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foei calls for international financial
institutions to phase out funding for fossil fuel and mining
projects
It is shocking that public money is funding mining, which
is one of the most devastating activities, destroying the
environment and communities despite claims of its economic
benefits. Friends of the Earth International has called for
a phase out of funding by IFIs for these projects. For more
background, read our
position paper
(also in
,
and
)
You can send a message to the head of the World Bank, saying
why they should get out of oil, mining and gas on our
easy-to-use form
.
widespread support for phase out
Over 100 organizations have already endorsed the call for a
moratorium on IFI financing for fossil fuel and mining projects.
If your organization has not signed on yet you can do so by
sending a message to
janneke@foei.org
.
Use your networks for more endorsements! The call and the position
paper can be found at
www.foei.org/ifi
in Spanish, Portuguese,
English and French.
mining industry greenwash and the united nations
As part of the lead-up to the UN World Summit on Sustainable
Development (WSSD, or "Rio+10") to be held in September 2002,
the World Bank and the UN Environment Programme have launched
an initiative with the International Institute for Environment
and Development (IIED) to investigate the role of mining in
sustainable development. This programme, known as the Minerals,
Mining and Sustainable Development (MSSD) initiative, is a
product of industry PR campaign. It was spawned through the
industry-based Global Mining Initiative and the World Business
Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).
The MSSD calls itself an "independent process of participatory
analysis aimed at identifying how mining and minerals can
best contribute to the global transition to sustainable development."
In fact, it is not independent (funded by $5 million from
the very industry it claims to assess), and it is not participatory
(it does not seriously include members of indigenous and other
communities who are most affected by mining activities). Furthermore,
if one uses "sustainability" in the way it was used in the
Brundtland Report, mining cannot be sustainable.
We are concerned that not only the World Bank has entered
into this programme with the IIED, but that also the UN Environment
Programme has joined this industry greenwash exercise. This
is very distressing in the light of the General Assembly's
rejection of the approaches of the mining industry in the
Earth Summit in 1992.
We are among many NGOs engaged with mining issues from a social
and environmental perspective, who believe this process is
not the right direction for UNEP, and have signed a
joint statement to the UN Environment Programme
about the
MSSD.
ocean dumping of mine waste
Ocean dumping of mine waste, known as 'Submarine Tailings Disposal',
leads to many ecological problems by destroying fragile coastal
ecosystems. It allows heavy metals into the food chain, threatens
ecological balance and simply obliterates ecosystems with silt.
Restoration is impossible. It has serious social and economic
effects as well as environmental ones.
This form of dumping is illegal in USA and Canada, and has never
been proposed in Australia. It is, however, widely practised
in South East Asia and the Pacific, where it is promoted by
the mining companies using incomplete and faulty studies, because
it is a cheap way for the mining companies to 'get rid of' their
rubbish.
We want:
-
a world ban on Submarine Tailings Disposal.
-
mining industries acknowledge and accept responsibility
for the ocean dumping. TNCs based in countries such as Canada
and the US should apply the same standards abroad as they
do at home.
Read the
Manado Declaration (2001)
from the Conference on Submarine Tailings Disposal, 23- 30
April 2001, in Manado, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. FoE Indonesia
and Foe Philippines were among the signatories.
More information, also on specific cases, can be found at
JATAM, Indonesia
and at the FOEI affiliate
Mineral Policy Institute
, also in their
press releases
.
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