An international workshop on "Business responsibility for environmental protection in developing countries" took place in Costa Rica on September 22-24 1997. WRM International Coordinator Ricardo Carrere made a presentation on "The environmental and social effects of corporate environmentalism in the Brazilian market pulp industry." The aim of the paper was to compare the "green" discourse of the five main market pulp firms with reality at the local level, including social and environmental impacts of large scale tree plantations and pulp production. The paper focused on Aracruz Celulose -widely publicised as an example of environmental responsibility- and to a lesser extent on Bahia Sul, CENIBRA, Jari and Riocell. The general conclusion was that "in spite of their stated policies, the activities of all these five corporations have resulted in important negative impacts -both social and environmental- in the regions where they operate."
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