OECD Guidelines 1 July 2007
Friends of the Earth is asking car companies to take the bull by the horns in tackling climate change.
The car industry will miss the voluntary carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction target agreed with the EU.
The industry is also lobbying hard against proposed legally-binding standards.
Working with the Climate Justice Programme, Friends of the Earth has asked the UK's 6 biggest car makers how they're cutting CO2 from their vehicles.
International standards
The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises are a set of key benchmarks for big business operations across the world.
They state that multinational companies should comply with international agreements on environmental issues: the most important of which is climate change.
Letters have been sent to the car companies which could lead to a complaint to the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.
A formal complaint about Volkswagen has already been made by Germanwatch to Germany's OECD National Contact Point.
The motor industry claims it is taking climate change seriously: we want to see the proof.
The letters
These letters have been sent to the six top car makers in the UK.
Resource
Flagship or Failure?
(PDF† - 755K) Nov 2005
This report looks at the UK Government's implementation of the OECD guidelines and its approach, through those guidelines, to corporate accountability.
© Calliste Lelliott
