17th January: A truly global affair

17 January 2004

Supplying nearly
everything! (Image:
© Friends of the Earth)

The conference centre has become a small town in its own right.

Inhabitants are arriving from every continent. It's a busy place - with people buying and selling food and fairly traded goods.

Meanwhile seminars, workshops and debates taking place in three hourly slots throughout the day.

The "town" caters for all our daytime needs - except one: internet access.

So sending this diary back is a daily adventure!

At night we swarm back into the city, dispersing into accommodation across Mumbai. All the Friends of the Earth participants (between us we represent about 20 countries) are staying together. Every morning and evening we gather together to discuss the day's events.

Today I've met with the four others working on corporate accountability to talk about our international campaign and to go through the events we'll be attending and speaking at.

Bhopal: A horrific legacy

Today I heard a series of testimonies by people affected by the Bhopal disaster.

Image: © Friends of the Earth

In December 1984, 40 tonnes of highly toxic chemical MIC leaked from a factory. 8,000 people died within three days. Since then the disaster has claimed well over 20,000 lives with up to 600,000 injured. The health of many is still dramatically affected by contaminated land and water.

The speakers told us about the campaign to hold the
company - Dow Chemicals - accountable for the impacts.

Their specific requests mirror Friends of the Earth's own calls for corporate accountability:

• The companies and directors responsible should be tried by an Indian court
• Dow must clean up the contamination
• Dow must provide for economic rehabilitation of survivors who are unable to work because of the injuries they sustained.

The legacy of those killed and injured is a chemical industry that adheres voluntarily to strict safety and environmental standards

Dow website

But the truth is that, whilst they're more likely clean up after disasters in the Western world, lives lost in India are easier to ignore. All the more reason to be here.

Love,

Hannah

Hannah Griffiths, our Corporates Campaigner is sending daily updates direct from the WSF in India.