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  Environment & human rights: Aug.-Sep. 2002 

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Aug.- Sep. 2002:

Activists Try Again to Stop Bank-Backed African Pipeline - Cameroon residents affected by a controversial World Bank-backed oil pipeline are appealing to the agency's Inspection Panel to stop the damaging project - just weeks after an earlier attempt was rebuffed by the bank's directors. ( Emad Mekay, Inter Press Service, 28 Sep. 2002)

Baxter First to Join Hospital Waste-Reduction Program - Health care giant Baxter Healthcare Corp. has become the first medical supplier to be deemed a "Champion for Change" in the Hospitals for a Healthy Environment program, a landmark initiative to improve environmental performance in health care...Hospitals for a Healthy Environment is a joint effort by the American Hospital Association, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the American Nurses Association, and Health Care Without Harm. (GreenBiz.com, 27 Sep. 2002)

TOURISM: Marking International Day, U.N. Body Stresses Sustainability (UN Wire, 27 Sep. 2002)

Peru jungle farmers raise cups to fair trade coffee -...Farmers in Alto Incariado have joined up with the local La Florida Cooperative selling coffee carrying the "fair trade" label - a seal guaranteeing consumers that producers comply with conditions like a "decent wage" for farmers, the right to unionize, environmental standards and shunning child labor. [refers to fair trade coffee generally, and to Starbucks, Costa/Whitbread PLC, Cafe Direct, Max Havelaar] (Missy Ryan, Reuters, 27 Sep. 2002)

Shell faces litigation - Fourteen individual plaintiffs filed a class action suit [in a U.S. court] against Royal Dutch Petroleum and Shell Transport, plc, on September 20 for alleged human rights abuses in Ogoniland, Nigeria...the complaint alleges that Shell knowingly instigated, planned and facilitated in unprovoked attacks by the former Nigerian military government against the unarmed residents of Ogoniland, resulting in murder and gross human rights abuses. (Tomorrow: Your sustainable business toolkit, 26 Sep. 2002)

The Lacandon Jungle's Last Stand Against Corporate Globalization [Mexico] - Plan Puebla Panama and the fight to preserve biodiversity and indigenous rights in Chiapas (Ryan Zinn, coordinator for Global Exchange's Chiapas program, special to CorpWatch, 26 Sep. 2002)

British firms act to boost mobile phone recycling - A group of British mobile phone operators and retailers launched a programme this week to encourage the reuse and recycling of handsets, which can pose serious environmental dangers when thrown away...Companies taking part in Fonebak include Britain's five mobile phone operators - Vodafone, Orange, T-Mobile, mmO2 and Virgin - and retail group Dixons, including its mobile phone boutique chain The Link. (Braden Reddall, Reuters, 26 Sep. 2002)

Energy-Efficient Grocery Chain Gets Nod from EPA - Lowes Foods has been honored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for its efforts to reduce energy consumption. (GreenBiz.com, 25 Sep. 2002)

Analysis: Is there a business agenda after Johannesburg? Valentina Bottarelli and Julie Garman assess the long term impact of the WSSD in Johannesburg -...if these partnerships do not yield appropriate outcomes in a few short years, the stick approach will replace the carrot. And the stick may include international codes of conduct, standardisation, certification on required reporting and so on. (Valentina Bottarelli and Julie Garman, in Ethical Corporation Magazine, 24 Sep. 2002)

New Study Finds Mining Unlikely to Help Poor Countries - Oxfam to World Bank: Don’t Look to Mining to Solve Poverty - The mining of gold, copper and other metals is unlikely to help poor countries escape from poverty, according to a new study released today by the international anti-poverty agency Oxfam America...The study, “Digging to Development? A Historical Look at Mining and Economic Development” comes as the World Bank, under heavy pressure from activist groups, reviews its involvement in mining and other natural resource extraction projects. (Oxfam America, 23 Sep. 2002)

Alaska villagers sue Teck Cominco over pollution [USA] - Residents of Kivilina, an Inupiat Eskimo village on Alaska's northwestern coast, sued Teck Cominco Ltd. , charging the company with 2,171 federal water-pollution violations at its Red Dog Mine, the world's largest zinc producer. (Yereth Rosen, Reuters, 23 Sep. 2002)

The rise and rise of the Global Reporting Initiative: Mike Brownlie of the Global Reporting Intiative (GRI) traces progess towards sustainability reporting (Mike Brownlie, in Human Rights & Business Matters, Amnesty International UK Business Group Newsletter no. 6, autumn/winter 2002)

The case for mandatory reporting: Deborah Doane, Head of corporate accountability at the New Economics Foundation, argues that social and environmental reporting must be mandatory (Deborah Doane, in Human Rights & Business Matters, Amnesty International UK Business Group Newsletter no. 6, autumn/winter 2002) 

Mandatory sustainability reporting - France leads the way: Sarj Nahal, International Director at ARESE (the Social and Environmental Rating Agency), outlines new reporting requirements for French companies (Sarj Nahal, in Human Rights & Business Matters, Amnesty International UK Business Group Newsletter no. 6, autumn/winter 2002) [note: scroll down on the page to find this article]

Red tide threatens fisheries [Chile] -...it has spread northward, killing 19 people and making more than 500 extremely ill...research indicates that they have become more frequent off the coast of southern Chile because of wastewater discharges from coastal cities and ships and pollution from salmon farms. (Hugo Godoy León, Latinamerica Press, 20 Sep. 2002)

VIETNAM: World Bank Signals "Rapid Deterioration" In Environment - The World Bank this week said "impressive growth" in recent years in Vietnam has been accompanied by "a rapid deterioration in the environmental quality and natural resources." (UN Wire, 20 Sep. 2002)

Pension funds push Big Business to go green -...As institutions like the pension funds that control vast swaths of assets across the globe become more concerned about corporate labour policies, the environment and human rights issues companies are being forced to take notice. (Simon Johnson, Reuters, 20 Sep. 2002)

PPP: Plan Puebla Panama, or Private Plans for Profit? A Primer on the Development Plan that Would Turn the Region from Southern Mexico to Panama into a Giant Export Zone - There is currently a multi-billion development scheme underway that would turn southern Mexico and all of Central America into a massive free trade zone, competing in the world wide race to the bottom of wages, working conditions, lax environmental regulation and disregard for human rights...The PPP has drawn fire from environmentalists, labor leaders and human rights advocates throughout the region. (Miguel Pickard, investigator for CIEPAC, A.C. [Centro de Investigaciones Económicas y Políticas de Acción Comunitaria], special to CorpWatch, 19 Sep. 2002)

South Africa: Gagging order lifted - Pollution row goes to open court -...The residents of Vanderbijlpark's Steel Valley say the giant Iscor steel producer - Africa's largest - has polluted their water, degraded their environment and brought sickness to their families for forty years - and they want compensation for their plight. (Index on Censorship, 19 Sep. 2002)

Study published on labour rights at Nokia Brazil - Finnish metal unions sponsor evaluation of Finnish transnational's social-labour performance at its Manaus plant - The detailed report...evaluates the degree to which Nokia is complying with fundamental labour rights... and examines issues related to workplace health and safety and the environment. (IMF - International Metalworkers' Federation, 19 Sep. 2002)

POLLUTION: Dirty Air Kills More People Than Car Crashes, Institute Says - Air pollution takes a heavy toll in lives worldwide, killing more people than traffic accidents do, the nongovernmental Earth Policy Institute said in an article published yesterday. (UN Wire, 19 Sep. 2002)

PESTICIDES: FAO Revises African Stockpile Estimate To 120,000 Metric Tons - The Food and Agriculture Organization today raised its estimate of the amount of toxic obsolete pesticides in Africa by more than 100 percent...Alemayehu Wodageneh, an expert with the U.N. agency, told a Rome meeting that every African country has obsolete pesticides that pose a threat to human health, degrade land and pollute water. (UN Wire, 18 Sep. 2002)

ECUADOR: New Report Could Kill Pipeline Project Funding - A report by former World Bank environment chief Robert Goodland could derail plans for an internationally backed oil pipeline project in Ecuador, Inter Press Service reported yesterday. The 27-page report -- commissioned by Amazon Watch, Environmental Defense Fund, Greenpeace and other environmental groups and released Friday -- indicates the 500-kilometer crude oil pipeline violates the World Bank's policies on environmental assessment, natural habitats, involuntary resettlement and indigenous peoples. [refers to German bank WestLB, which leads a consortium providing $900 million in loans for the project] (UN Wire, 17 Sep. 2002)

LA babies get lifetime's toxic air in 2 weeks - study - A two-week-old baby in the Los Angeles area has already been exposed to more toxic air pollution than the U.S. government deems acceptable as a cancer risk over a lifetime, according to a report yesterday by an environmental campaign group...It said diesel exhaust - from trucks and cars, school buses, and farm and construction equipment - was still the worst source of air pollution. But it also took into account chemicals emitted by dry cleaners and factories as well as pesticides, adhesives and lubricant oils. (Reuters, 17 Sep. 2002)

Ethical Investment in Fossil Fuels? Mining watchdog slams funds putting social dollar into coal, oil (Mineral Policy Institute, 16 Sep. 2002)

