Corporations

New Report: Outing the Oligarchy - "Billionaires Who Benefit From Today’s Climate Crisis"

richard — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 12:35:14 -0800

This new massive report by the International Forum on Globalization outlines how many of the worlds richest people are benefiting from the ongoing climate crisis and how their massive networks of influence and power are stalling efforts to phase out fossil fuel dependence.

The Polaris Institute drafted one section of the report on Carlos Slim, the world's richest man, and the power he holds throughout Mexico and the Americas.

Download the Polaris report on Carlos Slim (HERE)

To read the full report visit the IFG site:
http://ifg.org/programs/plutonomy.html

Clean-up Crew Exposes Severe Oil Contamination at DFAIT

richard — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 11:51:19 -0800

(Le français suit)

December 1st 2011
For Immediate Release

Clean-up Crew Exposes Severe Oil Contamination at DFAIT

As Canadian negotiators meet in Durban, South Africa for COP 17, an Oil Clean-up Crew visited the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) this morning, mops and cleaning supplies in hand, to clean up the oil industry’s influence on the Canadian government.

Wearing hazardous waste suits, the crew cleaned up the mess of an oil lobbyist that was found on the premises. The clean-up crew also discovered evidence of severe oil contamination at DFAIT, including the prioritizing of oil industry interests over those of Canadian citizens, the green-washing of the tar sands, and the billions of dollars leaking in the form of subsidies to oil corporations.

New Report - Corporations, Climate and the United Nations: How Big Business has Seized Control of Global Climate Negotiations

richard — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 10:11:25 -0800

November 24, 2011 - In time for COP 17 in Durban, South Africa, the Polaris Institute has prepared a report outlining how multinational corporations and their lobbyists have infiltrated the United Nations and are influencing the outcomes of climate negotiations. The report uncovers and describes where corporations influence the United Nations in the build up to and during climate change negotiations and how this corporate interest is the driving force behind the preferred market based initiatives that are emerging from the UNFCCC process.

The World Economy: Who’s Really In Charge?

richard — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 11:08:21 -0800

In October 2011, Polaris Institute Executive Director Tony Clarke addressed the Group of 78, an organization that seeks to promote global priorities for peace and disarmament, equitable and sustainable development, and a strong and revitalized United Nations system. In his presentation Clarke traced four decades of increasing corporate control of the global economy and neo-liberal policies.

You can read a summary of his presentation here, or below.

The World Economy: Who’s Really In Charge?
The Crisis of Global Economic Governance

Tony Clarke
Executive Director, Polaris Institute
Presentation to Group of 78, November, 2011

Act Now: Stop Imminent Land Grab That Threatens More Than 162,000 People in Tanzania

richard — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 07:07:08 -0700

Please take a look at the US based Oakland Institute's call to action on the important land grab issue in Tanzania. Polaris Institute's Director, Tony Clarke, is currently on the Board of directors of the Oakland Institute. Polaris has also contributed some very important research and reports on the land grabs for the Oakland Institute's campaigns.

http://media.oaklandinstitute.org/act-now-stop-imminent-land-grab-threat...

Iowa-based investor Bruce Rastetter and fellow investors in the industrial agricultural corporation AgriSol Energy (http://media.oaklandinstitute.org/land-deals-africa/agrisol-energy-llc) have their sights on 800,000 acres (325,000 hectares) of land in Tanzania that is home to 162,000 people.

Archived Corporate Profiles

karl — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 09:34:01 -0700

Read older Polaris Institute corporate profiles HERE

Can Coca-Cola be Green?

richard — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 13:34:48 -0700

This article by Polaris Institute Research and Communications Coordinator originally appeared in the Mark News:

Challenging the CEO Water Mandate

richard — Wed, 18 May 2011 08:34:40 -0700

May 18, 2011 - Corporate Accountability International (CAI), one of the Polaris Institute's main allies in its struggle to confront the coporate control of water, delivered a letter today signed by over 100 global civil society organizations to the Director General of the World Health Organization. The letter urges the Director General to encourage UN General Secretary Ban Ki Moon to address widespread concerns about corporate conflicts of interest regarding global water governance, health and nutrition policy. The letter also asks Ban Ki Moon to withdraw the UN’s support for the corporate-driven CEO Water Mandate.

See CAI's press release below and read the letter here

Global Civil Society Groups call on WHO, UN to protect water and reject corporate conflicts of interest

Polaris Institute protests Canadian mining company

richard — Wed, 04 May 2011 06:45:32 -0700

New Gold is Risky Business: Opposition to Mexican Mine Heard at AGM

May 4, 2011 - (Toronto, Canada) Images and testimonials will alert New Gold shareholders at today’s annual meeting about the ongoing opposition to the company’s mine in Cerro San Pedro Mexico.

“We want to send a clear message to shareholders,” says Andrea Harden-Donahue, Energy and Climate Justice Campaigner with the Council of Canadians. “Opposition to the Cerro de San Pedro mine isn’t going away and that means investing in New Gold is risky business.”

Harden-Donahue was part of a Canadian delegation heading to the UN climate talks in Cancun last December that visited the small village of Cerro de San Pedro, located directly beside the mine. Delegates met and heard testimonies from local populations opposed to the mine, who are gravely concerned with the impact on the historic village, water supplies, health and the surrounding environment.

Tony Clarke Debates Nestlé Waters Executive

richard — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 08:25:34 -0800

Polaris Institute Executive Director Tony Clarke is participating in an online debate with Nestlé Waters Canada executive John Challinor.

Check out the debate and vote here!