NORTON META TAG

20 August 2015

Dove. Lipton. Knorr. UNILEVER, FOODDRINKEUROPE AND THE TTIP 20AUG15

UNILEVER (maker of Dove, Lipton and Knorr products) is one of the big multi-national corporations who tries to do the right thing. Yet they also belong to fooddrinkeurope, an industry group who fights against many of the policies Unilever promotes and practices. As consumers we can and do influence corporate policies. Please see the below from +Us @ SumOfUs and sign the petition calling on Unilever to end their membership in fooddrinkeurope and oppose the ttip .....

Multinational corporations like Nestlé and Coca-Cola are alarmingly powerful on their own. Now imagine the weight of an organisation that represents the interests of a dozen of these mega-corporations. May I introduce you to FoodDrinkEurope.
FoodDrinkEurope is known for its efforts to squash consumer-friendly labels on foods and drinks -- and now it is lobbying hard for a massive trade deal between the US and EU (called TTIP) that would increase its power even more.
Not all members of FoodDrinkEurope are bad news though. In fact, one of its biggest members, Unilever, spends huge amounts of resources to help fight climate change. Unilever makes a ton of things you probably buy, from ice cream to toiletries, and it claims to have made sustainability a primary concern. So what is it doing being a member of a nefarious organisation like FoodDrinkEurope?
If we all come together and push Unilever to take its own claims seriously, we can get it to take a stance against TTIP and leave FoodDrinkEurope -- resulting in a major setback for the pro-TTIP lobby group.
Call on Unilever to take action against climate change by quitting TTIP lobbying group FoodDrinkEurope.
One of the reasons we urgently need to stop TTIP and destroy the power of those lobbying hard for the deal is that TTIP would spell disaster for our climate.
 
Here’s what’s on the table: Europe would increase US fossil fuel imports -- resulting in more fracking in the US, an increased reliance on fossil fuels in the EU and more climate emissions across the board. And that’s not all.
 
TTIP invites fossil fuel companies to sue governments for trying to tackle climate change.
 
Similar rules in other trade deals have allowed Swedish energy company Vattenfall to sue Germany for phasing out nuclear power and replacing it with renewables. In a secret court, the company is demanding a whopping 4.7 billion Euros in compensation. 
 
It's crystal clear: if TTIP succeeds, our climate will suffer. So what is Unilever, a company with a real commitment to fighting climate change, doing spending time with a lobby group that is working to pass TTIP? 
 
 
Unilever’s CEO knows what’s at stake: “The effects of climate change threaten us all, with expected impacts hitting the poorest people and communities the hardest.”
 
He is right. If we want to save this planet and its people, we urgently need to curb greenhouse gas emissions. 
 
Unilever has invested too much in its image as a climate-saviour to lose its credibility now.
 
If we point our fingers to Unilever’s support of the climate-destroying trade deal, we can get it to drop its lobby association FoodDrinkEurope.
 
And that would be a big deal: Unilever is one of its biggest members, an exit would seriously damage FoodDrinkEurope’s credibility -- forcing it to reconsider its TTIP lobby efforts. 
 
We know that despite its claims, sometimes Unilever gets it badly wrong -- SumOfUs members are campaigning right now to call on the company to compensate victims of its mercury poisoning disaster in India. If we all come together to hold the consumer goods giant accountable to its claims, we can push it to protect workers and the planet.
 
Thanks for all that you do,
Kaytee, Wiebke, Hannah and the team at SumOfUs


More information:
TTIP aim to lift US oil export ban goes against climate targets, The Guardian, July 3rd, 2015
Unilever releases first-of-its-kind Human Rights Report, Unilever, June 30th, 2015

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