EU firms champion green electricity plan -...Some 170 companies and 13 of the 15 EU member states have signed up to the Renewable Energy Certification System (RECS), which issues "proof of origin" certificates to firms producing electricity in environmentally-friendly ways...RECS's members include Electrabel, Electricite de France, TotalFinaElf, RWE Energie, E.ON Trading, Edison SpA, BP Gas and Power and Shell International Renewables. (Reuters, 16 Sep. 2002) 

World Bank Greenlights Chad-Cameroon Pipeline Despite Warnings - The World Bank has rejected campaigners' demands and concerns expressed by its own internal advisory panel and approved the continuation of the $4bn Chad-Cameroon Pipeline project. (Jim Cason, allAfrica.com, 14 Sep. 2002)

Author of World Bank Environmental Policies Says the OCP Crude Pipeline in Ecuador Threatens Amazon Biodiversity and Indigenous Peoples - Report Commissioned by Amazon Watch, Environmental Defense and German NGOs - Environmental groups in Germany and the US released a new report today that provides conclusive evidence that the German Bank Westdeutsche Landesbank (WestLB) violated its own policies in loaning $900 million to the OCP Consortium building Ecuador’s new heavy crude pipeline...The OCP Consortium includes: Alberta Energy - Encana (Canada), Occidental Petroleum (OXY- USA), AGIP (Italy), Repsol-YPF (Spain), Perez Compaanc (Argentina), and Techint (Argentina). Citibank and JP Morgan Chase have also come under fire for their financial role in the project. (Amazon Watch, Environmental Defense and German NGOs, 13 Sep. 2002)

AngloGold signs Global Labour Agreement - In a historic first for the global mining industry, the world's leading gold producer, Anglogold and the 20-million strong international trade union federation, ICEM signed an agreement on the promotion and implementation of good human and industrial relations...The promotion and respect for human and trade union rights, health and safety, environmental protection and the promotion of good relationships with local mine communities are pivotal to the agreement. (ICEM - International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions, 13 Sep. 2002)

CHAD-CAMEROON: World Bank Management Dismisses Pipeline Criticism - The World Bank's senior management has prepared a report on plans for an oil pipeline between Chad and Cameroon in which it dismisses criticism of the project for allegedly posing environmental and other problems, Reuters reports. (UN Wire, 12 Sep. 2002)

Giant dam could cause geological disasters - China - A 600-km (365-mile) reservoir that will start filling behind China's giant Three Gorges dam next year could cause geological disasters in the surrounding area, state media said yesterday...The 185-metre (607-foot) dam, the largest water control project in the world, has been plagued by reports of shoddy construction, rampant corruption and criticism from environmental experts and human rights groups. (Reuters, 12 Sep. 2002)

Hazardous Waste as Fuel: Conservation or Corporate Irresponsibility? The cement industry calls the use of hazardous waste to fuel cement kilns recycling while critics of the practice call it dangerous. (William Baue, SocialFunds.com, 11 Sep. 2002)

Experts mull global pact to cut mercury use - Scientists from around the globe began a week-long conference yesterday aimed at shaping a programme to cut back the use of mercury - a toxic substance which poisons and cripples hundreds of people annually...Widely used for decades in lamps, batteries and electrical equipment because it is an excellent conductor of heat, as well as in thermometers and dental fillings, it can cause permanent damage to the brain, nervous system and kidneys. UNEP says it has also been used in some pesticides and pharmaceuticals, as well as in some skin-lightening creams. (Reuters, 10 Sep. 2002)

Protecting the environment, the corporate way [India] - Ion Exchange makes profits in a socially-relevant way: through water treatment, afforestation and organic farming...To positively impact the environment and community life is the goal of this Indian company which offers total water management solutions and sustainable development in rural areas in partnership with NGOs and donor organisations. (InfoChange [India]) [added to this website on 10 Sep. 2002]

U.S. Company Receives World Summit Award for Sustainable Development Partnerships - ForesTrade, which markets organic spices and fair trade coffee, was the sole U.S. company to win a Sustainable Development Partnerships Award at the Johannesburg Summit. (William Baue, SocialFunds.com, 6 Sep. 2002)

Earth Summit winners and losers -...Campaigners hoping to rein in global capitalism were given something to celebrate in the action plan - a call by the summit to "actively promote" corporate responsibility even if it did not create a global policeman to catch corporate polluters and human-rights abusers. A reference to "intergovernmental agreements" and "international initiative" could open the way to some kind of global convention on corporate behaviour, according to the more optimistic activists. (Robin Pomeroy, Reuters, 6 Sep. 2002)

Insurer calls for tough rules on pollution - A senior insurance figure said the industry had been frozen out of the Earth Summit in Johannesburg and called for tougher measures against climate changes which risk costing insurers billions of dollars. (Simon Challis, Reuters, 6 Sep. 2002) 

Oilmen's "green" pledges met with disbelief in Rio - Oilmen from across the world pledged to protect the environment and foster sustainable development at an industry conference in Brazil this week, but environmental groups met their promises with skepticism. (Andrei Khalip, Reuters, 6 Sep. 2002)

Rio asked to clean up uranium mine work [Australia] - Environmentalists and Aboriginal leaders called on mining giant Rio Tinto Plc/Ltd yesterday to start rehabilitation work on a uranium deposit bordering World Heritage-listed parkland in Australia's far north. (Reuters, 6 Sep. 2002) 

Aborigines challenge Rio Tinto [Australia] - Mining giant Rio Tinto is being challenged to abandon a proposed uranium mine in the heart of an Australian national park, after local aborigines made it clear that they opposed the project. Rio Tinto said it would not go ahead with the proposed Jabiluka uranium mine in the Kakadu National Park without permission from the Mirrar aboriginal people. (Friends of the Earth, 5 Sep. 2002)

Analysis: Banking and sustainability: Slow starters are gaining pace - Marcel Jeucken looks at the role of banks in contributing toward sustainable development and concludes that they have a major role to play (Marcel Jeucken, Senior Economist at Rabobank Group and Director of Sustainability in Finance, in Ethical Corporation Magazine, 5 Sep. 2002)

Johannesburg Summit promotes partnerships for development -...The summit emphasized the role of the private sector and civil society as key partners to achieving sustainable development and the creation of public-private partnerships to help improve the living standards of the world's poor. UNDP Associate Administrator Zéphirin Diabré said the summit's recognition of the private sector as a genuine development partner is significant, especially regarding the issues of capacity building, technology transfer and development financing. (U.N. Development Programme, 5 Sep. 2002)

BRAZIL: World Bank, GEF, WWF Announce Amazon Protection Plan -...The new 10-year Amazon Region Protected Areas program will set aside 50 million hectares of rainforest, equivalent to 12 percent of Brazil's total forest area, and will include parts of all 23 ecoregions of the Amazon, in an effort that could also benefit local communities. (UN Wire, 5 Sep. 2002)

FORESTS: World Bank Launches Partnership To Protect Africa's Congo Basin -...The bank warned that the world's second largest primary rainforest...is put under pressure by logging, agriculture, population growth and the oil and mining industries...The donated funds will support activities in Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and the Republic of the Congo in 11 target areas. (UN Wire, 5 Sep. 2002)

UK poll reports switch from Esso fuel, Esso denies - A significant number of British motorists have stopped buying petrol from Esso stations and have switched to other retailers, following a campaign to associate the company with global warming, a survey said (Neil Chatterjee, Reuters, 5 Sep. 2002)

Diesel fuel exhaust likely to cause cancer - US EPA - U.S. environmental regulators in a new report this week formally classified for the first time diesel exhaust from trucks and buses as likely to cause cancer in humans. (Reuters, 5 Sep. 2002)

The business conclusion - Business welcomes the agreement reached at this Summit [World Summit on Sustainable Development], and particularly the Implementation Plan. (Business Action for Sustainable Development, 4 Sep. 2002)

Shifting the Sustainability Dialogue from Values to Value - A recent Ecos Corporation discussion paper advocates integrating the social and environmental considerations of sustainability into the financial bottom line. (William Baue, SocialFunds.com, 4 Sep. 2002)

Sustainable Development: R.I.P.: The Earth Summit's Deathblow to Sustainable Development -...With the world's most powerful governments fully behind the corporate globalization agenda, it was agreed even before the Summit that there would no new mandatory agreements. Rather the focus was to be on implementation of old agreements, mainly through partnerships with the private sector. In other words, those aspects of sustainability that are convenient for private sector would be implemented...At issue is the fact that the UN is unabashedly -- anxiously -- partnering with corporations that define sustainability to suit themselves...the phrase "corporate accountability," is included elsewhere in the Action Plan, though it's located in an ambiguous paragraph that will require several more years of campaigning by Friends of the Earth and allies to see any legal instrument on corporate accountability born at the UN. [refers to Shell's conduct in Nigeria; refers to Shell, Caltex and BP's conduct in South Africa] (Kenny Bruno, CorpWatch, 4 Sep. 2002)

