ICC Fact Sheet #2 - The ICC and the Environment

THE ICC AND CORPORATE COOPTATION OF THE UN

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has long been a triumphant lobbyist for global economic deregulation in fora such as the WTO, the G-8 and the OECD. Its latest effort, however, has been the solidification of a cosy relationship with the United Nations. Fearing an upcoming backlash against globalisation that could threaten corporate-driven trade and investment liberalisation, the ICC´s charm offensive towards the UN is very much a proactive move to ensure that any regulation of the global economy will be tailored to the interests of international business. The ICC has therefore entered into a partnership with the UN, resulting in several joint projects between business and various UN agencies. Specifically, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) have embarked upon highly controversial projects with the ICC and individual corporations.

The first of a series of dialogues took place on 9 February 1998, when 25 ICC business leaders met with a heavyweight UN delegation headed by Kofi Annan and agreed to "forge a close global partnership to secure greater business input into the world’s economic decision-making and boost the private sector in the least developed countries." A few months later, the ICC, under the presidency of Helmut Maucher (then also chairing Nestlé and the highly influential European lobby group, the European Roundtable of Industrialists (ERT)), organised the Geneva Business Dialogue (GBD), where high-level officials from the WTO, the UN, the EU and the World Bank, and other top decision-makers met with 450 global business leaders. The GBD was the ICC´s attempt to take the reins in the debate about the regulation of the global economy, sparked by the global financial crisis. Fearing that the debate could move beyond their control, the ICC argued for granting more regulatory powers to international bodies like the UN and the WTO, while at the same time ensuring the stronger involvement of business in these bodies. Far from being empty words, this approach has resulted in concrete cooperation between the UN and the ICC.

ICC/UN Cooperation in Practice

Challenging Cooptation of the UN
The increasing corporate cooptation of the United Nations is a disturbing development. Historically, the UN system has been a relatively democratic forum which has provided Southern governments and civil society groups with greater access and influence than in other international bodies. Corporate control over the UN constitutes a serious threat to those groups and interests losing out in the globalisation process, whether they be workers, communities, indigenous peoples, women or the environment. If successful, this effort would further undermine opportunities to use the UN to pursue the priorities of civil society groups and will make it harder for the UN to adopt a critical attitude towards transnational corporations. Protests against joint UN-business projects can be effective, as was demonstrated when the UNDP put the GSDF in the freezer. The Global Compact won’t go without challenge. On the same day that the UN website was opened, a "Citizens Compact on the UN and Corporations" was launched. More than 100 organisations from North and South have signed on to this statement. Instead of 'partnership' between the UN and corporations the Citizens Compact demands that the UN develops internationally enforceable rules for corporate behavior.


CEO, is a European-based research and campaign group targeting the threats to democracy, equity, social justice and the environment posed by the economic and political power of corporations and their lobby groups.

Paulus Potterstraat 20 • 1071 DA Amsterdam • Netherlands
tel/fax: +31-20-612-7023 • e-mail <ceo@xs4all.nl> • http://www.xs4all.nl/~ceo