September 19 – 23, New York: Mobilize and organize to Stop and Prevent Planet Fever!
(Français ci-bas, el espanol abajo)
When we, as human beings, get a fever, we immediately get worried and take action. After all, we know that if our body temperature rises to 1.5ºC, let alone 2ºC [3.6 ºF] above the normal average, there can be severe damage, while an increase of 4-6ºC [7.2-10.8 ºF] or more can cause a comatose situation and even death.
Read moreDefending rights from corporate power
By Richard Girard
On April 24, 2013, an eight-storey building known as Rana Plaza collapsed in Dhaka, Bangladesh, killing more than 1,100 garment workers and injuring thousands of others. The victims, mostly women, worked in factories owned by a number of companies (New Wave Bottoms, Phantom, Ether Tex) that make clothing for high-profile retailers, including Walmart, Loblaw, Benetton, Bonmarché, the Children's Place, El Corte Inglés, Mango, Matalan and Primark. In response to the collapse, survivors and outraged Bangladeshis, and global civil society and labour groups, among many others, demanded justice for the killed garment workers.
Read moreThe Geneva Week of Mobilization Begins
The Polaris Institute's Executive Director, Richard Girard, is in Geneva this week to participate in a week of mobilization organized by the Global Campaign to Dismantle Corporate Power to pressure the United Nations Human Rights Council to adopt binding codes that would regulate Transnational Corporations and provide access to justice for victims of human rights violations committed by corporations.
The week action kicked off with a hearing of the Permanent Peoples' Tribunal...
Read moreProtect the Commons, Not the Banks!
Text & reflection co-authored by Tony Clarke of the Polaris Institute about how the recent Rio+20 and G20 pose a strategic challenge to social movements and civil society groups regarding the economic and environmental future of the world.
Corporations, Climate and the UN
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.