Progress Report #3

Corporate Environmental Destruction

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Progress Report #3

Solai Meyappan

For this portion of our project I will be discussing Roles of Corporations and the impact they leave on Environmental Destruction.  Unfortunately corporations have their priority set on maximum revenue, and they tend to put environmental concerns on the backburner.  They leave a huge impact on Deforestation, Agriculture, and Resources.  Corporations are supposed to follow the Free Prior Informed Consent when it comes to Environmental Destruction, but they tend to disregard the situation.  If corporations do not start to change their views on running a successful company, then rapidly we will see a decline in our Environment.    

Emma Venard

My contribution is on the role of governments and individuals in corporate environmental degradation. I have done research on the actions governments have taken in either fighting or encouraging such corporate actions. Governments should be the strongest protectors of the land but this is not always the case. I have researched various ways they react to corporate environmental destruction. I will be further examining the influence of individuals on extractive industries and what tools they used to combat it, whether through legal venues or illegal actions.

Victoria Tudor

Case Study of the effects of Extraction Industries:

La Oroya, Peru is one of the most polluted place in the world due to the mining and processing of heavy metals. The emissions and wastes from the plant expose the residents to toxic lead, copper, zinc, and sulfur dioxide. Studies have shown the lead content in children of the town are 3 times higher than the WHO safety limit. Studies have also shown lead, arsenic, and cadmium soil contamination.

            The plant is owned by the Doe Run Company, an affiliate of Renco Group, whose CEO is the American billionaire Ira Rennert. Initially, Doe Run bought the plant for an extremely low cost on the condition that they would improve the living conditions in the town. Although Doe Run claims that emissions have reduced, conditions have not measurably improved, and there are no plans to cleanup the preexisting toxicity.

This video shows images of the situation:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gY6WXa9aKrM

Lori Probasco

I have watched a documentary and read several articles on the Yala Swamp in Kenya. A piece of land in this swamp has been taken over by Dominion Farms. Dominion Farms sees itself as doing something good for the people by bringing in new technology and what they project will be a steep increase in the development in this area. However, the local people say that the things this group is doing is changing the whole landscape, and affecting their careers. Dominion Farms responds by saying that the people can adapt, and take on new careers, such as fishing, instead of raising animals. I have good information on what the local political group is doing, what human rights groups are doing, and what the corporation is doing, so that all sides of the matter are presented to the class. I just started putting together some slides for our collective powerpoint.

Sam Alig

What I have contributed to my action campaign group is I have found a case study of an example of indigenous people that are currently fighting a battle for their rights and the rights to protect their land. The study is on indigenous tribes in Brazil that are going to be displaced if the 3^rd worlds largest dam will be built. If construction continues, which it currently is, 25,000 people will lose their homes and way of life. I have also found an article pertaining to what they are currently doing to try and fight for their rights.

Marjorie Richards

I have identified organizations that are concerned with extractive industries and human rights violations that pertain to the environment. One of the leading organizations is Oxfam. A few of the major issues about which Oxfam is concerned is natural resources, land, and agriculture in developing countries. Their leading platform on the issues is that they “empower farmers, fishers, and others to defend their right to life-sustaining resources.” Oxfam lobbies for rural communities and offers hands on help. Another important organization is Friends of the Earth International.  They “campaign on today’s most urgent environmental and social issue. [They] challenge the current model of economic and corporate globalization, and promote solution that will help to create environmentally sustainable and socially just societies.” Friends of the Earth International raises awareness about human rights violations concerning land, agriculture and extractive industries while also leading protests and lobbying for the rights of rural communities. Both of these organizations try to help the communities be heard and inform the communities of their rights. Oxfam and Friends of the Earth International are two main nonprofit organizations that deal with human rights violations and the environment. When I have been informed of the individual case studies, I will also add NGOs that worked primarily with those incidents and add them to the presentation.

http://www.oxfam.org/en/about/issues/natural-resources

http://www.foei.org/en/what-we-do

Emily Metallic

 I am assigned to the general information segment of the presentation. Essentially, I am responsible for introducing the presentation and topic to the class. Because this is a broad and relatively cursory assignment, I will also compile the presentation and take on a sort of project manager role. So far I have made my portion of the presentation, beginning with laying out the organization of the presentation in the following order: introduction; case studies; roles of corporations, governments and individuals; and solutions. In the introduction section, I have defined the terms: corporation, environmental destruction and indigenous communities. I also explain why the topic is important. I found a video that links consumer dollars with government corruption and  community benefits. I am looking for better videos and graphics to accompany my portion of the presentation. Below are the links I've used with brief annotations.
http://www.fwrgroup.com.au/environmental-degradation.html - definition of environmental destruction
http://www.duhaime.org/LegalDictionary/C/Corporation.aspx - definition of corporation
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/workshop_data_background.doc - definition of indigenous people

• most cited descriptions of the concept of the indigenous was given by Jose R. Martinez Cobo, the Special Rapporteur of the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, in his famous Study on the Problem of Discrimination against Indigenous Populations
• http://www.globaled.org/curriculum/indigenous.html - indigenous peoples facts