Here are our press releases in English, the international press releases can be found at the ECA Watch web page:
Previous press releases:
Press release 31st March 2005: Victory in Transparency in Finland
Press release 17 November 2004 :Nam Theun 2 dam project and Nordic Investment Bank
Press release 11 October 2004: "Honourable" Finland still in corruption scandal in Costa Rica by FinnWatch Information Bureau
Press release 4 October 2004 on Indonesian Illegal wood for pulp mill
Press release 28 June 2004 on FINNISH ECA VIOLATES THE GOVERNMENTAL POLICIES
Press release 14.6.2004 on the increased transparency of the Finnish ECAs
Press release 7.6.2004 on United Fiber System pulp mill, Indonesia
ECA Watch press release 11.12.2003 on OECD Recomedations of ECAs and environment
THE NEWEST PRESS RELEASE
Finnish ECA Reform Campaign News
Press release 10th May 2005
The new coordinators for the Finnish ECA Reform Campaign
- Coordinator Selin leaves the campaign and moves to Southeast Asia
The coordinator of the Finnish ECA Reform Campaign Ms Tove Selin resigns from 31st May in order to join The International Rivers Network (US) as their Southeast Asia Campaigner to be based in Bangkok, Thailand, from 1st June 2005 onwards. This is Tove's dreams come true though she is of course sad in leaving the ECA Watch.
I am grateful to you all about the fantastic cooperation during the last seven years, it has been terrific to work with you in this campaign!.
Finnish ECA Reform Campaign continues however and gets now a group of people to run the campaign during the summer:
The International Coordinator Ms Hanna Matinpuro from the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation will be the contact person of the campaign (email: hanna.matinpuro@sll.fi, tel. +358-9-22808225)
The remaining campaign tasks and projects of the period 06 - 09/05 will be taken care of by Mr Mika-Petri (Mixu) Lauronen, who has been active in the globalisation campaign of the Friends of the Earth Finland and in refroming the European Investment Bank. Mixu's email is mixu.lauronen (a)kolumbus.fi and he will be working part time in July-August.
We are looking for someone to take care of the MetsaBotnia pulp mill case in Uruguay and the possible visit of Ricardo Carrere from WRM in Finland. Mr Pekka Salminen from the Coalition for the Environment and Development will work with the transparency issues and the new complaint to the Helsinki Administrative Court.
The future of the campaign and the possible recruiting of a new coordinator is decided only in the autumn after the situation of the financing of the campaign after 9/05 has become more clear.
All the best and Thank you to you all!
Wishes
Tove Selin
Coordinator, Finnish ECA Reform Campaign, until 31st May 2005
Southeast Asia Campaigner, The International Rivers Network, from 1st June 2005 onw
PRESS RELEASE 31st March 2005
VICTORY OF TRANSPARENCY IN FINLAND
- Finnish ECA Finnvera illegally secretive
Finnish Supreme Administrative Court ruled on the 23rd March 2005 that Finnish ECA Finnvera has to disclose the environmental information of certain projects requested by the Finnish NGO Campaign to Reform the Export Credit Agencies in February 2002. This is a great victory for the transparency and accountability of the ECAs, and it will diminish the environmentally and socially unsustainable funding in the South.
The process started on the 14th of February 2002 when Finnish ECA Reform Campaign requested in a letter sent to Finnvera some environmental and social information of certain projects for a study the campaign prepared. Finnvera did not disclose any information, not even information whether they are involved in these projects or not.
Then the host organisation of the campaign, Finnish Association for Nature Conservation filed a complaint about this to the Helsinki Administrative Court. Helsinki Administrative Court ruled on the 23rd June 2003 that Finnvera has to respond again and give the campaign the environmental information requested but with business secrets blackened in the documents.
The Court further ruled that the Act of Access to Information, which also concerns Finnvera, makes also the documents created prior the law came into force (in 1999) public. Then Finnvera filed a complaint, as they did not agree with this decision. The Supreme Administrative Court kept the decision of the Helsinki Administrative in force.
The purpose of this information request of the Finnish ECA Reform Campaign was to get the environmental and social information of certain already completed projects used in the assessments of the guarantees for these projects. The request was based on the new Act on Export Guarantee (1.7.2001) and to the Act of Access to Information that is included in this law. The request included f.ex. the pulp mills based in Sumatra, Indonesia: Indah Kiat Pulp and Paper (owned by APP), Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper (APRIL) and Tanjung Enim Lestari (Barito Pacific).
