General news

Churches and campaigners call on Irish National Pensions Reserve Fund to put principles into practice on responsible investment

Ireland's National Pensions Reserve Fund (NPRF) today faces calls from British and Irish church-based investor coalition the Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility (ECCR) to back up its statements on responsible investment and prudent investment management by supporting resolutions on controversial 'tar sands' projects at Shell and BP's annual general meetings ...

­News release. (pdf)­

­Irish Green Party Senator Dan Boyle calls on the NPRF to support the resolutions. 

ECCR to support BP and Shell shareholder resolutions on tar sands

FairPensions' investor briefing.

BP resolution and supporting statement.

Shell resolution and supporting statement.

Take action.

Shell can improve impacts in the Niger Delta, says new report

February 2010

As Shell faces a lawsuit in the Netherlands over alleged oil pollution in Nigeria, ECCR’s new report argues that the oil giant can and should take both prompt and longer-term action to reduce the negative social and environmental impacts of its operations in the Niger Delta.

The report, Shell in the Niger Delta: A Framework for Change, considers how the operations of Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary, the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), affect the human rights and living conditions of Niger Delta communities.

Based on case studies researched and written by five civil society organisations working in the Niger Delta, the report raises concerns about Shell’s operations in relation to international social and environmental standards, pollution levels, communities’ health and livelihoods, and the right of local people to a say in decisions that affect their lives.

News release. (pdf)

Read more.

ECCR quarterly Bulletin, no. 75

December 2009

The Future of Banking: Ethical and Sustainable?

• The Future of Banking - debate report
• Bankers' pay and the financial crisis
• The UN Principles for Responsible Management Education
• Response to a flawed SRI model

ECCR commended in House of Lords debate on migrant workers

November 2009

On 27 October ECCR’s Patron Lord Harries of Pentregarth tabled a debate 'To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the protection of vulnerable migrant workers’ rights'. Several organisations helped ECCR produce an issues briefing for peers taking part in the debate.

ECCR’s work in producing the briefing was praised during the debate, and the research for its report Vulnerable Migrant Workers was cited.

A transcript of the debate is available in Hansard.

During the debate, issues of slavery and forced labour were raised, and the following day the House of Lords agreed to an amendment to the Coroners and Justice Bill that will make both a criminal offence. See report from Anti-Slavery.

National Ethical Investment Week 2009 Action Guide for Church Groups

UK Sustainable Investment and Finance (UKSIF) and ECCR produced this 14-page  Action Guide for Church Groups for National Ethical Investment Week (NEIW) 2009. The Guide provides ideas and resources for worship, displays, newsletter articles and letters to the local press.

Download the Guide.

Feedback form.

ECCR quarterly Bulletin, no. 74

September 2009

Global Supply Chains: Injustice Persists­­

• Supply chain labour standards
• The Ethical Trading Initiative
• UK workers and gangmasters
• ECCR West Midlands Group e­vent
• Tax reform and corporate responsibility

ECCR quarterly Bulletin, no. 73

June 2009­

Companies, Communities and Religious Investors­

• Dublin conference report
• Settlement products, a barrier to peace
• BHP Billiton yet to respond to CAFOD
• Aldersgate Group: Green foundations needed

New ECCR report reveals the down-side of flexible labour

­May 2009  

Migrant workers fill many agency, seasonal and temporary jobs in the UK and Ireland. But, according to a new report published by the Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility (ECCR), they remain vulnerable to very low pay, over-long hours, poor health and safety conditions, workplace discrimination and other forms of injustice.

ECCR's report - ­Vulne­rable Migrant Workers: The Responsibility of Business - reveals the vulnerability of migrant workers in areas of the domestic economy where low-skilled flexible labour is concentrated: care, cleaning, construction, hospitality and catering, and food production, manufacturing and retail.

The report compares the policies and practices of nine food production, ­manufacturing and supermarket c­ompanies towards migrant workers, particularly in their supply chains. Companies in the survey include Associated British Foods, Kerry Group, Morrisons, Northern Foods, ­Sainsbury's, Tesco and Unilever ...­

[News release] (pdf)

Read more

ECCR quarterly Bulletin, no. 72

­March 2009

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Multinationals and food security in Asia­

• Stark choice facing the Philippines (pdf)
• Thousands go without water in India, courtesy Coca-Cola
• Time for a UK Commission on business and human rights
• The Economic Crisis – conference report­­

ECCR quarterly Bulletin, no. 71

December 2008 

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Migrant workers: rights and responsibilities­­

• ­Migrant workers in the economy: rights and responsibilities - debate report (pdf)
• What now? The future of finance (pdf)­
• Faith, values and business – ECCR's recent Manchester meeting
• Pharmaceuticals ripe for a shake-up­

ECCR quarterly Bulletin, no. 70

September 2008 

­Business and Human Rights­­­

• The UN Special Represe­ntative on Business and Human Rights (pdf)
• Red Flags: potential corpora­te liability in­ high-risk zones
• The rich traditions of the Christian Ethical Investment Group (pdf)
• More than 170 foreign companies still investing in Burma
• The serial offender

ECCR publishes new Guide to Investment and Engaging with Companies for faith communities

July 2008 ­

Church-based corporate responsibility research and advocacy group the Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility (ECCR) this month publishes a new Guide to Investment and Engaging with Companies. The user-friendly 30-page Guide aims to support church members, faith communities and other responsible investors in influencing companies on the basis of Christian and ethical values.

­­[News release] (pdf)­

­[Download the Guide] (pdf)

Shell responds to ECCR regarding proposed terminal relocation, Co. Mayo, Ireland

Royal Dutch Shell Plc has replied in detail to ECCR's communication regarding the location of the Corrib gas processing plant...

Read more (pdf)­

Shell Corrib (Ireland) gas project: ECCR urges once-in-a-lifetime chance to resolve bitter community dispute

June 2008

ECCR is this week urging Royal Dutch Shell Plc to accept the offer from local residents in Rossport, County Mayo, Ireland, of a historic, peace-making compromise, backed by Irish church and political leaders. The offer comes after a bitter six-year dispute over the location of an onshore gas refinery for the Corrib offshore gas project. Five local residents - the 'Rossport Five' - were imprisoned for 94 days in 2005 for defying a Dublin high court order forbidding them from interfering with Shell's engineering works. The new proposal involves relocating the gas refinery to an uninhabited costal site, an alternative previously identified by Shell's consultants...

[News release] (pdf)