By Tamer Aboalenin
DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 29 (KUNA) -- Brazilian mining giant Vale and UK-based Barclays bank were given the dubious honor of being the top vote-getters in this year's survey asking participants to name the world's most destructive international corporations.
The results of the survey are gathered by The Public Eye, an effort organized jointly by the Berne Declaration and Greenpeace Switzerland, and announced annually at an awards ceremony held during the World Economic Forums's gathering in the Swiss town of Davos.
The purpose of the awards, according to the The Public Eye website, are to highlight "the particularly flagrant human rights abuses and environmental harm by corporations." The People's Award, based on a popular vote, was awarded to Vale mining. Vale has a long corporate history characterized by inhumane working conditions, human rights violations and environmental destruction.
Barclays Bank, which won the jury prize chosen by members of Greenpeace and the Berne Declaration, was singled out for its role in profiting from commodity trading and "effectively betting on hunger by speculating on food prices." "We hope this award will encourage European lawmakers to introduce tough regulations to curb food speculation and stop banks gambling with food prices while nearly a billion people go hungry. Women, children and elderly people in the Global South are often the hardest hit by food speculation," said Amy Horton of World Development Movement, the NGO that nominated this Bank for the award. Kumi Naidoo, Executive Director of Greenpeace International and member of the jury, said that "the Public Eye Award is our chance to show corporate leaders, who are sitting very close to us right now in Davos, that humankind and the environment have a voice too, and that we are a voice that will not be silenced." Fran\ois Meienberg of the Berne Declaration said to KUNA, on Sunday, that "we are also pursuing a longer-term goal with the Public Eye Awards. All the nominations, which we publish annually, reveal a striking absence of the rule of law. The nominations are an outcry against a system in which human rights criminals and environmental desecrators need not fear punishment. This must change." The sponsoring and nominating organizations of the Public Eye Awards have long called on governments to implement legally-binding rules for more corporate responsibility. Greenpeace and the Berne Declaration have joined forces in Switzerland with nearly 50 human rights and aid organizations, unions, environmental associations, womens' organizations and ethical investment associations, to form the alliance "Justice Without Borders." This alliance calls on the Swiss Federal Council and Swiss Parliament to legally require firms located in Switzerland to respect human rights and comply with environmental standards.
More then 88,000 people participated in the voting for the worst company of the year. A new record of people voted via the web for the Public Eye People's Award. (end) ta.nfm KUNA 291055 Jan 12NNNN