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Websites:

CEE Bankwatch Network (Network's mission is to prevent environmentally & socially harmful impacts of international development finance)

Export Credit and Investment Insurance Agencies: A Race to the Bottom (Friends of the Earth)

Export Development Corporation [Canada] (Probe International)

NGO Working Group on the Export Development Corporation (Canada)

Probe International: "Probe International exposes the devastating environmental, social, and economic effects of Canada's aid and trade abroad"

General materials:

2003:

Global Witness welcomes UN's new proposed ban on Liberian timber as a decisive act to bring peace to a war-torn region (Global Witness, 7 May 2003)

Banks in drive for project principles - The drive by Citigroup and large European providers of project finance in emerging markets to obtain industry-wide adherence to the International Finance Corporation's social and environmental guidelines may increase pressure on export credit agencies to do the same..."In the past, the US Export-Import bank has taken the lead on environmental standards and issues of transparency," said John Sohn, an expert on export credit agencies at Friends of the Earth...The impetus behind the US lead was in part due to financing of the controversial Three Gorges dam in China in 1996. The US Export-Import bank decided not to finance the project...Non-US ECAs, such as Germany's Hermes and Export Development Canada, less constrained by environmental standards, provided some finance for the dam. In an attempt to create a level playing field, the US Export-Import Bank began promoting within the OECD the concept of common and transparent environmental standards but its moves have generally been met with resistance. (Demetri Sevastopulos, Financial Times, 9 Apr. 2003)

• Four banks adopt IFC agreement - At least four European and US banks plan to adopt the International Finance Corporation's social and environmental guidelines for project finance in emerging markets, a clear signal that banks are awakening to the risks of socially irresponsible investing. ABN Amro, Barclays, Citibank and WestLB, in collaboration with the IFC, the private-sector arm of the World Bank, have drafted an agreement called the "Equator Principles"...Under the agreement, the banks agree to adopt the IFC's social and environmental rules for sustainable development, which include guidelines on issues ranging from environmental assessment and natural habitats to indigenous peoples and child and forced labour. (Demetri Sevastopulo, Financial Times, 6 Apr. 2003)

• Four Banks Adopt Social and Environmental Guidelines for Developing World Projects (Business for Social Responsibility News Monitor summary of article in Financial Times, 7 Apr. 2003)

NGOs Decry Human Rights Crisis at Three Gorges Project as Reservoir Starts Filling - The reservoir of the controversial Three Gorges Dam in China’s Yangtze Valley will start filling on April 10, aggravating already serious human rights problems in the resettlement areas. A new report documents that the resettlement problems of this publicly funded dam have not been resolved, and that project construction is linked to systematic human rights violations. (International Rivers Network and Friends of the Earth International, 3 Apr. 2003)

• Human Rights Abuses in China and the Responsibility of Western Governments: The Case of the Three Gorges Project -...People affected by the Three Gorges Project must be resettled, compensated and rehabilitated in line with acknowledged international resettlement and human rights standards...The people who have been imprisoned for protesting peacefully against the problems of the project in the past should be released...As long as the problems of resettlement have not been resolved in line with international standards, the submergence of the reservoir area should be suspended...Export Credit Agencies should carry out human rights and social impact assessments before taking decisions on credits and guarantees...The World Commission on Dams (WCD) has proposed a framework that integrates human rights into the planning and decision-making processes of water and energy projects. (statement delivered to U.N. Commission on Human Rights by Peter Bosshard, Policy Director of International Rivers Network, 31 Mar. 2003)

• Eyewitness Report Documents Serious Human Rights Abuses in Three Gorges Project - International Rivers Network released today an eyewitness report on the resettlement and human rights problems of the Three Gorges Dam in China. More than 640,000 people have been evicted to make way for the giant dam... Resettlers have not been compensated according to international standards. The resettlement process is fraught with corruption and human rights abuses. Protests are widespread, and the police has used excessive force to quell these protests. (International Rivers Network, 20 Jan. 2003)

• full report: Human Rights Dammed Off at Three Gorges - An investigation of resettlement and human rights problems in the Three Gorges Dam project [scroll to bottom of page to download] (International Rivers Network, Jan. 2003)

