On the eve of a United Nations meeting in Liberia, that will discuss a new global development framework, Friends of the Earth International is backing the local NGOs’ demands - including renegotiation of contracts for land concessions and a reassessment of the Liberian agricultural development strategy on which these concessions are based. [1] [2]
Malaysian palm oil giant Sime Darby and Indonesian Golden Veloreum have entered into long term land leases with the Liberian Government. Investigations into Sime Darby’s operations reveal that communities located in the areas allocated to the company had little warning or consultation of this land grab. Many of the inhabitants, especially women, say they have lost their farms and food sources, livelihoods, as well as culturally sacred sites to oil palm plantations. [3] [4]
An analysis of the contracts between the Liberian Government and the Asian companies demonstrates they are likely to be violating several Human Rights conventions ratified by Liberia. [5]
“Giving away land for large scale plantations is hailed as promoting the economic recovery of Liberia but in reality these plantations undermine Liberia’s basic food security and cause poverty when livelihoods are lost. Therefore allowing these plantations contradicts the Liberian Government’s own policies on reducing poverty and preventing hunger”, says SDI campaigner Silas Kpanan’Ayoung Siakor.
“Allocating large swathes of fertile agricultural land to foreign companies for several decades will push people further into poverty, as local income generating activities are curtailed and peoples’ earning capacities become limited”, he adds
Civil society organisations are also concerned about large scale conversion of primary and secondary forest to palm oil plantations as Sime Darby expands into Gbarpolu county. They are demanding a halt to any further planting and further deforestation and environmental degradation in any of the concession areas.
“Forests have environmental benefits and provide multiple livelihood sources for the people, which they have now lost. Employment from the plantations is insecure; low- paid and does not contribute to sustaining livelihoods in the long term. Instead, local communities want the Liberian government and the palm oil companies to recognise their ownership of community land”, says SAMFU campaigner Robert Nyahn.
The UN High Level panel meeting in Monrovia brings together political leaders from around the world, including British Prime Minister David Cameron, to discuss development goals especially in Africa. Friends of the Earth Liberia will be present at this meeting to question the suitability of large scale land concessions as a development strategy in Liberia.
Sime Darby claims that it upholds international human rights standards and voluntary guidelines such as the UN Global Compact of which the company is a signatory. However, in its operations in Liberia, Sime Darby is violating several principles of the Global Compact as well as OECD Guidelines for Multinational Companies.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT
Silas Kpanan'Ayoung Siakor, Campaigner, Sustainable Development Institute (Liberia) Phone: 00 35383 148 4210 (Ireland mobile) Email: ssiakor@sdiliberia.org
Maarten Van Den Berg, Communications Coordinator, Friends of the Earth International, Phone: +31 20 622 1369 Email: media@foei.org
NOTES TO EDITORS:
[1] In a statement released today, the three Liberian NGOs are demanding a comprehensive reform program for the agriculture sector which takes into account community livelihoods and recognizes their rights to use and benefit from community resources, to kick-start genuine development in Liberia. See statement at foei.org/simedarby
[2] Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, UK Prime Minister David Cameron and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will convene a high Level Panel meeting on 1st February to discuss global Sustainable Development Goals. See more information on the meeting at http://www.un.org/sg/management/hlppost2015.shtml
[3] A fact sheet with about the operations of Sime Darby in Liberia is online at http://www.foei.org/simedarby
[4] In November 2012, 150 affected community representatives met in Liberia to discuss the impacts of palm oil. See their statement at http://www.foei.org/simedarby
[5] A human rights-based analysis of the agricultural concession agreements between Sime Darby and Golden Veroleum and the Government of Liberia, Forest Peoples Programme 2012, available at http://www.foei.org/simedarby
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Silt from tin mining dredgers and boats is clouding the formerly clear sea around Bangka, killing the seagrass eaten by turtles and 60-70% of the island’s coral reefs, driving away fish and ruining fishermen’s livelihoods.
Farmers struggle to grow crops in soil turned acidic by the destruction of forests for tin mining, while abandoned craters scar large parts of Bangka island.
Doctors suspect a possible link between Bangka’s high number of malaria cases and the hundreds of abandoned tin mine craters filled with stagnant water that are a breeding ground for disease-carrying mosquitos.
Almost half of all mined tin is turned into solder for the electronics industry and around a third of the world’s tin is from Bangka and neighbouring island Belitung.
