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See also the following sections of this website:

• World Social Forum (Porto Alegre, Brazil)

Websites:

World Economic Forum (Davos) website

Forum News Daily (a publication of the World Economic Forum and The Earth Times Foundation)

Other materials:

2003:

Capitalism Must Develop More of a Conscience -...Business has to work hand in hand with governments and civil society in employing its capabilities and its know-how in the fight against poverty, AIDS and all the other issues on the global agenda that undermine the dignity of life and threaten our very existence. (Klaus Schwab, President of World Economic Forum, in Newsweek, 24 Feb. 2003)

Balancing Trade Rules, the Environment and Sustainable Development -...AllAfrica's Akwe Amosu probed these issues with Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egziabher, the General Manager of the Environmental Protection Authority of Ethiopia. (AllAfrica.com, 1 Feb. 2003)

Public Eye on Davos takes stock -...The Public Eye on Davos, in the spirit of transparency and open dialogue invited Phil Knight, CEO of Nike, and Lord Browne, CEO of BP, to share their views with civil society within the Public Eye. Both corporations have representatives attending the WEF, but they failed to attend the Public Eye. (Friends of the Earth, 28 Jan. 2003)

A global right to know - A new report by a coalition of environmental, labor and human rights groups...argues for an international right to know...they want large companies that are traded on U.S. stock exchanges and have significant international operations to be required to disclose information that could affect the communities in which they operate...The idea of an international right to know is a creative new approach, and for the companies a not particularly burdensome one. (New York Times, in International Herald Tribune, 24 Jan. 2003)

Davos, Shell - Can industries be trusted? [South Africa] -...Shell's contradictory record in south Durban, South Africa, speaks volumes for its "commitment". Here Shell continues its usual practice of dumping pollution on communities due to poor operational systems, misrepresenting information to the public, withholding information from the public and suffering worker injuries...FoE [Friends of the Earth] South Africa raises concerns at the Public Eye on Davos about the reality that multi-nationals like Shell are not being held accountable for their environmental and human rights abuses in the South. (Friends of the Earth South Africa, 24 Jan. 2003)

• company website: Shell in Southern Africa (Shell)

The Public Eye on Davos 2003 - International Conference - Davos/Switzerland, 23-27 January 2003 - NGO experts, academics and political representatives from the global North and South will provide a critical analysis of corporate-driven globalization and present alternatives towards more equitable and sustainable world economic policies. (Public Eye on Davos, International Conference, 23-27 Jan. 2003)

Irene Khan's [Amnesty International Secretary-General Irene Khan] Speech at the World Economic Forum, Davos -...We will now campaign for legal accountability of corporations for human rights under international law...Of course, companies tell us we should trust them, that their voluntary principles will do the trick. But in reality it took violence and unrest around oil pipelines and oil installations in Nigeria, Colombia and Indonesia to bring oil companies in the US, UK and now Norway and the Netherlands to endorse voluntary principles for the use of security forces in the extractive industry. It was fear of a consumer boycott and concerted effort by NGOs that led governments and industry to put in place the Kimberly process for international certification of diamonds so that conflict diamonds could be eradicated.  Voluntary codes are important but Amnesty International is convinced that voluntarism alone is not enough. (Irene Khan, Secretary-General, Amnesty International, speech delivered to the World Economic Forum, Davos, 23 Jan. 2003)

Business and Human Rights: Towards legal accountability - Properly understood, international law in this area would complement - not replace - enforcement at national level. International human rights standards would provide a benchmark against which national legal systems could be assessed....the UN, governments and companies should support the work of the UN Sub-Commission (the expert body referred to above) to agree draft Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations. This text ought to be agreed in the near future...Amnesty International believes that the United Nations needs to put in place a mechanism that would allow for public scrutiny of companies' human rights performance. (David Petrasek, Senior Director of Policy, Amnesty International, speech delivered to "Public Eye on Davos" conference, 23 Jan. 2003)

