DHARAMSHALA, January 27: The United Nations Global Compact, a body that monitors practice in corporate responsibility by multinational companies, has asked the InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) to respond to a complaint by Tibet campaigners about its plan to open a luxury hotel in Tibet’s capital Lhasa.
The Tibet campaigners allege that the refusal by InterContinental Hotel Group which is a signatory to the Global Compact, to answer questions about it are “incompatible with the principles of the compact.”
The United Nations Global Compact has set March 15 as the deadline for IHG to respond in writing.
The Global Compact is a “policy initiative for businesses that are committed to aligning their operations . . . with ten universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption”. Its board is appointed and chaired by UN General-Secretary Ban Ki-Moon.
IHG promotes its status as a Global Compact member on its corporate responsibility (CR) website. Although the scheme strongly encourages dialogue between signatory companies and stakeholders, the company has repeatedly declined to answer specific questions from Free Tibet and Students for a Free Tibet, the two groups that have been campaigning against the IHG’s hotel venture in Lhasa.
The two organizations have now submitted the six-page complaint to the office of the Global Compact which has directed IHG to make written comments and send them directly to [Free Tibet and Students for a Free Tibet], with the Global Compact Office in copy. “We also ask to be informed of any actions that you take to address the situation which is the matter of allegation,” said the Global Compact directive.
A letter signed by Free Tibet’s Eleanor Byrne Rosengren and SFT ’s Pema Dolma alleged that it was inappropriate for the IHG to shirk away from its accountability to its the global community and legitimate stakeholders given the Compact’s emphasis on consultation, engagement and transparency. “In our view, your unwillingness to both engage constructively with criticism of your corporate behaviour and to demonstrate your support for Global Compact principles in regard to the development in Tibet falls short of the standards of transparency, engagement and evaluation of its own performance that a Compact signatory should exemplify.”
