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29 october 2001
brussels
friends of the earth protests world bank
financing of oil, mining and gas
projects
immediate moratorium on financing of new
projects is needed
see the
photos
This morning, Friends of the Earth
International (FoEI) staged a protest in
front of the hotel Metropole at Place de
Brouckere in Brussels. Twenty miners sealed
off the area in front of the hotel entrance,
which was then declared a mining area.
Visitors to the hotel and onlookers were
ordered to immediately vacate the area as the
hotel was going to be demolished to make way
for gold mining operations financially
supported by the World Bank. Banners carried
by the protesters read ´World Bank clean up!
Get out of Oil, Mining and Gas´
The protest was staged at the formal
beginning of the World Bank Extractive
Industries Review (EIR), which started today
with a ´planning workshop´ in Hotel
Metropole. The EIR, according to the World
Bank, is a consultative process aimed at
obtaining the view of stakeholders on the
future role of the World Bank in the oil,
mining and gas sector.
At a press conference later today in
Brussels, FoEI stated that the World Bank has
no future role to play in these sectors, as
the projects supported by the World Bank do
not contribute to its stated objective of
alleviating poverty. Many World Bank
supported projects even cause severe local
environmental and social problems, lead to
the uprooting of communities, and contribute
to global climate change.
¨The claim of the Bank that poverty levels
go down in countries relying heavily on
extracting oil or minerals is a false one¨,
said Johan Frijns, coordinator of the
International Financial Institutions
programme of FoEI.¨ Statistical evidence
points to the opposite, with such countries
generally ranking low on the UN Human
Development Index¨.
Representatives of Friends of the Earth
groups in Cameroon and Peru present at the
press conference denounced the involvement of
the Bank in projects such as the Chad
Cameroon Oil Pipeline Project and gold and
copper mining in Peru. Two video
documentaries released by FoEI today show the
negative consequences of these projects for
local communities.
¨None of the promises of the Bank that this
pipeline project will generate employment and
reduce poverty has become true. Many
communities along the proposed route only
stand to lose from this project¨ said Raphael
Yimga Tatchi of FoE Cameroon.
Gladys Marquez of LABOR (FoE Peru) urged the
World Bank to reconsider its support for
three mining projects in Peru. ¨Mining in my
country is directly competing with, and
jeopardising agriculture on which local
communities depend for their livelihood¨
FoEI called upon the World Bank to declare
an immediate moratorium on new projects while
it is engaged in the Extractive Industries
Review, as a first step towards a total phase
out. The World Bank should also redirect its
resources towards projects aimed at
developing non fossil fuel energy solutions
to meet the energy needs of Southern
countries.
Contact: Johan Frijns, In Brussels 31
629593877, after Oct. 30
th
in
Amsterdam 31 20 6221369
More information, including the FoEI
position paper:
www.foei.org/ifi
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