Olympic Protesters Target Dow's $100 Million Sponsorship
Environmental and human rights groups have taken aim at the London Olympics with a campaign focused on three of theInternational Olympic Committee’sbiggest corporate sponsorships, including its $100 million deal withDow Chemical. The “Greenwash Gold 2012″ campaign, which was unveiled today at a reception in London, targets Dow, oil giant BPand mining company Rio Tinto.
“April 16th marks the 100 day countdown to the start of the Olympics: 100 days for some of the world’s most disreputable corporations to keep using the Olympics as a smokescreen for environmental and human rights abuses the world over,” said a statement from the coalition.
The group has made three short animated films about the companies, and the public can vote online for the “worst corporate sponsor” of the games.
The campaign is organized by the Bhopal Medical Appeal, London Mining Network and UK Tar Sands Network, among other groups. It is headed by Meredith Alexander, who quit the watchdog group Commission for a Sustainable London 2012 after the London games signed an additional $11 million deal with Dow to wrap the Olympic stadium in a banner.
“The fact that it’s difficult to know where to draw the line doesn’t mean a line shouldn’t be drawn,” Alexander told The Guardian. “What the IOC is doing at the moment is putting its hands up and giving up. Given the value of the Olympic brand to these companies, I think that is unacceptable.”
So far the IOC has raised approximately $1.1 billion in sponsorships for the London Olympics. Rick Burton, chief marketing officer for the United States Olympic Committee at the Beijing Olympics, told Forbes he does not expect the IOC or the USOC to dissolve the partnerships.
“You want to be aware of who your partners are, and of what their vulnerabilities are and what risks you face by aligning with them,” said Burton, a professor of sports management at Syracuse University’s Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics. “I don’t see them moving against a partner that will give them tens of millions of dollars. Not to diminish their point, but almost every company has something in its past that someone could take issue with in the present.”
Dow, one of the IOC’s top-level sponsors, signed a $100 million, 10-year deal in 2010. The deal has proven controversial due to Dow’s ownership of Union Carbide, which in 1984 leaked methyl isocyanate gas and other chemicals at its plant in Bhopal, India, killing thousands. The Bhopal Medical Appeal, which funds clinics in Bhopal, believes that Dow, which bought Union Carbide in 1999, should pay to clean the site and supply funds for victims.
In March, Dow’s Vice President of Olympic Operations George Hamilton told the Guardian that holding the company responsible for the Bhopal disaster was “irresponsible.”
“This issue is not our issue,” Hamilton said. ” We’re not going to be bullied by activists or politicians who want to get involved in this, whatever their driver may be. We’re not going to allow that to make us waver from our commitment to the Olympic movement.”
Mining company Rio Tinto paid a reported $16 million for its third-tier sponsorship of the London Olympics, and the company has provided the gold, silver and bronze for all Olympic medals since 2002. It also sponsors the Olympic program of Mongolia, where Rio Tinto operates the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine.
On its website, the London Mining Network claims that Rio Tinto has exposed Mongolians to chemical contamination, among other accusations.
BP is the official oil sponsor of the 2012 Olympics, and also sponsors the United States Olympic Committee. The Greenwash Gold group disputes BP’s efforts to clean up the gulf coast following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010.
The group has not announced plans for organized protests during the Olympics, which run July 27 through August 12.
“April 16th marks the 100 day countdown to the start of the Olympics: 100 days for some of the world’s most disreputable corporations to keep using the Olympics as a smokescreen for environmental and human rights abuses the world over,” said a statement from the coalition.
The group has made three short animated films about the companies, and the public can vote online for the “worst corporate sponsor” of the games.
The campaign is organized by the Bhopal Medical Appeal, London Mining Network and UK Tar Sands Network, among other groups. It is headed by Meredith Alexander, who quit the watchdog group Commission for a Sustainable London 2012 after the London games signed an additional $11 million deal with Dow to wrap the Olympic stadium in a banner.
“The fact that it’s difficult to know where to draw the line doesn’t mean a line shouldn’t be drawn,” Alexander told The Guardian. “What the IOC is doing at the moment is putting its hands up and giving up. Given the value of the Olympic brand to these companies, I think that is unacceptable.”
So far the IOC has raised approximately $1.1 billion in sponsorships for the London Olympics. Rick Burton, chief marketing officer for the United States Olympic Committee at the Beijing Olympics, told Forbes he does not expect the IOC or the USOC to dissolve the partnerships.
“You want to be aware of who your partners are, and of what their vulnerabilities are and what risks you face by aligning with them,” said Burton, a professor of sports management at Syracuse University’s Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics. “I don’t see them moving against a partner that will give them tens of millions of dollars. Not to diminish their point, but almost every company has something in its past that someone could take issue with in the present.”
Dow, one of the IOC’s top-level sponsors, signed a $100 million, 10-year deal in 2010. The deal has proven controversial due to Dow’s ownership of Union Carbide, which in 1984 leaked methyl isocyanate gas and other chemicals at its plant in Bhopal, India, killing thousands. The Bhopal Medical Appeal, which funds clinics in Bhopal, believes that Dow, which bought Union Carbide in 1999, should pay to clean the site and supply funds for victims.
In March, Dow’s Vice President of Olympic Operations George Hamilton told the Guardian that holding the company responsible for the Bhopal disaster was “irresponsible.”
“This issue is not our issue,” Hamilton said. ” We’re not going to be bullied by activists or politicians who want to get involved in this, whatever their driver may be. We’re not going to allow that to make us waver from our commitment to the Olympic movement.”
Mining company Rio Tinto paid a reported $16 million for its third-tier sponsorship of the London Olympics, and the company has provided the gold, silver and bronze for all Olympic medals since 2002. It also sponsors the Olympic program of Mongolia, where Rio Tinto operates the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine.
On its website, the London Mining Network claims that Rio Tinto has exposed Mongolians to chemical contamination, among other accusations.
BP is the official oil sponsor of the 2012 Olympics, and also sponsors the United States Olympic Committee. The Greenwash Gold group disputes BP’s efforts to clean up the gulf coast following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010.
The group has not announced plans for organized protests during the Olympics, which run July 27 through August 12.
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