The businesswoman Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop, says the system of world trade is unjust, unfair and unsustainable. In a speech she is to make on 27 November in Seattle, she condemns the role of the World Trade Organisation, which is meeting in the city from 30 November to 3 December. More than a hundred trade ministers and heads of government are expected to attend the WTO meeting, its third ministerial conference. By default the WTO is a world government, but it is a blind government. It looks at the measurement of money, but it can't see anything else.
Businesses have to be a force for social change.
It is not enough to avoid hideous evil - they must actively do good. Many campaign groups are expected in Seattle to press the WTO to emphasise environmental protection, poverty and human rights in its work. Another, the London-based World Development Movement, says the interests of developing countries should be the main priority in all the WTO's discussions. But actually far more sovereignty has been given away to the WTO, with absolutely no mechanisms of democratic accountability. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Links to other Battle for Free Trade stories are at the foot of the page.