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Smartphones impact on the world:
There are now more than 1 billion smartphones in use around the world, according to consulting firm Strategy Analytics, with growing demand likely to push this beyond 2 billion within the next three years.
In 2011 Samsung sold around 95 million smartphones and Apple around 93 millions
There are many things companies could do to reduce the impact of phones and make them better for customers – from introducing universal chargers or batteries that can charge in seconds to designing them to be much easier to take apart and repair. Experts say that through innovative design and better reuse of old phones phone companies could cut demand for tin and other raw materials.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
In the UK: Eleanor Bradstreet, Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland press office: +44(0) 7912 406513 or email eleanor.bradstreet [at] foe.co.uk
In Indonesia: Pius Ginting, campaign manager at Friends of the Earth Indonesia - known in Indonesia as Walhi: +62 81 93 29 25 700 or email pius.walhi [at] gmail.com
In Belgium : Paul de Clerck,economic justice programme coordinator at Friends of the Earth Europe: +32 494 38 09 59 or email paul [at] milieudefensie.nl
NOTES TO EDITORS
[1] Case studies of people affected by mining in Bangka and the full investigation into Samsung and Apple’s supply chains are available in Friends of the Earth’s new report ‘Mining for Smartphones: the True Cost of Tin’: http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/reports/tin_mining.pdf
[2] The Make It Better campaign is asking leading smartphone makers to say whether their phones contain tin linked to the destruction of coral reefs and forests in Indonesia’s Bangka islands – and to back new rules for all companies to come clean about their supply chains at www.foe.co.uk/makeitbetter
The Rafto Prize 2012 will be delivered in Bergen (Norway) on November 4. The Rafto Foundation has awarded annually - since 1987- the Rafto Prize for Human
Rights to advocates of human rights and democracy.
Several Rafto Laureates have subsequently been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. [3]
The 2012 Rafto Prize will be awarded to Nnimmo Bassey in recognition of his long-term fight for people’s rights to life, health, food and water in a world affected by climate change and mass environmental destruction.
“Through his rights based work and criticism of prevailing systems, Bassey has shown how human rights can help mitigate the effects of these changes,” says the Rafto Foundation.
Nnimmo Bassey said:
"I am honored and humbled by this announcement. I hold the Rafto Foundation in high esteem for its commitment to human right defenders. I have campaigned on oil pollution and human rights in Nigeria for decades. Standing with impacted communities we continually demand justice. We press on, convinced that truth will prevail.”
He added: “We expect justice to be done very soon, after a major court case hearing against Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell in The Netherlands. Shell's incredible contamination in Nigeria will be under scrutiny at a court hearing in The Hague on October 11 and the verdict is expected in early 2013,” he added. [4]
Nnimmo Bassey is one of Africa’s leading advocates and campaigners for the environment and human rights. Bassey has tirelessly stood up against the practices of multinational corporations and the environmental devastation they leave behind, destroying the lives and trampling on the rights of local people.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Nnimmo Bassey, Friends of the Earth International chair, Tel: +234 80 37 27 43 95 (Nigerian mobile number) or email nnimmo (at) eraction.org
Kari Amble, The Rafto Foundation, Head of Information,
Phone: +47 55 21 09 75 Mobile: +47 91 31 44 17 E-mail: kari.amble (at) rafto.no
NOTES TO EDITORS
[1] For Nnimmo Bassey’s biography and a selection of high-resolution, free to use photo portraits go to http://www.foei.org/en/media/photos/nnimmo-bassey-photos
[2] For more information about the 'Rafto Prize 2012 please visit: www.rafto.no
[3] The Rafto Laureates whom have subsequently been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize are: Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma (Rafto Prize in 1990), people of East‐Timor by Josè Ramos‐Horta (Rafto Prize in 1993), Kim Dae‐jung, South‐Korea (Rafto Prize in 2000), and Shirin Ebadi, Iran (Rafto Prize in 2001).
[4] For more information about the court case against Shell visit : http://www.foei.org/en/media/archive/2012/key-hearing-in-court-case-on-oil-giant-shells-nigerian-oil-pollution
Lawyers for both parties will plea at a key hearing in The Hague on 11 October at 9:30am. [1] The verdict is expected early in 2013.
“This court case will have groundbreaking legal repercussions for multinational corporations globally, and especially for European corporations,“ says Geert Ritsema, globalisation campaign leader at Friends of the Earth Netherlands / Milieudefensie.
