FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
INTERNATIONAL COALITION BLASTS GLOBAL COMPACT
Contacts: Joshua Karliner 1-415-561-6567
Kenny Bruno 1-207-342-3799
July 20, 2000--As the Secretary General of the United Nations re-launched
his Global Compact with business today, an international coalition of human
rights and environmental organizations sent Kofi Annan a letter blasting
the initiative.
At the same time that the UN issued its list of global corporations which
endorsed the Compact-including Nike, Royal Dutch Shell and mining giant Rio
Tinto--the activist groups released their letter. The groups, including
Third World Network, Greenpeace International and the Institute for Policy
Studies told the Secretary General that "asking corporations�to endorse a
vague statement of commitment to human rights, labor and environmental
standards draws attention away from the need for more substantial action to
hold corporations accountable for their behavior."
"Nike continues to move its sweatshops to union busting countries, Shell is
deeply involved in human rights and environmental violations around the
world, and mining colossus Rio Tinto is involved in so many debacles that
labor and environmental groups are engaged in a global campaign to halt its
abuses," said Kenny Bruno, UN Project Director for the Transnational
Resource and Action Center (TRAC) a watchdog group that continues to expose
misguided UN-corporate collaborations on its Corporate Watch website
www.corpwatch.org.
"To believe that by signing a voluntary code such as the global compact
these companies will shape up is misguided," said Bruno. "This initiative
will most likely provide abusive corporations with a prestigious platform
from which they can greenwash themselves."
The Secretary General's office also issued guidelines today for
UN-corporate collaboration. One of those guidelines allows for the
corporate use of the United Nations name and logo. Although the criteria
limits the way corporations can use the UN name and logo, it still opens
the door to corporate greenwashing," said TRAC Director Joshua Karliner.
"For instance, in Nigeria a company like Shell could work with the UN to
fund a tree planting program in the Niger Delta-an area where it has
extracted billions of dollars in profits and wreaked social and
environmental havoc for decades. Under the new guidelines the program
might have the logos of Shell and the UN superimposed , improving Shell's
public image, but doing little to alleviate the damage the company
continues to cause there."
Letter follows.
July 20, 2000
His Excellency Mr. Kofi Annan
Secretary General
Room 3800
United Nations, NY 10017
Mr. Secretary General,
We write to you as individuals who care deeply about the United Nations and
on behalf of organizations that have worked for years to strengthen and
support it.
We are writing to express our concern and reservations about the Global
Compact.
On the one hand, we recognize the importance of bringing business behavior
in line with the universal values and standards represented by the nine
principles of the Global Compact.
However, there are two aspects of the Global Compact that trouble us.
First, the text implies a universal consensus that open markets are the
primary force for development. As you are aware, there is intense debate
over the benefits and harms of free trade and market liberalization as
currently promoted by the WTO and other institutions.
Many sectors of society do not concur with the Global Compact's vision of
advancing popular social values "as part and parcel of the globalization
process," to "ensure that markets remain open." Many do not agree with the
assumption of the Global Compact that globalization in its current form can
be made sustainable and equitable, even if accompanied by the
implementation of standards for human rights, labor, and the environment.
We recognize that corporate-driven globalization has significant support
among goverments and business. However, that support is far from universal.
Your support for this ideology, as official UN policy, has the effect of
delegitimizing the work and aspirations of those sectors that believe that
an unregulated market is incompatible with equity and environmental
sustainability.
Our second concern is the purely voluntary nature of the Global Compact,
and the lack of monitoring and enforcement provisions. We are well aware
that many corporations would like nothing better than to wrap themselves in
the flag of the United Nations in order to "bluewash" their public image,
while at the same time avoiding signficant changes to their behavior. The
question is how to get them to abide by the principles in the Global Compact.
Without monitoring, the public will be no better able to assess the
behavior, as opposed to the rhetoric, of corporations. Without independent
assessment, the interpretation of whether a company is abiding by the
Global Compact's principles or not will be left largely to the company itself.
Many of the corporations being asked to endorse the Global Compact suggest
that while corporations SHOULD be responsible, efforts by governments to
hold corporations accountable to international values and standards are
harmful to development, innovation and human progress. Many in the NGO
community reject this premise. On the contrary, we stress that markets
cannot allocate fairly and efficiently without clear and impartially
enforced rules, established through open, democractic processes. Asking
corporations, many of which are repeat offenders of both the law and
commonly accepted standards of responsibility, to endorse a vague statement
of commitment to human rights, labour and environmental standards draws
attention away from the need for more substantial action to hold
corporations accountable for their behavior.
As you are aware, the UN Subcomission on the Promotion and Protection of
Human Rights is currently drafting a legal instrument on TNCs and human
rights. We would look for your support for this initiative.
Although it may take years before we can hope to achieve a binding legal
framework for the transnational behavior of business in the human rights,
environmental and labor realms, we believe it is necessary to start down
that road, and to begin building the political support for that goal now.