From the autumn 2004 onwards Finnvera has disclosed the EIAs of the
so called large projects, such as pulp and paper mills, 30 days prior the decision on export guarantee. The smaller projects are however disclosed only with the consent of the customer, Finnish company, but now this is going to be changed.
The problem of the export guarantee system in Finland still is that the Finnish ECA Finnvera does not require social and human rights impact studies and does not make a comprehensive development analysis of the projects.
Further information:
Coordinator Tove Selin, tel +358-9-22808226, +358-41-5100616, email tove.selin@sll.fi , Homepage of the campaign see http://www.vientiluotto.net.
An open letter to NIB and its response
President Jon Sigurdsson
Environmental advisor Roland Randefelt
Nordic Investment Bank
Po Box 249
00171 Helsinki
17 November 2004, Helsinki
Dear Sirs,
Finnish non-governmental organisations are alarmed about the information (NTPC press release 1.3.2004) that Nordic investment Bank has promised to finanance the highly controversal Nam Theun 2 Hydropower Dam in Lao PDR. Is there not any lessons learned in NIB about funding controversal large-scaled dam projects in Lao PDR, like the Theun Hinboun Dam some years ago? Is NIB not committing itself to the recommendations of the World Commission of the Dams? We seriously appeal to NIB not to finance this destructive project. We would appareciate your response on these question and concerns.
The concerns and raised questions in the project are as follows:
Poverty Reduction, Options Assessment, and Revenue Management
According to World Bank studies, Laos’ revenues from Nam Theun 2 are projected to be approximately $250 million in net present value terms over the 25-year life of the concession. The revenues will be heavily back-loaded and are expected to be no more than five percent of total GOL annual revenue until 2020. At the same time, the project triggers all 10 World Bank safeguard policies, will permanently alter two river basins and devastate the livelihoods of more than 100,000 Laotians, and be built in a country with no free press, no independent judiciary, no local civil society organizations, and an extremely poor track record in managing hydropower and development projects. Given the low projected revenue for Laos for the next 15 years, and Nam Theun 2’s extraordinary risks.
Nam Theun 2 Is Not Cheapest Power Supply Investment for Thailand
According to research conducted by the Energy Committee of the Thai National Economic and Social Advisory Council, the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) -- the buyer of Nam Theun 2’s power -- has overestimated energy demand growth in its Power Development Plan for 2004-2015. The January 2004 forecast, used as the basis for the 2004 Power Development Plan, estimated the energy consumption of 2004 as 247 MW higher than actual demand, overestimated GDP growth rates and peak demand, and underestimated energy efficiency to GDP ratios. Apart from requiring unnecessary investment costs, the EGAT’s Power Development Plan ignores less expensive energy alternatives. The National Economic and Social Advisory Council’s Alternative Power Development Plan shows that co-generation, renewables, demand-side management and re-powering can more than meet Thailand’s electricity needs for the next 15 years without Nam Theun 2. Furthermore, a study commissioned by the World Bank (“Nam Theun 2 Hydropower Project: Impact of Energy Conservation, DSM and Renewable Energy Generation on EGAT's Power Development Plan,” August 28, 2004) shows that these alternatives would “exceed the output of NT2 and would provide energy to the customer at a cost approximately 25% less than NT2.”
Negative Track Record
Despite very recent action taken on World Bank-supported public management reforms in Laos, a June 2004 World Bank OED evaluation (reviewing performance since 1993 on some of the same SAC2 reform objectives that had to be repeated in the Financial Management Adjustment Credit) finds both World Bank and Lao government performance to be unsatisfactory. The review states that “budget discipline did not improve significantly” over the past decade and that in addition to a lack of implementation capacity, there is a “weak commitment to reform at the level of the true policy-makers.” Additionally, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) noted in its technical assistance paper for Nam Theun 2 that “the Government’s capacity to implement large-scale complex hydropower projects still remains a major concern.” Dams in Laos financed by the ADB and NIB only a few years ago have decimated fisheries, destroyed people’s access to clean drinking water and flooded rice and vegetable gardens. Experience has shown that dams in Laos are more likely to exacerbate rather than alleviate poverty.
