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The idea behind the Covalence research is that there's value – both for companies and consumers – in measuring corporations against clear ethical standards. The rankings include a list of the top 12 most dangerous and least ethical corporations on the planet.
Some of the usual suspects are there - and the Huff provides ample evidence and support for Covalence’s research findings. Bask in the non-glory of the earth-eating greed-machines:
1. Monsanto - the Missouri-based agriculture giant leads the world in the production of genetically-engineered seed, and has been subject to myriad criticisms. Among them: the company is accused of frequently and unfairly suing small farmers for patent infringement.I’m fairly certain there are a few other multinational corporations that might deserve to be on this list (such as the tragedy formerly know as Blackwater, Syncrude, Goldman Sachs), but I’m also sure that these cast of humanity-haters have also earned this particular honor.
2. Halliburton – Among other crazy-unethical practices, the oil, gas and logistical company famously associated with former Vice President Dick Cheney unfairly procured billions of dollars in government contracts for oil repair in the country after the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
3. Chevron - The oil and gas behemoth has been accused of tax evasion as well a number of environmental infractions in several countries around the world. But perhaps most controversial was a 1998 episode in Nigeria: after protesters took hostages as part of a demonstration against the company, Nigerian soldiers shot at the demonstrators, killing two. Chevron was accused of facilitating the transport of the soldiers, known for their "general history of committing abuses," to the scene.
4. Freeport-McMoRan – This copper and gold producer has run into opposition in Indonesia's Papua province, where they clash with locals who try to claim the area's vast gold deposits for themselves – reportedly the largest in the world.
5. Philip Morris International - One of the world's leading cigarette manufacturers reportedly attempted, earlier this month, to persuade the government to abandon its ten-year-old lawsuit against the tobacco industry for allegedly concealing the dangers of cigarettes.
6. Occidental Petroleum - One of America's largest oil and gas companies, it has been involved in a number of territory disputes in multiple countries, including Ecuador and Colombia. The company also drew ire from environmentalists in 2005, when it proposed building a road through Ecuador's Yasuní National Park. (good luck with that now)
7. Ryanair - Michael O'Leary, the CEO of Irish budget airline, is known for his outrageous behavior and aggressive cost-cutting measures. Employees of his company are reportedly forbidden from using the company's pens or charging their cellphones with its electricity. And O'Leary has been known to get nasty with customers, allegedly yelling and cursing at one person who requested a refund after a relative fell ill.
8. Syngenta - The Swiss agriculture and chemicals company was fined by the EPA in 2008 for pesticide-related infringements, and one of its former employees was recently awarded nearly $2 million after she was wrongly fired for reporting discrimination in the workplace.
9. Grupo Mexico – In 2007, the mining giant’s workers at Mexicana, the copper mine in Cananea, northern Mexico (pictured), went on strike to protest safety and health violations -- and more than two years later, the workers are still striking.
10. Total SA - French oil and gas company Total has been accused of building a pipeline with the aid of slave labor in Myanmar. In addition, in 1999 one of the company's oil tankers, the Erika, which had 30,000 tons of oil on board, sunk off of the coast of Brittany. The company is desperately fighting in court to prevent having to compensate the victims of the spill.
11. Mediaset - the massive Italian television company Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi founded and still controls, ranked eleventh worst in the survey of ethical multinationals. Late last year, Berlusconi's government raised eyebrows when it attempted to double the tax rate of one of Mediaset's main competitors.
12. Barrick Gold Corporation - the Toronto-based gold-mining corporation had a hand in the burning of at least 130 homes near its Porgera Mine in Papua New Guinea, manipulating land titles in Australia and Chile, and creating a toxic spill in Tanzania that continues to produce dangerous levels of arsenic in the area around its North Mara mine.
Details @ The Huffington Post
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