52 Bishops Call For Reform of Arms Export Laws [UK] - In a letter to The Times today, 52 UK bishops called on the Government to commit to reform of the Arms Export Control Act. They are adding their voices to Oxfam’s campaign to stop British arms reaching vulnerable developing countries and conflict zones. (Oxfam GB, 5 Feb. 2003)

El Salvador: Violations of Labour Standards Rife, says new ICFTU Report - ...the ICFTU has condemned El Salvador's failure to protect basic trade union rights in the country's Export Processing Zones...One of the many major allegations of the report was the unsafe working conditions workers face ...Gender discrimination is also widespread...The report also mentions the fact that indigenous people in El Salvador face discrimination in employment...Child labour is also widespread in much of the rural and unregulated urban economies (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 5 Feb. 2003)

• Internationally recognised core labour standards in El Salvador (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 4 Feb. 2003)

• {···español} El Salvador: Proliferan las violaciones de las normas laborales, dice un reciente informe de la CIOSL (Confederación Internacional de Organizaciones Sindicales Libres, 5 febrero 2003)

• {···français} El Salvador: les violations des normes du travail sont courantes, affirme un rapport de la CISL (Confédération internationale des syndicats libres, 6 février 2003)

Regulating weapons deals: The case for European Controls on arms brokers (Oxfam, Feb. 2003)

• {···français} La réglementation des ventes d'armes: Plaidoyer  pour un contrôle européen des marchands d'armes (Oxfam, février 2003)

2002:

Green groups sue US agencies over global warming - Environmental groups filed a lawsuit this week against two U.S. government agencies for financing the overseas projects of American energy firms while ignoring the effects those deals have on global warming and the environment. (Reuters, 29 Aug. 2002)  

• USA: Export Agencies Sued Over Global Warming - Two environmental groups and the city of Boulder, Colo., plan to file a lawsuit today charging two federal agencies with contributing to climate change through their financing policies. Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and the city said they are filing the suit in U.S. District Court in San Francisco on behalf of "members and citizens who are victims of global warming." The action is against the Export-Import Bank, an independent federal agency that helps finance the sale of U.S. exports, and the Overseas Private Investment Corp., which provides government- backed insurance and loans to help U.S. businesses compete in emerging markets. (Washington Post, 27 Aug. 2002)

CIEL Side Events at the World Summit on Sustainable Development - 26 August to 4 September 2002 [includes events on The Role of Export Credit Agencies in Sustainable Development; Human Rights, Sustainable Development & Environmental Protection] (CIEL - Center for International Environmental Law) [added to this site on 26 Aug. 2002]

MPs call for controls on military firms [UK] - Private military companies - descendants of mercenaries from the days of the "dogs of war" - are here to stay but their activities must be strictly controlled, MPs said yesterday in a report sparked off by the arms to Africa affair [when the UK Government was accused of conniving with Sandline International in the illegal export of arms to Sierra Leone]. They should be licensed and monitored in the same way as weapons exports but barred from armed combat operations, the Commons foreign affairs committee said. (Richard Norton-Taylor, Guardian [UK], 2 Aug. 2002)

Campaigners attack “meddling” with arms laws [UK] - A new law to stop British weapons fuelling misery around the world will be dangerously weakened if government ministers can change the rules at will, arms campaigners warned today [regarding Export Control Bill] (Amnesty International, BASIC, Christian Aid, International Alert, Oxfam, Saferworld, 22 July 2002)

Exposed: Double standards of dirty energy exports [UK] - Export credit agencies help flog coal, nuclear technologies to developing countries - Export credit agencies (ECAs) are little-known but important accomplices in the cynical practice of exporting dirty and outmoded technology to developing countries. This business exposes citizens of the developing world to health and environmental risks and contributes to the growing burden of climate changing gases in the atmosphere. (Greenpeace, 12 July 2002)

• report: Executive Summary - Exporting pollution: Double standards in UK energy exports - The last ten years have seen substantial financing by export credit agencies of fossil fuel power projects in developing countries – projects that will emit millions of tonnes of climate changing gases into our atmosphere for decades to come. (Greenpeace, 12 July 2002)

Banks, DENR forge tieup for environment protection [Philippines] - The Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP) has signed an agreement with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) as well as other entities to ensure that commercial loans, especially to the manufacturing sector, are directed toward environmentally-friendly projects prior to their release. (Ted P. Torres, Philippine Star, 30 June 2002)

