"We can't trust these companies to keep their own books, let alone save the environment," Klein said.
Eskom Ltd, South Africa's state-owned electricity utility, will use the summit to showcase its efforts to develop renewable energy and connect 1,000 homes a day to its electricity grid.
The Soweto Electricity Crisis Committee accuses Eskom of cutting off electricity supplies to as many as six out of every 10 households in Soweto, the sprawling black township adjacent to Johannesburg. Environmental group Earthlife Africa says the company's coal-burning power plants contribute to global warming and pollution.
"This is greenwashing," said Patrick Bond, a professor at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg and author of the book "Unsustainable South Africa." "It's all about public relations." Exxon Mobil Corp has taken a different approach.
The oil company opposed the Kyoto Protocol, which it said would do more harm than good. Exxon also funded groups that were among 31 signatories to a letter urging President Bush not to attend the summit and to ask his negotiators to block an agreement on cutting carbon-dioxide emissions.
While many companies steer clear of the summit, many others will be sharing platforms with environmentalists for the first time.
RSS