Towards Responsible Lobbying - AccountAbility

public policy but not to undo its achievements in corporate citizenship.
“Business must restrain itself from taking away, by its lobbying activities,
what it offers through corporate responsibility and philanthropy.”
President Lula of Brazil, also speaking at the Summit, reinforced this
view by calling for corporations to join with governments in formulating
and implementing initiatives aimed at furthering the public good as well
as delivering business benefits. He also made the case for companies to
lobby their governments in relation to subsidies and protection of
Northern markets, “It’s very important that each business leader and
entrepreneur be able to call their government’s attention to the serious
distortions and injustice provoked by protectionism.”
Many businesses have responded positively to the challenge. For
example, Business Action for Sustainable Development, an initiative of
the World Business Council on Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and
International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has lobbied extensively for
the removal of distorting agricultural subsidies in OECD countries. Even
though at the same time the ICC has been criticised for its active
campaign against the UN Norms on Human Rights (see Shell case, box 8).
Meanwhile, Anita Roddick at The Body Shop and Ray Anderson at
Interface Carpets are well-known examples of the ‘CEO lobbyist’. CEO
lobbyists act individually, or jointly. The key to securing support for the
1999 OECD Anti-Bribery Convention was ‘the support of large companies’,
says Peter Eigen, founder and Chairman of Transparency
International (TI). ‘No fewer than 20 European companies signed a letter
drafted by TI, encouraging government ministers in their respective
countries to sign the convention, which outlaws the bribing of foreign
public officials’. CEO lobbying is becoming more common and more
forceful, as illustrated by the case of the Corporate Leaders Group on
Climate Change.
24 TOWARDS RESPONSIBLE LOBBYING