Alekia Gill explores how large corporations exploit the resources of our planet, limit access to essentials and widen the wealth gap.
Photo by: Pepi Stojanovski
On the list of UN-defined basic human rights is access to safe water, food, and a clean environment. By exploiting the planet’s natural resources, corporations make increased profits whilst limiting the supply of these basics.
Seeking to financially gain from public resources, they move dangerously close to full monopolisation and privatisation of supplies.
Corruption within the water industry
Very little of the earth’s surface water is drinkable, and even this small percentage is at stake due to climate change, pollution and the impact of corporations on its accessibility. In 2020, it was discovered that multinational food company Nestle, which owns around 80 water brands, had taken 25% of its water ‘withdrawals’ from water-stressed areas.
At the start of the millennium, companies at the UN Global Compact agreed to implement ten principles which would encourage them to meet ‘fundamental responsibilities in human rights, labour, environment, and anti-corruption’. They were later called to ‘address global water challenges’ through six commitment areas. Included were the tracking and assessment of water usage; awareness of water sustainability when making business decisions, and collective action with governments and public authorities.
One specific commitment entails outreach towards local communities in which the business operates. Nestle is one of two hundred companies that endorsed this mandate, yet they have arguably put the health of their consumers at risk. They most recently came under fire for the low sanitary quality of their mineral waters, and for adding up to six grams of sugar—per each serving—to their infant food products in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Did you know? Only approximately 3% of water on Earth is fresh, and only 0.5% is ‘available’ as fresh water.
The exploitation of seeds and forests
When companies own a large share of public resources, they pose a risk to smaller businesses, as most of the stock is in their control. Monsanto—now owned by Bayer—is an agrochemical company who once owned more than eighty percent of all the genetically modified seeds in the world. In 2013, the US Supreme court ruled that patented seeds could not be re-planted by farmers after harvest, without the rights owners’ permission. This meant that farmers would have to pay for new seeds every season, eradicating the concept of ‘Farm Saved Seed’. If seeds are patented and owned by only a few companies, prices rise and genetic diversity falls.
At the hands of capitalist ventures and political entanglements, forests have also fallen victim to exploitation and eradication. Brazilian President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has vowed to take protective measures regarding the Amazon rainforest, following widespread deforestation under previous leader, Jair Bolsonaro. The Amazon Rainforest is on the brink of irreversibly drying out if deforestation is not prevented now. Yet the question remains—who can we trust to preserve the planet's natural resources, if doing so goes against the wishes of those at the top?
“Lula, who took office on 1 January this year, has pledged to end illegal logging after deforestation soared to a 15-year high during the Bolsonaro years” Guardian
Conclusion
Organisations such as the UN and WHO have guidelines in place to ensure companies operate without harm to communities or individual members of the public. However, even when companies start to comply with these measures, it could be argued that their activism is performative, and their strategies are simply greenwashing. One may wonder whether these companies have a responsibility to uphold moral standards in their products, especially when they are not only human rights but necessities, such as water. When profit is chiefly prioritised, those who suffer are those most in need of these products, namely the vulnerable masses of society.
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