Therefore, the undersigned groups respectfully request you to re-assess the
Global Compact, taking into account the concerns above.
In addition, we offer an alternative, the Citizens Compact, for your
consideration. The Citizens Compact stresses the importance of a legal
framework for corporate behavior in the global economy. The Citizens
Compact also provides suggested guidelines for interactions between the UN
and the private sector.
We invite your comments on the Citizens Compact and hope you will consider
endorsing it.
Again, we believe that bringing corporate behavior in line with the
universal principles and values of the United Nations is a goal of
extremely high importance. We look forward to working with you and the
entire United Nations system toward that goal.
Sincerely,
Upendra Baxi, Professor of Law, University of Warrick, UK and former Vice
Chancellor University of Delhi (India)
Roberto Bissio
Third World Institute (Uruguay)
Thilo Bode, Executive Director
Greenpeace International (Netherlands)
Walden Bello, Director
Focus on the Global South (Thailand)
John Cavanagh, Director
Institute for Policy Studies (U.S.)
Susan George, Associate Director
Transnational Institute (Netherlands)
Olivier Hoedemen
Corporate Europe Observatory (Netherlands)
Joshua Karliner, Executive Director
Transnational Resource & Action Center (U.S.)
Martin Khor, Director
Third World Network (Malaysia)
Miloon Kothari, Coordinator
International NGO Committee on Human Rights in Trade and Investment (India)
Smitu Kothari, President
International Group for Grassroots Initiatives (India)
Sara Larrain, Coordinator
Chile Sustentable (Chile)
Jerry Mander, Director
International Forum on Globalization (U.S.)
Ward Morehouse, Director
Program on Corporations, Law and Democracy (U.S.)
Atila Roque, Programme Coordinator
Brazilian Institute of Economic and Social Analysis (Brazil)
Elisabeth Sterken, National Director
INFACT Canada/IBFAN North America
Yash Tandon, Director
International South Group Network (Zimbabwe)
Vickey Tauli-Corpuz, Coordinator
Tebtebba (Indigenous Peoples' International Centre for Policy Research and
Education), and Asia Indigenous Women's Network (Philippines)
Etienne Vernet, Food and Agriculture Campaigner
Ecoropa (France)
cc: Mary Robinson, High Commissioner for Human Rights
Juan Somavia, Director General, International Labour Organisation
Klaus Toepfer, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme
Mark Malloch Brown, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme
Carol Bellamy, UNICEF
Georg Kell, First Secretary, Executive Office of the Secretary General
Companies Supporting the Global Compact
United Nations Headquarters, 26 July 2000
Company HQ
ABB Ltd. Sweden/Switzerland
Aluminum Bahrain Bahrain
Aracruz Celulose SA Brazil
Aventis France/Germany
Bayer Corporation Germany
BP Amoco Corporation United Kingdom/USA
BASF Germany
British Telecom United Kingdom
Charoen Phokpand Group Thailand
Concord Mexico
Credit Suisse Group Switzerland
Dupont USA
DaimlerChrysler Germany/USA
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu France/United Kingdom
Deutsche Bank AG Germany
Deutsche Telekom AG Germany
Eskom South Africa
Esquel Group Hong Kong
France Telecom France
Gerling Group Germany
Organizacoes Globo Brazil
Group Suez Lyonnaise France
International Service System Denmark
LM Ericsson Sweden
Martina Berto Group Thailand
Minas Buenaventura Peru
Natura Cosmeticos Brazil
Nike Inc. USA
Norsk Hydro ASA Norway
Novartis Switzerland
Pearson plc. United Kingdom
Power Finance Corporation India
Rio Tinto plc. United Kingdom
Royal Dutch/Shell Group United Kingdom/Netherlands
SAP Germany
Seri Sugar Mills Ltd. Pakistan
ST Microelectronics France
Statoil Norway
The Tara Iron and Steel Company Ltd. India
3 Suisses France France
UBS AG Switzerland
Unilever United Kingdom/Netherlands
Volvo Car Corporation Sweden/USA
WebMD USA
Labor and Civil Society Organizations and Business Associations Supporting
the Global Compact
United Nations Headquarters, 26 July 2000
Labor & Civil Society
ICFTU The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions
AI Amnesty International
LCHR Lawyers Committee for Human Rights
HRW Human Rights Watch
IUCN The World Conservation Union
WWF World Wide Fund for Nature
WRI World Resource Institute
IIED International Institute for Environment and Development
RING Regional International Networking Group
Business Associations
ICC International Chamber of Commerce
IOE International Organization fo Employers
WBSCD World Business Council on Sustainable Development
PWBLF Prince of Wales Business Leaders Forum
BSR Business for Social Responsibility
==================================
Amit Srivastava
International Programs Coordinator
Transnational Resource and Action Center (TRAC)/ Corporate Watch
P.O. Box 29344, San Francisco, CA 94129, USA
Tel: 1 415 561 6472 Fax: 1 415 561 6493
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Web: http://www.corpwatch.org
==================================
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