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May 18, 2003
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"What's New!" is a bi-weekly email
update to keep you informed of the latest uploads onto the website
which features a wide range of materials submitted by over 50 NGOs
actively participating in the coalition. If you would like to be
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and announcements around policies and practices of ECAs and ECA-supported
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www.eca-watch.org today!
Questions? Email info@eca-watch.org
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Items in this issue:
- 1 BTC Pipeline under fire
- 2 Complaint filed on BTC Pipeline
- 3 Transparency International on ECAs and bribery
- 4 Soros report calls for oil revenue transparency
- 5 Three Gorges Dam reservoir flooding, with help from Canadian ECA
- 6 British ECA head claims sustainable development at heart of their mission...
- 7 ...while British ECA takes "realistic" line on Iraqi debt
- 8 Dutch Ministry of Finance makes ODA pay for ECA debt
- 9 San Roque faces threats of sabotage
- 10 India's ECA structures to expand
ECA Campaign Action:
1. BTC
Pipeline under fire: Cornerhouse; PLATFORM; Campagna per la
Riforma della Banca Mondiale; Kurdish Human Rights Project release
a detailed fact-finding mission report on the controversial BP-led
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline project, and call for an immediate
moratorium on the project. According to the Mission, the pipeline
not only breaches international standards but also threatens human
rights abuses. The BTC pipeline is potentially supported by ECAs
from the U.S. (Exim Bank), Italy (SACE), Britian (ECGD), France
(COFACE), Germany (Hermes), Japan (JBIC).
2. Complaint
filed on BTC Pipeline: Campagna per la Riforma della Banca Mondiale,
Cornerhouse, FERN, Platform, Urgewald, WEED, Germanwatch, BUND,
and several Friends of the Earth chapters file simultanious claims
British, French, German, Italian, and U.S. governments charging
that BP and its consortium partners in the proposed Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan
(BTC) oil pipeline are breaching the OECD's "Guidelines for
Multinational Enterprises." (French
version)
3. Transparency
International on ECAs and bribery: Transparency International
critiques the OECD Export Credit Group 2002 Survey on Measures Taken
to Combat Bribery in Officially Supported Export Credits
4. Soros report calls for oil revenue transparency:
The Soros Foundation's Open Society Institute has released a report
calling for accountability, transparency, and public oversight in
the oil and natural gas industries of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.
The report, "Caspian
Oil Windfalls: Who Will Benefit?" contains proposed reforms
for ECAs and International Finance Institutions, including requiring
transparency of revenues and of future concession contracts. Available
at http://www.eurasianet.org/caspian.oil.windfalls/
ECAs in the News:
5. Three Gorges Dam reservoir flooding, with
help from Canadian ECA:
CBC Commentary interviews Halifax Initiative's Fraser Reilly-King
on the environmental, social and human rights crisis created by
the inundation behind the Three Gorges Dam in China, financed in
part by the Canadian ECA, the Export Development Canada. [transcript
posted on ECA-Global 04/15/03]
6. British
ECA head claims sustainable development at heart of their mission:
Business Credit Management reports that Vivian Brown, head of the
British ECA, the ECGD, claims the agency is committed to keeping "sustainable development is at the heart of its work."
ECGD says it is making available some £50 million (GBP) of
cover for the UK renewable energy sector, and initiating new transparency
measures.
7. ...while British
ECA takes "realistic" line on Iraqi debt: The Daily
Telegraph reports on the British ECGD's approach to Iraqi debt.
8. Dutch
Ministry of Finance makes ODA pay for ECA debt: The Dutch newspaper,
Trouw, reports that the Dutch Finance Ministry wrongly booked between
EUR 18-35 million to the country's ODA budget for ECA-related debts.
[Posted to ECA-Global 05/15/03]
9. San
Roque faces threats of sabotage: Sun Star reports that the controversial
San Roque Dam will soon begin power generation amidst threats of
sabatoge by the New People's Army. The Japanese ECA, JBIC, faces
calls from local and international NGOs to not release the balance
of financing of the dam due to massive displacement and other negative
impacts on local indigenous people.
10. India's
ECA structures to expand: India's commerce ministry will increase
the equity base of its two export credit facilities, the Export
Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC) and Exim Bank, to allow them
to take on larger exposures.
II. View 'back issues':
April 11, 2003
March 17, 2003
February 20, 2003
February 7, 2003
January 24, 2003
December 17, 2002
November 22, 2002
October 29, 2002
October 23, 2002
September 30, 2002
September 12, 2002
August 26, 2002
August 02, 2002 - ECA Watch web team was on vacation.
July 19, 2002
July 08, 2002
June 14, 2002
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