Activist Groups Oppose Public Financing of Caspian Oil Pipeline [Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey] -...In a three-page letter sent Tuesday to the heads of the World Bank, the European Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and U.S. and Japanese ECAs [export credit agencies], the groups [64 NGOs from 37 countries] argue that very few of the most important project documents have been released publicly and that the project's social, environmental, and even security impacts have yet to be fully assessed...Other partners besides BP include Italy's Eni, Statoil of Norway, and California-based Unocal. (Jim Lobe, One World, 26 June 2002)

Activists Oppose Financing for Peruvian Gas Project - Environmental activists are lobbying hard at the United States Export-Import Bank (Exim) and the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington against loans for a controversial gas and pipeline project in Peru that they say threatens isolated groups of indigenous people and their Amazonian homeland. The project is led by Pluspetrol and Techint, two Argentinian energy companies, Texas-based HuntOil, and includes several other energy companies, including SK Corporation of South Korea, Sonatrach of Algeria, and Peru's own Grana y Montero. Citigroup...has acted as the consortium's chief financial adviser for the project. (Jim Lobe, OneWorld US, 24 June 2002)

• EXIM Bank Urged to Deny Government Loan to Egregious Energy Project in the Amazon - Peru's Uncontacted Indigenous Peoples Threatened by Massive Camisea Gas Project (Amazon Watch, 20 June 2002)

Enron's Pipe Scheme: Energy giant bulldozed over environmental, human rights concerns to build Bolivian pipeline -- with U.S. government backing (Jimmy Langman, on CorpWatch website, 9 May 2002)

Our organizations respectfully urge the Export-Import Bank of the United States to reject financing currently under consideration for all aspects of Peru's Camisea gas development project. Public funds of the United States government should not be invested in a project that will provoke an array of insurmountable and unavoidable environmental and social impacts on vulnerable, isolated indigenous peoples... (letter to Export-Import Bank of the U.S. from Amazon Watch, Friends of the Earth International, Rainforest Action Network, Pacific Environment, Sustainable Energy and Economy Network-Institute for Policy Studies, Reform the World Bank Campaign, 9 May 2002)

Construction giant drops controversial Turkish dam plan: One of Britain's leading construction companies pulled out of the planned Yusufeli dam in Turkey yesterday after environmentalists said it would be the target for protests. The move by Amec avoids a big embarrassment for the Government, which has been asked to underwrite the firm's involvement in the £590m scheme...Critics say the new dam would displace 30,000 people by flooding the area around Yusufeli in north-east Turkey. (Saeed Shah, Independent [UK], 14 Mar. 2002)

Swedish global development policy: Executive Summary: A new Swedish policy for global development [final report of the Parliamentary Commission on Sweden's policy for global development (GLOBKOM)] [excerpts from page 9, section entitled "The business sector": "The experience and expertise of the Swedish business sector and trade unions should be put to better use in Swedish development assistance by including them to a greater extent in the formulation of country assistance strategies."  "The Committee proposes to study further whether a need exists for legislation requiring companies and pension funds to render social and environmental accounts and, secondly, whether there is any need to make export credits conditional on the assumption of social and environmental responsibility."] (Parliamentary Commission on Sweden's policy for global development - GLOBKOM, on the website of Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, 4 Mar. 2002)

Comment - They're all dammed: Britain [Export Credits Guarantee Department] is again trying to fund a Turkish project to flood thousands of Kurdish homes - The consortium hoping to build the Yusufeli dam is led by the French company Spie Batignolle, 41% of which is owned by the British firm Amec (George Monbiot, Guardian [UK], 26 Feb. 2002)

Globalization & Militarization - A national security exception protects countries’ subsidies for military production from international trade rules...By favoring arms sales over other forms of trade, the security exception fuels armed conflict. [includes discussion of U.S. policy on arms trade] (John Feffer, Foreign Policy in Focus, Feb. 2002)

Enron: History of Human Rights Abuse in India - The human rights abuses that plagued the Enron Corporation's Dabhol power plant in India from 1992 to 1998 demonstrate the need for U.S. government agencies to scrutinize such controversial projects more closely, Human Rights Watch said today. (Human Rights Watch, 23 Jan. 2002)

• company website: Enron (Enron)