Earth Summit agrees on energy, angers greens - The Earth Summit gave a muted push to "green" energy this week as part of a plan to curb poverty and protect the planet, angering environmentalists who branded it a weak-minded sell-out to the U.S. oil industry. (Alister Doyle & Jodie Ginsberg, Reuters, 4 Sep. 2002)

Thousands rally against Thai-Malaysia gas pipeline -...PTT and Petronas hold equal stakes in Trans Thai-Malaysia Co (TTM), the developer of the pipeline and separation plant scheme. Thailand's Human Rights Commission and a committee of the country's upper house parliament, the Senate, last week called on the government to delay the project for more public hearings and an in-depth environmental study. (Nopporn Wong, Reuters, 4 Sep. 2002)

Trouble in the pipeline [Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey]: The corporate promises being made at the earth summit are likely to prove hollow - The world's biggest corporations, with the UN's blessing, have negotiated a series of "partnership agreements" - voluntary commitments obliging those companies to respect the environment and defend human rights...These, they claim, will show that international law is not required to force corporations to respect human rights and the environment...But just as the chief executives congratulate each other, a new report suggests that the partnership agreements are worthless. The company most clearly associated with "corporate social responsibility" [BP], which has launched one of the new partnerships and sponsored some of the key events at the summit, appears to be saying one thing and doing just the opposite [in the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline project] (George Monbiot, Guardian, 3 Sep. 2002)

Business Leader Says Governments Must Set Framework for Action on Environment, Development -...at the World Summit on Sustainable Development, he [Mark Moody-Stuart] has been highly visible as founder of the corporate group Business Action for Sustainable Development. Despite a deep commitment to reducing poverty and improving the environment, he has drawn fire from activist groups critical of his preference for national and local regulations over broad international agreements. In an interview with Akwe Amosu in Johannesburg, he explains his position and argues that it does not let multinational corporations off the hook. (Akwe Amosu, allAfrica.com, 3 Sep. 2002)

World oil summit long on pledges to better protect the environment - The world's top oil producers tried to clean up their image as enemies of the environment Monday with delegates to an industry summit calling for companies to look for cleaner ways to do business...For the first time, environmental defenders such as Greenpeace, Conservation International and the World Wildlife Fund were invited to the meetings and delegates pledged to seek cleaner-burning fuels and reduce the gases blamed for global warming. (Bill Cormier, Associated Press, 3 Sep. 2002)

SPP seeks to calm greenhouse concerns [Australia] - Australian shale oil producer Southern Pacific Petroleum Ltd (SPP) attempted to quell environmental concerns about its product yesterday by releasing a greenhouse gas strategy. (Michelle Nichols, Reuters, 3 Sep. 2002) 

Sir Corporate Responsibility and the World Summit -...Christian Aid applauds the personal commitment of Sir Mark Moody-Stuart to the cause of more socially responsible business, but it is our belief that only with international, legally-binding regulation will his commitment be matched by a fundamental change in business culture. [refers to conduct by Shell, HSBC, Talisman, Petronas] (Christian Aid, 2 Sep. 2002)

Compendium of speeches, press releases and articles from the "Lekgotla: Business Day" - Johannesburg -1 Sep. 2002 [BASD (Business Action for Sustainable Development) hosted a high profile business day during the Johannesburg Summit that brought world business leaders together with NGOs, labor unions, government officials and others - to discuss initiatives and partnerships towards sustainable development] [includes speeches by Prime Ministers of Canada & Denmark; Tokyo Sexwale, Business Coordinating Forum of South Africa; Reuel Khoza, Chairman of Eskom; Phil Watts, World Business Council for Sustainable Development; Sir Robert Wilson, Rio Tinto; Wladimir Puggina, International Fertilizer Industry Association; Heinz Imhof, Chairman of Syngenta; Mohamed Rafik Meghji, International Federation of Consulting Engineers] (Business Action for Sustainable Development, 1 Sep. 2002)

Speech by Mary Robinson, High Commissioner for Human Rights - Civil Society Workshop on Human Rights, Sustainable Development and Environmental Protection - World Summit on Sustainable Development -...The interdependence of human rights, environment protection and sustainable development has been described using the metaphor of a triangle. (Mary Robinson, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, 1 Sep. 2002)

Business chiefs on defensive at summit - Business leaders have been defending themselves at the World Summit in Johannesburg against charges that they ignore development issues and poverty. Green groups have accused multi-national corporations of being enemies of the environment, but the business executives say they are looking for co-operative partnerships. (BBC News, 1 Sep. 2002)

Sustainable development: the contribution by the automotive industry (International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers / Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d’Automobiles, 1 Sep. 2002)

Sellers-Sexton Sets the Pace for U.S. Car Dealerships - On September 4, 2002, Ford dealer Sellers-Sexton of St. Robert, Mo., set a precedent when it became the first car dealership in the U.S. to receive ISO 14001 certification, the international standard for environmental management. (GreenBiz.com, Sep. 2002)

New guidelines released for reporting corporate contributions to sustainable development - Global Reporting Initiative Spearheads Multi-stakeholder Effort (Global Reporting Initiative, 31 Aug. 2002)

Ecology opens for business [World Summit on Sustainable Development] -...Sir Mark [Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, former chairman of Shell who now heads Business Action for Sustainable Development] is lobbying for global leaders to disregard calls by NGOs to introduce multilateral rules governing business conduct. "The summit is taking place just as massive corporate scandals are undermining economic growth and confidence throughout the world. There is widespread recognition that self-regulation has failed," says Daniel Graymore, a campaigner for Christian Aid, the UK charity. Sir Mark concedes that greater corporate accountability is needed. But he argues that standards for business should be enforced at a national rather than global level...while some NGOs remain openly hostile to business, others are keen to work with it. BASD is promoting 230 partnerships between business and NGOs at the summit. They include the secondment of staff from HSBC, the banking group, to Earthwatch environmental projects, carmaker Fiat's development of gas-powered cars and the treatment of sleeping sickness in Africa by Aventis, the pharmaceuticals group. (James Lamont & John Mason, Financial Times, 31 Aug. 2002) 

Earth Summit feuds fester over rules for business - Rows on rules raged at the Earth Summit in Johannesburg this week as rights groups and corporate leaders wrestled over the sticky question of whether, where and how to introduce binding regulations for business. (Jodie Ginsberg, Reuters, 30 Aug. 2002)

Earth Summit launches controversial partnerships - The United States and other nations will showcase public-private partnerships at the Earth Summit yesterday meant to fight poverty amid criticisms that they will help businesses more than the poor. (Alister Doyle, Reuters, 30 Aug. 2002) 

Developments on corporate accountability 'agreement' at Joburg - This is what has happened to the agreement (ie the text) on corporate accountability this morning in the WSSD [World Summit on Sustainable Development] Plan of Implementation. (based on an e-mail from Matt Phillips, Friends of the Earth, 30 Aug. 2002)

Oil companies colonise Turkey: Corporate Accountability – Not! - BP and other oil companies [Unocal, Statoil, Turkiye Petroleum, ENI, TotalFinaElf, Itochu Oil, Delta Hess, State Oil Company of Azerbaijan] have demanded an extraordinary and outrageous deal, giving them complete freedom from regulation for a pipeline they propose to build across Turkey...It exempts the companies from obligations under any current or future Turkish law that may threaten the project's profits, including environmental, social and human rights legislation.  (Friends of the Earth, 30 Aug. 2002)

World Summit offers vital role to business: It is hoped that big business can help eradicate world poverty...But activists accused Western governments of trying to shift responsibility for helping the world's poor and corporations of trying to "hijack" the summit's outcome to water down environmental rules and increase profits. (Paul Geitner, AP, 30 Aug. 2002)

US defies critics with business deals to aid environment - The United States, which has been accused of derailing progress at the United Nations earth summit, launched a diplomatic counter-offensive yesterday, rolling out public-private sector partnerships which the Bush administration claims are the best means of fighting global poverty and protecting the environment. But environmentalists have dismissed the so-called "Type 2" partnerships, which are backed by Britain, saying they help big businesses increase profits rather than help the poor. (Basildon Peta, Independent [UK], 30 Aug. 2002)

Business Partnerships in Johannesburg - Business has come to Johannesburg with a range of partnerships for sustainable development. Some of these partnerships are listed below. (Business Action for Sustainable Development, 30 Aug. 2002)

Business and UN team up to recognise sustainable partnerships at Earth Summit - The United Nations and ICC: the world business organization today named ten business partnership programmes from around the world which are making an outstanding contribution to sustainable development [refers to Alcan Inc; Shell; Axel Springer Verlag; Kesko; E7 Network; ForesTrade; BioRe and Coop; Migros; Business Trust South Africa] (International Chamber of Commerce, 30 Aug. 2002)

Chemical industry committed to implement action plan on safe chemicals management in developing countries -...As part of its preparation for the Summit and as a basis of the action plan, the ICCA has undertaken national case studies in South Africa and Brazil in partnership with government and other groups. (ICCA - International Council of Chemical Associations, 30 Aug. 2002)

Big business gets into bed with Earth Summit (Carl O’Brien, Irish Examiner, 30 Aug. 2002)

Address by Mary Robinson, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights - World Summit on Sustainable Development Plenary Session -...Let me ask and try to answer the question-- how does a human rights approach help in achieving sustainable development? (Mary Robinson, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, 29 Aug. 2002)

