Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

UN LEADERSHIP TILTING TOWARD BIG BUSINESS AT WORLD SUMMIT

Adalila Zelada | 30.08.2002 01:49

Between the non-binding, unenforceable Global Compact and the partnerships being used by the likes of McDonald's to cloak themselves in the U.N. flag, it is becoming more and more evident that the U.N. has fallen into the pockets of big business -- all to the detriment of those who are supposed to matter most, the people.

UN LEADERSHIP TILTING TOWARD BUSINESS AT WORLD SUMMIT

August 29, 2002

by Adalila Zelada

JOHANNESBURG, S.A. – The United Nations is in full swing hosting the World Summit on Sustainable Development in this South African city where over 100 world leaders are converging to decide the environmental and economic fate of the planet. Against this backdrop, the business community has been hard at work pushing through its free market agenda while at the same time improving its image as environment and people friendly. Critics contend that these two objectives are incompatible. But the U.N. seems to think it can work.

Even before the summit, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan launched a new program called “The Global Compact” – a non binding agreement between corporations and the U.N. According to Annan, the U.N. will assist corporations to “embrace . . . universal principles of human rights, core labour standards and the human environment.” Annan says the Compact will “help markets deliver what they are best at –while at the same time contributing to a more humane world.”

One of the representatives of corporate interests at the Summit is “Business Action for Sustainable Development” (BASD). Through BASD, corporations are taking advantage of the summit to publicize the “partnerships” that they have created with non-governmenal organizations (NGO’s) and governments to address issues such issues as energy, water and agriculture. The U.N. will devote considerable summit fanfare to release of an official list of such projects, fanfare which critics charge is designed to hide a lack of more substantive action by the governments gathered here. These “Type 2” initiatives will officially be launched this afternoon.

One such controversial public-private partnership is between the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and McDonald’s – the fast-food giant. Both entities have agreed to celebrate jointly “World Children’s Day” on November 20, 2002. This explicit endorsement by a U.N. body of a fast-food chain seen by many as promoting life threatening eating habits among young children has drawn harsh criticism. An alliance of public health professionals and advocates has demanded that UNICEF sever its ties with McDonald’s, noting that “[i]t is not the proper role of UNICEF to endorse or serve as enabler for
corporate activities of this kind.”

The Global Compact has also come under intense scrutiny from civil society. Greenpeace International, Third World Network and other NGO’s have sent a letter to the U.N. declaring that the Compact and its guidelines “allow business entities with poor records to ‘bluewash’ their image by wrapping themselves in the flag of the United Nations. [The guidelines] favor corporate-driven globalization rather than the environment, human health, local communities, workers, farmers, women and the poor.” Participating corporations include Nike, Shell, Novartis and Rio Tinto, all accused of major environmental and human rights abuses in recent years.

Adalila Zelada

Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech