Author: Stuart Mitchell

Shipowners and recyclers ask Basel COP for removal of obstacles to safer ship recycling

Stuart Mitchell

BIMCO has drafted a paper to submit to the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention (BC COP-17), asking for more clarity and for obstacles to be removed as the Hong Kong Convention enters into force in two months. The paper has been prepared by BIMCO’s recently established Ship Recycling Alliance, which represents both the global shipping as well as the main ship recycling industries located in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Türkiye. With the document, the Alliance aims to present a full overview and increase the understanding of the…

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Global newsbrand ad spend down to $32.3bn this year as advertisers increasingly favour user generated content

Stuart Mitchell

The advertising industry has a breaking news problem. Today’s abundance of hard news stories – from trade wars to armed conflicts – draw audiences but not ad dollars to content publishers and broadcasters. Globally, newsbrand ad spend is forecast to fall to $32.3bn this year, a 33.1% decrease from 2019, per WARC Media, and is forecast to remain flat through 2026. For magazine brands, spend is forecast at $3.7bn in 2025, a 38.6% slump since 2019.  Alongside content and safety concerns, brands are favouring global digital platforms like Google and…

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Shell accelerates strategy to deliver more value with less emissions

Stuart Mitchell

Shell is strengthening its commitment to value creation and maintaining its focus on performance, discipline and simplification. ‘’We have made significant progress against all of the targets we set out at our Capital Markets Day in 2023. Thanks to the outstanding efforts of our people, we are transforming Shell to become simpler, more resilient and more competitive,’’ said CEO Wael Sawan. ‘‘We want to become the world’s leading integrated gas and LNG business and the most customer-focused energy marketer and trader, while sustaining a material level of liquids production. Today…

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Arab States help shape a new global social contract grounded in social justice

Stuart Mitchell

The International Labour Organization (ILO) is working closely with Arab States to advance a transformative vision for social justice, decent work and inclusive development, as part of preparations to the Second World Summit for Social Development (WSSD2) to be held in Doha in November 2025. On the sidelines of the 51st Session of the Arab Labour Conference, convened by the Arab Labour Organization (ALO) in Cairo, the ILO and the ALO hosted a discussion on WSSD2 that brought together over 100 government, employer and worker representatives from the Arab region,…

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UNESCO names 16 new Global Geoparks

Stuart Mitchell

UNESCO has designated 16 new geoparks, bringing the total number of sites in the UNESCO Global Geoparks Network to 229 in 50 countries. The network now covers an area of almost 855,000 km², equivalent to the size of Namibia. The UNESCO Global Geoparks Network, which this year celebrates its 10th anniversary, brings together territories recognized for their rich geological heritage – rock formations, mountain or volcanic ranges, caves, canyons, fossil sites or ancient desert landscapes – which bear witness to our planet’s history, evolution and climate. These sites are also…

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