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14 may 2001
ngos give out "2001 hypicrisy awards" at
oecd forum
As the OECD opened its annual fair in Paris,
the President of Friends of the Earth
International, on behalf of a network of
environmental and human rights NGOs,
recognized the OECD, Germany, France and the
United States for the hypocrisy of their
export credit agency policies. A
"Dishonorable Mention" was awarded to Spain
for its recalcitrance at the Export Credit
Group negotiations on common environmental
policies.
EXPORT CREDIT AGENCIES AND THE OECD.
As a group, export credit agencies are the
largest governmental institutions, some
publicly-financed, backing large
infrastructure projects in the developing
world, far surpassing the World Bank. Most of
them still have no environmental or human
rights safeguards and operate in near-total
secrecy. NGOs denounce the role of export
credit agencies in fostering corruption,
environmental destruction and social
dislocation in recipient countries.
THE OECD'S HYPOCRISY AWARD
At the opening session of the Forum,
Secretary General Donald Johnston received a
hypocrisy award on behalf of the OECD for
presenting "sustainable development" as its
2001 Ministerial theme while falling far
short of achieving that goal in its working
group negotiating environmental reforms for
ECAs. "We are very disappointed that the OECD
has not done more. What is this Forum about
if the OECD can't even get its member ECAs to
stop supporting harmful and unsustainable
projects?" said Ricardo Navarro, President of
Friends of the Earth International, a network
of NGOs in 68 countries working on
sustainable development.
THE HYPOCRISY AWARDS FOR GERMANY, FRANCE
AND THE UNITED STATES
Germany also wins the award for feigning
disapproval of the U.S. retreat from
international climate change negotiations,
while it is one of the countries that has
most persistently blocked meaningful reform
in the Export Credit Agency negotiations.
Germany is also targeted for having supported
the Three Gorges Dam displacing 1.8 million
Chinese and considering the Tehri dam in
India and Ilisu in Turkey. France claims its
hypocrisy award as the "country of human
rights" that finances investment in military
dictatorships such as Burma and Chad. The
U.S. was recognized for walking away from the
Kyoto treaty on global warming claiming that
it wouldn't participate until developing
countries did their share to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions?while at the same
time being a leading guarantor and insurer of
energy-intensive exports and projects in
these countries.
SPAIN'S "DIS-HONORABLE" MENTION
The Spanish delegation won a special
recognition for refusing, in the OECD
negotiations, to agree to public transparency
and consultation requirements. "Access to
environmental information and the
consultation of affected communities
constitute the heart of environmental
assessment, and any agreement that fails to
include provisions for these is wholly
inadequate," the NGOs highlight.
THE ECA-WATCH CAMPAIGN
The ECA-WATCH Campaign is an international
network of environmental and human rights
NGOs working to reform Export Credit
Agencies. The reform platform can be found in
the "Jakarta Declaration, " supported by 347
NGOs from 45 countries
www.eca-watch.org/press.html
For more information, go to the Friends of
the Earth stand at the Knowledge Fair or
contact Emilie Thenard, at 06 78 24 12
21.
To find out more about the international
campaign to reform Export Credit Agencies
(ECAs), please see www.eca-watch.org.
To view the ECA-Watch archives or to see a
directory of ECA-Watch members, visit the
topica website at
www.topica.com/lists/eca-watch
. Follow the simple registration instructions
if you are not yet registered.
Ian Willmore
Media Co-ordinator
Friends of the Earth
26-28 Underwood Street
London N1 7JQ
Mobile: 07887 641344
Work: 0207 566 1657
Home: 0208 885 3779
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