Welcome to ECA Watch

Export credit agences provide government-backed loans, guarantees and insurance to corporations working internationally in some of the most volatile, controversial and damaging industries on the planet.

Shrouded in mystery, ECAs provide financial backing for risky projects that might never otherwise get off the ground. They are a major source of national debt in developing countries.

ECA Watch is a network of NGOs from around the world. We come together to campaign for ECA reform - better transparency, accountability, and respect for environmental standards and human rights.

Featured publications and stories

Amnesty - UK Export Finance is sacrificing human rights on the altar of foreign trade

A new hard-hitting briefing from Amnesty International launched July 15 accuses the UK Government of allowing businesses to dip under the human rights radar when it comes to trade and investment. The 30-page document A history of neglect: UK Export Finance and human rights shines a light on a little known agency operating out of the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills – UK Export Finance (UKEF). Despite numerous Select Committee and Inquiry reports over the last five years recommending reforms to make it more transparent and accountable, successive governments have rejected those recommendations.

UKEF has responded to this report and Amnesty has counter-responded.

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Financing Nuclear Times

This newspaper style publication outlines the history of Export Credit Agencies' support for the nuclear industry and concludes by detailing the destructive projects still in the pipeline.

BP violating human rights rules, says UK government

  • Company failed to respond to alleged intimidation by Turkish security forces along its UK-backed Caspian oil pipeline
  • Ruling places BP in breach of its loan agreements, say campaigners

A BP-led consortium is breaking international rules governing the human rights responsibilities of multinational companies in its operations on the controversial Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, the UK Government ruled today.[1]

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