<nettime> Nautilus Institute: NEW REPORT ON HIGH TECH INDUSTRY

[Soenke Zehle <soenke.zehle@web.de>]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 17, 2002  
 
For more information contact
Lyuba Zarsky 1 510 295 6117
Nautilus Institute 
 

Economic benefits of high tech investment in developing countries
        are compromised  by environmental and health costs,
                    concludes new report
 
 
For a full copy of the report see
http://www.nautilus.org/cap/reports/DodgingDilmmas.pdf
 

(Berkeley, Calif.)  -  Despite voluntary efforts to reduce  environmental
impacts, semiconductor companies are not adequately grappling with the
environmental, health and labor impacts of  their production and assembly
operations in developing countries and global supply chains,   according to
a new report released today by the Nautilus Institute for Security and
Sustainable Development.
 
Dodging Dilemmas? Environmental and Social Accountability in the Global
Operations of California-Based High-Tech Companies, is based on case studies
in five countries -- Taiwan, Malaysia, India, Thailand, and Costa Rica.

Multinational corporations operating in any of the five countries face  both
a 'regulatory gap'-the lack of adequate local government regulation and
oversight-and an 'infrastructure gap', the lack of adequate waste management
and environmental monitoring capacity.  Companies may try to bridge the gaps
by setting their own global standards, but these bump up against differing
local realities that make even "best practice" not good enough.

"The high tech industry enjoys a reputation for being 'clean and green',
including with socially responsible investors," said Lyuba Zarsky, Senior
Fellow at the Nautilus Institute and one of the authors of the report.
"But we found plenty of evidence that the high tech industry can be   'toxic
and mean'."  

The report highlights four serious environmental and social problems:
· Highly toxic and hazardous chemicals and other materials used in
production and assembly and embodied in consumer products;
· High intensity of water and energy in production;
· Inadequate protection of workers' health and labor rights;
· Poor oversight of global supply chains.

Taiwan, for example is a hub for suppliers to top US computer makers,
including Compaq and Hewlett Packard, Dell, and IBM.  Water supplies there
for both cities and farming are highly contaminated by high tech toxics. A
group of former RCA workers have filed suit against the company, alleging
that contamination of ground and drinking water at the company's facility is
responsible for some 1375 documented cases of cancer among former workers,
including 216  deaths.

"Getting a handle  on these kinds of problems will take a coordinated
effort, starting with a willingness by the companies to honestly examine the
health and safety issues and to disclose information  to regulators and the
public "  said Naomi Roht-Arriaza, a law professor of at UC  Hastings and
one of the report's authors. "The industry won't be able to do it alone -
public policy is needed to complement and strengthen the industry's
voluntary efforts."

The report was produced for the California Global Corporate Accountability
Project, a collaboration of the Nautilus Institute for Security and
Sustainable Development, Natural Heritage Institute, and Human Rights
Advocates. For more information see http://www.nautilus.org/cap/index.html

Financial support was provided by the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund, the
MacArthur Foundation, and the Ford Foundation.
 
Dodging Dilemmas?  
Environmental and Social Accountability in the Global Operations of
California-Based High-Tech Companies
By Lyuba Zarsky, Naomi Roht-Arriza, and Leif Brottem


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lyuba Zarsky 
Director, Globalization and Governance Program
Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainable Development
125 University Avenue
Berkeley, CA  94710-1902  USA
phone:   +1 510.295-6117
fax:     +1 510.295-6130
e-mail:  LZarsky@nautilus.org
http://www.nautilus.org

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