Globalization Draws Green Activist Attention

As companies or individuals expand and accrue more power, they attract scrutiny from activists. Members of Greenpeace purchased shares in Indian companies like Tata Steel or Vedanta Resources to speak out at annual meetings about environmental problems, including port development that could interfere with breeding habits of turtles or mining projects that desecrate sacred sites. Greenpeace “still has the power to irritate companies unused to its style of campaigning,” write Joe Leahy and James Fontanella-Khan for the Financial Times. Shareholders intent on profits far outnumber the few who agitate for protection of human rights or the environment. But the criticisms still sting and linger in the collective conscience of investors. – YaleGlobal