Following on from yesterday’s post about the call from accountancy firm KPMG for companies to pay for the environmental damage their operations cause, here is a video from the Network for Justice in Global Investment.

Bringing the World Bank’s International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes out of the shadows

The nine-minute videotape’s about resistance across many South American countries to the World Bank’s International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). Transnational corporations use this little-known organisation to demand compensation from governments that have prevented them from operating in their countries, because of the environmental damage they would cause. ICSID basically provides a way for transnational corporations to override democratic decisions and economic sovereignty, overpowering governments in the pursuit of profits above all other considerations.

Until we reform or abolish institutions like ICSID, it will be hard to make companies pay for the environmental damage their operations cause – or, even better, to prevent them from investing in operations that cause environmental damage.