Green groups sue US agencies over global warming - Environmental groups filed a lawsuit this week against two U.S. government agencies for financing the overseas projects of American energy firms while ignoring the effects those deals have on global warming and the environment. (Reuters, 29 Aug. 2002)  

Big business needs Kyoto, says industry chief - The world should stick with the Kyoto climate change pact despite misgivings from some major companies and rejection by the United States, according to the chief industry representative at the "Earth Summit II". (Robin Pomeroy, Reuters, 29 Aug. 2002)  

US blocks move to give powers to those threatened by multinationals: Poor countries seek redress over firms' damage - The United States is blocking human, environmental and freedom of information rights from being enshrined in the earth summit's plan of action in order to protect multinational companies from litigation and protests by the poor. The EU and developing countries such as Thailand, Uganda and Indonesia believe that giving communities the right to take on companies that pollute their environment and damage their health is fundamental to the aims of the summit. (Paul Brown, Guardian [UK], 29 Aug. 2002)

Business needs rules to cooperate - In a speech from the plenary floor at the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, BASD [Business Action for Sustainable Development] Chairman Sir Mark Moody-Stuart said that in order to maximize its contribution to sustainable development business needs regulation of markets and strong local governance...This will include sound governance of business – with the rules and frameworks necessary for markets to operate fairly and openly in each and every country and with, for example, appropriate environmental regulation applied impartially to all. But it will also include such elements as the rule of law, security, human rights, intellectual property etc...I hope that through these remarks I have dispelled the myth put out by others that business is against all regulation – it is just not true...Much is made by our NGO colleagues for the need for supranational standards or regulation. The essential international agreements on climate and trade are addressed in other fora, and we in business strongly support access to developing country products to developed markets. We believe however that any attempt at one size fits all international regulation is inappropriate. (Business Action for Sustainable Development, 29 Aug. 2002)

Industry joins Greenpeace to demand climate action - A group representing 160 multinationals made a joint statement [at World Summit on Sustainable Development] with the environmental group Greenpeace calling on world leaders for an international system for halting global warming. The statement by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) — which counts Caterpillar, Ford Motor Co, Dow Chemical, ICI, and Sony among its members — stopped just short of fully endorsing the Kyoto pact on cutting greenhouse gas emissions. (Reuters, 29 Aug. 2002)

Summit looks at Public-Private Cooperation to Protect the Planet - Western countries are promoting “public-private partnerships” at the Earth Summit in Johannesburg as a path to sustainable development. Environmentalists are skeptical, saying it puts big business before people. (Deutsche Welle, 29 Aug. 2002)

Business Embraces Call for Sustainable Development -...Businesses, or at least some business leaders, have decided to embrace the call for sustainable development...The criticism, however, has continued, and some groups believe the United Nations has become too cozy with big business. "What we're worried about is that many businesses are draping themselves in the blue of the United Nations in order to get themselves some brownie points to look good to governments, to look like they're doing the right thing around the world, when in fact their actual practices on the ground may be very different to those they profess on paper," said Matt Phillips of Friends of the Earth in an interview with the BBC. (Jim Cason, allAfrica.com, 29 Aug. 2002)

Bush abdicates America's global leadership role -...at this very moment the most powerful country in the world stands to forfeit much political capital, moral authority and international goodwill by dragging its feet on the next great global issue: the environment. (Norbert Walter, chief economist at Deutsche Bank Group, in New York Times / International Herald Tribune, 29 Aug. 2002)

Business key to successful development, Canada says - Minister stresses private-sector investment - Business is critical to the success of plans being discussed at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in South Africa, Canada's Environment Minister David Anderson said yesterday...Governments and non-governmental organizations (NGO) can't bring sustainable development to the Third World without private investment, he said. (Graham Fraser, The Star [Canada], 29 Aug. 2002)

Big business and labour sign deal at the World Summit for Sustainable Development [South Africa] - The union-inspired South African declaration for achieving sustainable environmental conservation targets within realistic economic and production strategies is now set to go international. South African signatories include Sasol (synfuels and chemicals), Iscor (steel production), Columbus Stainless, Eskom (power generation), Telkom (telecommunications) mineral resources companies Assmang Chrome, De Beers, Goldfields, Impala Platinum (Implats) and Ingwe Coal and industrial groups, Barloworld, Dorbyl Engineering and Rotek Engineering, and unions MWU-Solidarity and the National Union of Mine Workers. Among the companies locally who have firmly said they will not sign for the present are Highveld Steel, the country second largest producer, and multinational operators Dow Chemicals and Sappi (pulp and paper). (Lawrence Bedford, EyeforChem, in Ethical Corporation Magazine, 28 Aug. 2002)

Bali Principles of Climate Justice - An international coalition of groups gathered in Johannesburg for the Earth Summit has released a set of principles aimed at "putting a human face" on climate change. The Bali Principles of Climate Justice redefine climate change from a human rights and environmental justice perspective. (International Climate Justice Network, 28 Aug. 2002)

Business: Sir Mark Moody-Stuart [former Chairman of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group & head of the main industry lobby group at the World Summit for Sustainable Development] Helps Corporations With High Visibility at Johannesburg Summit - "There is a great deal of mutual distrust, which we have to get over," said Moody-Stuart in an exclusive interview with The Earth Times. "We believe in good international governance for issues like climate change and trade. It is a myth that we are not in favour of regulation."...Moody-Stuart has come to this summit with proposals of over one hundred such partnerships between corporations, non-governmental organizations and governments. One such partnership is a project between Merck & Co., GlaxoSmithKline, UNICEF, World Bank to improve access to AIDS care in the hardest-hit regions of the world. (Preeti Dawra, Earth Times, 28 Aug. 2002)

Chinese activists take to the courts: Nascent 'green culture' is challenging authorities - and being heard - In the three years since he set up an environmental hotline, Wang Canfa [Director of the Beijing-based Center for Legal Assistance to Pollution Victims] has heard thousands of heartbreaking horror stories from people who have seen their health or livelihoods imperiled by industrial pollution. (Ted Plafker, International Herald Tribune, 28 Aug. 2002)

How green is my business? -...the idea that public-private partnerships [being promoted at World Summit on Sustainable Development] are themselves the answer to these problems [poverty, environmental damage, human rights abuse & social exclusion] is as foolish as the idea that the private sector caused them in the first place. If anything, corporations hyping up this hubristic circus without making a full commitment to sustainability simply undermine the serious work that leaders such as BP are doing to change their mainstream business behaviour for good. That's the real agenda that should be promoted at Johannesburg...It involves corporations integrating social and environmental values within their core activities, rather than setting up projects that hover outside in a box marked "corporate responsibility". (Steve Hilton, Guardian [UK], 28 Aug. 2002)

Senior Judges Adopt Ground-Breaking Action Plan to Strengthen World's Environment-Related Laws: World Summit on Sustainable Development Given Pioneering Principles for Fighting Poverty and Delivering Environmental Justice - An action plan to strengthen the development, use and enforcement of environment-related laws has been drawn up by over 100 of the world's most senior judges...Experts are convinced that the worldwide effort to crack down on pollution, challenge environmentally damaging developments and comply with agreements covering issues such as hazardous wastes and the trade in endangered species have been undermined partly as a result of weaknesses in many countries legal systems [includes text of The Johannesburg Principles on the Role of Law and Sustainable Development adopted at the Global Judges Symposium held in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 18-20 August 2002] (U.N. Environment Programme, 27 Aug. 2002)

Businesses clash with green groups - The World Summit on Sustainable Development has rekindled the war of words between big business and advocates of environmental and social change...Business leaders argue that the first responsibility of a publicly listed company is to make money for its shareholders. To rationalise that goal with good intentions on environmental issues, companies have to be convinced that it makes sense in terms of share price and dividends. (CNN, 27 Aug. 2002)

Big Business Accused of Derailing Earth Summit - Activists accused big business on Tuesday of hijacking the Earth Summit from a goal of halving poverty without poisoning the planet...The World Development Movement, a British-based anti-poverty group, accused rich nations of "kowtowing to the powerful corporate lobbies." (Alister Doyle, Reuters, 27 Aug. 2002)

The North-South Institute calls on governments and corporations to respect Indigenous Peoples’ rights vis-à-vis mining developments - Canada can lead on ‘governance’ issues - In conjunction with the opening of the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, South Africa, The North-South Institute is releasing a policy brief outlining clear directions for governments and corporations proposing to undertake mining activities on or near Indigenous territories. (North-South Institute, 26 Aug. 2002)

Forest and Paper Associations of the World Assess Industry Sustainability 10 Years After Rio (ICFPA - International Council of Forest and Paper Associations, 26 Aug. 2002)

NGOs Accuse Big Business of Trying to Hijack World Summit - The International Forum on Globalisation (IFG) yesterday accused big business and transnational corporations of attempting to hijack the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) and use the forum to drive their own agenda...Big Business, through BASD [Business Action on Sustainable Development], is rallying for voluntary, non-binding outcomes that do not entail commitments which puts it at odds with NGOs such as IFG, Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) and Third World Network (TWN) who want legally binding and enforceable outcomes and corporate accountability. (Momelezi Kula, The Post [Zambia], 26 Aug. 2002)

