August 25, 2005 (Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace) A federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled yesterday against the Bush Administration and allowed a groundbreaking global warming lawsuit to proceed. The landmark decision is the first time that a federal court has specifically granted legal standing for a lawsuit exclusively alleging injury from global warming and challenging the federal government's failure to evaluate the impacts of its actions on the Earth's climate and US citizens. Four cities have joined Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth in a lawsuit that applies the National Environmental Policy Act to US-backed overseas projects that have global environmental impacts. Their targets are the two main USexport credit and investment insurance agencies. The Overseas Private Investment Corp. and the Export-Import Bank of the United States lost a bid to block the lawsuit on the grounds that environmental legislation should only apply to domestic projects. The District Court’s narrow ruling [PDF] hasn’t decided the issue, but opens the door to a major case against the US government for driving up greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. The court also recognized harm caused by global warming in the US.
Index for August 2005
Volume 4, Issue 9
Volume 4, Issue 8
-
August 9, 2005 (BBC) — Environmental organisations have warned that major banks may be contravening their environmental and social policies by helping to finance controversial projects indirectly.
-
August 10, 2005 (The Post, Zambia) — Equinox Minerals, a Canadian-Australian listed company, is proceeding with a USD $305M investment in a Zambian copper mine with support from South African and Australian ECAs, as well as from a group of international financial institutions and private banks.
-
Some ECA clients get untied credit while renewable energies don't
August 2005 (ECA Watch, Paris) — Participants in the OECD mediated Arrangement on Export Credits [PDF] refused to approve an increase of local cost financing for southern buyers from 15% to 30% of a project's value for renewable energy projects at their April 2005 meetings. However, the ECGD and other ECAs have for years offered small exporters competing for contracts under £10M more generous rules relating to foreign goods by supporting non-national content of up to 40%. NGOs question why some ECAs can be flexible for some projects yet cannot reach consensus on these conditions for renewable energy local costs, especially since these not only enhance competitiveness as well as sustainable development via technology transfers, but also respond constructively to the upcoming global energy crisis. -
March 16, 2005 (Source: UK Secretary of State for Trade and Industry) — As a part of its efforts to encourage true "break even" terms of export credits, as required by Article 23 of the OECD mediated Arrangement on Export Credits [and also by the WTO Agreement on Subsidies], the UK's ECGD commissioned a study which showed that the opportunity cost of lost profits on ECGD lending amounts to some £150 million or US$271 million per year. "For the first time anywhere in the world, Government and public have a transparent assessment of the economic cost of providing export credit on a break even basis, and will be able to compare this cost with other forms of industrial support."
-
August 12 , 2005 (Source: Proyecto Gato) — Six Belgian NGOs have issued a statement calling on Ducroire to improve its policies with respect to the OECD Recommendation on Common Approaches on the Environment and Officially Supported Export Credits. A list of recommendations is made in the areas of human rights, transparency, environmental standards, monitoring, no-go zones and sector exclusions, formation of a Compliance Commission, renewable energy incentives, debt impact and anti-corruption practices.
-
July 11, 2005 (Source: US Ex-Im Bank) — The US Ex-Im Bank is now offering export financing on repayment terms of up to 15 years for US exports of goods and services to be used in certain renewable energy and water projects. Effective as of July 1, the longer repayment terms are available in accord with an agreement of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) that permits export credit agencies of OECD countries to offer enhanced terms for renewable energy and water projects.