Church and development groups call for tougher corporate monitoring
-07/06/06
Charitie
Church and development groups call for tougher corporate monitoring
-07/06/06
Charities and development groups, including Christian Aid, the Trade Justice Movement and the World Development Movement, are protesting at government plans to give company shareholders greater anonymity ñ insulating them against accountability and criticism.
ëExploit workers now!í was the ironic chant of a group of demonstrators dressed as suited businessmen and women outside Parliament yesterday morning (2 June 2006), the day that the House of Commons began to debate the Company Law Reform Bill.
Protestors were mimicking corporate ëdemonstratorsí, with bowler hats, umbrellas and briefcases, crying out against tougher regulation to stop businesses exploiting workers, polluting the environment and causing serious harm to communities across the globe.
Thousands of Christian Aid supporters have taken up this issue and have written to their MPs and ministers urging them to amend the Company Law Reform Bill so that UK companies are accountable for their actions overseas.
Regulation like this bill ñ which is the biggest shake up in company law for 150 years ñ is the only way to address harmful and irresponsible behaviour that some UK companies are guilty of, say campaigners.
But there is concern from NGOs that the government is actually trying to use the legislation to do the opposite of what is required.
ìWhat is needed is greater transparency and accountability, not lessî, declared Murray Bentham from the World Development Movement.
In Kenya, Christian Aid has found that farmers growing tobacco for British American Tobacco suffer chronic ill-health because they are not giving the necessary training and protective gear.
In Nigeriaís Niger Delta, the landscape is scarred by oil spills which pollute the communitiesí main sources of drinking water.
Christian Aid also discovered that Anglo-Dutch oil company Shellís clean up operations were ìwholly inadequateî, despite its stated commitment to corporate social responsibility.
Adrian Platt, from the campaigns team at Christian Aid, which advocates and acts on behalf of a range of UK denominations, said: ìMPs have been inundated with postcards and letters from Christian Aid supporters and others on this issue.î
He went on: ìThe government has been catering to business lobby groups who want the law to be weak. We want the government to take a lead and make British companies world leaders when it comes to responsible business.î
UK company law sets out the basic minimum obligations for UK companies and their directors. The proposed bill says that directors have a duty to act in the best interests of their shareholders, as well as having ëregardí for their companiesí social and environmental impacts.
Christian Aid and groups like WSM, which bring together people of all faiths and none, believe the law should be strengthened so that directorsí duties include minimising negative social and environmental impacts on the communities in which they work.
Campaignersí pressure on the government has already pushed them to introduce provisions obliging some large publicly listed companies to report on their social and environmental impacts.
However, the legislation has serious loopholes because it does not specify how this must be done. Activists are calling on MPs to demand that all large and medium-sized companies introduce social and environmental reporting with a common set of standards.
Christian Aid, together with the Corporate Responsibility Coalition and the Trade Justice Movement, is also backing amendments to give communities overseas the right to seek redress through the UK courts.
ìThe proposed legislation is not tough enough. We need new a new set of mandatory standards to prevent abuses occurring. The government must be bolder in their approach and ensure that UK companies become a real force for good, rather than too often a cause for shame,î said Sharon McClenaghan, Christian Aidís trade policy officer.
Church and development groups call for tougher corporate monitoring
-07/06/06
Charities and development groups, including Christian Aid, the Trade Justice Movement and the World Development Movement, are protesting at government plans to give company shareholders greater anonymity ñ insulating them against accountability and criticism.
ëExploit workers now!í was the ironic chant of a group of demonstrators dressed as suited businessmen and women outside Parliament yesterday morning (2 June 2006), the day that the House of Commons began to debate the Company Law Reform Bill.
Protestors were mimicking corporate ëdemonstratorsí, with bowler hats, umbrellas and briefcases, crying out against tougher regulation to stop businesses exploiting workers, polluting the environment and causing serious harm to communities across the globe.
Thousands of Christian Aid supporters have taken up this issue and have written to their MPs and ministers urging them to amend the Company Law Reform Bill so that UK companies are accountable for their actions overseas.
Regulation like this bill ñ which is the biggest shake up in company law for 150 years ñ is the only way to address harmful and irresponsible behaviour that some UK companies are guilty of, say campaigners.
But there is concern from NGOs that the government is actually trying to use the legislation to do the opposite of what is required.
ìWhat is needed is greater transparency and accountability, not lessî, declared Murray Bentham from the World Development Movement.
In Kenya, Christian Aid has found that farmers growing tobacco for British American Tobacco suffer chronic ill-health because they are not giving the necessary training and protective gear.
In Nigeriaís Niger Delta, the landscape is scarred by oil spills which pollute the communitiesí main sources of drinking water.
Christian Aid also discovered that Anglo-Dutch oil company Shellís clean up operations were ìwholly inadequateî, despite its stated commitment to corporate social responsibility.
Adrian Platt, from the campaigns team at Christian Aid, which advocates and acts on behalf of a range of UK denominations, said: ìMPs have been inundated with postcards and letters from Christian Aid supporters and others on this issue.î
He went on: ìThe government has been catering to business lobby groups who want the law to be weak. We want the government to take a lead and make British companies world leaders when it comes to responsible business.î
UK company law sets out the basic minimum obligations for UK companies and their directors. The proposed bill says that directors have a duty to act in the best interests of their shareholders, as well as having ëregardí for their companiesí social and environmental impacts.
Christian Aid and groups like WSM, which bring together people of all faiths and none, believe the law should be strengthened so that directorsí duties include minimising negative social and environmental impacts on the communities in which they work.
Campaignersí pressure on the government has already pushed them to introduce provisions obliging some large publicly listed companies to report on their social and environmental impacts.
However, the legislation has serious loopholes because it does not specify how this must be done. Activists are calling on MPs to demand that all large and medium-sized companies introduce social and environmental reporting with a common set of standards.
Christian Aid, together with the Corporate Responsibility Coalition and the Trade Justice Movement, is also backing amendments to give communities overseas the right to seek redress through the UK courts.
ìThe proposed legislation is not tough enough. We need new a new set of mandatory standards to prevent abuses occurring. The government must be bolder in their approach and ensure that UK companies become a real force for good, rather than too often a cause for shame,î said Sharon McClenaghan, Christian Aidís trade policy officer.