Fatal Transactions comments on the World Investment Report 2007

On October 15th the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) published its annual World Investment Report. The World Investment Report 2007 focuses on the role of transnational corporations in extractive industries and documents their presence in many of the world’s poorest countries.

The report was presented at the Rotterdam School of Management, in the Netherlands. Fatal Transactions, together with representatives from SHELL and the South African Embassy in the Netherlands, gave a first reaction to the report. Fatal Transactions stressed the need for a deeper analysis of the social, environmental and human rights impacts that the extractive industry has on the lives of poor people working and being depending on the rich mining areas in Africa, is needed.
Soft laws and regulations are a step towards more corporate accountability but do not guarantee a just and fair division of the mining profits.
The full report is available online: www.unctad.org/wir