Working together for corporate and investor responsibility

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Working together for corporate and investor
responsibility

• Companies
• Communities
• Faith-based and responsible investors
• Church groups, church members, civil society
  organisations, concerned citizens

Partnership for Development Ecumenical World
Development Consultation March 2009
Miles.Litvinoff_at_eccr.org.uk
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 Companies good, bad ugly

• Jobs
• Goods we need
• Taxes pay for public services
• Dividends pensions
• Philanthropy
• but
• Exploitation / human rights abuse
• Pollution, environmental damage
• Human health
• Excessive profits / tax avoidance
• Arms trade etc

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Examples of the problem

• Nigeria oil pollution and gas flaring
• UK gangmasters Forty Bulgarians illegally
  employed and exploited by a gangmaster in
  Cornwall picking and packing vegetables
  destined for Tesco and Morrisons said they
  were forced to "live like pigs on scraps
  gangmaster withheld their pay for 34 days
  Guardian, 2007
• India water extraction
• Philippines mining
• Canada tar sands

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and where are we (going) now?

• Worsening crisis?
• Towards sustainability?

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ECCRs response

• Seeking a transformed relationship between
  companies and communities
• Advocating corporate responsibility and
  responsible / sustainable investment
• Working with churches, church investors, wider
  investment community, civil society, and
  concerned individuals
• Using international networks to hear and give
  voice to communities experience
• Researching and publishing reports
• Working with and supporting members in action
  advocacy
• Building awareness, membership and capacity

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Founding beliefs ways of working

• Communities rather than companies are the basis
  of economic life
• The churches, with major shareholdings in global
  companies, and active in human rights and
  development, have opportunity and responsibility
  to influence business policy practice
• Primary stakeholder is the host community
• Host communities can provide detailed, powerful
  first-hand testimony as basis for advocacy
• Companies more likely to respond to advocates
  and local communities when they work together
• ECCRs contacts with church-based and community
  organisations - eg Brazil, Czech Republic,
  India, Ireland, Nigeria, Madagascar, Philippines,
  Uganda, as well as UK

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ECCRs model of change

• Establish facts and share information
• Effective communication
• Work with others including local communities
• Awareness prompts action
• Faith- and values-based engagement and advocacy
• Dialogue not condemnation
• Combine moral case with business case
• Companies
• transparency leads to accountability
• concern for reputation and bottom-line risk
• will respond to pressure from investors, moral
  voice of churches and other faiths, reputational
  issues, media exposure

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ECCRs research

• Bench Marks analytical framework of criteria
  and indicators
• Company reports on Astra Zeneca, BP, BHP
  Billiton, GlaxoSmithKline, Marks Spencer, Rio
  Tinto, Shell
• Issue and sector reports food drinks company
  water footprints, vulnerable migrant workers

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ECCRs advocacy

• Shell
• BP
• Rio Tinto
• Food drinks companies re water
• Mining companies and financial backers
• Food producers retailers re migrant workers

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ECCR in partnership Britain, Ireland
international

• Member and donor organisations
• Bench Marks partners
• Church Investors Group
• Local communities clergy Nigeria Ireland
• Working Group on Mining in the Philippines
• Tar sands collaboration
• Trade unions
• Central Eastern Europe
• Supporting members

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Membership

• c. 70 corporate members national denominations,
  religious orders, regional and local church
  bodies, church based national organisations,
  NGOs, responsible investment companies and fund
  managers
• c. 125 individual members
• several major fund managers also belong to
  Church Investors Group
• many smaller corporate members have funds managed
  by others
• members nominate and elect ECCRs Board and
  determine its direction
• ECCR local groups Oxford, South-West, West
  Midlands

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Support for members

• Information knowledge sharing
• Advice consultation
• Resources materials
• Outreach articles, presentations
• Joint advocacy dialogue with companies
• Action suggestions, model letters
• ECCR Guide

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Impacts the hardest test

• Madagascar
• Nigeria
• Philippines
• Tar sands
• Water sustainability

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Media coverage

• Ekklesia Feb 2009 - Halt mining in the
  Philippines says new report
• Church Times Nov 2008 - Champion needed for
  migrant workers
•  Methodist Recorder May 2008 - Water the most
  essential resource of all
•  The Times April 2008 - Fund managers attack BP
  over tar sands plan 
•  

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What people say about ECCRs work

• You can be a small organization but the result
  is beginning to be seen. Thank you so much -
  family affected by mining in Madagascar
• ECCR does a wonderful job because it gets
  incontrovertible evidence and uses this to work
  on the companies in a helpful and unfussy way
  individual member
• I find ECCRs e-newsletter really valuable and
  use it to disseminate information within my
  organisation - major pension fund manager
• Thank you for your interest in the genuine
  concerns of the people of this area and your work
  in trying to resolve the issue Co. Mayo
  resident

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What people say about ECCRs work (2)

• This type of information is key for our
  investment research analysts responsible
  investment manager
• Your guide is a wonderful resource - chief exec,
  campaigning NGO
• We now understand why Hima here is experiencing
  that heat! Uganda partner NGO
• Your role in tar sands campaigning is helping to
  raise this issue beyond the "mainstream"
  senior ethical investment adviser
• This is the first and only work that I have ever
  read that addressed this issue properly, fairly
  and professionally migrant workers support
  organisation

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ECCR people

• Members and partners
• Patron - Lord Harries
• Board representing members partners
• Secretariat team
• Helen Boothroyd - Church membership relations
  officer
• Suzanne Ismail Senior Researcher
• Miles Litvinoff Co-ordinator
• Binia Scherrer Administrator
• Sunniva Taylor Researcher

www.eccr.org.uk