The Core Scotland coalition also called for the Scottish Executive, councils and health boards to set a lead by sourcing their goods and services from firms with ethical business practices. The public sector in Scotland currently spends around £6bn on procurement each year.

The group's founding members are Amnesty International Scotland, the Centre for Human Ecology, Friends of the Earth Scotland, Oxfam in Scotland and Save the Children.

Launching the group at the Scottish Parliament, Duncan McLaren, chair of Core Scotland and chief executive of FoE Scotland, said: "Every business decision has environmental and ethical implications. As the 20th anniversary of the Bhopal gas leak approaches, too many companies are still putting lives and the environment at risk."

He said that, in the UK alone, around 100 deaths a year could be considered corporate killings, yet there had only ever been three prosecutions for it. Sarah Boyack, Labour MSP and convener of Holyrood's environment committee, added: "The duty to deliver corporate responsibility can't be left to companies alone. It is shared by public bodies who can influence how public resources are spent and invested."

http://www.theherald.co.uk/29029.shtml