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Progress in energy efficiency undercut by growing population and demand.

from Al Jazeera

"The world has made important progress towards improving energy efficiency and using more renewable sources of power over the last two decades, but the gains have barely been enough to keep up with population growth and surging energy demand, a new UN-backed report suggests.

"In the last 10 years, 1.7 billion people around the world gained access to electricity, but the world's population grew by 1.6 billion over that same period, nearly wiping out the gains.

"Similarly, rising energy demand effectively eliminated half the energy efficiency savings and 70 percent of the gains from growth in renewable energy over the past decade.

"'Even to stand still, we have to run extremely fast. That's the challenge,' said Vivien Foster, a sustainable energy leader at the World Bank, and one of the lead authors of the Global Tracking Framework report, released on Friday. …"

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Provincial government says Bill 22 would increase capacity for First Nations' participation in land use negotiations.

from Vue Weekly

"Two of Alberta's largest treaty groups were taken by surprise when a new consultation act was introduced into the legislature this past session and became law on May 27.

"'We were dismayed at the introduction,' says Victor Horseman, the grand chief liaison with Treaty 8 of Bill 22: The Aboriginal Consultation Levy Act. 'This doesn't show good faith.'

"The Confederacy of Treaty 6 First Nations called the introduction of the bill a 'shock,' and both Treaty 8 and Treaty 6 representatives called for its removal in order for it to go through a proper consultation process. But after five days of debate, it passed third reading on May 15 and received royal assent 12 days after that.

"According to Minister of Aboriginal Relations Robin Campbell, the bill was introduced with the intention to increase capacity for aboriginal groups to participate in the negotiation of land use when industrial projects are proposed. …"

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Bill would guarantee workers overtime pay, breaks and access to kitchen facilities.

from Think Progress

"The California Assembly is expected to vote on Wednesday on a Domestic Worker Bill of Rights, which passed both the Assembly and Senate last year only to be vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown (D).

"The bill, AB241, would guarantee housekeepers, nannies, and caregivers for the elderly and disabled overtime pay, meal and rest breaks, and the right to use kitchen facilities. It also provides live-in workers the right to eight hours of uninterrupted sleep. …"

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"Global inequality is much greater than inequality within any country": researcher.

from The Tyee

"The lead research economist at the World Bank, Branko Milanovic, will be reporting soon, in the journal Global Policy, the first calculation of global income inequality, and he has found that the top eight per cent of global earners are drawing 50 per cent of all of this planet's income.

"He notes: 'Global inequality is much greater than inequality within any individual country,' because the stark inequality between countries adds to the inequality within any one of them, and because most people live in extremely poor countries, largely the nations within three thousand miles of the Equator, where it's already too hot, even without the global warming that scientists say will heat the world much more from now on. …"

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Pressure mounts for concrete political measures to end unfair labour practices.

from The Tyee

"Violence has erupted in Bangladesh, following the world's worst garment industry disaster last month, as thousands of workers gathered in the country's capital on Monday demanding better pay conditions. Police charged batons and fired rubber bullets and tear gas as angry protesters demonstrated outside the capital's main factory district, blocking the main highway in the Ashulia industrial area, home to the world's largest manufacturing factories such as Walmart.

Raw: Violence Erupts on Bangladesh Streets

"Up to 20,000 people took part in the protests, with more than 50 people injured by police intervention. Ashulia chief police Badrul Alam defended the action, arguing that workers had attacked police, throwing stones and striking police vehicles.

"'They were demanding higher wages. We fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse them after they became violent and occupied a road,' he told the AFP.

"The demonstration is part of a rising string of protests over the past month. Since the April tragedy, a million people have signed petitions calling on global corporations like Gap and Walmart to end unsafe labour practices in Bangladesh, with hundreds protesting at stores across the country. …"

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