Zurich, 11 September 2012. Switzerland has emerged as one of the world’s dominant trading hubs for commodities, handling about 25 per cent of world trade, hosting the world’s largest trading houses, such as Glencore or Vitol. “While these powerful corporations experience an unprecedented boom, the population of most resource-rich developing countries remain mired in poverty”, states the Swiss NGO Berne Declaration.
They presented last year during a WRF 2011 workshop (Davos, September 19, 2011) the book “Commodities: Switzerland’s Most Dangerous Business”. The English version has now been published and is available for a free download.
The book – which originally was published in German – has since its publication received a lot of attention in conferences and in the media. The Financial Times writes that the publication “ has stirred a debate in Switzerland about the future of the commodities industry just as the federal authorities review the sector, and the call for greater transparency should be welcomed.”
The World Resources Forum, as the global multi stakeholder platform on sustainable resource management, offers the download for free to its partners and readers, expecting to facilitate a solid science-based debate and process of objective knowledge sharing about commodity traders and sustainability in the run-up to WRF 2013.
Download English version here.
French and German versions here.
Find here a more recent publication about regulation of the commodity trade in Switzerland
See also the press release of Public Eye (formerly Berne Declaration)