“Due to the poor maintenance of pipelines and factories, Shell let tens of millions of barrels of oil leak in the Niger Delta, with disastrous consequences for local people and the environment. The Anglo Dutch oil giant must now stop its pollution, compensate the damage and prevent more oil spills from happening,” he adds.
Geert Ritsema and Hans Berkhuizen, the director of Friends of the Earth Netherlands, will conduct a fact-finding mission in Nigeria from September 27 – October 2.
“Nigerians have to sue Shell in The Netherlands to obtain justice. Meanwhile Shell uses the threat of legal action to attempt to silence legitimate protests, for instance the recent Greenpeace protests against Shell in Europe. They pollute with impunity, destroy livelihoods and block dissent. This is deplorable," says Nnimmo Bassey, Executive Director of Friends of the Earth Nigeria and Chair of Friends of the Earth International.
“We want to see an end to the corporate crimes committed by oil giants like Shell in Nigeria and around the world,” he adds.
In May 2008, four Nigerian fishermen and farmers [2] from the villages of Goi, Ikot Ada Udo and Oruma, in conjunction with Friends of the Earth Netherlands / Milieudefensie and supported by Friends of the Earth Nigeria / ERA, started a legal case against Shell Nigeria and its parent company in the Netherlands. [3]
The Hague court hearing will take place just 10 days after a key [October 1st] hearing of the U.S. Supreme court regarding a separate lawsuit 'Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Shell Petroleum' brought by Nigerian refugees in the U.S. accusing Shell of helping the Nigerian military to systematically torture and kill environmentalists in the 1990s. [4]
The serious contamination of the oil rich Niger Delta has had disastrous consequences for the local people and their environment. Oil leaks regularly pollute the fields, forests and water. These leaks are a heavy burden on agriculture and fishing.
“Since the spill I have lost most of my income. Now we live from hand to mouth: sometimes I go into the bush, sometimes a company gives me a day’s work for 500 Naira [3 euro], ” says one of the four plaintiffs, Alali Efanga from Oruma (Bayelsa State) in Nigeria.
Shell is the operator of Nigeria's largest oil fields and bears significant responsibility for the oil pollution. The UN, among others, has stated that Shell does not comply with legal environmental standards and has failed to clean up leaked oil – or has done so only insufficiently, for decades. Moreover, Shell’s own sustainability report stated that the number of leaks due to poor maintenance doubled in 2011, rising from 32 to 64.
In May 2012 Friends of the Earth International delivered some 70,000 signatures to Shell CEO Peter Voser from people who want Shell to start cleaning up its mess in the oil-rich and highly polluted Niger Delta in Nigeria. The signatures were collected by the organisation SumOfUs in close cooperation with Friends of the Earth and Amnesty International.
NOTES TO EDITORS
[1] PHOTOS OF THE OIL SPILLS, as well as legal documents and fact sheets about the legal proceedings are available at :
http://www.milieudefensie.nl/english/shell/oil-leaks/courtcase/press and
http://www.milieudefensie.nl/english/shell/oil-leaks/courtcase/press/documents/documents-on-the-shell-legal-case
[2] BIOS, PORTRAITS AND STORIES OF THE PLAINTIFFS are available at : http://www.milieudefensie.nl/english/shell/oil-leaks/courtcase/plaintiffs
[3] A TIMELINE OF THE COURT CASE is available at : http://www.milieudefensie.nl/publicaties/factsheets/timeline-courtcase-shell
[4] For more information read “Kiobel v. Shell - Justice in U.S. courts for atrocities overseas: preserving the Alien Tort Statute” at http://cja.org/section.php?id=510
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Friends of the Earth Netherlands / Milieudefensie press office: Tel: + 31 - 20 - 5507 333 or e-mail persvoorlichting [at] milieudefensie.nl
Nnimmo Bassey, Friends of the Earth Nigeria and chair of Friends of the Earth International: +234 803 727 4395 (Nigerian cell) or email: Nnimmo [at] eraction.org
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“This report demonstrates that the increasingly vocal objections from social movements and civil society organisations are having an impact on the introduction of GM crops.” said Josie Riffaud from La Via Campesina.
The testimonies and analysis contained in this report aim to inspire and unite consumers, activists and communities against the abuses carried out by Monsanto and other biotech corporations around the world.
