photo: wallyg

This week in the United States, a new law called the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protections Act (or the 'Dodd-Frank Reform Act' for short!) passed both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and is expected to be enacted by the President later this week.  Ground-breaking 'anti-corruption' provisions in this new legislation will have big implications for the extractive industries, and global justice.

ClientEarth successfully held its first event in the UK parliament earlier this week, co-hosted with FairPensions.  The topic for discussion was company transparency on environmental and social issues; the event title 'Avoiding environmental Enrons: Environmental and social issues as financial risks, and the future of company reporting'.

 

photo: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/Reto Stöckli

Deepwater Horizon has spelled out in no uncertain terms the risks that extractive companies take with the environment and people's lives on a daily basis, and the impunity with which they are used to doing so.  It is long overdue that this recipe for disaster gets the degree of attention that Deepwater has, and Deepwater is a catastrophe worthy of attention.  But now we need to see the bigger picture.

pic: DigitalGlobe

The Deepwater Horizon disaster has been, and will continue to be, an environmental catastrophe of epic proportions.  But it is also a disaster for BP’s business, for all those who directly hold its shares, and for many more besides.

 

Right now we're in the middle of what is often called the UK's 'AGM season' - the spring months in which many of the largest multinational companies in the world hold their Annual General Meetings here in London.

Amnesty International yesterday released a major new report on the human and environmental impacts of Vedanta Resources' alumina refinery in Orissa, India.

Late last week the Church of England announced that it is to divest its £3.8m stake in controversial mining company Vedanta Resources.

Royal Dutch Shell will face scrutiny on its controversial investments in the Canadian tar sands at its next Annual General Meeting.  A shareholder resolution announced this week calls on Shell to have an external review carried out of the business risks associated with its huge investments in oil extraction from the tar sands.  The motion will be debated and voted on at the company's AGM in May.