600 people gathering in Cluj-Napoca Romania at the Nyéléni Europe Forum for Food Sovereignty call for a stop to corporate abuse and call on their governments to support a binding UN treaty to make transnational corporations (TNCs) – including agribusiness giants and their financiers – accountable for human rights abuses.
Enough is enough! More than three people were killed a week in 2015 defending their land, forests and rivers against destructive industries and corporations. In total, this meant 185 known deaths – by far the highest toll on record and a 59% increase from 2014.
Violence, evictions, intimidation, and the criminalisation of struggles have become common practices used by TNCs - including big agribusiness corporations, local elites and governments. This violence is linked to the privatisation of nature, the concentration of land and the increased corporate control of the food chain.The industrial food system exploits agricultural and food workers, especially those who are undocumented or have no formal rights to their land.
The binding UN treaty on transnational corporations and human rights is a step towards remedying such harm. This week, from October 24-28, at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, governments around the world have the chance to support a binding treaty to hold corporations to account for human rights abuses - it's time for them to act. European states must negotiate actively and constructively towards a #BindingTreaty to #StopCorporateAbuse
Cluj-Napoca, 27th October 2016