In preparation for the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), due to be hosted by the UK and Italy, the Department for International Trade at the British Embassy in Cairo organised the first Green Economy webinar for UK businesses in Egypt.

The webinar showcased commercial opportunities for UK businesses, and an Egyptian government representative provided insights about the government’s priorities in this important sector. In addition, British companies discussed their experience in the market, future investment opportunities, and the vital role that the green economy sector can play in a resilient recovery from COVID-19. The webinar covered a range of sectors, including Green Finance, Infrastructure, Renewables, Transport, and Agriculture.

The group also heard expert advice from Professor Kalame Fobissie, from the Africa Development Bank, on the vital role played by Green Finance, and the development institution CDC showcased some of their ongoing projects in Egypt, including the Benban Solar Park.

More than 30 attendees joined the webinar, among them Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, UK Trade Envoy to Egypt, representatives from Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Egyptian General Authority for Investment, embassy officials and UK companies across different sectors, including Vodafone, Wood PLC, Lightsource BP, Globeleq, the Africa Development Bank, and the Commercial International Bank.

UK Trade Envoy to Egypt, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, said:

Climate change is one of the defining issues of our time, and I am delighted to witness the UK and Egypt working hand in hand to advance efforts to achieve a green economy. If we are to protect the environment, we must be ambitious, and meet the challenges posed by this crisis with determination. Starting today, we need to take impactful and meaningful actions to preserve our shared environment for future generations, and business has a key role to play in this endeavor.

• businesses and other public settings where people meet socially including hospitality, close contact and leisure venues must record contact details of customers, visitors and staff on their premises to tackle the spread of coronavirus
• details must be stored for 21 days and shared with NHS Test and Trace, if requested
• fixed penalties for organisations that do not comply

Premises and venues across England like pubs, restaurants, hairdressers and cinemas must have a system in place by law to record contact details of their customers, visitors and staff in the latest move to break the chains of transmission of coronavirus.

These businesses and organisations had been advised to collect and share data, with many effectively doing so, but following the recent move to ban social gatherings of more than 6 people, the data collection programme will now be formally mandated from 18 September.

Further guidance and, where necessary, regulations will be set out specifying the settings which will be included, but the scope will cover the hospitality industry, such as pubs, bars, restaurants and cafes, as well as close contact services and other tourism and leisure venues.

Additionally, venues could be fined if they fail to ensure their premises remain COVID-secure, such as failing to take specified steps to collect contact information or taking bookings for groups of more than 6. Further details will be set out shortly.

Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said:

NHS Test and Trace is a vital part of the government’s response to fighting coronavirus, designed to help us return to a more normal way of life and reduce the need for local lockdowns in the future.

The system cannot operate without the cooperation of business. We are now mandating venues collect the necessary contact details and support NHS Test and Trace to stop the spread of the virus.

Business Secretary Alok Sharma said:

Each and every one of us needs to play our part to control the virus and avoid a second deadly peak.

While the vast majority of businesses have done an incredible job by following the guidance to keep customers safe, we are now making it the law for certain establishments to collect life-saving NHS Test and Trace data and to keep this on record for 21 days.

We need to take these tough measures now to reduce the risk of local lockdowns in the future. If we don’t all pull together to drive this virus down, businesses will need to close and people’s jobs will be put at serious risk.

The new rules mean organisations in scope will be legally required to request the contact details of every customer and visitor on their premises.

Venues must keep a record of all staff working on the premises on a given day and their contact details.

These will be stored for 21 days and shared with NHS Test and Trace, if requested.

This will assist NHS Test and Trace to effectively contact everyone who may have been exposed to the virus during an outbreak in these settings and to provide the appropriate public health advice. This will help to stop the onward spread of the virus.

The contact details include:

• name
• contact number
• date of visit
• arrival time
• departure time, if possible

All collected data must comply with GDPR and will not be kept for longer than necessary.

Data collection should be as straightforward as possible for organisations. Each organisation will have the freedom to collect the data in a way that best suits them, either using an existing system or finding a new solution. This method will vary from sector to sector, and we will continue to engage with organisations to consider what additional support or guidance may be needed.

Contact details will only be shared with NHS Test and Trace if it is requested. This will usually be because the venue has been identified as the location of a potential local outbreak of COVID-19. If this is the case, the NHS Test and Trace service will work closely with any affected establishments to take appropriate action.

