MEDIA ADVISORY
Friends of the Earth International
New report to expose 'Corporate Capture' of the U.N.
RIO DE JANEIRO (BRAZIL) - On June 19, 2012, on the eve of a key United Nations Summit due to take place June 20-22 in Rio De Janeiro [1],
Friends of the Earth International will launch a new report [2] exposing
the increasing influence of major corporations and business lobby groups
within the UN.
The report 'Reclaim the UN from Corporate Capture', is available for
online preview by members of the media UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL JUNE 19,
00:01 GMT and may not be reproduced or quoted before June 19. [2]
"Governmental positions have been increasingly hijacked by narrow
corporate interests linked to polluting industries and business sectors
seeking to profit from the environment, the climate and the financial
crises," said Nnimmo Bassey, chair of Friends of the Earth International.
The report presents a number of cases that clearly expose how UN
policies and agencies have been excessively influenced by the corporate
sector. It also shows how this damages the ability of the UN to solve
the various problems it is tasked with, removing its willingness to
address the role of major corporations in causing many of the
environmental, social, food and economic problems that the world faces
today.
According to the new report, the positions of national governments in
multilateral negotiations are increasingly influenced by business;
business representatives dominate certain UN discussion spaces and some
UN bodies; business groups are given a privileged advisory role; UN
officials move back and forth to the private sector; and - last but not
least - UN agencies are increasingly financially dependent on the
private sector.
The new report also states that the UN has been working very closely
with big business in developing and promoting the concept of 'Green
Economy' which is selling out nature and people, and greenwashing a
broken and unfair economic system at the expense of sustainable
development.
More than 372 civil society organizations representing millions of
people from around the world signed a statement -initiated by Friends of
the Earth International and nine other organisations- denouncing the
corporate domination of the United Nations. [3]
"The fact that the UN is increasingly catering to the demands of
corporate interests diverts the UN from tackling the root causes of
environmental, social and economic problems. The UN and this Rio+20
Summit should listen to the demands of the alternative Peoples' Summit
in Rio and take measures that will hold corporations accountable for
their negative impacts," said Lucia Ortiz, Economic Justice
International Program Coordinator at Friends of the Earth International.
"The many examples of corporate capture are detrimental to the good work
being done by many UN agencies and officials worldwide for the
protection and empowerment of people. Allowing this to happen is putting both the UN's and its member states' credibility and integrity at risk.
In fact this threatens to undermine the mission of the entire UN system
and must be stopped, " said Paul de Clerck, Corporates Campaign
Coordinator at Friends of the Earth International.
WHAT THE CASE STUDIES OF THIS REPORT SHOW :
- The Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) initiative is being decided by
an unaccountable, handpicked group, dominated by representatives of
multinational corporations and fossil fuel interests, virtually without
any involvement from or consultation with global civil society. Friends
of the Earth International believes SE4ALL will not deliver its stated
objective of doubling the share of renewable energy.
- Support for agriculture and food policy appears to be compromised by
corporate links at the UN International Fund for Agricultural
Development (IFAD). It is promoting technologies that endanger peoples'
rights and access to food.
- The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is increasingly driven by
corporate actors interested in the financialization of nature and not by
the need to conserve biodiversity.
- Private sector interests are increasingly seeking ways to treat water
as a tradable commodity while depriving people of their universal right
to water and endangering access to water and sanitation for millions of
people worldwide.
- The UN Global Compact allows companies to boost their image by
(mis-)using the UN flag for their own benefit, yet fails to deliver real
improvements in business behaviour.
- The UN has been working very closely with big business in developing
and promoting the concept of 'Green Economy' which is selling out nature
and people, and greenwashing a broken and unfair economic system at the
expense of sustainable development.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Paul de Clerck, Corporates Campaign Coordinator, Friends of the Earth
International
Tel + 32 494 38 09 59 or +55 21 6968 7827(Brazilian cell valid from
June 19-22 only) or email paul@milieudefensie.nl
Lucia Ortiz, Economic Justice International Program Coordinator, Friends
of the Earth International (in Brazil)
Tel: + 55 51 98 41 87 07 or +55 21 6968 7826 or email lucia@natbrasil.org.br
Nnimmo Bassey, chair of Friends of the Earth International:
Tel: >+55 21 69 68 78 24 Brazilian cell from June 15-23 only) or +234 803 727 4395 (Nigerian cell), or email Nnimmo@eraction.org
NOTES TO EDITORS:
[1] The Summit website is http://www.uncsd2012.org
[2] The new report is online
IN ENGLISH : http://www.foei.org/reclaim-the-UN-report/view
IN SPANISH: http://www.foei.org/reclaim-the-UN-report-es/view
IN PORTUGUESE: http://www.foei.org/reclaim-the-UN-report-pt/view
[3] More information about the statement and the signatories is online
at http://www.foei.org/end-un-corporate-capture
On June 5, 2012, Friends of the Earth International started a campaign
urging the UN to limit the excessive influence of multinational
corporations on its decision-making processes.
The campaign includes an online public petition asking UN Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon to take the steps needed to reclaim the UN from
corporate capture.
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Niccolo' Sarno
Media Coordinator - Friends of the Earth International
Email: media@foei.org
Tel: +31-20-6221369 (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
Website: http://www.foei.org/media
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Friends of the Earth International is the world's largest
grassroots environmental federation with 76 national member groups
in 76 countries and more than 2 million individual members and supporters
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Read more about the FOEI campaign to reclaim the UN from corporate capture here:
http://www.foei.org/en/get-involved/take-action/reclaim-the-un-from-corporate-capture