Churches meet Glencore

For the sixth time since 2013, an exchange of views recently took place between Zug church representatives and the raw materials company Glencore. The discussions are part of various initiatives to discuss ethical issues with Zug companies. At the recent meeting, six representatives of the Catholic, Reformed and Free Church met four representatives from Glencore.

The main topics discussed were the trade dispute between the US government and China and the corporate responsibility initiative. The latter is aimed at obliging internationally active companies to comply with the protection of human rights and environmental standards in application of Swiss law, including abroad, and to hold companies liable in Switzerland.

There was an animated discussion of the question as to whether the concentration of regulation in Switzerland would enable a worldwide implementation of human rights or not. It thereby became clear that transparency and dialogue are indispensable for bringing different attitudes closer together.

Current issues from the churches and the local involvement of Glencore in the social, sporting and cultural area were also discussed. It was decided to continue the dialogue in the coming year.
 

Reported by the Zug churches and the Glencore raw materials company: Bernadette Thalmann, Communications Officer.