action in budapest

these miners are about to develop a gold mine in front of the hotel intercontinental in budapest, where the extractive industries review consultation of the world bank is taking place

about our call for an end to public financing of fossil fuels and mining
about the budapest consultation and the eir
the official site of the extractive industries review (eir)
more photos

the action and the explanation

This is the text that FoEI miners handed out to the public at the mine site in front of the Hotel Intercontinental in Budapest, where the Extractive Industries Review consultation of the World Bank was taking place.

public notice-eviction order, budapest, 20 june 2002

All persons present at the Hotel Intercontinental in Budapest are hereby ordered by legal authorities to immediately vacate this area.

The site has been designated for the development and exploitation of the gold reserves underneath the hotel. To enable mining operations to start, Hotel Intercontinental will be demolished within 24 hours. Within a few months, the site will be turned into a deep hole in the ground.

These mining operations are supported by a loan from the World Bank Group as part of its ‘Budapest Community Destruction Project’. The project is aimed at alleviating poverty and contributing to sustainable development by removing local dwellers by force and employing qualified staff from outside the region. Water quality and quantity in the Danube will decrease significantly, endangering life in and around the river. This will effectively eliminate all tourism.

However, local jobs will be generated in sectors like health (the treatment of contamination with cyanide and chemicals) and services (dealing with increased prostitution and alcoholism). Many workers will also be needed for massive cleanup operations after mine closure.

The World Bank is making good use of your tax payer’s money. Please do not stand in the way of corporate welfare and make way for this mine!

world bank clean up, get out of oil, mining and gas!

At this moment, the suits of the World Bank are gathered in Budapest’s Hotel Intercontinental. Since 1990, the World Bank has spent more than US$ 7 billion in this region on oil, mining and gas projects. We are here today to tell them that there are better ways to help the poor.

While the World Bank’s mission is to alleviate poverty, it supports numerous controversial projects. In this region, they include mine projects in Russia and Ukraine, pipelines through Georgia and Azerbaijan and gold mines in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. These are financed with your tax money!

These projects do not contribute to sustainable development or the alleviation of poverty. To the contrary, they cause severe social and environmental problems for people that live near these oil fields, pipelines and mines. Instead of generating jobs and sustainable livelihoods, these projects increase local conflict and corruption, contribute to human rights abuses and endanger natural resources. The effects of the Baia Mare cyanide accident may still be fresh in your mind.

This week, representatives of the World Bank, the oil, gas and mining industry, governments and civil society meet at the Intercontinental Hotel to discuss these issues. Representatives of communities and organizations from all over the world came to Budapest to call upon the World Bank to end its support for oil, mining and gas projects. The Bank should respect the right of local communities to say no to projects that threaten their well being. Furthermore, in the light of climate change and job creation, more finances should go towards renewable energy solutions instead of fossil fuels.