LEAKED DOCUMENTS REVEAL G8 DISPUTE OVER
OIL AND BIG BUSINESS LIABILITY
April 24, 2003 - Paris, France / Tokyo,
Japan -- Leaked documents from the 'Group of
8' (G8) exposing a dispute between G8
ministers over liability of big business for
oil spills were released by Friends of the
Earth International today.*
The controversy emerges on the eve
environment ministers from the G8** sit down
in Paris to agree upon their contribution to
the G8 heads of government summit in June.
The meeting of G8 environment ministers is
from April 25 to 27.
Some of the G8 countries are proposing and
supporting 'strengthening' of the ineffectual
liability regime that has allowed oil
multinationals to get away with disasters
such as the Erika and Prestige oil tanker
spills in recent years.
But Japan is opposing the new proposals.
Both the Erika and the Prestige oil tankers
were originally manufactured in Japan.
The leaked documents released today*
(comments by Japan and Italy on the G8
Environment Ministers Meeting Communiqué)
show that the Japanese government is seeking
to weaken every commitment the G8 environment
ministers intend to take on maritime
transport.
The dispute puts the issue of the conduct
of multinationals centre stage at the G8 -
with the topic of corporate social
responsibility already planned as a major
theme of the G8 heads of government summit in
June.
The issue has been placed on the agenda
following the oil spill off the coast of
Galicia, Spain when the Prestige oil tanker
sank. The Spanish government has announced
that so far the spill has cost €1bn. Under
the present liability regime the maximum
available to victims of the spill is (up to)
€164.43m (USD180m) and that does not cover
environmental liabilities. The Japanese are
even refusing to take action, for example, to
ban single-hulled tankers carrying heavy fuel
oil from their ports.
Friends of the Earth has criticised the
oil spill liability regime because it
has resulted in oil companies chartering
unsuitable vessels because they, and the
shipping corporations, do not carry the full
risk of transporting their cargo. Instead the
risk is born by taxpayers, communities such
as the Galician fishers affected by the
Prestige spill and the environment.
The G8 environment ministers are meeting
in preparation for the G8 heads of government
Summit in Evian, France on 1 June. The Summit
has put corporate responsibility high on its
agenda. Today's leaked documents indicate an
initiative will also be agreed on maritime
transport. However, the Japanese comments
suggest that not much concrete will
result.
According to Hélène Ballande of Friends of
the Earth France : "While the oil from the
Prestige and Erika spills lapped the
coastline of Galicia and Brittany, the oil
multinationals were holding their hands up
saying they had nothing to do with them. We
need real rules that hold multinationals
liable for bad practices like hiring
unsuitable ships for their dangerous
cargo."
"The G8 countries are home to most of the
world's multinationals. These governments are
the most responsible for exploitation of the
world's resources and must deliver rights for
communities to redress environmental crimes
by multinationals," Ballande added.
"Environment ministers meeting in Paris
must show their commitment by making their
oil-spilling multinationals pay for
destruction," she concluded.
NOTES TO EDITORS
* The leaked documents released today by
Friends of the Earth International are the
comments by Japan and Italy on the G8
Environment Ministers Meeting Communiqué.
They are available for the media in English
as a '.doc' file via email from any of the
contacts below.
** The G8 (Group of 8) is the powerful
group of eight countries (Canada, France,
Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United
Kingdom and the United States) that meet each
year to discuss broad economic and foreign
policies.
For more information please contact:
Hélène Ballande, Friends of the Earth
France, in Paris (FRANCE)
Tel: +33-1-4851 3222 or +33-6-77107125
(mobile)
Xulio Lopez, Friends of the Earth Spain,
in Galicia (SPAIN):
Tel +34-988 374318 or +34-649-752351
(mobile) -in SPANISH only-
Matt Phillips, Friends of the Earth
England, Wales and Northern Ireland
in London (UK) Tel : +44-207566 1660 or
+44-7817 314 706 (mobile)
Kenichi Nakazawa, Friends of the Earth
JAPAN: +81-3-39511081
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