Firms get green Oscars for environmental whitewash -..."These polluting companies are posing as friends of the environment and leaders in the struggle to eradicate poverty," said Kenny Bruno of campaign group Corpwatch. "But often they spend more advertising their green projects than on the projects themselves." (Reuters, 26 Aug. 2002) 

Malaysia names builders for controversial mega-dam - Malaysia appointed builders last week for its long-delayed $2.4 billion Bakun dam, awarding the deal to a consortium led by a unit of local conglomerate Sime Darby, together with a Chinese infrastructure firm. The hydro-electric power project in Malaysia's eastern Sarawak state on Borneo island has enraged environmentalists as it involves flooding a tract of tropical rainforest the size of Singapore and will displace thousands of indigenous people. (Reuters, 26 Aug. 2002)

Korean shippers admit to years of oil dumping - A consortium of Korean shipping companies has admitted that its freighters sailing between Alaska and Asia illegally dumped oily waste at sea for years and will pay a $5 million fine, U.S. federal officials said. (Yereth Rosen, Reuters, 26 Aug. 2002)

CIEL Side Events at the World Summit on Sustainable Development - 26 August to 4 September 2002 [includes events on The Role of Export Credit Agencies in Sustainable Development; Human Rights, Sustainable Development & Environmental Protection] (CIEL - Center for International Environmental Law) [added to this site on 26 Aug. 2002]

Tourism, NGOs divided on poverty - The historic clash between the tourism industry and non-governmental organisations is set to come to the fore at the World Summit for Sustainable Development...UK-based NGO Tourism Concern...wants the tourism industry to start focusing more on the amount of natural resources it consumes, whether the recent inclusion of services (which include tourism) as part of the World Trade Organisation agenda will truly provide for free and fair trade. Critically, it wants to raise the issue of foreign exchange leakage from developing countries. (Chatrudee Theparat, Bangkok Post, 26 Aug. 2002)

Amazon foresters make green profits [Brazil] - A project in the mangrove swamps near the mouth of the Amazon [sustainable harvesting of hearts of palm trees] is being showcased at the Johannesburg world development summit as a model of sustainable harvesting...The project on the remote island of Marajo is run by a company called Muana Alimentos - its chief executive Georges Schnyder says the crop depends on a healthy forest to make it productive. (Tim Hirsch, BBC News, 25 Aug. 2002)

The world's business [regarding business community and the World Summit on Sustainable Development] -...All of which is to say that pressing corporations to contribute more toward their host societies increasingly makes sense. Many executives understand that managing a global company requires a plan for global solutions: AIDS will devastate workers; income inequality will suppress the customer base; global warming, deforestation, and poor infrastructure threaten devastation - financial and human alike. A group called Business Action for Social Development, headed by the former chairman of Royal Dutch/Shell, will have a large presence at the summit. (editorial, Boston Globe, 25 Aug. 2002)

Business flourishes at Johannesburg summit - If the "People's Village" at the Earth Summit is any measure, big business has successfully muscled in on a convention to help the world's poor...Visitors to the vast exhibition tent...are assailed by glossy corporate brochures and snappy video clips vaunting the environmental and social awareness of some the world's biggest energy and utilities corporations...Oil giant BP Plc, which green groups branded on Friday as the best firm at using environmental veneer to disguise continued poor practice, had a smart stand promoting its green power projects. "Generally I think society is genuinely keen to support those efforts," said Craig Bennett of Friends of the Earth International. "What we don't condone is when they use those genuine projects...to suggest the whole company has changed." (Reuters, 24 Aug. 2002)

Authorities in Alaska probe BP site blast [USA] - Alaskan authorities were yesterday investigating an explosion at BP's operation in the state, which seriously injured an operator and caused a spill that might jeopardise the terms of the company's federal probation with US authorities. (Sheila McNulty, Financial Times, 24 Aug. 2002)

South Africa: Business Role is Greeted with Some Suspicion - There is widespread scepticism about the role played by business at the summit on the part of non-governmental organisations (Vanessa Houlder, Financial Times, 23 Aug. 2002)

PESTICIDES: Tanzanian Officials Endorse GEF Plan To Clean Up Stockpiles - Government and environment officials met in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, this week to address the issue of persistent organic pollutants in Tanzania, which is one of 15 African countries classified as needing special attention in cleaning up and preventing the use of obsolete pesticides, the Dar es Salaam Guardian reported yesterday. (UN Wire, 23 Aug. 2002)

Green Groups urge Johannesburg leaders to regulate Corporate Social Responsibility - Green groups across Europe are calling for a legally binding international framework on corporate accountability and liability, and plan to make the World Summit on Sustainable Development their stage for this demand. (Sorcha Clifford, Edie News, 23 Aug. 2002)

Big oil groups top league for 'greenwash' - The big oil companies were some of the first multinationals to find themselves in the environmental "hall of shame" on Friday in the run up to next week's World Summit on Sustainable Development...Friends of the Earth singled out Shell, British Petroleum (BP) and ExxonMobil for accusations that they had played up green credentials but fell short of their much-publicised environmentally friendly ideals...The "Green Oscars" were awarded by FoE to companies that had produced the most "greenwash" since the Rio Earth summit in 1992. It ranked among the best theatrical performances those by oil companies and the biotech companies Monsanto, Novartis and Aventis. Sasol, the South African fuels company, and Eskom, the local state-owned power group, also received "honourable" mentions. (James Lamont, Financial Times, 23 Aug. 2002)

Residents gasp for air in smoky Indonesian Borneo - Choking smoke from forest fires and slash-and-burn land clearing in Indonesia has sent scores of people to hospitals, closed schools and delayed flights yesterday...Officials said most of the smoke came from plantations that clear their land using slash-and-burn practices. (Reuters, 23 Aug. 2002) 

Environment, social woes risk development - World Bank - Environmental disasters, income inequality and social upheaval that have arisen from bad economic policies are threatening to derail the battle against poverty around the world, the World Bank warned...From the collapse of U.S. energy giant Enron under the cloud of an accounting scandal to the drying out of the central Asian Aral Sea due to cotton production, unsustainable policies are at fault, the Washington-based lender said. (Anna Willard, Reuters, 23 Aug. 2002) 

TRADE: New Study Examines How WTO Agreements Affect Public Health - Public health must be taken into consideration in the drafting of trade rules, according to a joint study released today by the World Trade Organization and the World Health Organization...The 171-page study, WTO Agreements and Public Health, says nations should be able to restrict imports and exports when the health of its people or wildlife is affected. It examines issues including infectious disease control, food safety, tobacco, environment, access to drugs, health services, food security and biotechnology. (UN Wire, 22 Aug. 2002)

Friends of Earth slam Nutreco for Chile salmon - Environmental group Friends of Earth said it had filed complaints against Dutch Nutreco charging that its salmon farms in Chile were causing pollution and violating the law. (Reuters, 22 Aug. 2002)  

Bosses 'not doing enough to limit impact on environment' [UK] - Business leaders are not taking steps to reduce the impact of their activities on the environment, according to new research...Seventy-nine percent believe they should measure the environmental impact of their suppliers, although only 32% would change suppliers who were found to be damaging the air, land and water. (Ananova, 22 Aug. 2002)

Environmental Fiduciary: The Case for Incorporating Environmental Factors into Investment Management Policies - In this report, we show that fiduciaries who manage funds for institutional investors such as pension funds, foundations and charitable trusts should incorporate environmental factors into their portfolio management policies. [includes reference to DuPont, ST Microelectronics, IBM, Baxter Intl, Smithfield Foods, US Liquids, Weyerhauser, Georgia Pacific, ChevronTexaco, Marathon Oil, Deutsche Telekom, Nestle, Southern California Gas, ITT, Textron, Corning, Whole Foods, Hains Celestial] (Susannah Blake Goodman, Jonas Kron & Tim Little, The Rose Foundation for Communities and the Environment, 21 Aug. 2002)

SEC [U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission] Urged to Strengthen Rules Governing Corporate Disclosure of Environmental Risks - The Rose Foundation is petitioning the SEC to require more comprehensive disclosure of environmental liabilities, allowing investors to assess the potential effect on shareowner value. (William Baue, SocialFunds.com, 21 Aug. 2002)

Marching to Johannesburg -...As part of our special coverage of the Johannesburg Earth Summit, CorpWatch is running three excerpts from the new book, Earthsummit.biz: The Corporate Takeover of Sustainable Development (Kenny Bruno & Joshua Karliner CorpWatch, 21 Aug. 2002)

Industrialists Challenge Global Business to “Walk the Talk” -...In Walking the Talk:The Business Case for Sustainable Development...authors Charles O.Holliday Jr, Chairman and CEO of DuPont; Stephan Schmidheiny, Chairman of Anova Holding AG; and Philip Watts, Chairman of Shell; argue that business can, and indeed must, be an agent of positive change for the environment and the world’s poor. (World Business Council for Sustainable Development, 21 Aug. 2002)

