Corporate Social Responsibility Creating Green Business Practices Abroad?: An Ecojustice Perspective

Rights of the Person and Communities Committee CBA National Section on International Law

Corporate Social Responsibility Series

June 22, 2009

About Ecojustice Canada

• Ecojustice, formerly Sierra Legal Defence Fund, goes to court to defend the right of Canadians to a healthy environment. 

• Ecojustice is Canada's largest and foremost non-profit environmental law organization

• Ecojustice is a national organization that also works internationally

Human Rights and Environmental Issues

• A growing body of legal authority recognizes that environmental degradation can threaten basic human rights

• Everyone has the right to live in a healthy and ecologically balanced environment

Environmental Problems and the Global Economy

• Environmental problems and issues do not respect lines drawn on a map

• Environmental standards and regulations vary from one jurisdiction to the next

• The same company can operate in multiple jurisdictions

• Competition for investment dollars encourages externalizing cost of environmental harm

How to Address Environmental Harm caused by multinationals

• International Conventions, Agreements and Declarations

• Domestic laws applied extra territorially

• Liberalized standing addressing Forum non conveniens arguments

• Voluntary CSR type initiatives

What is Corporate Social Responsibility?

• A form of corporate self-regulation integrated into the business model

• No recognized standards

• Not governed by legislation

Mining Disaster in Guyana: A Case Study

• Omai Gold Mine Disaster

• 1995 disaster at Canadian Owned Mine

• Thousands of liters of cyanide laced sludge released into Guyana’s largest river

• Community of 40, 000 aboriginal people living along the river affected

Respecting human rights and the environment should not be

voluntary• CSR alone will likely be ineffective

• This is too big a task for regulation alone to solve

• International and National regulation along with CSR initiatives will ultimately work the best