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Developing a Multi-Faith Global Statement on Extractives Industries April 27th, 2012

On April 24, Oblate Bishop Dinualdo Guttierez OMI from Philippines and Bishop Bejoy D’ Cruze OMI from Bangladesh joined the JPIC staff in attending a conference designed to develop a multi-faith global statement on extractives industries. The meeting was held at the National Cathedral in Washington D.C.

Participants came from major faith groups and leading international NGOs from all continents. A multi-faith global statement on extractives will serve as a shared common document that people of faith can use when dealing with issues of extractives. The meeting was initiated and facilitated by the Bank Information Center and the Oblate JPIC office.

Spring/Summer Issue of JPIC Report now available! April 26th, 2012

The Spring/Summer Issue of our bi-annual print newsletter is now available on-line. (Download the PDF…)

This issue includes articles on Global HIV/AIDS funding, a new organic farm at Oblate headquarters in Washington, the human reality at the US/Mexican border, shareholder advocacy in the financial sector, human trafficking and environmental issues: from biodiversity loss and climate change to OMI JPIC work in solidarity with Bangladeshi colleagues and new solar panels on an Oblate church in California.

Shareholders, NGOs, raise questions about Newmont Mining’s social and environmental risks at company’s Annual General Meeting April 26th, 2012

Shareholders and NGOs at the Newmont Mining annual meeting in Wilmington, DE on Tuesday, April 24, questioned company senior management and the Board of Directors about the operational and reputational risks Newmont faces in Peru, and emphasized the need for the Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) of local communities where Newmont operates. In addition, the group strongly encouraged additional disclosure by the company on its environmental and social guidelines and practices, including Board oversight of these issues. The Missionary Oblates are involved in the dialog with Newmont, with particular concerns about the company’s operations in Peru, the Congo and Indonesia.

In 2007, in response to a shareholder proposal filed by members of The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), Newmont agreed to conduct a global review of its policies and practices related to community opposition in its mining operations. At this year’s annual shareholder meeting, the lead proponent of that proposal, Julie Tanner, Assistant Director of Socially Responsible Investing at Christian Brothers Investment Services (CBIS), expressed frustration over Newmont’s lack of disclosure on the implementation its Community Relations Review (CRR).

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Earth Day Calls for a Respect for Biodiversity April 16th, 2012

We are grateful to Bishop Michael Pfeifer, OMI, of the Diocese of San Angelo for his Earth Day reflection on biodiversity, and wanted to share that here. (Download PDF)

 

Corporations Make Strides in Conserving Water April 9th, 2012

Two companies, which the Missionary Oblates and other members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), have engaged in long-term corporate dialogs, have adopted important water-use reduction and management goals.

The Coca-Cola Company has announced a goal of becoming water neutral in their direct operations by 2020, and has taken a leadership role in corporate water management efforts. Coca Cola released its fifth annual Global Water Stewardship and Replenish Report on World Water Day (March 22nd). The company also recently released its first GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) report, an important move to increase transparency of data on its sustainability efforts.

Ford Motor Company recently announced plans to cut the amount of water used to make each of its vehicles by 30 percent, as of 2015, compared with the amount of water used in 2009. Under its Global Water Management Initiative adopted in 2000, the company had already reduced water use per vehicle by 62% as of 2010. Ford has recognized water as a material issue, along with other environmental, human rights and financial impacts on the corporation, and has identified water as one of its top priorities. Operating as it does in a number of water-stressed areas, the car manufacturer is investing in technologies that make its manufacturing processes less water intensive, as well as technologies for treating and reusing wastewater.

The Missionary Oblates JPIC Office has increasingly focused on water in its faith-consistent investment work as a vital issue affecting the health and well being of people across the globe, but especially the poor living in water-stressed and water scarce areas.

 

 

 

Land Grabs in Africa Leave Communities Impoverished April 5th, 2012

The problem of land grabbing in Africa and Asia by investment firms and multinational corporations is a serious and growing problem. Governments make deals with large multinational companies while thousands of poor farmers are left with inadequate compensation, low wages, polluted water and exposure to toxic agricultural chemicals that cause health problems.

While problems with land grabs abound, SOCFIN Agriculture. Co. is a particularly egregious company. Owned by French billionaire Vincent Bollore, SOCFINAF Group owns and operates plantations of rubber, oil palm and coffee in Indonesia, Cambodia, Kenya, Cameroon, Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) and Liberia. SOCFIN recently has secured 6,500 hectares of farmland for rubber/palm oil production in Sierra Leone.

The Oakland Institute, a California-based think-tank, has detailed a pattern of coercion, lack of consultation, and failure to fairly compensate Sierra Leonean landowners who have been pressured into ceding their land to the corporate giant. Watch this video on SOCFIN’s Sierra Leone’s operations:

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