17.11.2014 Views

Pitfalls and Pipelines - Philippine Indigenous Peoples Links

Pitfalls and Pipelines - Philippine Indigenous Peoples Links

Pitfalls and Pipelines - Philippine Indigenous Peoples Links

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

Chapter 2.3: International Advocacy with Companies <strong>and</strong> Their Investors<br />

181<br />

That may well be the result of advocacy with investors, but do<br />

not consider it a likely starting point, especially if the investor<br />

will lose money through the sale. The investors may need to<br />

be persuaded they will lose more money at a later point, if the<br />

project is a disaster or the community campaign is a big success.<br />

Also bear in mind that an active campaign, even if does<br />

not appear to be influencing current investors, can also work<br />

to scare off potential investors.<br />

Examples of the effective use of direct advocacy shared<br />

in the 2009 Manila Conference included campaigning with<br />

Barrick Gold over the Porgera Joint Venture project. Jeffery<br />

Simon of the AKALI TANGE Association <strong>and</strong> Porgera Alliance<br />

highlighted visits of Porgera l<strong>and</strong>owners to New York <strong>and</strong><br />

Toronto. Evidence around Porgera took center stage in<br />

Canadian Parliamentary hearings on a private member’s bill,<br />

C-300, which was attempting to ensure better regulation of<br />

Canadian mining companies through restricted financing for<br />

mining companies accused of human rights <strong>and</strong> environmental<br />

abuses. 15 Legborsi Saro Pyagbara 16 drew attention to the<br />

long-st<strong>and</strong>ing shareholder actions being undertaken in both<br />

the UK <strong>and</strong> the Netherl<strong>and</strong>s, given Shell’s joint listing, which<br />

has included collaboration with a shareholder activist group<br />

leading to two shareholder resolutions, fact finding visits <strong>and</strong><br />

published information in reports for shareholders. 17<br />

Another option open to campaigners is to report the company<br />

to the relevant stock exchange or company regulators<br />

in an effort to have them delisted (i.e., prevented from trading<br />

on the exchange). For this strategy to work it is important<br />

to record, <strong>and</strong> produce evidence of, any false or fraudulent<br />

information the company may be publishing. The regulatory<br />

authority will concentrate on evidence of obvious wrongdoing<br />

or illegality, although it is worth researching the rules of<br />

the stock exchange to underst<strong>and</strong> the options. 18 Even if the<br />

complaint fails, it may provide campaigners in the home<br />

country with evidence to pressure the government to implement<br />

stronger st<strong>and</strong>ards to regulate its extractive companies<br />

working overseas. 19

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!