UK Government Body Accepts OECD Complaint against Sugar “Sustainability” Group
A Win for Corporate Accountability and Displaced Cambodian Communities The UK National Contact Point for the OECD, a government body that monitors the operations of British businesses overseas, has ruled admissible a landmark complaint against the sugar industry’s sustainability certification body, Bonsucro. The decision establishes that London-based Bonsucro is bound by OECD standards on responsible business conduct […]
Cambodian indigenous communities win back their sacred land from Vietnamese rubber developer
(Banlung) – Twelve indigenous communities in Cambodia’s northeastern province of Ratanakiri scored a major victory today when the government announced it was returning to them 20 spirit mountains and dozens of other spiritually significant areas that had been grabbed by the Vietnamese agribusiness giant Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL). The communities have been embroiled in […]
Calling out the BS in BonSucro
Commentary: Why multi-stakeholder initiatives need to be held accountable for their rights-abusing members, by David Pred and Natalie Bugalski READ FULL ARTICLE ▶
Human rights complaint filed to UK government against ethical sugar association Bonsucro
Representatives of more than 700 Cambodian families who were violently displaced to make way for a sugar plantation have filed a formal complaint against Bonsucro, the sugar industry’s sustainability certification body, for breaches of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.
Thirteen Guinean villages lodge complaint against World Bank for financing destructive bauxite mine
(March 8, 2019 – Conakry) – Residents of 13 villages in western Guinea have filed a formal complaint against the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank’s private-sector arm, for funding the expansion of a harmful bauxite mine.
Treize villages guinéens portent plainte contre la Banque mondiale pour le financement d’une mine de bauxite nocive
Les populations de 13 villages situés à l’Ouest de la Guinée ont déposé une plaintecontre la Société financière internationale (SFI), institution du groupe de la Banque mondiale chargée du secteur privé, pour avoir financé le développement d’une mine de bauxite nocive. Les 540 plaignants affirment que la Compagnie des bauxites de Guinée, qui pilote le projet financé […]
ANZ bank issued rare rebuke by Australian oversight body
ANZ Banking Group violated its own policies and international human rights standards by financing a Cambodian sugar company that seized land from local farmers, according to a statement released today by an Australian government body that monitors corporate behavior overseas. In a rare rebuke of a commercial bank, the Australian National Contact Point found it […]
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 […]
Vietnam rubber firm reaches accord with Ratanakkiri ethnic villages, Phnom Penh Post
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Victims put pressure on ANZ over the loss of their land — The Age
Pheun Ra, 42, was visiting her mother in hospital when security guards from the ANZ bank-financed Phnom Penh Sugar Company arrived at her small plot of land in Cambodia’s south. Over several hours, the guards demolished her home as part of a land grab to make way for a new sugar plantation backed by one […]