Enron style rules U.S. policies – E.U. to follow?
Johannesburg, August 29, 2002 – Johannesburg, Aug 29 – On the “day of partnerships” at the Earth Summit Friends of the Earth International condemned the efforts of the United States (US) delegation to promote voluntary public/corporate partnerships instead of binding rules on corporate accountability.
“The U.S. claims that an unaccountable corporate sector can deliver sustainable development when recent scandals in the US show that corporations such as Enron and WorldCom are not even accountable to their auditors,” said David Waskow of Friends of the Earth.
The European Union (E.U.) has finally recognized that corporate accountability is needed but has so far failed to put action behind its rhetoric by supporting an international framework for corporate accountability.
“The U.S. support for only voluntary outcomes from this summit in respect to business behaviour damages the United Nations, which other governments must stand up to defend,” said today Daniel Mittler, Earth Summit coordinator for Friends of the Earth International, in response to the U.S position on ‘type II outcomes’.
Contact in Johannesburg:
Daniel Mittler Earth Summit coordinator 072 4015394
David Waskow, Friends of the Earth corporates specialist 082 8588586
Ricardo Navarro, Friends of the Earth Chair 072 4015392
Craig Bennett, Friends of the Earth corporate specialist 072 4064748
