July 2010
Christian Aid and ECCR have made a joint submission to the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) consultation on a country-by-country financial reporting standard for the extractive industries (oil, gas, mining). The importance of country-by-country reporting is increasingly recognised – most recently in the new US Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
Our submission argues that a fully mandatory and comprehensive standard will increase companies’ accountability to governments and investors by combating aggressive tax avoidance, corruption and non-disclosure of risk, and will support the public interest by enabling civil society in developing countries to better monitor payments to governments as advocated by the Publish What You Pay [3] coalition. Investors and others can read the IASB’s discussion paper and make submissions here [4] until 30 July..
Joint submission [5] (pdf)
[7]
July 2010
Following BP’s Gulf of Mexico disaster, ECCR and many other human and environmental rights groups and civil society leaders have called for equivalent compensation to address the impact of oil spills in the Niger Delta.
Press letter [10] (pdf)
Full statement [11] (pdf)
[13]
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 [16]. (pdf)
Irish Green Party Senator Dan Boyle calls on the NPRF to support the resolutions. [17]
[19]
FairPensions' investor briefing [22].
BP resolution [23] and supporting statement [24].
Shell resolution [25] and supporting statement [26].
Take action [27].
[29]
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 [32], 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. [33] (pdf)
Read more. [34]
[36]
December 2009
[39]
The Future of Banking: Ethical and Sustainable? [40]
[43]
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 [46] 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 [47] was cited.
A transcript of the debate is available in Hansard [48].
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 [49].
[51]
[54]UK Sustainable Investment and Finance (UKSIF) and ECCR produced this 14-page Action Guide for Church Groups [55] for National Ethical Investment Week [56] (NEIW) 2009. The Guide provides ideas and resources for worship, displays, newsletter articles and letters to the local press.
Download the Guide [57].
Feedback form [58].
[60]
September 2009
[63]
Global Supply Chains: Injustice Persists [64]
[67]
June 2009
[70]
Companies, Communities and Religious Investors [71]
[74]
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] [77] (pdf) [78]
Read more [79]
[81]
March 2009
Multinationals and food security in Asia
[86]
December 2008
Migrant workers: rights and responsibilities
[92]
September 2008
Business and Human Rights
[98]
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] [101] (pdf)
[Download the Guide] [102] (pdf)
[104]
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