New laws for Trade Justice
Stop big business profiting at the expense of people and the environment.
As part of our Trade Justice campaign, People & Planet has been calling on the UK government to make laws that stop big business profiting at the expense of people and the environment. In the next few months there is an opportunity for the government to do exactly that!
- 70% of global trade is carried out by companies
- Half of the 100 largest economies in the world are corporations - for example, Walmart’s annual turnover is larger than the income of most countries
Currently, UK companies’ main duty is to their shareholders, to maximise profits. Yet these companies can have a huge impact on the lives of people in communities around the world, and on the environment.
- Shell’s oil and gas operations in the Niger Delta cause huge environmental damage, and have a serious impact on the health and livelihoods of local people. (Friends of the Earth, ‘Lessons not learned - the other Shell Report’, June 2005)
- Women fruit pickers in South Africa work for low wages, face increasing job insecurity and are exposed to dangerous pesticides to supply fruit to Tesco (ActionAid ‘Rotten Fruit’, June 2005)
Corporations are regarded in law as ‘separate legal persons’ and are granted significant rights and benefits. People & Planet, campaigning as part of the Trade Justice Movement, is calling on the government to balance corporate rights with corporate responsibilities.
Company Law sets out the legal requirements that companies have to comply with when doing business. We believe these should include a duty to ensure that their profits are not made at the expense of poor people and the environment.
The Company Law Reform Bill currently passing through Parliament could make UK companies accountable for the impact they have, both in the UK and overseas.
People & Planet, as part of the Trade Justice Movement, and alongside the CORE coalition is demanding amendments to the Company Law Reform Bill so that:
- Companies are legally required to report on their social and environmental impacts. This will make it much easier to ensure that all companies are behaving in a responsible way.
- Directors are legally obliged to minimise any damage their company does to local communities and the environment. Directors will have to consider their environmental and social impact as well as their profits.
- People overseas who are harmed by the activities of a UK company are able to take action against them in a UK court. People who suffer as a result of a UK company’s activities, will be able to take the issue to court in the UK, if they are denied access to justice at home.
Read the TJM/CORE briefing for more information
What you can do
- If you’ve got a few hours … Meet your MP
- If you’ve got a few minutes … Write to your MP
- If you’ve got a few seconds … Email the Minister for Trade and Industry
Share your actions with the rest of the network!
If you’re planning to meet with your MP, or if you’ve already received a response let us know about it. Fill in the box below so we can celebrate your success and your action can inspire others!
Meet with your MP face-to-face.
From March to May 2006, when the bill reaches its crucial stages in Parliament, the Trade Justice Movement is asking campaigners to `Lobby your MP to right corporate wrongs.´ Most people never even contact their MP, so turning up to meet them in person can have an enormous impact. Organise your own local lobby in your constituency before June, or link up with other campaigners in your constituency, via a noticeboard on the TJM website.
Read the TJM local lobbies guide here
Write to your MP
You can also write to your MP, and encourage others in your school and university to do the same.
ACTION! Oxford P&P teamed up with their local Amnesty group for a lunchtime session to ‘write’ corporate wrongs.
Ask your MP to sign Early Day Motion 697, ‘Modernising Company Law’. (An Early Day Motion is like a petition in Parliament that MPs can sign to show support for a motion. The more MPs we can encourage to sign, the more pressure there will be on the government to act on the demands.) You can check if they’ve already signed here
Ask your MP to raise your concerns with the Minister for Trade and Industry, Rt Hon Alun Michael MP.
Ask your MP to support the proposed amendments in the House of Commons
You can write to your MP at the House of Commons, or call their constituency office. Find out who your MP is by calling the House of Commons inquiry line on 020 7219 4272, or by visiting locata.co.uk/commons. You can find the number for your constituency office in your local phone book. A handwritten letter (or better still, lots of handwritten letters!) will have the most impact. But if you’ve only got a few minutes, you can contact your MP online through the Friends of the Earth website.
Contact the Minister for Trade and Industry
Email the Minister for Trade and Industry, the Rt Hon Alun Michael MP, now! We have suggested some text in the box below so taking action need only take a few seconds, but if you have the time, writing in your own words is more effective.
Too late! This action has now been removed.