Liberian communities harassed after calling on banks to halt $1.5 billion loan to Wilmar over land grabbing and human rights concerns
Commercial banks that were lining up to join a $1.5 billion syndicated loan for the palm oil giant Wilmar International are apparently reconsidering the deal due to concerns about land grabbing and other human rights abuses connected to the company’s investments in Liberia. Communities affected by the Maryland Oil Palm Plantation in southern Liberia have […]
AIIB funds first coal project despite assurances
(Mumbai, June 21, 2018) – The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has funded its first coal-burning project, despite repeated assurances from its senior directors that their “green” bank would steer clear of coal, according to a report released today by Bank Information Center Europe and Inclusive Development International.
World Bank and International Investors Bankrolling Climate Disaster in Philippines
International investors have in recent years poured billions of dollars into coal-fired power plants in the Philippines, one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to climate change. The World Bank Group, commercial banks and asset managers have quietly bankrolled a coal boom on the island nation despite many of them pledging to end or cut […]
Free at Last: Charges Against Indigenous Land Rights Defender & Former World Bank Inspection Panel Translator Dropped
Today, charges against Pastor Omot Agwa, an indigenous land rights defender from the Gambella region of Ethiopia, were finally dropped by an Ethiopian court. In March 2015, Pastor Omot was arrested in Addis Ababa while attempting to travel to Kenya to attend a food security conference. For six months, he was detained without charge, denied access to […]
Forcibly Displaced Cambodians File Historic Lawsuit against Asia’s Largest Sugar Producer
Displaced farmers from Cambodia have filed a landmark class-action lawsuit against the Thai sugar giant Mitr Phol. The legal complaint was filed in a Thai civil court by two plaintiffs representing a class of approximately 3000 people who were violently displaced and dispossessed of their land and livelihoods in five remote villages in northwestern Cambodia […]
Report Shines a Light on Hidden Backers of World’s Most Destructive Coal Project
Some of the biggest players in global finance are quietly backing the world’s most dangerous coal plant, according to an investigative report released today. International investors are enabling and profiting from the proposed Rampal plant in southern Bangladesh despite persistent warnings that it will damage the world’s largest mangrove forest, intensify climate change and imperil […]
Holding International Financial Institutions Accountable
Yesterday, ELAW partners at the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ) submitted a complaint against the International Finance Corporation (IFC) for fueling climate change by investing in a Philippine bank that finances the nation’s coal industry. There are more than 7,000 islands in the Philippines, making it one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to […]
World Bank Fueling Climate Change, Philippine Groups Allege in Historic Complaint
(Washington DC, October 11, 2017) – More than 100 citizen groups and affected communities in the Philippines today filed a historic complaint against the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank’s private-sector arm. The complaint accuses the IFC of fueling global climate change through its opaque investments in a Philippine bank that is a major financier of the coal industry. This is the first climate change-related complaint received by the IFC’s independent watchdog, the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman.
Thai human rights body hears complaints against Tanintharyi coal mine
(Yangon) —Thailand’s National Human Rights Commission conducted an initial hearing of complaints against Ban Chaung coal mining project in Tanintharyi Region’s Dawei Township on Monday. In June, 135 locals from villages in the project’s vicinity filed a complaint with the commission, urging them to investigate the activities of Thai mining firms East Star Co, Thai […]
National Human Rights Commission of Thailand Holds Initial Hearing for Ban Chaung Coal Mine Project
The National Human Rights Commission of Thailand this week held an initial hearing on the community complaint against the Ban Chaung Coal Mine, located in the Thanintharyi Region of Myanmar. Representatives of indigenous Karen communities filed a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand in June 2017 alleging human rights violations resulting from […]