Britain Faces Fresh Protests Over Turkish Dam Project: The British government will be the target of stinging criticism Tuesday for considering backing a new dam project in Turkey which threatens to uproot thousands from their homes and destroy sites of historical and environmental interest..."The government's Export Credit Guarantee Department (ECDG) is facing a decision about whether to support Yusufeli without any policies to ensure that public money isn't spent on yet another potentially destructive project," said Hannah Griffiths of Friends of the Earth...British engineering firm Amec first requested ECGD backing for the Yusufeli dam in 1998. The firm is part of an international consortium--led by the French company Spie Batignolle (Sebastian Naidoo, OneWorld UK, 22 Jan. 2002)

Government exporting global warming, say campaigners [UK]: Environmental campaigners today accused the government of 'exporting global warming' after it was revealed that the UK has put up billions of pounds to fund fossil fuel projects in the developing world...The new research was released this morning at a briefing by Greenpeace and the Body Shop to promote the 'Choose Positive Energy' campaign which is running in 27 countries and designed to bring renewable energy to the two billion people without access to electricity. (Greenpeace & Body Shop, 18 Jan. 2002)

2001:

Environmental clearance for Canadian-backed hydro scheme in Belize illegal, say conservation groups (Probe International, 31 Dec. 2001)

• Where things stand with Fortis's proposed Chalillo dam: The last few months have seen major developments in the campaign to stop Fortis's hydro scheme in Belize's Macal River Valley. (Probe International, 24 Dec. 2001)

EDC establishes advisory council of prominent leaders on corporate social responsibility [Canada]: Export Development Corporation (EDC) is establishing an advisory council of prominent leaders to provide advice and guidance on best practices in corporate social responsibility. (Export Development Corporation of Canada, 24 Oct. 2001)

• {···français: Création par la SEE d'un Conseil consultatif sur la responsabilité sociale des entreprises, formé de leaders éminents} 

UNEP: Export Credit Agencies Meet To Consider "Green" Measures - Senior staff from export credit agencies, banks and insurers yesterday opened a two-day workshop in Paris under the auspices of the U.N. Environment Program to discuss environmental issues related to finance, such as how to reward companies with strong environmental considerations. (UN Wire, 23 Oct. 2001)

The Greening of Export Credit Agencies - ECA's, banks and insurers discuss environmentally reponsible financing: 70 senior staff from Export Credit Agencies (ECAs), banks and insurers - which facilitate USD billions of trade annually - are gathering in Paris today.  They are meeting under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to explore how to further "green" their operations.  The two day workshop, hosted by the French ECA, Coface, is, for the first time, bringing together ECA underwriters, private sector financiers, environmental experts and the United Nations, to discuss environmental issues relevant to finance.  In particular, the meeting will look at how to facilitate the implementation of project screening - already adopted by many of the respective institutions. (U.N. Environment Programme and Coface, 22 Oct. 2001)

Bill would give Export Development Corp. new name, more environmental clout [Canada]: The Export Development Corp. gets a new name and more environmental clout under a bill introduced Thursday in the Commons. The re-christened Export Development Canada would be required to look into the environmental impact of projects it is asked to back. (Canadian Press, 20 Sep. 2001)

G8's impotence in reforming their export credit agencies: NGOs call on G8 governments to soon adopt high level binding common environmental guidelines for their Export Credit Agencies. (Halifax Initiative, 19 July 2001)

Response to the Export Development Corporation’s Draft Disclosure Policy by the NGO Working Group on the Export Development Corporation [Canada], a working group of the Halifax Initiative (Halifax Initiative, 29 June 2001)

NGO Report Demonstrates the Export Development Corporation Risks the Environment: Canada’s Export Development Corporation is an accessory to some projects with severe negative environmental and social consequences, says a new report, "Reckless Lending – How Canada’s Export Development Corporation Puts People and the Environment at Risk", volume 2. This report builds on evidence of poor social, environmental and human rights assessment procedures used by the EDC found in volume 1, released in 2000. (Halifax Initiative, 14 May 2001)

• report: Reckless Lending -- Volume 2 [refers to projects supported by Canada's Export Development Corporation in Peru, India, Argentina, Tanzania, Colombia, Indonesia, Senegal, Mali, Mauritania, Chile] (Halifax Initiative, May 2001)
  •  Part One 
  •  Part Two