Amnesty warns of Russian corruption - The human rights organisation, Amnesty International, is warning companies doing business in Russia to be on the alert for serious violations of human rights. Amnesty chose the setting of the World Economic Forum in Davos to launch a booklet called: "Doing Business in the Russian Federation: The Human Rights Approach". (Stephen Dalziel, BBC News, 23 Jan. 2003)

press release: Coalition Tells World Economic Forum: Building Trust Requires Disclosure - New Report Highlights U.S. Multinationals' Shameful Human Rights, Environmental and Labor Records - a coalition of environmental, development, labor and human rights groups today released a joint report entitled "International Right to Know: Empowering Communities Through Corporate Transparency."  The report documents the irresponsible environmental, labor and human rights practices committed by ExxonMobil, Nike, McDonald's, Unocal, Doe Run, Freeport McMoRan and Newmont Mining. (AFL-CIO, Amnesty International USA, EarthRights International, Friends of the Earth-US, Global Exchange, Oxfam America, Sierra Club, Working Group on Community Right to Know, 22 Jan. 2003)

• full report: International Right to Know: Empowering Communities Through Corporate Transparency (AFL-CIO, Amnesty International USA, EarthRights International, Friends of the Earth-US, Global Exchange, Oxfam America, Sierra Club, Working Group on Community Right to Know, Jan. 2003)

• company websites:
  • ExxonMobil
  • Freeport McMoRan
  • McDonald's
  • Newmont Mining
  • Nike
  • Unocal

Comment: A fair trade - On the eve of the World Economic Forum meeting, Salil Shetty, the head of ActionAid, explains how global security depends on building trust with the poor -...ActionAid believes that rich nations and corporations face growing insecurity unless they win more trust from people in poor countries through new measures to help to increase fairness and justice. (Salil Shetty, Director of ActionAid, in Guardian [UK], 22 Jan. 2003)

Pressure Groups Target the Private Banks Behind Corporate Misdeeds - As the World Economic Forum meets to discuss how to restore trust in corporations, Friends of the Earth (FoE) and other leading environmental, human rights, development and labor groups will launch the Collevecchio Declaration on Financial Institutions and Sustainability as a challenge to big banks and investors (Friends of the Earth, 21 Jan. 2003)

Davos versus Porto Alegre, Round Three - Policy-makers world- wide have a real opportunity to start building a sustainable world by shifting the spotlight from corporate interests highlighted at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, (January 23-28) to the priorities emphasized by civil society representatives meeting here during the same days for the third World Social Forum, according to Friends of the Earth International. (Friends of the Earth, 15 Jan. 2003)

2002:

Johannesburg Summit: A New Framework for Business Engagement -...Business could and should be a strong partner in safeguarding the environment, reducing poverty, raising education standards and improving health...But business today, following the collapse of Enron and other corporate scandals of fraud and greed, is losing its credibility as a trustworthy partner. (Klaus Schwab, President of the World Economic Forum, on Earth Times website, 15 Aug. 2002)

CEOs pledge no less than 20 per cent of philanthropic budgets to ICT [information and communications technology] for development: Microsoft Joins Hewlett Packard, Equitable Cardnetwork, Masreya, MIH Group, Vivendi Universal as Signatory of CEO Charter for Digital Development - At a special meeting of the General Assembly today, Microsoft announced its commitment to pledge no less than 20 per cent of its philanthropic budget to information and communications technology (ICT) for development under the CEO Charter for Digital Development, a recent initiative by the World Economic Forum. (United Nations, 17 June 2002)

• TECHNOLOGY: U.N. Calls On Rich, Poor To Bridge Digital Gap (UN Wire, 19 June 2002)

Human rights and accountability -...At the World Economic Forum, I was given a prominent role on various panels with business leaders who were keen to hear about human rights. At the same time, there were demonstrations outside and I'm sure there were Amnesty people in those demonstrations. We didn't see a contradiction, because we felt there was room for both ways of approaching business. We find the oil companies in Europe more open to dialogue than those in the US. Amnesty USA has been trying to have a dialogue with ExxonMobil on their human rights practices for some time and has made no headway, so they bought some shares and went into their recent AGM and tried to put pressure on that way. (comments by Irene Khan, Secretary-General of Amnesty International, in article by Alison Maitland, Financial Times, 13 June 2002)

Viewpoint: Labor Missed a Big Opportunity at the World Economic Forum (David Pratt, Labor Notes, Mar. 2002)

