Global Compact in Dominican Republic promotes tobacco companies' charity

In a video published recently on Vimeo and YouTube, the local network of the Global Compact in the Dominican Republic promotes a project called Cigar Family. The project is sponsored by the Cigar Family Charitable Foundation. The two organizations behind this foundation are the tobacco companies J.C. Newman Cigar Company and Tabacalera A. Fuente y Compania. The former is a non-communicating participant in the Global Compact.

In what seems to be a promotional video for the charity, the UN's resident coordinator in the Dominican Republic and a UNDP representative visit the Cigar Family project. The UN Global Compact logo is displayed throughout the video. The Global Compact does not allow tobacco companies to make presentations at any of its global events or to use the Global Compact brand in any other way to raise their profile. The video with the Global Compact logo appears to be an infringement of this rule.

In 2008, the World Health Organization (WHO) criticized the Global Compact for allowing tobacco companies to become members of the Compact. Nevertheless, there are still some large tobacco companies that participate in the Compact, such as Souza Cruz, the Mansour Group and ITC limited.

Officially launched in 2006 by the President of the Republic, the Dominican network of the Compact has not been a success story. According to the Compact's participant database, the network in the Dominican Republic is one of the most inactive local networks in the world. Currently only six companies are registered as active business participants, while 87 companies are listed as inactive and 12 as non-communicating.

This is the video about the Cigar Family project published by the Dominican network of the Compact:

Global Compact participants asked to pay up

Last year, the UN Global Compact decided to start asking its business participants for financial contributions. Upon endorsement, participating companies are asked to make a regular annual financial contribution to help support the work of the Global Compact. The general contribution levels are set as follows:

- For companies with annual sales / revenues of US$ 1 billion or more, the suggested annual contribution is US$ 10,000;
- For companies with annual sales / revenues between US$ 250 million and US$ 1 billion, the suggested annual contribution is US$ 5,000;
- For companies with annual sales / revenues of less than US$ 250 million, the suggested annual contribution is US$ 500.

According to the Global Compact Office, further "sponsorship opportunities are available for events and specialized workstreams". The Foundation for the Global Compact serves as the financial intermediary for all contributions. This year the Levi Strauss Foundation is listed as the top contributor, with an annual contribution between US$ 10,000 and US$ 20,000. In 2008, Broad Air Conditioning, HSBC Holdings plc., Petrobras SA, Royal Dutch Shell plc. and the Coca-Cola Company all donated amounts of at least US$ 20,000 to the Foundation for the Global Compact.

© Photo by Roberto Gardella.

Congo plan is a dirty cocktail of climate destruction projects

By Daniel Kessler.

Riddle me this. What do you get when you combine rainforest destruction, tar sands, and palm oil plantations in one project? You guessed it, an environmental nightmare. This perfect storm of climate disruption badness can all be found in oil company Eni's plans to develop tar sands and oil palm in the Congo Basin, one of the most biodiverse places on earth. This would be the first tar sands exploration in Africa and one of the largest palm oil plantations, which produce the oil used in thousands of household products from detergents to Pringles.

It's unfortunate that it's Eni that is championing this project. The company's CEO Paolo Scaroni recently urged the UN Leadership Forum in New York to take strong action on climate change. But while Scroni talks action, his company is investing in some of the worst projects for the climate.

Says Barbara Unmüssig, President of the Heinrich Böll Foundation: "With less than a month to go to the Copenhagen summit, Eni's projects undermine its green credentials. They also highlight the wider costs of promoting high-carbon, export-driven energy investments - especially in ecologically sensitive areas with poor governance."

The Congo, along with the Amazon and the Paradise forests of Indonesia, is a priority area for REDD funding. REDD is the name of the United Nation's framework for ending global deforestation, and funding it is one of the most contentious issues right now as we move toward Copenhagen.

Tar sands too are a major problem. Their development uses more energy than it produces, for a net energy loss. From BankTrack:

"Eni's tar sands exploration is taking place over a huge 1,790 KM2 area. The exact location of the oil palm plantation is unknown, but it will claim 70,000 hectares of 'unfarmed' land. Eni says neither project will take place on rainforest and areas of high biodiversity or involve resettlement of people. Yet privately, Eni estimates the tar sands zone comprises 50 to 70% rainforest and other highly environmentally sensitive areas. According to Congolese human rights activist Brice Mackosso (Justice and Peace Commission, Pointe-Noire): 'Local people, already suffering the impacts of oil development, have not been meaningfully consulted over the new projects. This violates Eni's own human rights and environmental policies'."

