The London Olympics risks being toxically tainted by its links to companies responsible for global pollution, environmentalists and human rights campaigners have warned.
Games organisers have rejected grave concerns over the involvement of Dow Chemical and oil giant BP in the 2012 Olympics.
Amnesty International condemned the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) decision today to reject the India Olympic Association’s call to terminate Dow Chemical’s sponsorship deal with the London Games.
Some estimates put the death toll as high as 25,000 and the Bhopal factory site continues to be heavily contaminated to this day.
Union Carbide denied it was at fault, claiming that its factory equipment had been sabotaged.
Dow bought Union Carbide in 2001 and while Amnesty does not suggest they were directly culpable it argues that Dow has overall responsibility.
Amnesty International head of business and human rights Seema Joshi said: “When Dow bought Union Carbide, it bought liability for the Bhopal disaster.
“As the 100 per cent owner of Union Carbide, Dow has the power to force its subsidiary to face justice and has responsibility for the clean-up of the Bhopal site.”
“Unbelievably the IOC says Dow is committed to ‘good corporate governance’ – shocking when you consider all the facts and that the company denies liability for a corporate disaster on the scale of Bhopal, creating a toxic legacy for London 2012.”
She said Olympic organisers had repeatedly refused to meet them to discuss their concerns.
They argue that the Deepwater Horizon disaster, BP’s fossil fuel extraction activities and involvement in tar sands extraction mean it is “one of the least sustainable companies on Earth.”
UK Tar Sands Network co-founder Jess Worth said: “The choice of BP as Sustainability Partner for the London 2012 Olympics sounds like a sick joke considering its record of environmental devastation around the world.
“There’s clearly an urgent need for the Olympics organisers to broaden their definition of ‘sustainability’ and start applying it to their choice of sponsor.”
Green MLA Jenny Jones told the Star: “It looks as if the Games organisers are selling their feel-good brand name to anyone with a big cheque book.
“Companies like Dow Chemicals and BP are hoping to benefit from people’s positive feelings towards the Olympics, but there is a real danger that the Olympics are being tainted by association.”
The IOC and London Olympic organisers Locog did not respond to requests for comment.
Food giant McDonald’s is threatening to turn part of the Olympic Games into an Apprentice-style gamble for jobs for youngsters: here.
Right-wing politicians and news outlets raced today to run down a union boss who dared to say the Olympics might be a good time to show the world the wreckage of Con-Dem Britain: here. And here.
Big-name links with the 2012 London Olympics were in the spotlight again today after an anti-poverty charity claimed that foreign workers making clothes for “official sportswear partner” Adidas are slaving away on illegally low wages: here.
In ancient Greece the Olympic games took place in a wooded valley, lined with statues and temples to Zeus: here.
New Leaks Reveal Dow Spying on Yes Men, Bhopal Activists: here.
Hundreds of BP signs across London were targeted by activists today protesting against the company’s role as “sustainability partner” of the London 2012 Olympic Games: here.
Dave Sewell names and shames the Olympics’ fat cat sponsors—and the contractors pocketing millions of pounds of government cash from the project: here.
PRIVATE companies are being paid tens of millions of pounds of public money to train apprentices with no inspections or checks taking place and little scrutiny over how the money is spent. Last night’s BBC Panorama: The Great Apprentice Scandal found that nearly £250m worth of contracts went to large subcontractors in 2011 which are not subjected to inspection by Ofsted or any other organisation: here.
We arrive at a spot where water tanks have been provided for birds during the dry season, which in the Gambia roughly coincides with the European winter and spring.
This video is called A look at the BirdLife Nepal project on ecosystem services.
Some items from elsewhere:
The pacific islands of Mauke and Mangaia have been identfied as Important Bird Areas and Key Biodiversity Areas by Te Ipukarea Society (BirdLife in the Cook Islands) and BirdLife International. Programme Manager Jacqui Evans recently travelled to the two islands to raise awareness in the community about the importance to the world of their unique and threatened species: here.
A bunch of 40 energetic kids from Nabukelevu, on the Fijian island of Kadavu recently completed a two day eco-camp organized by the BirdLife International Fiji Programme. “These children are our future, and it’s what they believe now that can change our tomorrow”, said BirdLife’s Miliana Ravuso: here.
All Forest & Bird (BirdLife in New Zealand) members, bird enthusiasts and Kiwi kids are being encouraged to get behind the inaugural Kereru Count this month: here.
The fifth North American Ornithological Conference will take place this August at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada: here.
With the help of lightweight bird-tracking technology, researchers followed young birds as they left the nest, and found they don’t always go where one might think. Read article in Living Bird magazine online here.
USA: The Lab’s Celebrate Urban Birds program brought kids from cities around the country to participate in workshops connecting art, nature, and conservation. They tried new art techniques, explored career paths in conservation and science, took bird walks, learned about video production and editing, and more. See photos and read comments here.
The nocturnal calls of Black-capped Petrels Pterodroma hasitata have guided Haitian researchers to discover more nesting locations for this Endangered seabird: here.
As Denmark has taken over the Presidency of the EU, BirdLife Europe, together with DOF/ BirdLife in Denmark, has produced a new issue of its bi-annual publication “Greening Europe”, highlighting BirdLife Europe’s EU policy priorities for the upcoming six months, and providing Denmark with ‘five keys to a successful Presidency’: here.
Emergency conservation work pays off: Zino’s Petrel bounces back! Zino’s Petrel was Europe’s rarest seabird even before a ravaging wild fire hit the heart of Madeira’s central massif, where this globally endangered bird breeds: here.
Support the protection of Ulcinj Salina, Montenegro: sign the petition! Ulcinj Salina is an important Important Bird Area (IBA) on the Adriatic flyway in Montenegro. The whole area belongs to a private salt company of which its owner now announced plans to convert 15 km2 of basins from salt production into a touristic development complex with hotels and golf terrains. Contrary to the expectations, the Government of Montenegro has given its approval for implementing this plan: here.
Near the Darwin Field Station in Abuko Reserve, a red colobus monkey mother with her baby eats the last leaves, that species’ preferred food, off some branches. After the last leaf is eaten, they move away.
German President Wulff will speak at 11 am and maybe resign
10:17 17 FEB 2012
(AGI) Berlin – The crisis in Germany’s Cabinet is witnessing a dramatic acceleration. German President Christian Wulff announced that he will be making a statement at 11 o’clock this morning in which, according to many observers, he will probably resign. On Wednesday evening, the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Hannover opened an investigation on the President in a case of abuse of public office: he is charged with having obtained a 500,000 Euro loan from an entrepreneur friend of his at a favorable 4% interest rate. The last straw was represented by the news that he had stayed 3 nights at a hotel in the Sylte Islands at 258 Euros a night, again paid by another entrepreneur acquaintance who Wulff claims he paid back in cash. . .
Wulff only recently became President of Germany. His predecessor Köhler, a conservative CDU party man like Wulff, had been forced to resign. Not because of corruption, but because he had told the truth about the big business real reasons for the Afghan war.