"Who will hold Monsanto responsible for the global depletion of biodiversity, soil erosion, and violations of peasant rights wrought by the application of petroleum-based inputs required by industrial agriculture?” asked Dena Hoff of the National Family Farm Coalition / La Via Campesina North America. “Farmers worldwide are resisting for food sovereignty, but the rest of the world must join us," she added.
“This new report documents the intense opposition to this powerful transnational company, which peddles its genetically modified products seemingly without regard for the associated social, economic and environmental costs,” said Martin Drago, Friends of the Earth International's Food Sovereignty programme coordinator.
“The majority of Europe’s public remains opposed to GM food production, and several countries in Europe now have national bans on Monsanto’s MON810 maize and BASF’s Amflora potatoes, despite the strong pressure of the biotech industry and of the European Commission to lift those moratoriums,” said Héloise Claudon from Combat Monsanto.
The use of GM crops destroys essential crop diversity, homogenises food, and eradicates associated local knowledge and culture. In this and other ways social inequality, poverty and the exploitation of natural resources are able to thrive within the global food system, which focuses on profit generation rather than sustainable food production and food sovereignty.
The combined area of all GM crops covers just 3% of agricultural land worldwide. 97% of agricultural land around the world remains GM-free. GM crop cultivation is predominately limited to a few countries: 90% of GM crops are grown in the US, Brazil, Argentina, India and Canada. Almost 60% of GM crop field trials are carried out in the US.
The large majority of GM crops are grown for animal feed or agrofuels destined for rich nations rather than food for the poor and hungry.
IN ENGLISH
http://www.foei.org/en/resources/publications/pdfs/2012/combatting-monsanto/
EN ESPANOL
http://www.foei.org/es/recursos/publicaciones/pdfs-por-ano/2012/combatting-monsanto/
EN FRANCAIS
http://www.foei.org/fr/publications/combatting-monsanto
In the US (in English):
Dena Hoff , National Family Farm Coalition / La Via Campesina North America
Tel: + 1 (406) 939 -1839
In URUGUAY (in Spanish):
Martin Drago, Friends of the Earth International's Food Sovereignty programme coordinator:
martin.drago@redes.org.uy or Tel: +598 (99) 13 85 59
In FRANCE (in French):
Josie Riffaud from La Via Campesina: josieriffaud@yahoo.fr
Tel: + 33(0) 6 13 10 52 91
Héloise Claudon from Combat Monsanto: Tel: + 33 (0) 6 01 85 30 80
heloise.claudon@combat-monsanto.org
-- La Via Campesina is the international movement which brings together millions of peasants, small and medium-size farmers, landless people, women farmers, indigenous people, migrants and agricultural workers from around the world.
-- Friends of the Earth International is the world's largest grassroots environmental federation with 76 national member groups in 76 countries and more than 2 million individual members and supporters
-- Combat Monsanto coordinates campaigns and actions against the harmful methods of the biotech industry and relays the worldwide resistances for food sovereignty.
The Brazilian corporation Vale is the world’s second largest metals and mining company and one of the largest producers of raw materials globally. In 2010 it reported profits of US$ 17 billion.
The case study released by Friends of the Earth International reveals Vale's unfulfilled promises and its lobby activities aimed at influencing national and international climate change policies.
Despite setting out in 2008 its intention to cut its carbon dioxide emissions, Vale emitted - according to its own figures - 20 million tons of CO2 in 2010, an increase of a third on 2007 levels (15 million tons).
Vale has representatives on the Brazilian government’s official delegation to the UN and is one among many major corporations that are exerting pressure on government climate policies to undermine global action on the climate crisis.
The South African energy giant Sasol was also exposed by Friends of the Earth International in a separate recent case study on 'corporate capture' of UN processes. [3]
Chief among Vale’s large scale mining projects that have direct impact on peoples and the environment in Brazil is the controversial steel complex of Companhia Siderurgica do Atlantico (TKCSA), a joint venture in Rio de Janeiro.
Vale has faced heavy criticism for high levels of pollution at this plant, which increased Rio de Janeiro's carbon dioxide emissions by 76 %. Nevertheless, Vale’s project looks set to profit from 'carbon credits' under the so-called Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and other offsetting mechanisms.
“The project severely affected the livelihoods of eight thousand fishing workers living in traditional communities in the Sepetiba bay and the joint venture was denounced for environmental crimes in Brazilian courts,” said Lucia Ortiz for Friends of the Earth International.
