Foreign ministry drops Glencore and other controversial sponsors
“Mining is currently so controversial that a partnership with Glencore cannot generate a positive image transfer,” Nicolas Bideau, head of Presence Switzerland, a foreign ministry unit that promotes Swiss interests, told the NZZ am SonntagExternal link.
The ministry has implemented stricter guidelines for
promoting companies abroad after it was criticised in 2019 for planning to
include tobacco product producer Philip Morris as a Swiss pavilion sponsor at
the World Exhibition in Dubai.
Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis also felt the heat in 2019
after visiting and praising a Glencore-run copper mine in Zambia.
Glencore, based in Baar in central Switzerland, said it was
surprised by the decision.
“In 2017 and 2018 we worked together with the Swiss
government, commodity companies and non-governmental organisations on the Swiss
Guidance for the Implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and
Human Rights in the Extractive Sector,” the company’s spokesman said in a
statement to Bloomberg News.
In the comparative analysis of the Responsible Mining
Foundation, “Glencore achieved very good results in March 2020 with regard to
due diligence and transparency in commodity trading”, he said.
The government has cut its list of private sector partners
from 83 last year to 36, the NZZ am Sonntag reported.
Other companies affected by the stricter sponsorship
practices include arms manufacturer – and official supplier to the Swiss army –
Ruag and chocolate maker Läderach, whose chief executive is an evangelical
Christian and opposes same-sex marriage and a woman’s right to have an
abortion. Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) dropped Läderach last year.
Two years ago Läderach sponsored a “Soirée Suisse” at the
Swiss embassy in Paris.
“If Switzerland’s image suffers, its prosperity also
suffers,” Bideau said.
Comments
Post a Comment