The Poor Speak Up: Leaders of the developing world are rising up with a strength not seen since Tito, Nasser and Nehru, challenging the rules of globalization as defined by both Western governments and Western activists (Rana Foroohar, Newsweek International, 12 Feb. 2002)

The Whole World Was Watching: New York Stages a Peaceful Protest Against the World Economic Forum (Kenny Bruno, CorpWatch, 6 Feb. 2002)

Annan urges business leaders to lead fight against Third World poverty:..."Think of ways that your company can help mobilise global science and technology to tackle the interlocking crises of hunger, disease, environmental degradation and conflict that are holding back the developing world," he told the World Economic Forum. (AFP, in Business Recorder [Pakistan], 5 Feb. 2002)

World Economic Forum: It's a wrap - Friends of the Earth International today called on members of the World Economic Forum (WEF) leaving the annual meeting in New York to respond urgently to the challenge of global business accountability - and meet their social and environmental responsibilities...Friends of the Earth issued their challenge inside the WEF with a personal letter to every business participant to support global rules for corporations (Friends of the Earth, 5 Feb. 2002)

Citizen CEO: The WEF's Corporate Moguls Debate Their Role as Unelected World Leaders (Lenora Todaro, Village Voice [New York], 5 Feb. 2002)

Global Witness: Labor Presents Its Case to WEF [World Economic Forum] (Tom Robbins, Village Voice [New York], 5 Feb. 2002)

UN's Annan Warns Not to Punish Poor for Being Poor: Declaring globalization could backfire on the world economy, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned business leaders on Monday they ignored the billions of poor in the world at their peril. (Evelyn Leopold, Financial Times, 5 Feb. 2002)

The bottom line is hope: Companies must take the lead in ensuring that globalisation benefits the many, not just the few, says Kofi Annan (Kofi Annan, Financial Times, 4 Feb. 2002)

Corporate Leaders Discuss Social Role: Corporate leaders have an obligation as global citizens to play a larger role on the world stage, but they need to understand that this role requires them to perform a difficult – and sometimes thankless – balancing act. [panel including CEOs of Microsoft, Renault, Toshiba, Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank] (World Economic Forum, 4 Feb. 2002)

Corporate Citizenship “Is Not a Luxury”: Corporate social responsibility makes good business sense, but companies must balance the goal of good citizenship placed upon them by society with the traditional aim of profitability required by shareholders. That was the consensus of a panel of global business leaders at a plenary session on corporate citizenship. (World Economic Forum, 4 Feb. 2002)

Q&A: Bridging the Divide - ‘We should not be talking about profits but about people’ -...NEWSWEEK’s Jennifer Barrett spoke with Secretary-General Khan [Amnesty International Secretary-General Irene Khan] about what she hoped to achieve at the World Economic Forum meeting, and whether fellow participants were receptive to her message. (Jennifer Barrett interview of Irene Khan, Newsweek, 4 Feb. 2002)

Companies pledge better 'corporate citizenship': Leaders of 36 international companies will today issue a "corporate citizenship" statement [drawn up by a taskforce of World Economic Forum chief executives], committing them to making responsible behaviour a core part of their business and to forging close links with all their stakeholders...The business leaders will say they have an important role in spreading the benefits of globalisation, that working with stakeholder groups "makes sound business sense" and that companies must move beyond philanthropy and integrate positive practices into their business strategy. (Alison Maitland, Financial Times, 4 Feb. 2002)

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: Annan Asks Participants To Join With Business - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called on participants at the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil, to make "common cause" with businesses, governments and the United Nations. He is scheduled to make a similar plea for cooperation later today to business and civic leaders meeting at the World Economic Forum in New York. (Jim Wurst, UN Wire, 4 Feb. 2002)

WEF consensus that trade more important than aid in cutting poverty, ministers say: Government ministers summing up discussion at the World Economic Forum (WEF) said there was a consensus that official aid to the Third World must increase but trade could do more to reduce poverty. (AFP, 4 Feb. 2002)

