Home > Press releases > 2003
26 Jan 2003
Davos, Switzerland: As helicopters continue to bring Chief Executives
and
world leaders into the Swiss alpine resort of Davos for this year’s
meeting of
the World Economic Forum (WEF), Friends of the Earth has been reliably
informed by WEF participants that a “secret” meeting of top
oil executives is
scheduled to take place here this weekend [1]. Friends of the Earth
International the world’s largest grassroots environmental network
- has today challenged the WEF to either deny that such a meeting is
taking place, or to come clean on which companies and governments are
taking part and what is being discussed.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell is addressing the WEF today amidst
evident concern amongst many WEF business leaders and protests across
Switzerland.
However, many WEF attendees in the oil industry are set to benefit
from
an Iraq war.
A recent Deutsche Bank report [2] indicated a potential conflict of
interest
amongst the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council
over the commercial implications of war in Iraq. Baghdad Bazaar Big
Oil in Iraq
was published last October but only came to light last week. It indicates
that a
regime change in Iraq would benefit US and UK oil companies while a
peaceful resolution would benefit oil companies based in Russia, France
and
China:
On the one hand, Saddam might yield on weapons inspectors issues,
and therefore retain power. Having conceded on Weapons of Mass
Destruction (WMD), the UN would then be under pressure to ease sanctions
and, in that scenario, Iraq would no doubt award contracts to its current
supporters: Russia, France and China. With Saddam still in power, the
US and the UK would probably continue to employ delaying tactics on
implementation of deals that
enhanced Baghdad’s revenue flows.
On the other hand, if Saddam’s government is replaced - as seem
to be
the priority for the Bush administration and sanctions eased, then the
corporate line up in Iraq may well feature US and UK companies, particularly
if there has been a US driven war in the country¡¨. p. 14,
Baghdad Bazaar, Deutsche Bank, 21/10/03.
The report identifies the following companies as potential beneficiaries
[3], who are also participants in this year's WEF meeting:
Politicians and government officials present at the WEF include:
General (Wesley) Clarkformer supreme Allied Commander for Europe,
NATO is also present at the WEF.
Friends of the Earth International held a protest outside the WEF at
1pm
this afternoon against the ¡§secret oil meeting¡¨.
Protestors displayed a
meeting “agenda” which included two items; 1) “Meet Powell¨
and 2)
“Iraq, who gets what?¨. They were gagged and carrying placards
saying ¡§Not
invited: Human Rights, Environment, Trust, The Public and Oil War victims¡¨.
Tony Juniper, Vice-Chair of Friends of the Earth International said:
The World Economic Forum loves to promote the so-called spirit of
Davos? - cosy fireside chats between the world’s most powerful
Chief Executives
and senior politicians. Now we learn that the WEF may be playing host
to a
secret meeting for the key players and beneficiaries of a war in Iraq
away from
the media, the public and most importantly - the United Nations. And
all at a
meeting where the WEF is claiming to be “Building Trust” Friends
of the
Earth
International today challenges the WEF to either deny that meetings
are
going on between top oil executives and senior politicians, or to declare
exactly who is meeting who and what is being discussed¨.
[1] Tony Juniper (Director of the Friends of the Earth, England, Wales
and
Northern Ireland) and Silva Semadeni (President of Pro Natura, Friends
of the Earth Switzerland) are both full participants at this years meeting
of the
World Economic Forum.
[2] Traynor, J.J. Sieminski, A. Cooke, C. Urban, M. (2002) Baghdad
Bazaar
¡V Big
Oil in Iraq? Deutsche Bank, 22pp, London/New York.
Copies of the Deutsche Bank report are available from Friends of the
Earth at: [Link removed at request of Deutsche Bank]
[3] Other companies named in the report include Kirkuk; Rumailah;
Zarabuzhneft;Tunisia, ExxonMobil, TPIC (Turkey), Zarubezhnelt/Tatneft
(Russia), Eni, Repsol and INOC
†To view PDF files you will need to download
Adobe Acrobat Reader. Visually impaired users can get extra help with these
documents from access.adobe.com.
Contact details:
Friends of the Earth
26-28 Underwood St.
LONDON
N1 7JQ
Tel: 020 7490 1555
Fax: 020 7490 0881
Web: www.foe.co.uk/feedback.html
Media team
