CO3 is a London-based ‘corporate social responsibility’ (CSR) consultancy which represents multinational corporations including mining company Vedanta Resources.
Survival has called on CO3 to resign its account with Vedanta over the mining company’s controversial plans to mine India’s Niyamgiri hills, the lands of the Dongria Kondh people. CO3 has so far refused to do so.
The Norwegian Government’s Pension Fund withdrew its investment in Vedanta following a report by their Council of Ethics that an association with Vedanta and its subsidiaries carries, ‘an unacceptable risk of complicity in present and future severe environmental damage and systematic human rights violations.’
CO3 is at risk of such complicity by continuing to provide Vedanta with ‘CSR’ services.
CO3 has publicly defended Vedanta’s plans to mine Niyamgiri, but describes itself as an ‘independent advisor’ to the company. Many multinational corporations use similar ‘independent consultancies’ to provide a veneer of respectability.
The 8,000 Dongria Kondh, one of India’s most isolated tribes, vehemently oppose the mine, saying it will end their way of life forever. Vedanta plans to turn the Dongria’s sacred mountain into a vast open cast mine, which will destroy a swathe of untouched forest. The Dongria Kondh have lived in the Niyamgiri Hills since time immemorial, and are totally dependent on its forests. They grow crops on the slopes, and gather wild fruit in the dense forests.
The Dongria Kondh say that Vedanta has not consulted them about its plans to mine on their lands.
Survival’s director Stephen Corry has said, ‘People who care about human rights should boycott British companies which dispossess tribal peoples and companies representing them. That includes British consultancies like CO3, which parrots Vedanta’s denials that the Dongria Kondh people face destruction’.
CO3’s website
Vedanta’s website
PR Week: Survival targets CSR agency
CO3 comments on Survival’s Facebook page
Survival targets CSR consultancy CO3
The Dongria Kondh
Progress Can Kill
CO3 comments on Survival’s blog