Why do we degrade the environment through the production, consumption and trade of food, clothes and other commodities? Why do transnational corporations have more and more influence over our lives? It's time for companies to take responsibility for the social and environmental damage they cause.

The extraction of oil from Canadian tar sands not only damages the local environment and endangers the health and livelihoods of indigenous people, but could also scupper our attempts to tackle climate change - find out more...

Large-scale production of biofuels is having a devastating effect in developing countries, leading to rainforest clearance, which destroys communities and ecosystems, and pushing up food prices as land is used to grow fuel crops instead of food crops. We took part in a national summer of action to persuade MEPs to scrap the EU's proposed target for biofuels to make up 10% of all road fuels by 2020...

We also took part in a national days of action on 29th October 2005 and 25th February 2006 to highlight the damage that palm oil production is having on the rainforests that are home to endangered species such as the orang-utan...

The mission of the Confederation of British Industries (CBI) is to "create and sustain the conditions in which businesses in the United Kingdom can compete and prosper". Unfortunately, as our CBI dossier explains, this is often at the expense of people's rights and the environment...

Take action: ask your MP to push for mandatory carbon reporting for UK companies, and urge Hilary Benn to put an and to illegal logging...