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28 january 2001
davos
what kofi Annan isn't telling you!
Today the Secretary General of the United
Nations will report on the Global Compact - a
flagship initiative to encourage large
corporations to champion the environmental
and social causes of the UN. However,
campaigners revealed at the same time the
real record of some of the companies who have
adopted this ideological bluewash*. In fact,
since the launch of the Compact at the World
Economic Forum one year ago, participating
companies have breached the Compact's
principles with impunity, calling into
question the validity and effectiveness of
the entire exercise. For example-
Shell: Despite several high profile
exposés of the company's involvement with
environmental damage and human rights abuses,
Shell continues to court controversy. It was,
for example, recently revealed that the
company plans to drill for oil and gas in the
Kathir National Park in Pakistan and in the
Sundarbans World Heritage Site (UNESCO) in
Bangladesh. In both cases, the exploitation
of fossil fuels would accelerate climate
change, causing serious disruption to global
weather patterns. Shell, through its active
participation in corporate lobby groups such
as the American Petroleum Institute, the
Business Roundtable, and the International
Chamber of Commerce, has also lobbied hard to
undermine progress in the international
climate negotiations. Shell had more than 40
of its own lobbyists in The Hague last
November during the COP-6 negotiations.
Though the company claims to be shifting
investments over to renewable energy sources,
it currently only commits less than 1% of its
total annual expenditures to such climate
friendly solutions, while continuing to
increase investments in fossil fuel
extraction and exploitation.
Rio Tinto: Jabiluka uranium mine in the
Northern Territory of Australia, was recently
acquired by Rio Tinto, which to date has
failed to respect the rights of the
indigenous peoples of the area. Rio Tinto
also plans to mine beneath the last Eastern
coastal forests of Madagascar. If the project
goes ahead, it will lead to the global
extinction of several species of plants and
animals, and cause serious disruption to
local communities. Rio Tinto is also involved
in the Freeport McMoran gold and copper mine
in Irian Jaya, where the company has been
accused of human rights abuses. The company
faces grassroots opposition in many other
parts of the world, from the Czech Republic
to the Philippines.
UBS: The largest of the Swiss banks, UBS
was recently forced to open up its accounts
to independent inspection, which revealed
that the bank had been withholding
information about "dormant" accounts
belonging to Jewish customers placed there
during the second World War. It was also
revealed that the bank had willingly serviced
the Nazi regimeís ruthless appropriation of
the assets and valuables of Jewish families,
profiting immensely at these familiesí
expense. All this information came as a
result of intense public pressure and
scrutiny for decades by advocate groups
rather than from the secretive bank itself,
indicating a real lack of commitment to the
principles espoused by the Compact. To date,
the bank has not demonstrated any significant
shift in its business practice or adopted new
policies, which would guarantee that such
violations would not be committed again.
Business lobby groups have also seized on
the brand value of the Global Compact. The
International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and
the petroleum lobby IPIECA, both well
represented at the WEF, have made extensive
use of the Compact logo, for example in
materials lobbying on behalf of their
membersí business interests.
Without independent monitoring and
assessment mechanisms in place, nor any legal
enforceability and binding requirements
included in the Global Compact, these
participating companies and associations
continue to breach the principles of the
Compact with impunity, while benefiting from
its PR value for their corporate image. The
prominence of the Compact at the World
Economic Forum, jars with the principles it
claims to promote such as freedom of
association in light of the atrocious
misconduct of the security forces in Davos
and their treatment of people seeking to
exercise their fundamental human right to
protest. Through such shameful pandering to
the corporate sector, the Global Compact
threatens the UNís mission and integrity.
Notes:
Other companies participating in the Global
Compact include: ABB Ltd., Aventis, Bayer, BP
Amoco, BASF, British Telecom, Credit Suisse
Group, Dupont, DaimlerChrysler, Deloitte
Touche Tohmatsu, Deutsche Bank, Deutsche
Telekom, Group Suez Lyonnaise, Ericsson,
Nike, Norsk Hydro ASA, Novartis, Statoil,
Unilever, and the Volvo Car Corporation. The
Compact was launched last year in Davos at
the World Economic Forum.
*Bluewash: The flagrant misuse of the social
and human rights legitimacy of the United
Nations by corporations and parties who do
not in fact adhere to the core principles of
the various UN declarations.
For more information contact:
Duncan McLaren +44-7941-920469
Tony Juniper +44-7712-843207
Miriam Behrens +41-7921-60206 (auf Deutsche,
FranÁais, Italiano)
Adam Maíanit +31-6-121-50340
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