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Balfour beatty faces shareholder challenge.
21 March 2001
FOE Spends £30,000 on Shares
Friends of the Earth has developed a significant new tactic in its campaign to make corporations more socially responsible - buying shares. FOE has spent £30,000 on shares in order to make a challenging resolution at Balfour Beatty's AGM in May. Balfour Beatty is leading a consortium intending to build the controversial Ilisu Dam in Turkey. The proposed dam has wide-ranging social, environmental and political impacts.
FOE has taken this step to show corporations that it's serious in its intent to challenge their damaging activities and encourage them to improve their social and environmental performance. This is the first time FOE has undertaken such an action and the sum represents a considerable investment for the organisation. These share are the only significant stock market holdings held by FOE.
FOE's resolution urges Balfour Beatty to change its company policy so that it reflects the principles and guidelines of the recent World Commission on Dams report. The WCD report was drawn up following the discussions of a range of stakeholders including the dam-building industry and it is now widely considered the benchmark standard in this sector. Key competitors to Balfour Beatty, such as Skanska, have already adopted the WCD principles and guidelines.
Tony Juniper, Policy and Campaigns Director at Friends of the Earth said:
“Our move represents a significant step forward in the lengths law-abiding organisations such as FOE are prepared to go to show big business how serious we are in wanting to reform corporations.
“The resolution to Balfour Beatty is challenging, but constructive. We think a responsible corporation cannot pretend the Commission's report has not happened nor imply that it has nothing to do with them. It's a time big business such as Balfour Beatty put the Planet into its bottom line.”
If you're a journalist looking for press information please contact the Friends of the Earth media team on 020 7566 1649.
Published by Friends of the Earth Trust
Last modified: Jun 2008
