Archived press release

The Xpose Awards for Green Spin Go To...

13 September 2004

Friends of the Earth today (Monday 13^th September) announced the nominees for the annual Xpos Awards, intended to congratulate big business and their lobby groups for ruining the planet. The Xpos Awards Ceremony [1], sponsored by Friends of the Earth, takes place on Monday 27^th September at Labour Party Conference, with MPs, the media and interested parties invited to attend.

Nominations for the awards have been submitted - and a full list of nominations has been sent to Labour MPs and to Constituency Labour Parties in advance of the Brighton ceremony [2].

The categories for each award and their nominees are:

Xpos For Best Omission From A Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Report

While some companies now produce reports on their social and environmental performance, there are no rules as to what goes in the report and what stays out. It is entirely up to companies to decide. Which company has published the glossiest report whilst skilfully omitting the biggest environmental damage or social impact?

Nominees:

• BAE Systems - for failing to mention they make weapons that kill people,

• Shell - for failing to mention its lack of liaison with aggrieved community members, directly affected by its operations - and pollution - in Port Arthur, Texas

• British American Tobacco - for using anti-smoking schemes aimed at children to market cigarettes that kill.

Xpos for Taking the Most from the Government Box Office

Big Business is rightfully proud of its entrepreneurial risk taking record - aided and abetted of course, by taxpayers who repeatedly bale them out when things go wrong. Which industry made the most creative use of public subsidies or tax exemptions i.e. getting money for what they would do anyway?

Nominees:

• Aviation industry - for securing 9.2 billion in tax exemptions

• Big Oil - securing government financial support for projects around the world, including $150 million for the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline.

Heart of Gold Xpos for Voluntary Action

Voluntary initiatives litter the CSR landscape. Which voluntary agreement has been the best at preventing regulation, while actually making the smallest possible difference to the way business is run?

Nominees:

• Supermarket Code of Practice - for getting businesses to write their own rules

• Global Compact - for getting companies to sign up to an agreement they don't have to follow

• OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises - for imposing guidelines that governments can easily overlook.

Xpos for the Most Spectacular Special Effects

Corporate lobby groups have warned that `progressive' regulations will mean the end of the world as we know it - from the minimum wage to new chemicals legislation. Who was the stand-out performer in such diversionary tactics, special effects and exaggeration?

Nominees:

• International Chamber of Commerce - for lobbying against the UN Norms on human rights

• CBI - for protecting British industry from the perils of CSR regulation and legislation

• Freedom to Fly - for hiding corporate interests behind the mantle of a community stakeholder group.

Special Achievement Xpos for Services to Africa

To mark the Prime Minister's prioritisation of Africa while chairing the G8, this year we have a special award - which company has successfully promised the world to Africa, but done the least?

Nominees:

• Monsanto - for their generosity in promoting GM food to countries in Africa

• Shell - for increasing gas flaring in Africa, polluting the atmosphere, but providing no fuel.

Xpos for Most Ingeniously Injurious yet Commonplace Product

- Voted for by Local Group Members of Friends of the Earth.

It really is hard to get a good, simple, money-spinning product out there these days, without someone ruining it all by claiming human rights, environmental or some other kind of abuse. This Xpos goes to the product that has managed to enjoy great success whilst failing to blip on the Good Samaritan radar.

Nominees:

• 4x4 - seven out of eight never get driven off road, yet they cause 47% more pollution then your average car

• Patio Heaters - providing central heating to the great outdoors

• Palm Oil - the hidden ingredient worth billions which destroys rainforest as well as their indigenous communities.

Friends of the Earth Senior Corporates Campaigner, Craig Bennett, said:

"We are thrilled to be sponsoring such a fabulous event. It's been amazing to see just how hard so many UK companies and lobby groups have tried over the last year to get nominated for an Xpos award by putting all their effort into green spin rather than green substance.

Surely it's time for new laws that would genuinely make companies improve their social and environmental performance, rather than just talk about it."

Notes

[1] The Xpos Awards will take place at: 5.15-7pm Monday 27 September, Harry Preston Room, Royal Albion Hotel, Brighton.

[2] Copies of the nomination brochure are available from:

www.foe.co.uk/resource/media_briefing/xposeawards.pdf (PDF format)

[3] Details of last year's winners can be found at: www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/exposed_awards_the_winners.html

Xpose Awards 2004 (PDF† format)

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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