“Safeguard Documents” Admit High Risk of Resettlement Failure
According to the Nam Theun 2 Social Development Plan: “there remains some uncertainty whether livelihood programmes will be able to deliver the targeted income levels for affected households.” More than 6,000 farmers will be forced onto land unfit for farming. Project developers admit that the land is unsuitable for rice cultivation, and that other vegetables will only be able to be grown with large inputs of organic and inorganic fertilizer. It is doubtful there will be enough land for the resettlers’ livestock. It is not clear whether the reservoir will actually provide a productive fishery, or when promised income from forestry or irrigated agriculture programs will materialize. Should these programs fail, project developers are not offering resettled villagers any alternative compensation packages.
Inadequate Compensation for Communities Living Along the Xe Bang Fai
The Nam Theun 2 safeguard documents promise fair compensation to the more than 50,000 villagers living downstream of the Nam Theun 2 dam site where “a collapse in the aquatic food chain” is predicted. Nam Theun 2 Power Copmpany Ltd (NTPC) admits that villagers dependent on the Xe Bang Fai will suffer from destruction of riverbank gardens, loss of buildings close to the riverbanks due to erosion, significant declines in fish catch, impacts on domestic water supply and transportation difficulties. However, key baseline information on the current livelihoods of villagers is lacking, and no clear compensation plan has been developed. The current plans are vague, lacking in detail, and provide no clear assurances for affected people. NTPC says that detailed compensation plans and implementation schedules will be developed prior to commercial operation. However, this does not allow for scrutiny of plans prior to project approval.
Lack of Transparency
Complete analyses of the potential economic and financial risks and benefits of the project for the government and people of Laos have not been released. The Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) and the complete Concession Agreement are not public. A full economic analysis has not been released. Key underlying studies on issues such as hydrology and water quality, which are needed to independently evaluate the environmental and social safeguard documents, are not available.
We undersigned NGOs appeal to NIB not to finance this destructive project, the Nam Theun 2 hydropower project, despite the heavy business interests of the Nordic companies in the project.
Signed
Tove Selin
Coordinator
Finnish ECA Reform Campaign
Endorsed by
Eero Yrjö-Koskinen
Executive Director
Finnish Association for Nature Conservation
Minttu Massinen
Chairperson
Finnish Nature League
Lotta Ruokanen
Secretary General
Finnish Nature League
Marko Ulvila
Chairperson
Coalition for Environment and Development
Leo Stranius
Chairperson
Friends of the Earth Finland
Kaisa Kosonen
Energy Campaigner
Greenpeace Nordic/Finland
More information on Nam Theun 2 dam see f.ex. the web page of the International Rivers Network
And NIB's response on the 16th December 2004:
Nordic Investment Bank
Jón Sigur&Mac182;sson
President and CEO
Finnish ECA Reform Campaign
Helsinki, 16 December 2004
Dear Tove Selin,
RE: Your letter regarding Nam Theun 2 Hydropower project in Laos
Thank you for your letter dated 17 November 2004 to Roland Randefelt and myself. In your letter you stated concerns and raised questions about the Nam Theun 2 Hydropower project in Lao PDR.
As the outset, let me clarify that the Nordic Investment Bank has not made any financial commitment to the project and the Board of Directors of the Bank has not approved a loan to the project. The project is in an early evaluation stage. Therefore the Bank is not able to comment on any of the questions you raise in your letter. We agree that the project is complicated and may have a negative impact on the environment and the livelihood of the affected households. A potential participation in the project must be based on a full feasilibity study and cost-benefit analysis including environmental and social impact assessment, clearly showing what measures can be taken to mitigate the negative impacts and what benefit the project will bring. We expect to further evaluate the project when all the studies have been completed and made available.
Yours sincerely,
Jòn Sigur&Mac182;sson (signed)
“Honourable” Finland still in the corruption scandal in Costa Rica
11.11.2004 FinnWatch, Helsinki, Finland
The Costa Rican hospital equipment project, so called Finland project, is becoming a major corruption scandal. The export credit of the project got its interest fully supported from official development assistance, ODA, funds of Finland.
The Central American media reports on the new developments in the scandal all the time, and the reputation of Finland, previously known so clean and good, has been seriously questioned. As the hospital equipments exported by Instrumentarium Ltd have been heavily criticized, and there has been doubts about the target and basis of the money flows, it is time to ask whether the Finnish ODA funds have really contributed to the well-being of Costa Rican people or just in promoting Finnish exports.
“No sentences yet”
The short news about the Costa Rican corruption scandal in the internet page of the Development policy department of the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs (http://global.finland.fi) highlighted that there has not been any sentences on the case yet.
