(14 June 2012) A group of civil society organisations took the initiative to appeal to the UN General Secretary to end the influence of corporations on the UN and its institutions. EPSU has signed the statement as have over 370 organisations across the world.
More and more the UN and its institutions engage in special partnerships with large transnational companies to realize general objectives. Business groups get special access and privileges which translates in influence over policy decisions. The resources such large companies use dwarf the resources available to civil society and threaten the transparency and democratic processes in the UN. An example has been the so-called Zero Draft of the Rio+20 Declaration which highlights the role of business as promoter of the so-called 'green economy' and advocates market-based mechanisms that primarily benefit business, while failing to hold business accountable for its role in creating the financial, climate, food and other crises.
Friends of the Earth, one of the initiators argues “The expected outcome of the negotiations raises strong concerns about the growing influence of major corporations and business lobby groups within the UN: their influence on the positions of national governments in multilateral negotiations; their dominance in certain UN discussion spaces, and in certain UN bodies. Increasingly we see UN policies that do not serve the public interest but rather support the commercial interests of companies or business sectors. The UN is captured by the corporate sector.”
EPSU is a member of the Alter-EU coalition which fights the corporate capture of the EU institutions and agencies.
- For more information on the work of the trade unions in RIO+20
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