Archived press release

UK plc in Latin America

9 September 2003

Damning evidence of UK business damage to people and the environment will be delivered to the Prime Minister today, with a demand that he change the UK Government's negotiating position at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). On the eve of the WTO Ministerial meeting in Cancun, Mexico, Friends of the Earth is publishing a series of case studies exposing how UK support for expanding the WTO remit is damaging communities and the environment in Latin America.

Friends of the Earth representatives will deliver the report, called `UK plc in Latin America: Big Business, foreign direct investment and the WTO - is anyone accountable?' [1], along with messages from Mexican and British activists demanding no further expansion of the WTO until people and the planet are put before profit for big business.

The messages will be delivered by Friends of the Earth director Tony Juniper, who will hand over a photo album showing pictures of activists with the Prime Minister where they want him - in their pockets instead of the pockets of big business.

People from across the UK have been angered by the UK's support for the inclusion of the so-called "New Issues" (investment, competition, government procurement and trade facilitation) in the WTO negotiations in Cancun. They have joined Friends of the Earth's action to call a halt to the expansion of the WTO's remit and call instead for binding regulation of UK companies, and accountability for the damage they cause.

The report highlights the examples of Shell in Mexico where proposals to build a liquid natural gas plant on the coast of the Baja California threaten the local tourist industry as well as the breeding ground of a population of grey whales; of Anglo American and BHP Billiton in Columbia, where a village was forcibly moved to accommodate the expansion of one of the world's largest coal mines; and Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton's activities in Bolivia where the expansion of a mine is threatening the water supply for an entire community.

Friends of the Earth Executive Director Tony Juniper said:

"We know the CBI was lobbying hard before Cancun to get what they want. Today we're reminding Tony Blair that the he needs to represent the interests of UK citizens, who don't want their comfort to come at the expense of other people's rights or environmental damage. This is his last chance to make sure the UK position at the WTO is the right one."

Notes:

[1] Copies of UK plc in Latin America: Big Business, Foreign Direct Investment and the WTO - is anyone accountable?' will be available online at www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/global_trade/resource/media.html or from the press office at Friends of the Earth.

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