abusesaffiliationarrow-downarrow-leftarrow-rightarrow-upattack-typeburgerchevron-downchevron-leftchevron-rightchevron-upClock iconclosedeletedevelopment-povertydiscriminationdollardownloademailenvironmentexternal-linkfacebookfiltergenderglobegroupshealthC4067174-3DD9-4B9E-AD64-284FDAAE6338@1xinformation-outlineinformationinstagraminvestment-trade-globalisationissueslabourlanguagesShapeCombined Shapeline, chart, up, arrow, graphLinkedInlocationmap-pinminusnewsorganisationotheroverviewpluspreviewArtboard 185profilerefreshIconnewssearchsecurityPathStock downStock steadyStock uptagticktooltiptwitteruniversalityweb
Article

9 Sep 2005

Author:
Economist

Oil firms under pressure over human rights [Chad & Cameroon] [subscription only]

In a new report...Amnesty International has taken aim at a consortium involving two American oil giants, Exxon Mobil and Chevron, and Petronas of Malaysia, that is extracting oil in Chad and pumping it to the Cameroon coast...after an earlier report by Amnesty on the equally controversial Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, a consortium led by BP agreed to add a “human-rights undertaking” to its contracts with the governments of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. Ideally, such undertakings will become a standard feature of contracts between international investors and governments...The role that firms might play in advancing human rights is becoming a big issue. John Ruggie has just been appointed as the first UN special adviser on human rights and business. Activists increasingly see firms as a powerful tool for putting pressure on bad governments. And as firms in rich countries become ever keener to be known as good corporate citizens, some are seeking new international rules, not least so that they can compete on fair terms with rivals from China, which are already happily striking deals with the world's nastiest governments.

Timeline