However so far five people in the corruption case are in the pre trial detention: the former president of Costa Rica Mr Rafael Ángel Calderón, the former directors (resigned because of the scandal) of the Costa Rican health department CAJA, and the CEO of the Costa Rican representative of Instrumentarium, Fischel, Mr Walter Reiche. The accounts of several other individuals and companies are still under investigation. The investigations concern bribery, destruction of the documents, secrecy and forgery, threats, deceit and so fort. Sentences on these could vary from two to even twelve years.
Why keeping silent?
In Costa Rica and in its neighbours, as well as in Finland (Finnish magazine Suomen Kuvalehti 40/2004) people wonder why such a large scandal is kept silent on. In the corruption survey by the Transparency International published in October 2004 Finland is regarded as the least corrupted country in the world, five years a row.
The Costa Rican media has repeatedly asked the reactions from the Finnish authorities and companies, but all the parties seem to distant themselves from the corruption scandal. They claim that there is no proof that the corruption concerns the concessional credit scheme.
The Finnish authorities, ministry and the Export Credit Agencies should be obliged to find out in which projects and for whose benefit the Finnish concessional credits are used. Costa Rican ombudsman Mr José Manuel Echandi appealed already in the beginning of October to the Costa Rican government that they should request EU to investigate the companies involved in bribing the civil servants in Costa Rica, and according to the news agency AFP also Instrumentarium, present General Electric Health Care Ltd, is one of these companies (AFP 13.10.2004). Echandi states that “anyone who offers the bribes is as much responsible as the one who receives them”. He also wishes that the Foreign Ministry of Costa Rica would prohibit these companies in entering the Costa Rican markets in the future.
Large Corruption Scandal
Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has commissioned a report on the “Finland project” on which there has not been much information on so far. The corruption scandal is becoming bigger and bigger, and the suspicion of corruption is also connected to the deal by the telecommunication and energy monopoly of Costa Rica, ICE with the French telecommunication company Alcatel, Spanish energy company Unión Fenosan and Inabesas, and Swedish Ericsson. Swedish NGO Information bureau Swedwatch investigates at the moment the corruption suspicion of Ericsson, which has lost, according to certain information, a USD 130 million and a 600 000 equipment mobile phone network deal in Costa Rica. The names of the same high civil servants have come up in the new corruption scandal, and even the present president, Abel Pacheol seems to have some connections to Alcatel and the Government of Taiwan, which has allegedly supported his election campaign.
Written by Hanna Maukonen and Eeva Simola, FinnWatch Information Bureau Finland, http://www.finnwatch.org
Translated by Tove Selin, Finnish ECA Reform Campaign
Further information:
-“Investigation sought of ill-timed European trips” (5.11.2003)
-“Ericsson contract gone” (6.10.2004),
-“Costa Rica: Ericsson pierde contrato por pago de viajes a directivos” (6.10.2004),
-“Centroamérica y las cuentas de los presidentes” (8.10.2004),
-”Corrupción sacude a Costa Rica” (14.10.2004),
- The special edition of the Costa Rican news paper Nación on CCSS-Fischel: http://www.nacion.com/ln_ee/ESPECIALES/ccss-fischel
- The special edition on ICE-Alcatel in Nación:
http://www.nacion.com/ln_ee/ESPECIALES/ice-alcatel
FINNISH ECA REFORM CAMPAIGN
PRESS RELEASE
04.10.2004, Helsinki
FINNISH FUNDED PILP MILL IN INDONESIA GETS ITS WOOD FROM ILLEGAL SOURCES
Indonesian NGO network Forest Rescue Alliance Riau has found out in its research last July that the illegally cut trees in the Tesso Nilo National Park in Riau, Sumatra, ended up in the PT Indah Kiat Pulp mill owned by APP. PT Indah Kiat Pulp and Paper was designed, equiped and funded by Finnish companies and Export Credit Agencies. The other ECAs involed were Swedish EKN, Spanish CESCE, Danish EKF and Canadian EDC. See the press release of the Forest Rescue Alliance Riau, dated 14.09.04, at Finnish ECA Reform web page (below).
PRESS RELEASE
FOREST RESCUE ALLIANCE, RIAU:
STRONG INDICATIONS THAT PT IKPP PULP MILL, PERAWANG RIAU, RECEIVED ILLEGAL WOOD IN JULY 2004
Background
A huge raw material deficit in the pulp and paper industry is triggering illegal practices in Indonesia's ever-depleting forest stock. Forest crime involves bureaucrats, business people, law enforcement officers, politicians and even community workers, so is hard to detect, let alone curb. What's more, it's costing Indonesia an estimated 85 billion rupiah (around US$9.26m) a day (Inform, 2004).
