Tuesday 16 February 2010

Global Bankers Pilfer 'Climate Camp' Name

In November 2006 the Oxford-based campaign group Corporate Watch published an critique of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), which described it as,


"a direct response by corporations to anti-corporate activism and the damage to reputations campaigns were able to cause. It represents a success for corporations in resurrecting their public image and colonising the issue space around the social and environmental impacts of business."

An example of CSR's colonisation of the 'issue space' of envionmental and anti-capitalist activism is the unbelievable decision of the largest foreign bank in Vietnam, HSBC, working with the NGO World Wildlife Fund, to misappropriate the name 'Climate Camp' from activist groups in Canada, Denmark, France, Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, England, Scotland and Wales:

HSBC and WWF partner to respond to climate change

HSBC Bank (Vietnam) Ltd. (HSBC Vietnam) and WWF Vietnam have partnered to launch the ‘HSBC and WWF take action on Climate Change Program’, or ‘Climate Camp’, to raise awareness of HSBC staff on the impact of climate change in Vietnam.

The next three months, Climate Camp will raise awareness of global warming among all 1,000 of HSBC staff in Vietnam, as well as provide specialized training to a selected group of staff, through lectures, interactive exercises and field trips. Moreover, it is hoped that Climate Camp will drive them to initiate action plans to respond to climate change in Vietnam, in both their private and professional lives.

The first module of the program will be held this week through two seminars on climate change in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The focus of the programmer will be field trips to visit areas with which have already felt the impacts of climate change and observe WWF’s conservation work, at Tram Chim National Park in the Mekong Delta, scheduled to happen in March.

Ms Trine Glue-Doan, WWF Vietnam Governance and Climate Change Advisor, says, “Climate Camp is a great opportunity to educate and engage the entire HSBC workforce in learning about climate change, its impact on nature and people, and empower participants to respond to climate change.”

“The effects of climate change are already being felt here in Vietnam, where the average temperature has increased by 0.5 degrees celcius in the last 50 years. Storms and flooding are increasing in severity and frequency as a result.” Ms. Glue Doan continues.

Climate Camp is part of wider ranging efforts by both WWF and HSBC to address climate change. It acts as a focus in HSBC’s environmental protection program and furthers extensive WWF education outlets, such as Earth Hour. The camp also reflects HSBC’s commitment in supporting the community where the bank operates.

One of HBBC Vietnam's corporate clients is Formosa Industries Corp (FIC), which is wholly owned by Formosa Plastics Group, Taiwan’s largest industrial conglomerate and one of Asia’s biggest petrochemical groups. FIC's investments in Vietnam include a coal-fired power plant...

You really couldn't make this shit up!

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