Unlikely Note Is Struck on World Finance Stage - Forum: Bill Gates and Bono challenge the Treasury chief and the U.S. to boost foreign aid...The new focus on health and on environmental problems in poor countries by Gates and other wealthy philanthropists--Ted Turner and the Hewlett and Packard families, among others--has been cited by some U.S. opponents of government assistance as a more efficient and focused form of foreign aid. But Gates argued vigorously here for greatly increased aid from the United States and other official donors. (William Orme, Los Angeles Times, 3 Feb. 2002)

• Gates and Bono give voice to healthcare lobbyists: Bill Gates, the world's richest man, and Bono, the Irish rock star, joined forces on Saturday to urge governments and the private sector to boost levels of spending on global healthcare and disease prevention. (Holly Yeager & Hugh Carnegy, Financial Times, 2 Feb. 2002) 

W.E.F's [World Economic Forum's] Global Health Initiative: Business as usual while workers die of aids - Activists demand corporations provide AIDS drugs for their workers in poor countries (Health GAP Coalition, 2 Feb. 2002)

World Economic Forum: CEOs Call for Greater Corporate Engagement Against HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria Leading CEOs from the World Economic Forum’s Global Health Initiative issued an Executive Statement today as a rallying cry to the business community to fight HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria. (World Economic Forum, 2 Feb. 2002)

WORKERS: Labor Brings Witnesses to Tell of a Harsher Side to Growth - Sofía Sazo, a longtime garment worker from Guatemala, came to New York this week to tell a tale about the world economic order that the corporate chiefs attending the World Economic Forum probably do not want to hear [abusive labour practices at blouse factory that makes clothes for Gap and Polo] (Steven Greenhouse, New York Times, 1 Feb. 2002)

Survey by the World Economic Forum Confirms that Global Justice Activists have Widespread Support...The survey recently released by the World Economic Forum reconfirms that protests against global injustice have widespread support around the world. (Jobs with Justice, 1 Feb. 2002)

Parallel worlds reach informal accord: In a roundtable meeting in Paris last December, officials from the World Bank, the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organisation agreed in principle with social organisations including the World Social Forum on the need to promote "public debates on key issues of [the globalisation] conflict". (Raymond Colitt, Financial Times, 1 Feb. 2002) 

Scandinavia tops environment league table: Scandinavian countries continue to lead the way in their attention to the environment, but several other nations, including Costa Rica and Uruguay, are performing well, according to a report to be released on Monday to the annual World Economic Forum meeting. (Holly Yeager, Financial Times, 1 Feb. 2002) 

Dissent Comes in From The Cold: John Elkington on the Annual Meeting of World Economic Forum, 2002 (John Elkington, Chairman, SustainAbility, Feb. 2002)

The need for legally binding regulation of Transnational Corporations: Christian Aid policy brief for the World Economic Forum and the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Christian Aid, Feb. 2002)

{···español} Las libertades en la agenda de la globalización: A partir de hoy se celebran de forma simultánea, por segundo año consecutivo, dos grandes reuniones sobre la globalización: el Foro Económico Mundial...y el Foro Social Mundial (Joaquín Estefanía, El País, 31 Jan. 2002)

World Economic and Social Fora: The effects of globalization must be addressed and the rights of all must be protected (Amnesty International, 31 Jan. 2002)

Trade Union Statement to the World Social Forum (Porto Alegre) and the World Economic Forum (New York): Globalising Social Justice - where global governance and binding rules are beginning to emerge, it is for the purpose of protecting property rights in the interest of capital rather than the rights of labour (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 28 Jan. 2002)

• {···español} Declaración del Movimiento Sindical ante el Foro Social Mundial (Porto Alegre) y el Foro Económico Mundial (Nueva York)

• {···français} Déclaration du mouvement syndical à l'occasion du Forum social mondial (Porto Alegre) et du Forum économique mondial (New York)

"The Public Eye on Davos" in New York: International Conference from January 31 - February 3, 2002 - The thematic focus is on the negative impacts of a one-sided economic globalization, and alternatives to the neoliberal model that are oriented around a socially just and environmentally sustainable development. (coordinated by the Berne Declaration, 31 Jan.-3 Feb. 2002)

World Economic Forum Global Health Initiative Rallies Private Sector to Fight Against HIV, TB and Malaria (World Economic Forum, 23 Jan. 2002)