Export credit finances destructive, debt-laden projects [Indonesia]: A new NGO report has drawn attention to the role of export credit lending agencies in pulp and paper mills and other projects in Indonesia, which have led to increased deforestation and abuse of people's rights. Export credit lending agencies (ECAs) based in industrialised countries fail to require even minimal environmental standards when backing projects, according to the report published in February by the Indonesian NGO, Bioforum, and the US-based organisation, Environmental Defense. The report is part of an international campaign to push government-backed export credit agencies designed to promote overseas investment to develop social and environmental guidelines...The PT TEL pulp mill in South Sumatra, which started commercial production last year, is already causing serious pollution problems...A US$ 1.5 billion finance package was approved for the mill in 1994 by Canadian, Finnish, German, Japanese and Swedish ECAs. (Down to Earth Newsletter, May 2001)

Reforms Introduced for Export Development Corporation [Canada]: In June, International Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew announced that he intends to introduce amendments to the Export Development Act this fall to give the Export Development Corporation (EDC) new policies on disclosure and environmental review. (MiningWatch Canada, MiningWatch Canada/Mines Alerte Newsletter, spring/summer 2001)

Environmentalists Agree with President Bush: US Export-Import Bank Needs Appropriations Cut - New report targets U.S. corporate welfare programs that pollute the environment, fuel global warming - The U.S. Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im), which provides financing to American corporations to do business abroad, is among the top pork barrel programs that wastes billions of taxpayer dollars while harming the environment, according to a new report by a coalition of taxpayer, environmental and consumer groups. (press release by Friends of the Earth, Taxpayers for Common Sense, U.S. Public Interest Research Group, 22 Feb. 2001)

Manifesto: Principled Profits - Guidelines for responsible business behaviour: During the Spring of 2001, the Dutch government and parliament will discuss the public responsibility of Dutch companies. This manifesto addresses the issue of responsible business behaviour by Dutch companies outside the Netherlands. It reflects the views of non-governmental organisations promoting sustainable development and defending worker rights and human rights. (signed by approximately 80 Dutch non-governmental organisations, Feb. 2001)

2000:

Will the new mission of the Export Credits Guarantee Department safeguard human rights? [United Kingdom] (Nicholas Hildyard, The Corner House, in Human Rights & Business Matters, newsletter of Amnesty International UK Business Group, autumn 2000/winter 2001)

Request to Export-Import Bank [of the United States] for immediate stay on consideration of funding of the Chad-Cameroon pipeline (from 18 non-governmental organisations, including Friends of the Earth and the Sierra Club, 8 June 2000)

Reckless Lending: How Canada's Export Development Corporation Puts People and the Environment at Risk (NGO Working Group on the Export Development Corporation, part of the Halifax Initiative Coalition, Mar. 2000)

Protests at PT TEL pulp plant [Indonesia]: Community anger is being directed at the newly completed plant in South Sumatra - The US$1 billion development is financed largely by Japanese, European and North American companies and banks. Equipment and technical services have been provided by Scandinavian, German and Canadian companies backed by Export Credit Agreements. This is yet another example of how the interests of foreign investors and export revenues are being put before the health and sustainable livelihoods of local communities in the name of 'economic development'. Tension between local communities and the management of the Tanjung Enim Lestari (PT TEL) paper pulp plant erupted into violence in mid-December...The estimated 30,000 people living in neighbouring communities have no idea about the potential environmental impacts of the pulp plant. (Down to Earth Newsletter, Feb. 2000)

1999:

The Enron Corporation: Corporate Complicity in Human Rights Violations - Summary and Recommendations - Recommendations To the Government of the United States (Human Rights Watch, Jan. 1999)

A Race to the Bottom: Creating Risk, Generating Debt and Guaranteeing Environmental Destruction: A Compilation of Export Credit & Investment Insurance Agency Case Studies [includes reference to export credit agencies of U.S., Germany, Japan, Canada, Australia and Switzerland; includes reference to projects in Turkey, India, China, Philippines, Russia, Colombia, Brazil, Papua New Guinea, Senegal, Togo, Indonesia] (a report by Berne Declaration, Bioforum, Center for International Environmental Law, Environmental Defense, Eurodad, Friends of the Earth, Pacific Environment and Resources Center, Urgewald-Germany; March 1999)

1998:

Insuring Human Rights: Linking Human Rights to Commercial Activities at the Export Development Corporation [Canada] (Craig Forcese, Canadian Lawyers Association for International Human Rights, 22 Dec. 1998)