Observatory on Debt in Globalization

ECA Watch launches Map on popular alternatives

Brussels, 29 October 2014 
 
Global NGO network launches a Map that shows popular alternative proposals for infrastructure to encourage public finance institutions to invest in better projects ECA Watch, a network of non-governmental organizations campaigning for reform of public finance institutions (e.g. Export Credit Agencies) and better implementation of social, environmental and human rights standards launched today a “Map on popular alternative proposals of envisioning infrastructure”.
 
Linde Zuidema, coordinator of ECA Watch at NGO FERN, says: “The Map can serve as a mean to inform people and support networks on sustainable infrastructure”. The map initially shows cases in Africa, Latin America and Europe. In the future the map will be complemented with more cases throughout the globe.
 
According to Mónica Vargas, one of the initiators of the project at the Observatory on Debt in Globalisation (ODG), member of ECA Watch: “Infrastructures should be planned paying attention to issues such as: Who decides? Who benefits? The cases selected for the Map show that there are alternative proposals, exemplary because of their ability to respect the needs of all stakeholders instead of just fulfilling capital interests in the North and the South. The main objective of the map is to spread information, proposals and contribute to linking people and groups with each other, in order to enrich the narrative on alternative infrastructure”.
 
ECA Watch developed the map initially to show cases in the energy, water and transport sector. An example in the energy sector is the National Energy Proposal of the Movimento dos Atingidos por Barragens (Movement of People affected by Dams in Brazil), which includes a Platform that responds to the impacts of large hydroelectric dams in Brazil, integrating people affected by dams (farmers, fishers, indigenous peoples) as well as workers in the energy sector. Its aim is to build another energy model, that plans and organises popular control over the production and distribution of energy, as well as over the wealth it generates. The idea is also to allocate resources and energy generation to people’s real needs, as well as to ensure the protection of the environment. 
 
Another example, in the water sector is the Italian Water Referendum of 2011 and its results: the intention to prevent water privatization and to consider water as a common good. The initiative proposes management of water systems at the municipal level and avoid any interference by free market principles.
 
You can enter the map here
 
Contacts for press:
Mónica Vargas , Observatory on Debt in Globalisation (ODG), monica.vargas@odg.cat, +34 66 202 64 97
Linde Zuidema, Eca Watch Coordinator, linde@fern.org, +32 2 894 4694

Press release – International NGO Call on Goverments to #EndCoalFinance

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

11 June 2014

International NGOs Call on Governments to #EndCoalFinance

On Monday, June 16 the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)’s Export Credit Group will meet to discuss climate and energy related financing through Export Credit Agencies – public agencies that fund or guarantee private corporations from their home country to invest or export overseas.

International civil society organizations are targeting governments today, Wednesday, June 11, to call for an end to public finance for coal. A Twitterstorm will urge OECD governments to end financing and guarantees for coal through Export Credit Agencies.

Last week in Brussels, G7 nations confirmed their commitment “to the elimination of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies and continued discussions in the OECD on how export credits can contribute to our common goal to address climate change.”

In the OECD Export Credit Group meeting, governments will be considering a proposal from the United States and the United Kingdom to open a process to adopt restrictions for financing high carbon intensity projects (primarily coal power plants).

This opportunity to end Export Credit Agency financing for coal is a key part of the larger effort to end public financing for fossil fuels and high carbon projects.(1)

Regine  Richter, from Urgewald in Germany says: “Guarantees worth billions from the country of energy transition? While climate experts warn that more coal plants mean the end of the 2° C target?! It’s time to stop this contradiction and finish coal support through Hermes guarantees.”

Lucie Pinson, Amis de la Terre France says: “After ending coal support through its development agency last year, France has to finish its job if they are serious about fighting climat change. France could not give the lead to the COP21 in Paris next year if Coface keeps supporting coal power plants overseas whose emissions account for 14% of domestic emissions!”

Between 2007 and 2013 public financial institutions provided at least $51 billion in funding for coal projects abroad.  The largest proportion of this comes from national Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) from OECD countries, which have provided at least $32 billion over this period or 63 percent of total public support. (2)

Over the past year, the World Bank, the European Investment Bank, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development have committed to ending support for coal projects except in limited circumstances. The US, the UK, the Netherlands and Nordic countries have made similar commitments to end public finance for coal projects overseas.

Given the improvements in multilateral practice, it is increasingly likely that OECD Export Credit Agencies could end up as a place of last resort for carbon intensive industries that are no longer able to secure funding due to their high risk and poor environmental performance. 

For more information on the Twitterstorm, go here: http://www.eca-watch.org/node/3600

1. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), to stay within a 2°C global temperature rise – a level climate scientists believe would allow us to avoid the worst impacts of climate change: at least two thirds of current proven fossil fuel reserves need to stay underground.

2. According to data compiled by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Oil Change International. These staggering statistics probably under-estimate the total amount due to lack of reporting by many of these shadowy institutions.

Member State compliance with Article 21 of the Lisbon Treaty

On 6 August 2012, ECA Watch and the European Coalition for Corporate Justice sent a letter to the President of the Commission Jose Manuel Barroso requesting a meeting to discuss how the Commission intends to monitor Member State compliance with Article 21 of the Lisbon Treaty and how NGOs can be involved in the elaboration of an appropriate compliance framework

 

Giving human rights credit: EU countries agree to toughen export loan scrutiny

(June 29, 2011) A press release from ECA-Wach, Amnesty International and Eurodad. It welcomes EU permanent representatives’ endorsement of the European Parliament’s proposal to make national export credit agencies (ECAs) more accountable for the support they give companies doing business around the world. The three organisations believe this move will increase transparency and human rights compliance and  hope that this will trigger more ambitious reforms in EU capitals, leading to a general reform in global ECA standards.

European Parliament demands that Export Credit Agencies open up

(April 6, 2011) This press release by ECA-Watch outlines the importance of the European Parliament’s adoption of a proposal to regulate Export Credit Agencies (ECAs). This move will make ECAs more transparent on where their funds come from and go to, as well as how they charge for social and environmental risks. Furthermore, the Parliament requires ECAs to comply with EU human rights objectives in their activities, and to phase out the subsidising of fossil fuel projects in line with commitments adopted by the G20 in 2009.

Export Credit Agencies and Climate Change: a briefing for Cancun

(December 2, 2010) After the collapse of UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) talks in Copenhagen in December 2009, the future financial architecture for funding climate change mitigation and adaptation continues to be fiercely debated. At the 2010 climate summit in Cancun, Mexico, the issue will again be on the table for negotiation.

In Cancun, the role of public and private finance will be considered, and thus the role of export credit agencies (ECAs).  ECAs sit at the nexus of public and private finance, and may become increasingly important. Many ECAs support billions of dollars worth of exports to fossil-fuel projects which emit greenhouse gases. ECA financing for fossil fuels eclipses ECA financing for climate-friendly technologies.

This briefing outlines the negative impact of ECA fossil fuel financing. The paper also raises the question of whether ECAs have a role to play in contributing to “climate finance.”

NGOs Walk Out of OECD Meeting on Official Export Credits

 

(November 7, 2007) Citing their frustrations at years of silence in response to repeated proposals for effective implementation of environmental and social standards, as well as for coherence with related OECD goals and agreements, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) representing hundreds of thousands of taxpayers in OECD member nations, walked out of an OECD meeting called to consult civil society organisations.