AGRICULTURE: Factory Farming Causes Poverty, Disease, NGO Says - The spread of large-scale factory farms to the developing world threatens to increase poverty and livestock-related disease, Compassion in World Farming said in a report released yesterday. (UN Wire, 21 Aug. 2002)

Amazon Indians lose appeal of Texaco case ruling - Rainforest Indians of Ecuador and Peru have lost an appeal aimed at reinstating nine-year-old litigation against Texaco, alleging that toxic dumping devastated their environment and exposed residents to cancer-causing pollutants. The U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday affirmed a trial court's ruling dismissing two class-action lawsuits on grounds that the United States was not the proper place for the litigation, and that Ecuador would be a more convenient location. (Gail Appleson, Reuters, 21 Aug. 2002)

Industrial pollution 'is causing fish deaths' [Bahrain] - Pollution is the biggest threat to Bahrain's fisheries, says a spokesman for the country's commercial fishermen..."This is really affecting our profession and if the (fisheries and marine resources) directorate is to protect the marine life, companies and establishments committing such crimes should be punished." (Mohammed Al A'Ali, Gulf Daily News [Bahrain], 21 Aug. 2002)

Campaign case study: Asian Pulp & Paper’s backers take heat for its actions -...Asian Pulp & Paper (APP), Indonesia's largest pulp and paper producer, has rarely faced direct challenges from NGOs. Instead it is the banks that fund the company that are targets for attack...Over 300 international financial bodies are identified by Friends of the Earth as providing and guaranteeing APP's assets. Investment banks such as Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, ABN Amro, Barclays Bank and NatWest were all fundamental in issuing bonds that kept the company afloat...The banks' reactions to these claims is mixed...The most sympathetic of the banks has been ABN Amro, which has subscribed to the investment criteria put forward by NGOs since its deal with APP...Others have been less compliant with NGO wishes. Friends of the Earth UK has set up an email campaign targeting NatWest, HSBC and Barclays. (Sophie Holtham, Reputation Impact, in Ethical Corporation Magazine, 20 Aug. 2002)

Business buys into earth summit, but at what price -...Green and human rights groups say it is not all a public relations exercise and that some firms have started to recognise the need to tackle poverty and environmental degradation. But they also say that the presence of big businesses - some of whose budgets dwarf the economies of countries attending the meeting - threatens to divert governments from setting targets that force business to do more on sustainable development...The British charity Christian Aid said this month there was already an indication big business had hijacked the summit to push its agenda of self-regulation over corporate accountability. (Jodie Ginsberg, Reuters, 20 Aug. 2002)

Australia "a renegade" on environment, says report - Australia is a laggard and renegade state when it comes to protecting the environment and is going backwards on every indicator of environmental health, from pollution to land clearing, a new report shows. (Michael Christie, Reuters, 20 Aug. 2002)

A world court on the environment? Multinationals object -...Nongovernmental organizations are demanding an agreement at the summit meeting [World Summit on Sustainable Development] that big private corporations be monitored and regulated on an international level. Business groups are pressing instead to ensure that the UN endorses industry plans for voluntary self-regulation. (Barry James, International Herald Tribune, 19 Aug. 2002)

CHAD-CAMEROON: World Bank Panel Criticizes Bank-Backed Pipeline Project - An independent inspection panel of the World Bank has concluded that a $4 billion bank-supported project to construct an oil pipeline from Chad to Cameroon [which would be built by a private consortium led by Exxon-Mobil, Petronas and Chevron] could damage the environment and would give the local population only 5 percent of the revenues generated from the project (UN Wire, 19 Aug. 2002)

CLIMATE CHANGE: Firms, Investors Fret Over Costs, Liability -...the Times [New York Times] reported that companies are likely to face huge costs from climate change and could be sued by governments, investors and others if they fail to protect themselves against warming-related risks...Companies such as DuPont, BP and Ford have begun addressing climate change risk in annual reports and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings, and Dow says it is set to release a social responsibility report in which it charts its greenhouse gas emissions reductions for the first time. The Times reports that Swiss Re is considering denying coverage to firms that do not address the problem (UN Wire, 19 Aug. 2002)

Eskom: Corporate Powerhouse or Green Company? -...Eskom, Africa's largest electric company -- also a major coal and nuclear enterprise, will be South Africa's Corporate Environmentalism Exhibit #1 during the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development...In this article, EarthLife Africa looks at the reality, and finds that the company has behaved in ways that contrast with Global Compact Principles seven (support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges) and nine (encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies.) (Brian Ashe, EarthLife Africa eThekwini, 16 Aug. 2002)

Spotlight on corporates reveals need for global rules - Some corporations continue to abuse the rights of people, destroy the livelihoods of communities, and pollute water and forest resources for future generations, according to a new report by Friends of the Earth International published today. The report graphically illustrates the need for governments to agree to introduce tighter rules for multinationals at the Earth Summit in Johannesburg. (Friends of the Earth, 16 Aug. 2002)

includes section entitled "Towards binding corporate accountability"

also includes the following case studies:

  1. Peru: Manhattan Minerals (Tambogrande gold mine)
  2. Malaysia: Malaysian timber companies (logging in Sarawak - affecting indigenous peoples)
  3. South Africa: Sasol, Total, Dow Chemicals (pollution of poor communities)
  4. Russia/Lithuania: Lukoil (Baltic sea drilling)
  5. Papua New Guinea: BHP Billiton (OK Tedi mine)
  6. Chad/Cameroon: ExxonMobil, Chevron, Petronas (Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline)
  7. Ecuador: AGIP, Alberta Energy, Occidental Petroleum, Perez Companc, Repsol-YPF, Techint (oil pipeline, affecting indigenous peoples)
  8. Czech Republic: Ford, Nemak (car plant on agricultural land)
  9. Nigeria: Shell (environmental justice issues in Niger Delta)
  10. Chile: Noranda (aluminium plant)
  11. Worldwide: Aventis, Monsanto (genetically modified food)
  12. Colombia: Occidental Petroleum (oil extraction on land of U'wa people)
  13. Australia: Barrick Gold (gold mine, affecting indigenous peoples)
  14. Brazil: Petrobas, El Paso Energy (gas pipeline, affecting indigenous peoples)
  15. Indonesia: Asia Pulp & Paper (logging of rainforests)
  16. Chile: Nutreco (salmon farms)
  17. Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey: BP (Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline)
  18. Malta: Ax Holdings, Carlson Companies, Regent Hotels (golf course on agricultural land)
  19. Australia: Nihon Unipac (clearcutting Goolengook Forest)
  20. Norway: Bayer, Monsanto, Kanegafuchi (Norwegian sea pollution)
  21. Indonesia: Rio Tinto (gold mine, affecting indigenous peoples)
  22. UK: Scott's Company (peat extraction for compost)

Sinking Pacific states slam US over sea levels - Pacific island nations [Cook Islands, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Marshall Islands, Tuvalu], most at risk of sinking beneath rising sea levels, chided the United States yesterday for not signing the Kyoto Protocol and urged big aid donor Australia to do more to cut greenhouse gas emissions. (Paul Tait, Reuters, 16 Aug. 2002)

Companies feel the pressures of Corporate Social Responsibility -...a growing number of large, quoted companies in Britain are looking at their suppliers’ Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policies as closely as their own...His remarks, though in the context of the UK, have considerable significance for the world scenario and India as well, where labour and environmental standards are going to be an important factor in doing business...“It’s early days for this kind of screening, but even now, companies like Sainsbury and British Airways are asking their suppliers for information on environmental policies and employment.” (Business Standard [India], 15 Aug. 2002)

Shell Games at the Earth Summit -...Tracking the behavior of Royal Dutch Shell from the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio to the WSSD in Johannesburg is particularly instructive in drawing out how global corporations have pursued a pro-environment and human rights public-relations strategy on the one hand, while continuing to be deeply engaged in destructive activity on the other. (Kenny Bruno & Joshua Karliner CorpWatch, 15 Aug. 2002)

Freedom Makes All the Difference [refers to World Summit on Sustainable Development] -...We can even question the general strategy of defining sustainable development only in terms of fulfillment of needs, rather than using the broader perspective of enhancing human freedoms on a sustainable basis... Indeed, it is not at all obvious why the enhancing of democratic freedoms should not figure among the central demands of sustainable development. Not only are these freedoms important in themselves, but they can contribute to other types of freedoms. (Amartya Sen, Master of Trinity College - Cambridge, Nobel laureate (economics), in Los Angeles Times, 15 Aug. 2002)

Johannesburg Summit: A New Framework for Business Engagement -...Business could and should be a strong partner in safeguarding the environment, reducing poverty, raising education standards and improving health...But business today, following the collapse of Enron and other corporate scandals of fraud and greed, is losing its credibility as a trustworthy partner. (Klaus Schwab, President of the World Economic Forum, on Earth Times website, 15 Aug. 2002)

Mining Project in Peru: Manhattan Minerals Must Recognize the Legitimacy of the Municipal Referendum - The Canadian company Manhattan Minerals Corporation must recognize the legitimacy of the Tambogrande (Peru) municipal referendum which confirmed the overwhelming opposition to the company's plan to develop a gold mine in the small town...Some analyses of the gold mine project have indicated that it could bring significant environmental damage in its wake. (Rights & Democracy, 14 Aug. 2002)

