Letter to the United Nations Exclude Bayer from Global Compact
The Coalition against Bayer Dangers. (CBGnetwork) | 16.06.2009 11:47 | Ecology
The Coalition against Bayer Dangers, an international network based in Germany, today urged the United Nations to exclude the chemical and pharmaceutical corporation Bayer from the UN Global Compact. In a complaint to the Compact´s Executive Director, Georg Kell, the group points to Bayer´s recent serious violations of the Global Compact´s principles and integrity measures.
Press Release, June 16, 2009
Coalition against Bayer Dangers (Germany)
Letter to the United Nations
Exclude Bayer from Global Compact
The Coalition against Bayer Dangers, an international network based in Germany, today urged the United Nations to exclude the chemical and pharmaceutical corporation Bayer from the UN Global Compact. In a complaint to the Compact´s Executive Director, Georg Kell, the group points to Bayer´s recent serious violations of the Global Compact´s principles and integrity measures.
Axel Koehler-Schnura, board member of the Coalition against Bayer Dangers, says: “Bayer has a long history of giving profits precedence over human rights and a sound environment. We have documented hundreds of cases when Bayer´s products or factories have harmed people or the environment. Bayer's participation in the Global Compact is detrimental to the reputation of the programme and its participants”. The Coalition has been monitoring the chemical and pharmaceutical company Bayer for more than 30 years and is working on a broad range of issues such as emissions of Bayer plants, hazards caused by Bayer products, and accidents in Bayer plants.
The complaint is based on the aftermath of the huge explosion at Bayer's US facilities in Institute/US last year. According to a US Congress investigation faulty safety systems, significant shortcomings with the emergency procedures and a lack of employee training led to the catastrophe. The region narrowly escaped a catastrophe that could have surpassed the 1984 Bhopal disaster. The investigation continues: "Evidence obtained by the committee demonstrates that Bayer engaged in a campaign of secrecy by withholding critical information from local, county and state emergency responders; by restricting the use of information provided to federal investigators; by undermining news outlets and citizen groups concerned about the dangers posed by Bayer's activities; and by providing inaccurate and misleading information to the public."
Philipp Mimkes from the Coalition against Bayer Dangers adds: “These findings prove that Bayer systematically violates various principles of the Global Compact, such as principle 7 (Precautionary environmental protection), Principle 8 (Specific commitment to environmental protection) and Principle 9 (Diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies). Bayer´s policies do not comply with the Compact's principles on the environment and thereby are harmful to the credibility of the programme. We therefore urge the UN to exclude Bayer from the Global Compact.”
In the 1980s, the Institute factory belonged to Union Carbide and was regarded as the "sister plant" to the infamous factory in Bhopal, India where in December 1984 thirty tons of MIC leaked and at least 15,000 people died. Today, nowhere else in the United States such large quantities of MIC are produced and stored.
The complete letter to the Global Compact: www.cbgnetwork.de/3000.html
Please also see the analysis BAYER and the UN Global Compact: www.cbgnetwork.de/271.html
Coalition against BAYER Dangers
www.CBGnetwork.org
CBGnetwork@aol.com
Tel: (+49) 211-333 911 Fax: (+49) 211-333 940
please send an e-mail for receiving the English newsletter Keycode BAYER free of charge
Advisory Board
Prof. Juergen Junginger, designer, Krefeld,
Prof. Dr. Juergen Rochlitz, chemist, former member of the Bundestag, Burgwald
Wolfram Esche, attorney, Cologne
Dr. Sigrid Müller, pharmacologist, Bremen
Eva Bulling-Schroeter, member of the Bundestag, Berlin
Prof. Dr. Anton Schneider, biologist, Neubeuern
Dr. Janis Schmelzer, historian, Berlin
Dr. Erika Abczynski, pediatrician, Dormagen
Please help us. Our international campaigns are expensive to run. We receive no public support and depend entirely on your donations.