“While Vale profits from large-scale mining activities which cause climate change, it also profits from false solutions which are exacerbating the climate crisis, such as carbon offsetting,” she added.
Vale is also constructing the Belo Monte dam in the Amazonian rainforest which is set to displace 40,000 people and have devastating consequences for the region's unique biodiversity and Indigenous Peoples.
The case study released on January 27 also exposes a Vale mining concession in Mozambique, the Moatize coal project, which exploits one of the world’s largest coal reserves since 2011. It is expected to produce 11 million tons of coal per year once it is fully operational.
Vale’s Moatize project attracted considerable criticism in Mozambique, for instance because some 1,300 families were forced to relocate to areas with difficult access to water, energy and arable land, and into houses badly built, with cracks and leaky roofs. Affected communities recently resorted to non-violent demonstrations, including blockading a train transporting coal to the Beira harbour.
Daniel Ribeiro from Friends of the Earth Mozambique said: “Members of local communities have been threatened, persecuted and harassed, according to a Chipanga community member, and these reports are just the tip of the iceberg.”
Lucia Ortiz, Friends of the Earth International Coordinator on Economic Justice – Resisting to Neoliberalism. Tel: + 55 51 9841 8707 (Brazil) Email: lucia@amigosdaterrabrasil.org.br
Daniel Ribeiro, Friends of the Earth Mozambique. Tel +258 84 7151300 (Mozambique) Email: daniel.ja.mz@gmail.com
For more information about Vale: http://www.publiceye.ch/en/vote/vale/
[2] The Vale case study released on January 27 is online for press preview in English at
http://www.foei.org/en/resources/publications/pdfs/2012/how-corporations-rule-vale/
And in Portuguese:
http://www.foei.org/en/resources/publications/pdfs/2012/como-as-corporacoes-governam-vale/
[3] The Sasol case study released on 7 December is online at
http://www.foei.org/en/media/archive/2011/climate-agenda-of-south-african-energy-giant-sasol-exposed
Sharon Pillay, Friends of the Earth South Africa / groundwork media officer + 27 (0) 72 25 77 317 or email media@groundwork.org.za
Bobby Peek, Director of Friends of the Earth South Africa / groundWork: +27 (0) 824 641 383 or email: bobby@groundwork.org.za
Nnimmo Bassey, Chair of Friends of the Earth International: +234 803 727 4395 (Nigerian mobile) or +27 (0) 71 63 92 542 (South African mobile valid only until Dec.10), email: nnimmo@eraction.org
Friends of the Earth International media line: +27 791 097 223 (South African number valid only until Dec.10) or +31-6-5100 5630 (Dutch mobile) or email: media@foei.org
[1] The Sasol case study released today is online at
http://www.foei.org/en/resources/publications/pdfs/2011/how-corporations-rule-sasol-and-south-africas-climate-policy/view
[2] More information in today’s Independent Online story ‘Sasol tops list of emitters” online at
http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/kwazulu-natal/sasol-tops-list-of-emitters-1.1193640
Read the full text of the FoEI statement here
Nnimmo Bassey, Friends of the Earth International chair: nnimmo@eraction.org or call +234 803 727 4395 (Nigeria)
Dave Hirsch,Friends of the Earth US: dhirsch@foe.org or call:+1-202 222-0741(US)
Jagoda Munic, Friends of the Earth Croatia: jagoda@zelena-akcija.hr or call: +385 1 4813 097 or +385 98 1795 690 (Croatia)
Karin Nansen, Friends of the Earth Uruguay: urusust@gmail.com or call : + 598 98 466 398 (Uruguay)
Meena Raman, Friends of the Earth Malaysia, meenaco@pd.jaring.net or call: +41-22 90 83 550 or +60-12 430 0042 (Malaysia).
The report 'Communities Rights, Corporate Wrongs', features local struggles that have the defence and enforcement of community rights at their heart and includes the following cases:
The report also illustrates how community rights help strengthen 'community-based forest governance', the regulations and practices used by many communities for the conservation and sustainable use of their forests.
Community-based forest governance is communal and is traditionally identified with the protection of the forests - in contrast to their industrial and commercial exploitation, which contribute to deforestation, loss or livelihoods and biodiversity, and climate change.