CLIMATE CHANGE: Rich Nations Must Take Responsibility, Says Toepfer - U.N. Environment Program Executive Director Klaus Toepfer said yesterday that the human role in climate change could no longer be doubted and that industrialized nations bear most of the blame....Greenpeace is urging major petroleum corporations to provide financial aid to those affected by flooding in Europe and Asia. Smid [Greenpeace climate expert Karsten Smid] also accused the oil companies of exerting too much influence over the U.S. government (UN Wire, 14 Aug. 2002)

CorpWatch India Responds to Coca Cola -...To reiterate facts, in Plachimada, Kerala, your Indian subsidiary -- Hindustan Coca Cola -- has been charged with excessive extraction of groundwater, contamination of groundwater and parching of the wells and groundwater sources supplying a large community of farmers, adivasis (indigenous people) and dalits (oppressed castes). (CorpWatch India, 13 Aug. 2002)

Shredded Ideals at Business Ethics -...Business Ethics is a magazine devoted to a movement that crusades for what it calls CSR, which stands for "corporate social responsibility."...Now, the folks at Business Ethics are in a sad state of hand-wringing, soul-searching and existential angst. The general tone is summed up in the headline and subhead of a column by contributing writer Milton Moskowitz: "What Has CSR Really Accomplished? Much of the movement has been a public relations smoke screen."...Equally cynical and depressed is the editor of Business Ethics, Marjorie Kelly. "The lesson," Kelly writes, "is that all the things CSR has been measuring and fighting for and applauding may be colossally beside the point." The corporate social responsibility movement considered Enron a great company, she writes: "It won a spot for three years on the list of the 100 Best Companies to Work for. . . . It had great policies on climate change, human rights and (yes indeed) anti-corruption. Its CEO gave speeches at ethics conferences." (Peter Carlson, Washington Post, 13 Aug. 2002)

How to Save the World in Johannesburg [World Summit on Sustainable Development] (Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute & Professor of Sustainable Development at Columbia University, Financial Times, 13 Aug. 2002)

Asian smog cloud threatens millions, says UN - A three-km (two-mile) thick cloud of pollution shrouding southern Asia is threatening the lives of millions of people in the region and could have an impact much further afield, according to a United Nations-sponsored study. (Jeremy Lovell, Reuters, 13 Aug. 2002)

NORTH AMERICA: U.S., Canada Exporting Environmental Harm, UNEP Says - The U.N. Environment Program's North American office and the World Resources Institute released a new report today, two weeks ahead of the opening of the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, in which they take the United States and Canada to task for exporting environmental degradation to the rest of the planet. (Joe Fiorill, UN Wire, 13 Aug. 2002)

Unlikely hero released from jail [Republic of Congo] - Joseph Melloh has spent the last three months in a Congolese jail, not for his former career as a professional poacher, but for campaigning against the bushmeat trade and investigating the operations of one logging company in the Congo [Swiss-German logging company Congolaise Industrielle du Bois] (Greenpeace, 12 Aug. 2002)

{···français} Un pipe-line sème maladies et pollutions en Amazonie - En Équateur, l’oléoduc «El sote» est une catastrophe de 500 kilomètres de long. Gigantesque serpent de métal, le Système d’oléoduc transéquatorien (SOTE) a été construit dans les années septante sous l’impulsion de la Texaco. Depuis 1993, la compagnie américaine est poursuivie en justice par les communautés amérindiennes de l’Équateur, mais aussi du Pérou, pour pollution grave de la forêt amazonienne. Le verdict sera rendu cet automne. (Le Courrier [Genève], 9 août 2002)

CONSERVATION: Study Says Loss Of Ecosystems Costs $250 Billion Annually -...The Financial Times reports that the study included ecosystems such as a Malaysian tropical forest undergoing logging operations, a forest in Cameroon being used for commercial plantations and other agricultural activities, Thai mangroves being used for shrimp fishing and a Canadian marshland drained for farming (UN Wire, 9 Aug. 2002)

CLIMATE CHANGE: U.N. Panel's Next Assessment To Focus On Regions [refers to oil & coal industry] (UN Wire, 9 Aug. 2002)

SOLAR POWER: Energy Source Could Challenge Fossil Fuels Soon [refers to BP Solar & Shell Solar] (UN Wire, 9 Aug. 2002)

Rio + 10 Series: Business Action Addressing Biodiversity is a Rare Species - The Center for Environmental Leadership in Business’ Energy and Biodiversity Initiative represents one of very few business actions that support biodiversity conservation...CELB supports biodiversity initiatives in four sectors: agriculture and fisheries, forestry, energy and mining, and travel and leisure. (William Baue, SocialFunds.com, 9 Aug. 2002)

Statoil wins prize for burying CO2 under North Sea - Norwegian state-controlled oil firm Statoil said on Thursday that it won a prize for pioneering work to curb emissions of gases blamed for global warming by burying them beneath the seabed. (Reuters, 9 Aug. 2002)

Ford Chairman Laments Automakers' Credibility Gap on Environment - Ford Motor Co. Chairman William Clay Ford Jr. told an automotive industry management conference that the consumer perception of the industry as environmentally damaging and its opposition to environmental regulation have left consumers with a “lack of trust” similar to that caused in other industries by accounting scandals. (Business for Social Responsibility News Monitor summary of article in New York Times, 8 Aug. 2002)

Bangladesh bans polluting three-wheelers - Bangladesh said on Wednesday it would ban three-wheeled vehicles with two-stroke engines on the streets of the capital Dhaka from next month to cut down on air pollution. (Reuters, 8 Aug. 2002) 

Alcoa resolves Texas plant emissions allegations [USA] - Alcoa Inc. said on Wednesday that the world's No. 1 aluminum producer has resolved allegations it violated Texas and federal emissions violations and agreed to pay a $1.5 million fine. (Reuters, 8 Aug. 2002) 

South Africa's Nedbank launches green unit trust -...The Nedbank Sustainable Investment Index Fund would weight South Africa's top 40 companies with a sustainability score reflecting compliance with international best practice (Reuters, 8 Aug. 2002) 

The tale of two logos - a judge in the French High Court ruled Friday 2nd August that Greenpeace had a right to parody the logo of French nuclear fuel company, Areva, as part of its campaign to expose the company’s dirty nuclear activities...Areva's main subsidiary company, the plutonium reprocessing company COGEMA, has contaminated the seas around France, while Areva's parent body, the French Atomic Energy Commission has polluted Moruroa Atoll, France's former nuclear test site in the South Pacific (Greenpeace, 7 Aug. 2002)

Book Review: The Ecology of the New Economy -...The collection acts as a tour guide through the jungle of conflicting information about the environmental impacts of the new digital economy. (William Baue, SocialFunds.com, 7 Aug. 2002)

Programme: Human Security and Environment - 3 Sep. 2002 - Johannesburg (IUCN - World Conservation Union) [posted to this site on 7 Aug. 2002]

Programme: Digital Opportunities: Global Strategies & Local Initiatives to Level the e-Playing Field for Sustainable Development - 30 Aug. 2002 - Johannesburg (IUCN - World Conservation Union) [posted to this site on 7 Aug. 2002]

Workshop: Places and Spaces for Indigenous Peoples in Sustainable Development - 26 Aug. 2002 - Johannesburg (IUCN - World Conservation Union) [posted to this site on 7 Aug. 2002]

Angry fisherman block Mexico Pemex's Oaxaca refinery -...The fishermen are demanding compensation for damages they claim were caused by a diesel fuel leak that occurred when a pipeline was illegally tapped last April in the municipality of Juchitan, Oaxaca, Pemex said. (Reuters, 7 Aug. 2002)

World Summit on Sustainable Development - Human Rights must be Guiding Principle (Rights & Democracy, 6 Aug. 2002)

Victory: Dirty energy dies in Philippines -...A 50 megawatt coal-fired power station proposed by a now bankrupt US company, to be built by a French/UK corporation and run on imported Australian coal in the province of Negros was declared officially “dead” by Philippine government officials. They agree that renewable energy is the solution to the province’s power needs. (Greenpeace, 6 Aug. 2002)

Matrix Plots Business Cases for Sustainability in Emerging Markets: SustainAbility recently released a report that identifies the business benefits of practicing sustainability in emerging markets. -...Conventional wisdom holds that emerging markets cannot accommodate sustainability concerns in their efforts to achieve economic growth. However, a recent report entitled Developing Value: The Business Case for Sustainability in Emerging Markets concludes that this is simply not true. (William Baue, SocialFunds.com, 6 Aug. 2002)

Managing Sustainability World Bank-Style: An Evaluation of the World Development Report 2003 (Heinrich Boell Foundation & Bretton Woods Project, 6 Aug. 2002)

