hidden_voices

Hidden Voices: The CBI, corporate lobbying and sustainabilityIn the meantime we continue to threaten our own existence by failing to reduce toxic pollutionand the unsustainable exploitation of our natural resources by corporations.A Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Synthesis report published, in March 2005 3 andconducted by 1,300 experts from 95 countries, found that approximately 60 per cent of theecosystem services that support life on Earth are being degraded or used unsustainably. Itconcluded that the ongoing degradation of 15 of the 24 ecosystem services examined isincreasing the likelihood of potentially abrupt changes that will seriously affect humanwellbeing including the emergence of new diseases, sudden changes in water quality,creation of “dead zones” along the coasts, the collapse of fisheries, and shifts in regionalclimate.The Millennium Assessment board of directors, representing the contributors from UNagencies, international scientific organisations and development agencies, have warned thatit will require “radical changes in the way nature is treated at every level of decision makingand new ways of working between government, business and civil society” to reduce theunsustainable burden on the global environment.Unfortunately the likelihood of the CBI acting on the seriousness of the threats facing theenvironment do not look promising when you consider the response of the CBI to issuessuch as climate change (see Climate change case studies, page 33), which the PrimeMinister Tony Blair has described as “probably, long-term, the single most important issuewe face as a global community”. However the CBI has effectively lobbied the Government tofreeze the Climate Change Levy and increase the UK’s greenhouse emissions under the EUEmissions Trading Scheme.We challenge the Government to question the CBI’s claims that higher environmentalstandards are threatening jobs and the competitiveness of UK industry. It should activelyseek out the views of those progressive voices of business that support regulation to helpachieve sustainable development. UK industry could be a leader in environmental servicesand technologies but this will require the Government to provide leadership that puts theenvironment and communities first.It is critical that the Government recognises and promotes the many benefits that flow fromgood environmental regulation including a cleaner environment and better health. This in turnleads to the better use of resources and higher eco-efficient technologies that benefit theplanet as well as the economy.The Government should adopt the recommendations of the Environmental AuditCommittee’s 2005 pre budget report on tax and the environment. In particular theGovernment should reject the scaremongering approach of the CBI that regulation reducescompetitiveness and take a wider view of the benefits of regulation such as a cleanerenvironment and better health for workers and communities rather than focus on short termcosts.We challenge UK companies to recognise that they have a responsibility to act transparentlywhen lobbying and that their private lobbying position should match their public position onkey environmental and social issues such as climate change and fair labour standards.Where their trade associations, such as the CBI, misrepresent their point of view they shouldspeak out. It’s time for business to develop a socially responsible approach to lobbying onGovernment policy and regulation.8