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31 january 2002
direct challenge to corporations from
inside the wef
visibility event and press conference:
friday, 1 february 2002
In a major challenge to the global
corporate sector, Friends of the Earth will
today go into the World Economic Forum (WEF)
meeting in New York to deliver 1,200
personally addressed letters - one for each
corporate participant – inviting them to
support binding global rules for
business.
The letters, part of Friends of the
Earth’s international campaign to make
corporations accountable, requests a response
on each company’s attitude to regulations by
May 1st 2002, when the responses will be made
public.
Delivered by Tony Juniper, Director
Designate of Friends of the Earth England,
Wales and Northern Ireland and Martin Boesch,
President of Pro Natura – Friends of the
Earth Switzerland, the letters put forward
the case for a legally binding international
agreement which would apply to publicly
traded companies.
Such an agreement should include:
-
legal rights for citizens and
communities affected by corporate
-
activities which damage the environment
and people's livelihoods
-
duties on corporations regarding social
and environmental matters, including
disclosure of impacts
-
rules to ensure high standards of
behavior wherever corporations
operate.
The letters will be taken by hand from the
press conference at the YWCA (53rd and
Lexington) to the WEF meeting at the Waldorf
Astoria – where Tony Juniper and Martin
Boesch have been invited as token
representatives of the environmental
movement.
Tony Juniper said:
"The World Economic Forum claims to be
‘Committed to improving the state of the
world’. But how many of its members still
see good social, environmental and human
rights performance as an optional extra?
Our challenge will expose which
corporations feel secure about these
issues, and which have something to hide".
Martin Boesch said:
"The reason the WEF moved to New York is
because of the massive controversy it
provoked in Switzerland. And yet they have
done nothing to change the fact that it is
predominantly large corporations deciding
on the future of the world. In the current
spirit of global cooperation, surely it is
time for this to change?"
Brent Blackwelder, President of Friends of
the Earth US, said:
"Corporations have enjoyed unprecedented
rights to invest and trade around the
world, including the right to sue
governments. It is long overdue that these
privileges be balanced by strong and
enforceable responsibilities."
Contact:
David Waskow, Friends of the Earth US
202-258-1348
Craig Bennett, Friends of the Earth England,
Wales and Northern Ireland 213-216-0565
Miriam Behrens, Pro Natura – Friends of the
Earth Switzerland 646-373-5009
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