Transparency
Did You Know?
Not only do ECAs provide by far the single largest share of public financial investment going from North to South, but-- of international financing institutions-- they are also the least examined, the least transparent, and the least accountable. The transparency that ECA Watch campaign participants seek includes disclosure of: the name and description of the project; financial transactions related to the project; all social, environmental and human rights impact assessments, debt impact analyses, and construction and off-take agreements; and all project-related information that is relevant to the project risks. All of this should be disclosed at least 120 days prior to a decision on the project by the board of a given ECA. Transparency to this degree would significantly reduce not only social, political, and environmental risks, but also the economic risks for investors in a project.
"Instead of asking 'What went wrong?' I would like to ask, 'What went right? For whom?' ...[W]hat went most "wrong" - and continues to go most "wrong" - from the perspective of project-affected people, human rights groups, environmentalists and a range of other civil society groups concerned with accountability, transparency, equity and sustainable development is precisely what went most 'right' from the perspective of those who have benefited institutionally and financially from the project."
- Nicholas Hildyard, in the article "The Lesotho Highland Water Development Project- What Went Wrong?" (July 2000) |
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Important Background Documents on Transparency
The Transparency International Minimum Standards for Public Contracting - March 2005
Blood From a Stone: Can the New EU Directive on Access to Information Force ECAs to Open Up? May 26, 2005 by FERN
The Aarhus Clearinghouse for Environmental Democracy Hosted by the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), this clearinghouse serves to collect, disseminate, and exchange information on laws and practices relevant to the rights of:
Public access to environmental information;
Public participation in environmental decision-making;
Public access to justice on environmental matters.
Other Useful Links on Transparency:
Transparency International
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative
The Link Between Transparency and Corruption
Efforts to promote transparency are part of the battle to end bribery and other forms of corruption. Some ECAs directly support corrupt practices. For example, La Monde reported in 1998 that the French ECA COFACE funded approximately USD $2B in bribes in the armaments industry over the previous three years. Often disguised as "commissions," bribes may amount to as much as 100% of the arms contract value itself.
News 2004-2005
 Belgian NGOs list recommendations for Ducroire - August 12, 2005
(Source: Proyecto Gato)
Now That Oil Flow Has Begun: the BTC Explained
- May 26, 2005 (Guardian UK) — A useful "Q & A" summary of the pipeline's scope and impact, as well as the alarms raised by environmentalists over shoddy construction and human rights practices.
BP Covered Up BTC Pipeline Flaw - April 17, 2005
(The Sunday Times, UK) — British Petroleum faces accusations in court from pipeline contractors that it covered up a safety flaw, which if uncorrected could cause an environmental disaster in the Caspian region.
Finnish ECA Finnvera Ruled Illegally Secretive - March 31, 2005 (Source: Finnish ECA Reform Campaign)
Canada's ECA Continues to Withhold Key Environmental Information - March 29, 2005 (Source:Sierra Legal Defense Fund)
EU Trade Commissioner Urges Greater Transparency in Development Aid to Africa - March 18, 2005 (Source: European Commission) -
In response to the recent UK Commission
for Africa report calling for richer nations to help curb corruption in
development investment in Africa, the European Commissioner for Trade
Peter Mandelson has come out in favor of controls on export credit
agencies.
Asian Pulp and Paper Faces Charges on ECA-Backed Projects - February 2, 2005 (Morningstar.com)
Finnish ECA Agrees to Environmental Transparency - June 14, 2004 (Source: Finnish ECA Reform Campaign)
Global Witness Transparency Report on Oil, Mining, and Gas Revenues - March 25, 2004 (Allafrica.com) All Africa carries a recent Global Witness document that considers five major examples where revenue from oil, gas, and mining that should be funding sustainable economic development, have been misappropriated and mismanaged.
FERN Assesses EU's New ECA Transparency Directive - November 5, 2004 (Source: FERN)
News 2002-2003:
Transparency International critiques the OECD Export Credit Group 2002 Survey on Measures Taken to Combat Bribery in Officially Supported Export Credits - April 23, 2003 by Transparency International's Michael H. Wiehen
Secretive ECAs Increasingly Subject to Public Scrutiny- November 11, 2003 (Worldpress.org)
Just as World Trade Organization talks at Cancun industrialized democracies meet in Paris to discuss strengthening ecological and human-rights guidelines for ECAs. ECAs' normally secretive operations are being subjected to public scrutiny.
Unocal Accused of Covering Up Offshore Oil Spill - October 1, 2002 (Jakarta Post) by Fitri Wulandari
For more information, contact the ECA Watch Facilitator.
ECA Watch Campaign Member Links:
Halifax Initiative,
Fraser Reilly-King — www.halifaxinitiative.org
WEED, Andrea Ploeger — www.weed-online.org
Proyecto Gato, Jan Capelle — www.proyectogato.be
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