1. How many videos are the students going to watch in class today?
2. When is the first video from?
3. The first video is a report on the purposes and goals of which organization?
4. The second video is a speech. Where did this speech take place? When did this speech take place?
5. When did the Exxon Valdez sink?
6. Where did the Exxon Valdez sink?
7. How much crude oil did the Exxon Valdez spill into the ocean?
8. How many miles of coastline did it pollute?
9. Because of this oil spill, how much money did the corporation have to pay?
10. What was significant about this amount of money?
11. The Exxon Valdez oil spill became a symbol for what?
12. Since the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989, how much has direct foreign investment increased?
How much is it currently?
13. What is needed now more than ever before?
Professor: We are going to watch two videos in class today related to our recent readings on how companies can market themselves as socially responsible corporations. The first, from 2008, is a report on the purpose and goals of the UN Global Compact, an international business program started by Secretary General Koffi Annan in 1999. The second is an update presented by the Executive Director of the UN Global Compact, George Kell, at the Business for Peace Foundation in 2014. Please take notes and write questions for a follow-up discussion.
Narrator: In 1989, the Exxon Valdez sank off the coast of Alaska, spilling 11 million gallons, or 125 Olympic swimming pools’ worth, of crude oil into the water. Polluting 1,300 miles of coastline, the disaster, which incurred the world’s biggest-ever corporate fine of five billion U.S. dollars, has become a byword in the media for corporate irresponsibility.
Since then, business has gone global as never before, with foreign direct investment tripling to more than a trillion dollars. But as companies extend their reach, particularly into emerging economies with weaker regulations, the need for responsible business practice is greater than ever before.
related: connected
recent: happening or starting from a short time ago
reading: a text which is assigned to be read
company: an organization that sells goods or services in order to make money
market: to try to sell products using advertising or other ways of making people want to buy them
socially: adverb of social (relating to society and the way people live)
responsible: showing good judgment and able to be trusted
socially responsible: working or operating in ways that are not harmful to society or the environment
corporation: a large company or group of companies
report: a description of an event or situation
purpose: why you do something or why something exists
goal: something you want to do successfully in the future
the UN: abbreviation for the United Nations
the United Nations: an international organization that tries to solve world problems in a peaceful way
global: relating to the whole world
compact: a formal agreement between two or more people, organizations, or countries
the UN Global Compact: a non-binding United Nations pact to encourage businesses worldwide to adopt sustainable and socially responsible policies, and to report on their implementation