Please send checks to:
CBG, Postfach 15 04 18, 40081 Duesseldorf, Germany
or by bank transfer to bank account number 8016 533 000 at GLS Bank, Germany
sort code: 430 609 67
BIC/SWIFT Code: GENODEM1GLS
(Bank Identifier Code)
IBAN: DE88 4306 0967 8016 5330 00
(International Bank Account Number)
Please note that bank transfers within Europe are usually no more costly than within your own country, if you quote the BIC and IBAN numbers
Coalition against Bayer Dangers (Germany)
Letter to the United Nations
Exclude Bayer from Global Compact
The Coalition against Bayer Dangers, an international network based in Germany, today urged the United Nations to exclude the chemical and pharmaceutical corporation Bayer from the UN Global Compact. In a complaint to the Compact´s Executive Director, Georg Kell, the group points to Bayer´s recent serious violations of the Global Compact´s principles and integrity measures.
Axel Koehler-Schnura, board member of the Coalition against Bayer Dangers, says: “Bayer has a long history of giving profits precedence over human rights and a sound environment. We have documented hundreds of cases when Bayer´s products or factories have harmed people or the environment. Bayer's participation in the Global Compact is detrimental to the reputation of the programme and its participants”. The Coalition has been monitoring the chemical and pharmaceutical company Bayer for more than 30 years and is working on a broad range of issues such as emissions of Bayer plants, hazards caused by Bayer products, and accidents in Bayer plants.
The complaint is based on the aftermath of the huge explosion at Bayer's US facilities in Institute/US last year. According to a US Congress investigation faulty safety systems, significant shortcomings with the emergency procedures and a lack of employee training led to the catastrophe. The region narrowly escaped a catastrophe that could have surpassed the 1984 Bhopal disaster. The investigation continues: "Evidence obtained by the committee demonstrates that Bayer engaged in a campaign of secrecy by withholding critical information from local, county and state emergency responders; by restricting the use of information provided to federal investigators; by undermining news outlets and citizen groups concerned about the dangers posed by Bayer's activities; and by providing inaccurate and misleading information to the public."
Philipp Mimkes from the Coalition against Bayer Dangers adds: “These findings prove that Bayer systematically violates various principles of the Global Compact, such as principle 7 (Precautionary environmental protection), Principle 8 (Specific commitment to environmental protection) and Principle 9 (Diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies). Bayer´s policies do not comply with the Compact's principles on the environment and thereby are harmful to the credibility of the programme. We therefore urge the UN to exclude Bayer from the Global Compact.”
In the 1980s, the Institute factory belonged to Union Carbide and was regarded as the "sister plant" to the infamous factory in Bhopal, India where in December 1984 thirty tons of MIC leaked and at least 15,000 people died. Today, nowhere else in the United States such large quantities of MIC are produced and stored.
The complete letter to the Global Compact: www.cbgnetwork.de/3000.html
Please also see the analysis BAYER and the UN Global Compact: www.cbgnetwork.de/271.html
Coalition against BAYER Dangers
www.CBGnetwork.org
![](/img/maillink.gif)
Tel: (+49) 211-333 911 Fax: (+49) 211-333 940
please send an e-mail for receiving the English newsletter Keycode BAYER free of charge
Advisory Board
Prof. Juergen Junginger, designer, Krefeld,
Prof. Dr. Juergen Rochlitz, chemist, former member of the Bundestag, Burgwald
Wolfram Esche, attorney, Cologne
Dr. Sigrid Müller, pharmacologist, Bremen
Eva Bulling-Schroeter, member of the Bundestag, Berlin
Prof. Dr. Anton Schneider, biologist, Neubeuern
Dr. Janis Schmelzer, historian, Berlin
Dr. Erika Abczynski, pediatrician, Dormagen
Please help us. Our international campaigns are expensive to run. We receive no public support and depend entirely on your donations.
Please send checks to:
CBG, Postfach 15 04 18, 40081 Duesseldorf, Germany
or by bank transfer to bank account number 8016 533 000 at GLS Bank, Germany
sort code: 430 609 67
BIC/SWIFT Code: GENODEM1GLS
(Bank Identifier Code)
IBAN: DE88 4306 0967 8016 5330 00
(International Bank Account Number)
Please note that bank transfers within Europe are usually no more costly than within your own country, if you quote the BIC and IBAN numbers
The Coalition against Bayer Dangers. (CBGnetwork)
e-mail:
CBGnetwork@aol.com
Homepage:
http://www.CBGnetwork.org