Let the Word Go Forth from Hershey, Pennsylvania That Americans Believe That Corporate Rights Come with Corporate Obligations -...I suggest 28 words be added to the duty of corporations to advance the interests of shareholders--28 words that will balance the pursuit of the corporation's private interest with obligations to the public interest. I call these words the Code for Corporate Citizenship. The Code would simply modify the duty to maximize profits with affirmative obligations that profits not come "at the expense of the environment, human rights, the public health or safety, the dignity of employees or the welfare of our communities." Companies that violate the Code would be legally liable to the members of the public whose interest is damaged. (Robert Hinkley, corporate lawyer, former partner in the New York law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, speech to Hershey Foods rally on 3 Aug. 2002, published on CommonDreams website 5 Aug. 2002)

"Sustainable Development Security Imperative" Says Top US Government Official - Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, claims that "sustainable development" is a "compelling moral and humanitarian issue". And adds:" But sustainable development is also a security imperative. Poverty, environmental degradation and despair are destroyers-of people, of societies, of nations. This unholy trinity can destabilize countries, even entire regions". (U.N. Environment Programme, 5 Aug. 2002)

'Naked' natives block illegal loggers in Peru - Hundreds of members of some of the world's last indigenous tribes still living cut off from the outside world have emerged from their isolation to confront illegal mahogany loggers in Peru's southeastern jungle that are invading their land, activists and officials said on Saturday. (Jude Webber, Reuters, 5 Aug. 2002) 

Lekgotla: Business Day - BASD will host a high profile business day during the Johannesburg Summit that will bring world business leaders together with others - NGOs, labor unions, and government officials - to discuss initiatives and partnerships towards sustainable development. This one-day business event will take place on Sunday, 1 September, 2002 [Johannesburg]. (Business Action for Sustainable Development) [added to this site on 5 Aug. 2002]

The Cement Sustainability Initiative - Panel and Discussion - World Summit on Sustainable Development - Johannesburg - Friday, 30 August 2002 (World Business Council for Sustainable Development) [added to this site on 5 Aug. 2002]

WBCSD Regional Network – International Finance Corporation (IFC) - The Business Case for Sustainable Development - Doing Good and Doing Well - World Summit on Sustainable Development - Johannesburg - Friday, 30 August 2002 (World Business Council for Sustainable Development) [added to this site on 5 Aug. 2002]

WBCSD events during the World Summit on Sustainable Development - 29 Aug.-2 Sep. 2002 - Johannesburg (World Business Council for Sustainable Development) [added to this site on 5 Aug. 2002]

Indigenous Peoples' International Summit on Sustainable Development, Kimberly, South Africa, 20 - 23 August 2002 [added to this site on 5 Aug. 2002]

{···español} México saturado de desechos tóxicos - México está saturado de residuos tóxicos que amenazan la salud de millones de personas y, aunque el problema se agrava, no existen planes para enfrentarlo...Pero existen otras sustancias aún más peligrosas desechadas por la industria eléctrica y petrolera, así como por los hospitales y centros de salud (Diego Cevallos, Inter Press Service, 2 agosto 2002)

BIODIVERSITY: New UNEP Report Warns Of Escalating Human Threat - The atlas also warns that one major drug is lost every two years given the current extinction rates for plants and animals, while less than 1 percent of the world's 250,000 tropical plants has been studied for potential pharmaceutical applications. (UN Wire, 2 Aug. 2002)

Rio + 10 Series: The Sustainability of the World Summit on Sustainable Development - Organizers are working to reduce the environmental impacts of the Johannesburg Summit...The Johannesburg Climate Legacy (JCL), initiated by South African businesses in conjunction with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), seeks to “neutralize” carbon emissions associated with the summit. (William Baue, SocialFunds.com, 2 Aug. 2002)

No delay for US rules for clean diesel engines - EPA - The Environmental Protection Agency yesterday formalized penalties against manufacturers of heavy-duty diesel engines that fail to meet lower government-mandated emissions standards by the 2004 model year, rejecting an industry request to delay the rules. The decision is a defeat for Caterpillar Inc. and other diesel engine makers, as well as their allies in Congress, who had lobbied the Bush administration to delay the anti-pollution rules. (Reuters, 2 Aug. 2002)

Who Monitors? - Who enforces the social and environmental standards for corporate behavior in poor countries, where government either does not function well or lacks the resources to ensure that businesses perform at the level customary for the U.S. or Western Europe?...But who conducts these audits – and which standards the audits follow – are the subject of fierce debate, because control of the audit can deeply influence company operations. [refers to L.L. Bean, BP, Gap] (G. Pascal Zachary, Business for Social Responsibility website, 1 Aug. 2002)

Rio Tinto: Mining Sustainable Practices -...BSR [Business for Social Responsibility] recently had the opportunity to talk with Shaun Stewart, Rio Tinto’s International and Government Affairs Advisor, about a variety of issues, including the company’s commitment to sustainable development and how that commitment has affected the way Rio Tinto conducts its business. (Business for Social Responsibility, 1 Aug. 2002) 

NIGERIA: New environmental guidelines for oil industry - Nigeria has introduced new environmental guidelines aimed at curbing degradation and pollution in the country’s oil region and bringing operations up to international standards, Rilwanu Lukman, presidential adviser on petroleum, said this week. (UN Integrated Regional Information Networks, 1 Aug. 2002) 

TRENDS: Former U.N. Official Laments Weak Int'l Efforts, Institutions - Environmental problems are going "from bad to worse," while the international institutions created to address these issues -- namely the U.N. Environment Program and the Commission on Sustainable Development -- are among the weakest multilateral organizations, writes former U.N. Development Program Administrator James Gustave Speth in a commentary in the current issue of Foreign Policy...Speth calls for a global shift in addressing these issues, in which both private corporations and local communities undertake unprecedented initiatives (UN Wire, 1 Aug. 2002)

Citigroup backs sustainable business - Financial services giant Citigroup is encouraging sustainable enterprise in Latin America through its work with the World Resources Institute on the New Ventures initiative. Through a series of competitions open to entrepreneurs across Latin America, a panel of experts selects small and medium sized enterprises whose business ideas promise sustainability while respecting social and environmental factors. Selected companies attend an international investment forum, and can win access to business mentoring services...Entrepreneurial schemes to benefit from the New Ventures initiative include ecotourism operators, and producers of shrimps, charcoal, wood, coffee, and electric vehicles for delivering goods in densely populated cities. One Argentinean firm is dedicated to the sustainable breeding of the guanaco - a wild Patagonian camelid - for its wool. In Brazil, Ouro Fértil...uses coconut fibres to create biodegradable and organic products for sale on the local and international markets. (International Chamber of Commerce, 1 Aug. 2002)

GE says Ohio seeks penalty for alleged air pollution [USA] - General Electric Co. yesterday said Ohio environment regulators were seeking $4.3 million for alleged clean air violations that were reported more than five years ago. (Reuters, 1 Aug. 2002) 

Norwegian Cruise Line pleads guilty in pollution case - Norwegian Cruise Line [owned by Asia's Star Cruises] yesterday joined a growing list of big cruise lines pleading guilty to U.S. charges arising from the dumping of oily bilge into the world's seas. (Michael Connor, Reuters, 1 Aug. 2002)

Saving the planet -...To save the planet it is imperative that the powerful nations meeting in Johannesburg [at the World Summit on Sustainable Development] commit themselves on at least seven key issues:...the establishment of juridical frameworks to make companies answerable for their ecological impact, and reaffirming the precautionary principle as the governing principle of all commercial activity;... (Ignacio Ramonet, editorial, Le Monde diplomatique, Aug. 2002) 

WBCSD Gathering & Walking the Talk book launch - August 31, 2002 Hilton Hotel Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa - About Walking the Talk: For the first time, leading industrialists are arguing that not only is sustainable development good for business, the solving of environmental and social problems is essential for future growth. (World Business Council for Sustainable Development)

Countdown to Rio +10: 'Sustainable Development' and the Public-Private Pantomime - As the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) approaches, conflicts intensify between North and South, civil society and industry... Calls from civil society for binding regulations on corporate behaviour are being ignored, instead business is given a central role as provider of 'Type II' outcomes for the summit. Corporate lobby groups have already submitted over 50 projects for UN approval, many of which depict environmentally destructive industries as contributors to sustainable development...Encouraged by the political winds in the Rio+10 preparations, business stubbornly continues its irresponsible campaign for industry self-regulation and voluntary action as alternatives to effective and binding regulation of corporate behaviour. Underlining the unfortunate hollowness of their commitment to 'sustainable development', corporate groupings also work hard to maintain the limited scope of voluntary initiatives. Within the WBCSD for instance, there is "strong concern about the very expanded reporting requirements in Global Reporting Initiative's new draft guidelines." (Corporate Europe Observer, Aug. 2002)

Discount-Davos - Over 2,200 people from the corporate world, governments and EU institutions as well as a handful of NGO representatives attended the second European Business Summit, 6-8 June in Brussels...CSR Europe was the most visible business grouping at this year's EBS...[it] consists of around 60 member corporations, including BP, Shell, ENI, Nestle, Unilever, Danone, BT, ABB, Citigroup, Nike, Levi and Suez...CSR Europe was one of the corporate lobby groups involved in a successful lobbying offensive to discourage the European Parliament (EP) from proposing mandatory reporting on corporate social and environmental performance. (Corporate Europe Observer, Aug. 2002)