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Rights of the Person and Communities Committee CBA National Section on International Law

Corporate Social Responsibility Creating Green Business Practices Abroad? : An Ecojustice Perspective. Rights of the Person and Communities Committee CBA National Section on International Law Corporate Social Responsibility Series June 22, 2009. About Ecojustice Canada.

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Rights of the Person and Communities Committee CBA National Section on International Law

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  1. Corporate Social Responsibility Creating Green Business Practices Abroad?: An Ecojustice Perspective Rights of the Person and Communities Committee CBA National Section on International Law Corporate Social Responsibility Series June 22, 2009

  2. About Ecojustice Canada • Ecojustice, formerly Sierra Legal Defence Fund, goes to court to defend the right of Canadians to a healthy environment.  • Ecojustice is Canada's largest and foremost non-profit environmental law organization • Ecojustice is a national organization that also works internationally

  3. Human Rights and Environmental Issues • A growing body of legal authority recognizes that environmental degradation can threaten basic human rights • Everyone has the right to live in a healthy and ecologically balanced environment

  4. Environmental Problems and the Global Economy • Environmental problems and issues do not respect lines drawn on a map • Environmental standards and regulations vary from one jurisdiction to the next • The same company can operate in multiple jurisdictions • Competition for investment dollars encourages externalizing cost of environmental harm

  5. How to Address Environmental Harm caused by multinationals • International Conventions, Agreements and Declarations • Domestic laws applied extra territorially • Liberalized standing addressing Forum non conveniens arguments • Voluntary CSR type initiatives

  6. What is Corporate Social Responsibility? • A form of corporate self-regulation integrated into the business model • No recognized standards • Not governed by legislation

  7. Mining Disaster in Guyana: A Case Study • Omai Gold Mine Disaster • 1995 disaster at Canadian Owned Mine • Thousands of liters of cyanide laced sludge released into Guyana’s largest river • Community of 40, 000 aboriginal people living along the river affected

  8. Respecting human rights and the environment should not be voluntary • CSR alone will likely be ineffective • This is too big a task for regulation alone to solve • International and National regulation along with CSR initiatives will ultimately work the best

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