Friday news roundup August 9, 2019

Friday news roundup August 9, 2019

Fiji unveiled its climate crisis blueprint. Announcing an upcoming climate change act in the Fijian parliament this week, attorney general and minister for economy and climate change, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, called global heating “a fight for our lives and our livelihoods.” The island nation will introduce an ambitious legislative program to tackle the climate crisis, including tighter restrictions on the use of plastics, a framework for Fiji to reduce its emissions to net-zero by 2050, a carbon credits scheme, and procedures for the relocation of communities at risk from the adverse effects of the climate crisis. Sayed-Khaiyum said the archipelago is in a grave situation through no fault of its own. He called the global community’s decision to set aside the call for global heating to be capped at 1.5C “grossly irresponsible and selfish.”

New research reveals that CEOs who take a political stand are considered a bonus by job applicants. People are more than 20% more likely to want to work for a company where the CEO takes a humanistic stance on a political issue unrelated to their business, according to new research detailed in The Conversation. The effect is found to be true regardless of the job seeker’s age, education, gender, or political orientation. Employees want their CEOs to take a more liberal stand—regardless of their own views. The effect is more pronounced when a female CEO engages in political activism. The researchers believe that potential employees view the political stance of the CEO as a signal of how employees will be treated at the company. A CEO who takes a humanistic stance is an indicator that workers will be treated humanely should they end up working for the company.

US senator and presidential candidate, Elizabeth Warren, unveiled her plan to expand broadband access. The digital divide in the US is wide. Research indicates at least 26% of people in rural areas have no access to home broadband; however, problems identified with this calculation suggest the percentage could be much higher. And even where it is available, many cannot afford it. Calling her plan a “Public Option for Internet,” Warren wants to offer $85 billion in grants to nonprofits and municipalities to bring the internet to unserved and underserved areas. “I will make sure every home in America has a fiber broadband connection at a price families can afford,” she said.

Increasing numbers of unemployed graduates are a concern for China’s government. A record 8.3m young people will graduate from China’s universities this summer, up from 5.7m ten years ago, reports The Economist. The country will also receive half a million returning graduates from abroad as a result of tougher visa policies in much of the West. With the economy growing at its slowest pace in 30 years and two-thirds of all workers joining the labor force university graduates, the number of graduates may have surpassed the ability of the labor market to absorb them. National and local governments have announced measures to help: small firms that hire unemployed graduates can apply for a tax rebate; the national system of household registration, hukou, which restricts where people can receive subsidized public services, will be kinder to new graduates; those wanting to start their own businesses may be eligible for a state loan with little or no collateral; and those who cannot get jobs and lack entrepreneurial drive will be invited to receive “one-on-one assistance.” The government counsels humility. Anyone blessed with a job offer should “promptly sign the contract.”