Corporate Accountability International released a report today, “Water Governance: For the People or for the Bottom Line?” examining how a joint United Nations-corporate initiative threatens the way water resources are managed globally. Its release precedes the 10th anniversary gathering for the United Nations Global Compact this week. The Compact’s CEO Water Mandate is a voluntary initiative addressing the human right to water by partnering with corporations contributing to and profiting from today’s global water crisis.
“The United Nations is in a state of conflict. On the one hand, it tries to promote democratic water governance as the key to solving the global water crisis,” said Kelle Louaillier, Corporate Accountability International executive director. “On the other, it partners with corporations that profit from water scarcity and commodification. It’s a recipe for millions going thirsty to satisfy the thirst for profit of a handful of corporations.”
ReplyDeleteFor the last three years, civil society has called on Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to withdraw United Nations support from the Mandate. This week a “transparency framework” will be released in an attempt to placate the Mandate’s critics. But as Corporate Accountability International’s report points out, the problem with the Mandate is rooted in its very structure.
“The core problem is that the Mandate’s presence within the United Nations is itself a fundamental conflict of interest,” said Louaillier. “The United Nation’s sponsorship trades accountability for ‘partnership,’ blurring the lines between the private and public sector. This institutionalizes – rather than guards against – relationships with corporations that pose real and potential conflicts of interest, which is particularly dangerous when it comes to water.”
“Water Governance: For the People or for the Bottom Line?” draws attention to recently adopted, strong guidelines protecting against such corporate conflicts of interest in the global tobacco treaty—one of the most quickly and widely embraced treaties in United Nations’ history. Corporate Accountability International is calling on the United Nations to establish clear and enforceable standards across U.N. agencies that protect the public interest from corporate conflicts of interest.
“Issues like the global water crisis are too important to be shaped by the corporate bottom line – the world’s people, not the world’s largest corporations should be in the driver’s seat,” said Louaillier.
Key Recommendations
ReplyDeleteGovernments must safeguard against conflicts of interest, including avoiding situations when voluntary initiatives or partnerships undermine governments’ effectiveness, objectivity and credibility.
The United Nations should have stronger standards and safeguards throughout the institution as a whole to prevent and address corporate conflicts of interest. The U.N. should not be the institutional home for initiatives that are conceived of and driven by corporations.
Swift and concrete action by the U.N. is needed to address the concerns raised in this paper. Our recommendations for such action are as follows:
• Have the United Nations establish clear and enforceable standards preventing corporate conflict of interest, based on the principles set forth in the FCTC’s Article 5.3 that guard against conflicts of interest and preserve and protect the primacy of human rights over commercial enterprise.
• Have the United Nations withdraw its institutional support from the CEO Water Mandate.
http://www.stopcorporateabuse.org/report-water-corporations-use-united-nations-bluewash-abuses-10th-anniversary-pr-initiative-celebrat
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