Isaac Rojas, Friends of the Earth International Coordinator of the Forests and Biodiversity Programme (Costa Rica) – Email: isaac@coecoceiba.org or Tel: + 506 8338 32 03 (Costa Rica)
[1] The report can be downloaded from
http://www.foei.org/en/resources/publications/pdfs/2011/community-rights-corporate-wrongs/view
The report confirms Friends of the Earth International's long-held belief that Shell has not only failed to meet the environmental guidelines and standards for petroleum industries in Nigeria (EGASPIN) but also its own standards.
The fact that Shell Nigeria is not working according to Nigerian, International and Shell standards raises doubts about the priority the oil giant gives to the environment and the well being of Nigerians.
Reacting to the contents of the report Friends of the Earth International Chair, Nnimmo Bassey said:
“Going by the findings, the Ogoni people who, ironically, are still living with this ecological disaster may never have the right to an environment that can allow them to develop as they desire. Not even the paltry sum recommended for restoration can assuage the dislocation that Shell’s activity has wrought on them.”
Bassey insisted that the $1 billion initial restoration fund that the report has proposed is negligible compared with the mammoth ecological disaster caused by Shell.
Friends of the Earth International call for Shell to be held accountable for the findings in this report. As the party responsible for the devastation they must start clean up operations immediately and halt ongoing pollution such as routine gas flares and the leaking pipes that continually pollute streams, rivers and farmlands.
Shell should also apologise and compensate victims for the suffering they have caused.
Read the UNEP report here
The report, carried out by 50 international experts, took place over a two year period and examined more than 200 locations, reviewed more than 5,000 medical records and engaged over 23,000 people at local
community meetings.
Amongst its many findings it reported that oil pollution is widespread in Ogoniland and most people have been exposed to chronic pollution all their lives. Hydrocarbon pollution, seriously hazardous to health, has reached groundwater at 41 sites and benzene, a known carcinogen, has been found in drinking water at a level 900 times above WHO standards.
The report also finds that fisheries have been destroyed and that wetlands around Ogoniland are highly degraded.
Read the factsheet put together by Friends of the Earth Netherlands
The UNEP pollution research project in Ogoniland and its political importance
Friends of the Earth International Media officer: media@foei.org, +31 20 622 1369
Nnimmo Bassey, Friends of the Earth International chair and director of Friends of the Earth Nigeria: nnimmo@eraction.org, +234 803 727 4395 (Nigerian mobile)
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The report shows how the Bank’s dirty fossil fuel financing is on the rise, locking countries such as India and South Africa into an even greater reliance on coal. Furthermore, the Bank is driving the expansion of carbon markets, an escape hatch for rich industrialised countries from cutting their emissions, whilst causing ecological damage and the displacement of communities in the global South. And despite negative environmental, social, and climate change impacts, the World Bank is significantly scaling up support for large hydropower.
Despite the Bank’s lending for highly unsustainable projects around the world, it is seeking an influential role in the UN’s new Green Climate Fund and in mechanisms to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD).
Friends of the Earth International Economic Justice Program Coordinator Sebastian Valdomir said:
“The World Bank is part of the climate problem, not the climate solution. Its conflicts of interest, and appalling social and environmental track record, should immediately disqualify it from playing any role whatsoever in designing the Green Climate Fund, and in climate finance more generally.”
The World Bank has been accused of having a conflict of interest with regards to serving as both the interim trustee of the Green Climate Fund (fiduciary function) and on the Technical Support Unit designing the fund (consultancy function). In effect, the Bank would be designing a fund that is meant to oversee its own activities.
The World Bank’s fossil fuel lending practices and propagation of false solutions to climate change, such as carbon trading and large dams, should lead to its exclusion from any role in designing the UNFCCC’s Green Climate Fund.
Friends of the Earth International calls for climate finance that is derived from assessed budgetary contributions and other non-market-based innovative sources – like financial transaction taxes – that is commensurate with rich countries’ disproportionate role in creating the problem of climate change.
Policy Analyst at Friends of the Earth United States Kate Horner said:
“The World Bank claims to provide leadership on climate change but, as shown in this report, it is a major funder of dirty fossil fuel projects, carbon trading and mega dams. These initiatives deepen poverty and push us closer to the brink of a global environmental disaster.”
[1] The report shows that in 2010 the Bank hit a new record in terms of its fossil fuel funding, totaling US$6.6 billion, a 116% increase over 2009. US$4.4 billion of this total was invested in coal, also a record high, and a 356% increase over the previous year.
