Six years after the first edition of the Sustainable Development Pinocchio Awards, Les Amis de la Terre France, in partnership with CRID and Peuples Solidaires, are launching the 2013 edition and opening polls at www.prix-pinocchio.org. The aim of Pinocchio Awards is to denounce some companies on the social or environmental impacts of their activities, in complete contradiction with the sustainable development concept they claim to respect. Among the nominees is the company Veolia, the french multinational water management company, which competes in the categorie ‘one for all and all for me”. In this category the nominees stand out for their aggressive policy in terms of appropriation, exploitation or destruction of natural resources. It is noted that that the name of the company Veolia, which has been brought under supervision in many criminal and civil matters, such as bribery, illegal political donations, kickbacks, cartel construction and accounting handling that equates to fraud, had been heard as one of the interested companies to buy EYDAP. However, the company has recently been in an economic downturn and after its withdrawal from Berlin and Portugal it is doubtful that it will eventually get involved in the tender of TAIPED.
Pinocchio Awards 2013: cast your ballots!
Paris, under embargo until October, 15th 2013, 8 a.m. – Les Amis de la Terre/Friends of the Earth France, in partnership with CRID (Centre de Recherche et d’Information pour le Développement /Research and Information Centre for Development) and Peuples Solidaires – Action Aid France, have launched public voting today for the Pinocchio Awards 2013. By highlighting specific cases of social and environmental rights violations committed by multinational companies, these Awards are the opportunity to report the gap between the speeches about “sustainable development” and the actual practices on the ground. Through the Pinocchio Awards, these organizations are fighting for a binding legal framework for multinationals’ activities.
Six years after the first edition of the Sustainable Development Pinocchio Awards, Les Amis de la Terre France, in partnership with CRID and Peuples Solidaires, are launching the 2013 edition and opening polls at www.prix-pinocchio.org. Nine companies have been nominated in three categories (1):
- · Greener than green: awarded to the company which has led the most abusive and misleading communication campaign in regard to its actual activities.
- Areva and its mining museum Urêka
- Air France and carbon offsetting in Madagascar
- BNP Paribas and research against climate change
- · Dirty hands, full wallet: awarded to the company which has the most opaque policy at the financial level (tax evasion, corruption, etc), in terms of lobbying or in its supply chain.
- · Auchan and the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh
- · Apple and the Bangka tin mine in Indonesia
- Alstom and the big dams of Belo Monte and Rio Madeira in Brazil
- · One for all and all for me!: awarded to the company which has the most aggressive policy in terms of appropriation, exploitation or destruction of natural resources.
- · Total and shale gas in Argentina
- · Veolia and the privatization of water in India
- Société Générale and the coal mine Alpha Coal in Australia
According to Nathalie Peré-Marzano, director of CRID, “Private actors, especially multinational companies, are entrusted a major role in ‘development’ that States still reduce to economic growth. This vision is being challenged by many today since these multinationals are at the heart of the system that aggravates inequities all over the world, abusively exploits natural resources, and affects the basic rights of populations.”
For Fanny Gallois, campaign manager at Peuples Solidaires, “From the exploitation of workers to the appropriation of populations’ natural resources, in addition to environmental damages, the activities of multinationals, especially the French ones, sometimes have catastrophic consequences. The Pinocchio Awards are here to question their responsibility and to remind the elected officials and the government that it is time to regulate the activities of these companies.”
Juliette Renaud, Corporate Accountability campaigner at Les Amis de la Terre France, concludes: “Current government ministers, including Nicole Bricq, have admitted the need to recognize the legal responsibility of the multinational parent companies regarding the damages caused by their subsidiaries and sub-contractors. Action has now to be taken by setting up a binding legal framework and putting an end to their impunity. Citizens from every continent are affected by the nominated companies for the Pinocchio Awards and they should all be able to enjoy the same rights and access to justice.”
Mobilization around the Pinocchio Awards will take place from 15th October to 19th November, date of the public award ceremony (2). Bi-weekly focuses will be realized in order to enlighten each case. Local groups from Les Amis de la Terre France and Peuples Solidaires will organize regional events. A stand is expected in Paris during the Week of International Solidarity.
To learn more, visit our website: prix-pinocchio.org
Press Contacts:
- · Caroline Prak, Les Amis de la Terre – Friends of the Earth France – 01 48 51 18 96 / 06 86 41 53 43 – caroline.prak@amisdelaterre.org
- · Fanny Gallois, Peuples Solidaires – Action Aid France – 01 48 58 21 85 / 06 19 89 53 07
- · Camille Champeaux, CRID – 01 44 72 89 74 – c.champeaux@crid.asso.fr,
Notes
[1] The detailed presentation of the Pinocchio Awards and the nine 2013 nominees is available in French, English, and Spanish on the following website: www.prix-pinocchio.org.
[2] The Pinocchio Awards are given on the basis of thousands of internet users’ votes across the world. The ceremony will take place 19th November 2013 with Peuples Solidaires and CRID, at La Java, Paris. Registration is open here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dGZMcEEwaFJ6Y1h0U3E3eXAxR0NWZHc6MQ
Follow the Pinocchio Awards and Les Amis de la Terre France updates on Twitter @amisdelaterre
// The 2013 Sustainable Development Pinocchio Awards are organized in partnership with Basta (www.bastamag.net), the Multinational Observatory (www.multinationales.org) and Real World Radio (www.radiomundoreal.fm/en)
Illustrations can be downloaded from here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/f082bj2tjrnrujk/obWlzqcLs3?m#/
