22nd January: Not so open22 January 2004
Keeping an eye on big
business at Davos
business at Davos
Today there was a two-hour discussion in the new "Open" Forum (during which only two women were permitted to speak).
During the discussion, Nestlé CEO Peter Brabeck-Letmathe confirmed what we've long suspected that his "first and foremost social responsibility" is to make a profit.
This is odd, because in the report on Nestlé's water "stewardship" handed out beforehand he says:
Nestlé recognises that the responsible management of worldwide water is an absolute necessity.
Maybe he has two top priorities and just forgot to mention one?
Prosperity and security - the theme of the WEF
(Image: © Public Eye on Davos)
He also dodged answering a question put by panelist Raymond Kimaro who was representing 80,000 small coffee farmers in Tanzania. The question was put again by co-panelist Ricardo Young Silva of Brazil's Ethos Institute.
If the price of coffee is at its lowest ever for farmers, yet the cost of coffee to consumers is the same or higher than ever. where does all that extra money go?
Richardo Young Silva, Ethos Institute
The Nestlé boss also belittled fair trade intitiatives by saying the most important thing was to increase coffee consumption worldwide.
Shh...
At least the panel said that the secret trade meeting (aka WTO mini Ministerial of 20 countries) here tomorrow will "not make any decisions". Not that this is surprising, as neither the US nor the EU trade representatives will be present.
And the audience applauded heartily when Friends of the Earth's Executive Director, Tony Juniper pointed out the illegitmacy of this WEF-controlled event - it's so much greenwash, and couldn't be more different in tone, style or purpose from Mumbai's genuine social forum.
Image: © Public Eye on Davos
Don't let big business rule the world,
Craig and Eve
Craig Bennett and Eve Mitchell, our Corporates Campaigners are sending daily updates direct from the World Economic Forum.
© Public Eye on Davos
