london olympics

Dow’s Fabric for London Olympics 2012: Is Lord Coe listening?

In August this year, I published an article making the case for Dow Chemicals’ disassociation from the 2012 London Olympics.

The chemicals giant is sponsoring an eco-friendly wrap over the London Games’ main stadium.

However, Dow fail to recognise their liability towards the victims of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy.

Dow are the owners of Union Carbide, the defendants in the class action suit filed by the Indian government on the behalf of disaster’s victims and survivors.

A letter addressed to the Indian Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, has yet to be responded to.

Inertia reigns.

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India to boycott the London Olympics over Dow Chemicals’ ‘fabric’?

While Indian newspapers’ front pages and TV channels  feed off Anna Hazare’s crusade against corruption, the sports sections are chockfull of analysis, recriminations and reactions to Team India’s pitiful surrender of their No.1 Test ranking to England.

The headliners above have buried another burning issue: The unpalatable association of Dow Chemicals with the London Olympics.

Dow’s Performance Plastics Division will deliver a “fabric wrap” for the main stadium made of “sustainable” resins.

London Olympics chief,Sir Sebastian Coe, described the “wrap” provided by Dow Chemicals as “the icing on the cake”.

He said:

“"The stadium will look spectacular at Games time and having the wrap is the icing on the cake. I’m delighted that Dow as one of the newer worldwide partners of the Olympic movement will be providing it and importantly doing it in a sustainable way."

The announcement provoked outrage in India.