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ETHICAL CLEANSING Schnews , April 7, 2006“CIS views this as an unacceptable position for an energy company,
and one that could harm long-term shareholder value.” - CIS’ greenwash
team give ExxonMobil a firm ticking off for climate crimes then
increase their investment.
Two weeks ago (See SchNEWS 537)
we told you about the Co-operative Bank’s decision to sneakily invest
in Glaxosmithkline and Vodafone - and the mail bag was soon full of
requests from readers for more info. Well, as yer ever-obliging
newssheet…
Since 1992, the Bank has supposedly followed an ethical investment
policy which is supposed to offer people (all increasingly being forced
to use bank accounts), somewhere environmentally friendly to stash
their cash. In this promotion of ‘capitalism-lite’, the Co-op is joined
by a handful of smaller banks like the Ecology Building Society and
Triodos, but its preference for larger profits has led it to compete
with the real bad guys at places like Barclays and NatWest. Co-op
bosses have realised that they can’t make profits big enough to impress
City fat cats without dancing with the devil themselves and hence their
decision to invest in Glaxo Smithkline and Vodafone.
The Co-op, proud sponsors of police propaganda show ‘the Bill’, says
that it won’t invest your cash in companies up to no good. The bank
says it does not deal with companies that “participate in armaments,
animal testing for cosmetics, nuclear power, tobacco or companies that
operate in countries where human rights are disregarded.” Co-op
propagandists have been careful with their words as the statement does
not prevent investment in companies that perform more general tests on
animals and nor does it give much mention to how corporations should
behave towards the environment. Not that their investment decisions
actually meet the standards that have been set by their policy, anyway.
Their latest ‘tax-efficient’ investment promises great returns -
without harming the environment, animals or other people. According to
the bank you can enjoy “strong growth and a clear conscience” by
opening a CIS Sustainable Leaders Trust investment. One of the reasons
for the ‘great return’ is the decision to allow investment in Glaxo and
Vodafone, two of the world’s most profitable companies. A delve into
the activities of these companies, though, leaves us wondering where
the ‘clear conscience’ bit comes in.
Bank bosses are pretty chuffed with their pals in the world’s
largest pharmaceutical company, Glaxo. Anyone suggesting that anything
about this profit-hungry transnational giant is ‘ethical’ is having a
laugh. With a bit of spin however Glaxo become a centre of benevolence
because they have “invested in research into treating HIV/AIDS, malaria
and TB”. They’ve also been “supplying vaccines to prevent illness”.
Err, sorry if we’ve got this one wrong, but isn’t that what
pharmaceutical companies should be doing: investigating the causes of
disease and ways to cure them? More cheers are offered for the
company’s “discounted pricing policy for developing countries” and
“ensuring good conduct in animal testing”.
DIRTY MONEY
According to Factory Watch (www.foe.co.uk/factorywatch),
Glaxo’s chemical plant in Ulverston, Cumbria, is one of the most
carcinogenic polluters in the UK. Well that’s the environment covered.
So what about animal testing? Well, Glaxo are Huntingdon Death
Science’s single largest customer, so ‘nuff said there too. Then
there’s witholding lifesaving treatments from developing countries.
Glaxo was one of thirty-nine major pharma companies which tried to
prosecute the South African government for passing a law that allowed
easy production and importation of ‘generic’ drugs for HIV. They didn’t
back down until 300,000 people from over 130 countries signed a
petition against the action. Glaxo have also been at the forefront of
legal attempts to enforce their patent rights under the World Trade
Organisation’s ‘Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights’
(TRIPS - see SchNEWS 420)
laws. Despite the Indian government’s attempts to control the spread of
diseases, such as AIDS by creating copy or ‘generic’ (i.e. cheaper)
versions of commercially available drugs, TRIPS has encouraged
corporations to call India a ‘centre of commercial piracy’, simply for
trying to cure disease amongst its poverty stricken population.
People in developing countries represent 80% of the world’s
population yet they only account for 20% of worldwide medicine sales.
“Of all annual health related research” says an Oxfam report on Glaxo
from 2001, “only 0.2 per cent is spent on pneumonia, diarrhoea, and
tuberculosis-three poverty related ailments which account for 18 per
cent of the global disease burden.”
And then there’s Glaxo’s interest in the weaponry biz... at least
Chief Executive J.P. Garnier’s, anyway. This £2.5 million-a-year
corporate lackey also happens to sit on the board of arms manufacturer
United Technologies, the maker of the Blackhawk helicopter and other
assorted killing machines.
Vodafone, though, doesn’t invest in the
arms trade. The company ‘only’ supplies telephones to the British
military and, after all, a quick glance over to Iraq tells us that
British forces are a force for democracy and justice - and if they want
to make a phone call to help them co-ordinate a bombing run targeted
against a local water supply, or some civilian ‘insurgency hotbed’ then
why not?
Vodafone also receives a co-operative pat on the back for
“Investigating the impact of mobile phones on society and the
environment.” So now we know that we can’t spll anymr and changing your
phone once a year creates a bit of a rubbish problem. Nice one. Maybe
Co-op bankers missed the bit about not investing in companies that
trade in countries with poor human rights records, because Vodafone’s
nice little earner in Kuwait seems to have passed the ethical test.
Despite the bank offering an “Amnesty International ‘affinity’ credit”,
bankers obviously haven’t read the Kuwait section of AI’s website. A
whole range of human rights abuses are cited there, from arbitrary
detention through to institutionalised sexism and curbs on freedom of
expression.
The Co-op’s not alone on this one though. Standard Life is proud to
show off its ethical investment funds, even though they account for
less than 1% of the company’s business. Their UK Ethical account
includes shares in Tescopoly, Vodafone, The Royal Bank of Scotland and
(oil scumpany) Cairn Energy. Meanwhile, both Standard Life and Co-op’s
CIS throw cash at the big oil firms such as Shell, ExxonMobil, and
Burma sanction-busting Total Oil (See SchNEWS 488).
But the Co-op aren’t just into damaging the Global South over here
in the UK, Co-op customers have to pay £30 every time they go more than
£1overdrawn which must do its bit for their annual £96.m profit. Not
forgetting the range of lovely services which could help you get your
giro paid into a nice tax-exempt offshore account in the Channel
Islands. If you’re with the Co-op, have a look on their website under
‘sustainable investing’, read their ‘investment criteria’ and have a
word with one of their financial advisers on 0845 850 0168. (Or maybe
explore the ethical possibility of keeping your cash in a tin up the
chimney)
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