj.com/articles/harvard-quietly-amasses-california-vineyardsand-the-water-underneath-1544456396

    Hodgson, C. (2020, October 15). Water futures meet cool reception. Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://www.ft.com/content/016174d0-54ed-4806-9538-acbdf073df61

    Kaufman, F. (2011, April 27). How Goldman Sachs created the food crisis. Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://foreignpolicy.com/2011/04/27/how-goldman-sachs-created-the-food-crisis/

    Markham, L. (2019, March 25). Who keeps Buying California’s Scarce Water? Saudi Arabia. Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/25/california-water-drought-scarce-saudi-arabia

    Morales, L. (2019, November 18). Many native Americans can’t get clean Water, report finds. Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://www.npr.org/2019/11/18/779821510/many-native-americans-cant-get-clean-water-report-finds?t=1612463743792

    Okeowo, A. (2020, November 23). The heavy toll of the Black Belt’s Wastewater Crisis. Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/11/30/the-heavy-toll-of-the-black-belts-wastewater-crisis

    Tappe, A. (2020, December 07). Investors can now trade water futures. Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/07/investing/water-futures-trading/index.html

    CME Group. (2021, January 13). Nasdaq Veles California Water Index (NQH2O) Futures Product Overview [Video]. YouTube, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ta2inH0yxjs

    National Resource Defense Council. (2019, September). Watered Down Justice—Report. Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/watered-down-justice-report.pdf

    OHCHR. (2020, December 11). Water: Futures market invites speculators, challenges basic human rights – UN expert. Retrieved January 31, 2021, from https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=26595&LangID=E

    Public Policy Institute of California. (2019, May 17). Water use in California. Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://www.ppic.org/publication/water-use-in-california/

    Science Daily. (2018, February 12). ‘Hot spots’ of water quality violations. Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/02/180212170017.htm

    UN General Assembly. (2020, July 21). Privatisation and the human rights to water and sanitation: Report. Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/WaterAndSanitation/SRWater/Pages/PrivateSectorParticipation.aspx

    Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence (2021, February 25). U.S. reps. Lawrence and Khanna and Sen. Sanders reintroduce the water act to address water justice in America. Retrieved March 06, 2021, from https://lawrence.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/us-reps-lawrence-and-khanna-and-sen-sanders-reintroduce-water-act

    US Water Alliance. (2019). Closing the Water Access Gap in the United States. Retrieved February 04, 2021, from http://closethewatergap.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Dig-Deep_Closing-the-Water-Access-Gap-in-the-United-States_EXECUTIVE-SUMMARY-1.pdf

    Water Education Foundation. (n.d.). Local streams and reservoirs. Retrieved February 04, 2021, from https://www.watereducation.org/general-information/local-streams-and-reservoirs

    This post was originally published on LSE Human Rights.

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    homelessness and older people
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    This post was originally published on Michael West.