Meet the Corporate Villains Sponsoring the COP21 Climate Talks
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/05/27/meet-corporate-villains-sponsoring-cop21-climate-talks
Climate justice advocates say heavy role of private sector in upcoming Paris climate negotiations is a sign that the conference has already been taken over by corporations.
Meet the Corporate Villains Sponsoring the COP21 Climate Talks
Sarah Lazare, staff writer
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Fresh revelations that yet another round of United Nations climate talksthis time the upcoming negotiations in Pariswill be sponsored by some of the very corporations driving global warming have been met with outrage and alarm that the global process continues to be "
captured by big polluters."
Pierre-Henri Guignard, Secretary-General of the UN Conference of the Parties 21 (COP21), unveiled the list of corporate sponsors on Wednesday. "We are building a very business friendly COP which will show the commitment of the private sector to the spirit of the convention," he stated.
But climate justice advocates say that by being "business friendly," the conference is, in fact, hostile to the public goodand the planet itself.
"Today's announcement of the corporate sponsors of the COP21 exposes the deep contradiction in UN COP process and their cozy relationship with the very corporations who are driving the climate crisis," Cindy Wiesner of the U.S.-based Grassroots Global Justice Alliance told Common Dreams. "The effort of these corporations to green-wash their ongoing damage of the planet in order increase profit and gain public support is offensive."