[2] The World Bank’s private lending arm, the IFC, approved investment of US$450 million for the Tata Mundra 4,000-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Gujarat, India, which is expected to emit an estimated 25.7 million tons of CO2 annually for at least 25 years.
In April 2010, the World Bank also approved a massive US$3.75 billion lloan, the overwhelming majority of which will finance the 4,800 megawatt Medupi coal-fired power plant being built by Eskom, South Africa’s state-owned power utility. The loan will lead to 40 new coalmines opening up to feed the Medupi plant and related projects. South Africa is currently responsible for 40% of all of Africa’s greenhouse gas emissions,
and this loan will add to these emissions.
[3] The World Bank has been increasing investment in large hydropower since 2003, following a lull in such investment in the 1990s, despite that dams have already displaced 40–80 million people.
[4] The World Bank’s Climate Investment Funds (CIFs) include a Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR), which allows for loans for adaptation, unlike UNFCCC funds and the Adaptation Fund, which has recently led to protests in Nepal and Bangladesh.
[5] The English version of the report can be found at:
www.foei.org/en/resources/publications/pdfs/2011/world-bank-catalysing-catastrophic-climate-change/
The Spanish version of the report can be found at:
www.foei.org/es/recursos/publicaciones/pdfs-por-ano/2011/banco-mundial-catalizador-del-cambio-clima301tico-devastador/
[6] Key findings from the report will be presented at a side event at the UNFCCC climate talks in Bonn, Germany on Saturday 11 June: 18:15—19:45, WIND, Ministry of the Environment building.
Sebastian Valdomir – International Coordinator, Economic Justice Programme, Friends of the Earth International (Spanish and Portuguese, based in Uruguay,) Mobile: +598 98 965 135, sebastien@redes.org
Kate Horner – Climate Justice Policy Analyst, Friends of the Earth US (English only, available at UNFCCC talks in Bonn) Mobile: +13 603 199 444, khorner@foe.org
Sarah-Jayne Clifton – International Coordinator, Climate Justice & Energy Programme, Friends of the Earth International (English only, based in the UK) Mobile: +44 7912 406510, sarah.clifton@foe.co.uk
Paul de Clerck, coordinator of the corporates campaign at Friends of the Earth International, said: “We expect that the promises in the erratum we wrote for Shell will become reality. Shell is aware of the damage it is causing to the environment and of the violation of rights of local communities that it is involved in. We want the company to take measures to restore this damage and to prevent further wrongdoing”.
During the presentation of the “erratum” to Shell’s shareholders and board, today, representatives from different communities affected by Shell’s wrongdoing were present:
Eric Dooh, a Nigerian farmer who is taking Shell to court in The Netherlands [2] for refusal to clean up oil spills in his fishponds and on his fields said: “Oil spills from Shell pipelines caused the water and agricultural land in our village to be severely polluted. We want Shell to clean up the pollution so we can fish and farm again”.
Lionel Lepine, representing the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation in Canada said: “Shell’s tar sand operations are disrupting our traditional way of life. They are destroying our air, water, land and medicinal plants and the birds, fish and animals we depend on to sustain our people" Mr. Lepine also stated that "Shell's footprint in our lands will have a multi-generational effect on our children not yet born, they are violating our Indigenous rights, the rights of our sacred Mother Earth and we are here at their AGM to put them on notice that we will stop them."
Friends of the Earth International demands from Shell that the company:
Paul de Clerck, Friends of the Earth International, +32-49-4380959 (Belgian cell), paul@milieudefensie.nl (English)
Romel de Vera, Friends of the Earth International, +63 906 305 7097 (Philippine cell), mel.devera@lrcksk.org (English)
Friends of the Earth media coordinator, +31-20-6221369 (Amsterdam office), media@foei.org (French/ English)
For the court case in The Hague, please contact the press department of Friends of the Earth Netherlands (Milieudefensie) : + 31-20-5507333 or persvoorlichting@milieudefensie.nl (English/Dutch)
[1] The spoof erratum can be downloaded here: http://www.foei.org/shell-report
[2] On May 19, Eric Dooh will for the first time face Shell in court during a hearing in The Hague. For more information about the court case and about what will happen on May 19, please visit: www.milieudefensie.nl/english/shellinnigeria
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