Source: Tree Hugger (10/11/2009).

Ban Ki-moon says UN cannot accurately assess impact of private sector partnerships

On November 5, UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon presented a report on UN partnerships with the private sector to the Economic and Financial Committee of the General Assembly. The report is Mr. Ban’s response to resolution A/RES/62/211, in which the General Assembly encouraged the UN system to "continue to develop, for those partnerships in which it participates, a common and systemic approach, which places greater emphasis on impact, transparency, accountability and sustainability […]".

In his report, Mr. Ban says that there are currently no standard criteria for screening and selecting candidates for partnerships with the UN. He stresses that the UN "would benefit from greater coherence concerning selection criteria, as well as better sharing of related information among entities". According to the secretary-general, the recently revised Guidelines on Cooperation between the United Nations and the Business Community (not available yet) provide a step forward, "for example by making the principles of the UN Global Compact a common minimum standard for companies looking to partner with the organization".

In practice, however, this approach will not change anything in the way the UN partners with the private sector. Becoming a participant in the Global Compact is a mere formality for companies that seek to engage in partnerships with the UN. In 2008, the World Health Organization (WHO) criticized the Global Compact for allowing tobacco companies to become a member of the Compact. If the principles of the Compact are used as a common minimum standard for partnering with the UN, the tobacco companies that participate in Global Compact will be able to partner with the WHO or any other UN organizations. Among the tobacco companies that participate in the UN Global Compact is Souza Cruz, a Brazilian subsidiary of British American Tobacco. As a matter of fact, the CEO of Souza Cruz signed a CEO statement on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, even though the Global Compact Office does not permit tobacco companies to make presentations at any of its global events or to use the Global Compact brand in any other way to raise their profile.

Besides the revised Guidelines on Cooperation between the UN and the Business Community, the secretary-general also referred to the new UN and Business website as an instrument that "promises to bring greater transparency and clarity to the vast partnership work undertaken at the United Nations". In his report the secretary-general acknowledges that there is a need to develop better impact assessment mechanisms for partnerships: "[…] the United Nations is still not in a position to accurately assess the impact and value added of its private sector partnerships. […] Systematic and rigorous impact assessments of partnerships may be unrealistic in the near future, however, the United Nations should further strengthen its emphasis on evidence-based decision-making, learning from evaluations and results-focused planning."

The report recommends that the criteria for differentiating between procurement relationships and partnerships be fully clarified. It also suggests "the creation of a special United Nations logo to be used in the context of UN-private sector partnerships". This will probably add to the confusion, since the Global Compact already has a special logo that can be used by its participants.

The Global Compact Office appears to be pleased with Mr. Ban’s report. It expects that the report will “contribute to a General Assembly resolution providing further support for the Global Compact's mandate”.

Mexico champions list of idle Global Compact members

In August 2008, on the occasion of his first official visit to Mexico, United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon met with business participants of the Mexican Global Compact Network.

The 18 executives who met with Mr. Ban made a commitment to take the Network to "its next level of development and create a truly business-led, nationally owned, multi-stakeholder platform for corporate responsibility". In a Mexico Declaration presented during the meeting, participating companies pledged to position the Global Compact Mexico Network as a platform to:

- advance the UN Global Compact and the implementation of the ten universal principles throughout the Mexican business and social environment;
- strengthen the role of the Network in facilitating multi-stakeholder partnerships and collective action with other companies; and
- engage in advocacy and policy dialogues on global challenges, including climate change and the Millennium Development Goals.

At the time, the secretary-general commended the Mexican Network for its "focus on training sessions and developing materials, helping to ensure that Mexican signatories to the Compact 'walk the talk' and are equipped to act on their commitments to engage responsibly."

Now, more than a year after Mr. Ban's visit to Mexico, the Mexican Global Compact Network is among the most deficient local networks of the UN Global Compact. According to the Compact's database, 203 Mexican companies are currently listed as "inactive", which means that they have failed to submit a Communication on Progress (COP) to the Global Compact Office within three years of joining the Compact or that they have failed to submit a COP within two years of submitting their last COP. Additionally, 26 companies are listed as "non-communicating". There are only 76 active business participants in Mexico, which is about 25 percent of the total number of Mexican Global Compact members. This makes Mexico the country with the largest number of inactive Global Compact participants in the world.

At least Mr. Ban's visit to Mexico in 2008 seems to have offered a great photo opportunity for the executives who committed to the ill-fated Mexico Declaration.

© Photo by UN Photo / Evan Schneider.