1997 Post-Intersessional Report

From Jeffrey Barber, ToBI Coordinator: NGO Taskforce on Business & Industry

March 14, 1997

Dear Friends:

On February 13th we submitted the Statement on Corporate Accountability, along with a list of NGO endorsements and a section with three case studies (on Union Carbide in Bhopal, Shell in Nigeria, and Freeport-McMoRan in Irian Jaya) to the Commission on Sustainable Development. This was presented as an Independent Assessment from the NGO Taskforce on Business and Industry and has been seen by a number of major CSD and UN officials, environment ministers and other government delegates. The ToBI corporate accountability campaign has already been acknowledged by the CSD in their report on Major Groups in the section on Business & Industry. At the CSD Intersessional, the basic points of the ToBI campaign on corporate accountability were included in the NGO Steering Committee Statement and the issue of corporate accountability was included in the list of the top ten priority issues (out of 40) among NGOs.

In the preliminary official reports coming out the Intersessional, there was mention of the need to study the problem of unsustainable subsidies and other accountability mechanisms, although no explicit reference has yet been given to the concept of Corporate Accountability as something different from Corporate Responsibility. We will need to be much stronger and have more vocal support from other NGOs and government delegates in April if corporate accountability will be included in the program of work for the next five years. The inclusion of this simple item in the CSD's work programme needs to be made a priority objective, if we are to have a solid foundation for lobbying at CSD in the years after the Special Session.

ToBI Events at CSD

We are now in the process of organizing two and perhaps more events on corporate accountability and globalization this April:

1) A panel on "Globalization and the Sustainable Communities Movement" at the International Sustainable Communities Forum, April 12, 3:00 to 4:00 pm, at the Learning Alliance, 3224 Lafayette, 7th Floor. This panel will focus on the role and strategies of local communities in addressing the abuses of TNCs and the global economic system. Two speakers now confirmed for this event are Good Luck Diigbo from the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) and Yash Tandon from the International South Group Network (ISGN) and others. For information call Mary Steinmaus at 319-264-1500 or Michael McCoy at 212-431-3922.

2) A panel on "The Role of Corporate Accountability in Sustainable Development," to be held at the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development, April 17 (time and room TBA). This panel will focus more specifically on the concept and mechanisms of corporate accountability within the framework of the CSD and international politics and economics. Speakers include David Korten (People Centered Development Forum), Good Luck Diigbo, Yash Tandon, Kristin Dawkins (invited), and others. We are also discussing the idea of at least one other event, perhaps focusing on the globalization aspects of production and consumption, and what kinds of accountability issues need to be addressed in this context.

Revisions

During the next two weeks we will be making some slight revisions to the ToBI Statement on Corporate Accountability, in time for the Fifth Session of the Commission on Sustainable Development. While we do not intend to change the basic content of the Statement, there may be a few places -- particularly in the language of the seven recommendations -- which might be sharpened or otherwise improved. Please let us know as soon as possible if you have specific editorial changes you would like to see made to the ToBI Statement.

ToBI on the Web

Some of the various ToBI documents can be found on the ToBI website at http://www.isforum.org/tobi/ as well as Corporate Watch website at http://www.corpwatch.org the ANPED website at http://www.anped.org.

ToBI Case Studies

We will soon send out the additional section of case studies which completed the ToBI Independent Assessment (which we named "Minding Our Business: the Role of Corporate Accountability in Sustainable Development." We are hoping to find funds soon to publish a few thousand copies of the full report, including a section referencing different organizations and campaigns. So, if there are any enlightened funders out there with any small emergency grants, please contact us!

Jeffrey Barber

ToBI Coordinator
NGO Taskforce on Business & Industry