Hob-nobbing at Ground Zero: The World Economic Forum is coming to New York -...Notably missing from the list of endorsing groups for the protests are almost all mainstream global justice, environmental and labor groups (Geov Parrish, In These Times, 18 Jan. 2002)

Greenpeace will not attend Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum:...In a letter sent to WEF President Klaus Schwab [by Greenpeace]...reference was made to a joint initiative of Greenpeace and the WEF last year regarding Climate Change at Davos 2001. The CEOs of the automotive industry were invited to discuss the entry into force and the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change, but Greenpeace said that there was no follow up because of lack of co-operation on the part of the WEF (Greenpeace, 16 Jan. 2002)

World Economic Forum Protest Planned (Tom Hays, Associated Press, 12 Jan. 2002)

2001:

World Economic Forum Annual Meeting Moves from Davos to New York for 2002: "Davos in New York" will focus on global economy, security and cultural understanding - The World Economic Forum announced today that it will hold its Annual Meeting in 2002 in New York instead of Davos, Switzerland. (World Economic Forum, 7 Nov. 2001)

G-8: Commentary Calls For "Bigger Stage" For World's New Actors - Global institutions such as the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization are failing to address the challenges of the new century, Klaus Schwab, founder and chair of the World Economic Forum, wrote in Newsweek yesterday. Schwab said there is a need for a shift in global focus from the Group of Eight industrialized countries to the Group of 20, which includes Brazil, China, India, Mexico, South Africa, Turkey and other developing countries....Schwab writes that "true participatory management, involving governments, business and civil society -- the stakeholders in the global agenda -- is essential to shape a peaceful and prosperous future." (UN Wire, 31 July 2001)

The Case for Davos (Charles McClean, Director of Communications, World Economic Forum, in International Herald Tribune, 13 Feb. 2001)

The Super Rich at Davos Are the Voice of the Past (Walden Bello, Executive Director, Focus on the Global South, in International Herald Tribune, 9 Feb. 2001)

Opening gambit without strategy (Larry Elliott, Guardian Unlimited, 29 Jan. 2001)

Internet insults traded globally [internet debate between participants of the World Economic Forum in Davos and the World Social Forum in Brazil] (Tom Gibb, BBC News, 29 Jan. 2001)

UN chief warns business (Orla Ryan, BBC News, 28 Jan. 2001)

28 January Statement by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan [about globalisation, business and human rights, and the UN Global Compact]: Address to the World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland (United Nations, 28 Jan. 2001)

Kofi Annan Says People Do Not Wish to Reverse Globalization but They Aspire to a Different and Better Kind Than We Have Today (Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, 28 Jan. 2001)

Companies still far from internalizing responsibility (Frank Vogl, Forum News Daily, 28 Jan. 2001)

The world's poor need a fair deal, not handouts (David Smith, The Sunday Times [UK], 28 Jan. 2001)

Globalization Foes Have Their Say: Poor Countries Unleash a Barrage of Criticism at Davos Forum (Tom Buerkle and Alan Friedman, International Herald Tribune, 27 Jan. 2001)

'Anti-Davos' Forum Is Another Sign of a Sea Change (William Pfaff, International Herald Tribune, 27 Jan. 2001)

Debating globalisation (Richard McCormick, President of International Chamber of Commerce; Barry Coates, Director, World Development Movement, BBC News, 26 Jan. 2001)

Anti-globalization protesters are modern-day Luddites - ICC President (International Chamber of Commerce, 26 Jan. 2001)

Davos Forum's Environmental Sustainability Index "Deeply Flawed" (Friends of the Earth, 26 Jan. 2001)

• {···français: Davos tente de nous manipuler en publiant l'indice du développement durable}

Where the great, the good and the angry converge (Derek Brown, Guardian Unlimited, 25 Jan. 2001)

Global unions to push social agenda in Davos (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 24 Jan. 2001)

Is shareholder value the only consideration for companies (Robert E. Sullivan, Earth Times News Service, 2 Jan. 2001)

2000:

Davos? No, Porto Alegre (Ignacio Ramonet, Le Monde diplomatique, Aug. 2000)

• {···français}  Davos? Non, Porto Alegre (Ignacio Ramonet, Le Monde diplomatique, Aug. 2000)