Businesses should continue to follow the government’s comprehensive workplace guidance with practical steps employers should take to make workplaces COVID-secure and ensure employees feel safe in their place of work.

Full details will be set out in the coming days and clarified in the laying of regulations.

The latest guide from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), together with the Institute of Risk Management, features up-to-date case studies that draw out lessons learned, and provides examples of best practice.

It also shines a light on accountability, highlighting that it is the responsibility of directors to ensure their companies comply with competition law – and that risk professionals advising them must make sure they are aware of this.

It comes as the CMA secures its 20th disqualification of a company director in the past 4 years. One of the most recent examples involved the director of an estate agent who has been prevented by court order from being a director of any UK company for 7 years. This was due to his contribution to an illegal arrangement in which 6 estate agents in Somerset agreed to fix a minimum commission rate of 1.5% for residential estate agency services.

As well as imposing fines on companies for breaking competition law, the CMA is increasingly using its power to seek the disqualification of directors. This reflects a toughening of the CMA’s approach to competition law enforcement over the past year.

Alongside the new risk guide, the CMA has a ‘Cheating or Competing?’ campaign page which includes advice for businesses and their advisors to help them recognise, mitigate and report anti-competitive business practices.

Andrea Coscelli, CMA Chief Executive, says:

“Business leaders must be alive to competition law risk. They should take an active role in ensuring compliance. And the public rightly expects there to be personal responsibility for very serious wrongdoing in firms.

“It’s in the interests of business leaders – as well as their customers – that competition law compliance is clearly on the radar, and that’s what this Guide is about.

“For its part, the CMA is improving its investigation methods, and encouraging witnesses to report illegal activity through an awareness campaign and an improved online reporting form.”

Iain Wright, Chair of the Institute of Risk Management, says:

“This guide recommends that organisations should have a zero-risk appetite for breaking the law. Yet to achieve this requires not just that the right policies, processes and procedures are in place. It is also vital that an organisation’s culture, from boardroom to shop floor, positively supports ethical and legal behaviour. The IRM’s suite of training and qualifications helps to arm risk managers with the knowledge and skills to protect organisations.

“The challenge is to recognise and address this risk beyond the boundaries of the immediate organisation out into the extended enterprise including the network of customers, suppliers and partners. Having a clear understanding of these risks is a necessary first step, and one which this guide aims to support.”

Notes to editors

1. The total number of directors disqualified following a CMA investigation includes 1 director who was disqualified on his conviction for the criminal cartel offence in relation to the supply of precast concrete drainage products.

The importance of taking urgent action to deal with the UK’s higher-activity radioactive waste is underlined in a new report published today.

“Without action now, we would be extending for decades the risks and costs of handling this waste above ground, and leaving future generations to deliver a permanent solution,” says Karen Wheeler, CEO of Radioactive Waste Management (RWM), in ‘A Permanent Solution for Higher-Activity Radioactive Waste’

As nuclear technology has been part of daily life in the UK for more than 60 years, the report explains the background and progress made so far in tackling the issue. It outlines why we must act now for the waste that has accumulated over the decades and for material that will arise as existing power plants are decommissioned in the coming years.

In common with other countries around the world, successive UK governments, supported by scientific advice, have concluded that the right answer for the long term is to build a permanent Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) located deep underground. There is overwhelming international consensus, with similar programmes now underway in Canada, Finland, France, Sweden and Switzerland.

The report sets out the history, policy, and approach for delivering a GDF in the UK, in a single document as a reference point for stakeholders and those wanting to learn more. It is published as RWM engages with people across the country to find a willing community and a suitable site for a GDF.

In the report, Karen Wheeler, RWM’s CEO explains:

Providing a permanent solution for the UK’s higher-activity radioactive waste is one of our most challenging environmental problems.

Scientists and experts across the world have agreed that the safest long-term solution for such waste is geological disposal, and many countries with a similar legacy already have well developed programmes in place to build geological disposal facilities to isolate radioactive waste many hundreds of metres underground.

That’s why the UK government has decided we must press ahead with our own facility and RWM has been tasked with delivering a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF).

So we will work in partnership with communities across the country, exploring the potential for them to host a GDF and the impact and potentially transformational benefits the programme could provide to a consenting community.

Alongside the report, RWM has also published its Annual Review 2019-20, which sets out progress on delivering RWM’s mission and plans for the future.

Read more.