Two of Indonesia's seven pulp and paper companies are located in Riau province, Sumatra. These two companies together have an annual pulp production capacity of 3.7 million air-dry tons and need about 17 million ton of raw material from natural forest each year. The two pulp and paper companies have to source about 70% of their annual pulpwood supply from the natural forest because their acacia plantations do not produce enough plantation wood to fulfill their annual raw material demands. Raw material supply sourcing from natural timber also threatens Riau rovince's peat swamp areas. Peatland is destroyed by several small rivers which have become transport routes, causing an increase in acidity. In Riau, some129,000 ha of peat swamps have been converted to acacia plantations, bringing the total to more than 245,000 ha. However, the natural characteristics of peat swamps cannot be altered: they cannot restrain land water, and this land conversion is causing sea water to infiltrate the area (Position Paper Walhi: Pulp and Paper Industry in Indonesia: Growing Disaster, 2004).
Because of its concern about forest degradation in Riau province, the Forest Rescue Alliance Network (Jikalahari), WALHI Riau and Non-Government Organization Association have formed the Forest Rescue Alliance Riau (FRAR). This alliance has been established as a working group forum to save Riau's forests from destruction. The alliance has already investigated, monitored and surveyed illegal logging activities - including delivering illegal logs to fulfill the raw material requirements of the pulp and paper industry - and the findings are disturbing.
FRAR is focusing on rescuing the last remaining natural forest in Riau province, which includes the protected forests in wildlife sanctuaries and the National Park. FRAR's special Anti-Illegal Logging Working Group monitored two sites - the Tesso Nilo proposed National Park and the Sultan Syarif Qasim Protected Forest. The Tesso Nilo forest area is the largest
remaining lowland forest in Sumatra. It is home to extraordinarily rich biodiversity, including the endangered Sumatran elephant and the Sumatran tiger. The area requires urgent attention if this highly endangered wildlife and habitat is to be saved for future generations.
The Riau Regional Government has proposed this area as a Sumatran Elephant Conservation Area. The Department of Forestry has responded positively and has gazetted phase I of the Tesso Nilo National Park, which covers around 38,576 ha of land formerly owned by HPH PT Inhutani IV (ex-PT Dwi Marta). This was done on 19 July 2004 under decree No. 255/Menhut-II/2004, which regulates any change from limited production forest areas in the 38,576 ha Tesso Nilo forest area. This is destined to become the Tesso Nilo National Park.
Findings
In the investigation conducted between 11 and 13 July 2004, the FRAR team found the following:
1. On 12 July 2004, we found one illegal loggers group in the Tesso Nilo National Park proposed area. This was operated by a collaboration between Smy village in the district of Kampar and various influential people with the initials ED, KB, JN and SDH.
2. Our investigator tracked the movement of wood deliveries and found that harvested wood chips were delivered to PT Indah Kiat Pulp & Paper in Perawang, Riau.
ED's group: activity
Time
ED's group was seen conducting this activity on 13 June 2004. The time was
confirmed by our investigator at the logging site.
Location
ED's group conducted these logging activities in PT Hutani Sola Lestari concession (Tesso Nilo National Park Phase II proposed areas) at the coordinate point S.00 01 14.7. E 101 30 49.0 (see figures 1 and 2 of the report).
Equipment
ED's group used two excavators, two bulldozers, one 4-wheel drive Hiline pick-up (license plate number BM 8745 LV), three 4-wheel drive Taft Rocky cars (license plate numbers BM 1828 AD, BM 1812 AE, and BK 45 YC), 11 logging trucks (license plate numbers BM 8108 LV, BM 9139 LA, BM 8664 AD, BM 9660 AC, BM 9203 SA, BM 9562 AA, B 9276 IO, BM 8405 AE, BM 9058 LA, B 9079 JP and BA 9947 JP).
Conclusions
1. There is a strong indication that PT Indah Kiat Pulp & Paper (IKPP) received illegal wood from these operations in the proposed Tesso Nilo National Park.
a) There are strong indications that PT Indah Kiat Pulp & Paper (IKPP) committed a forest crime in violation of Article 50, Clause 3, Item f, Action no. 41 1999, which forbids receiving, purchasing, storing or owning a forest harvest that is identified as, or suspected of, coming illegally from forested areas or being illegally cut.
b) For these offences, PT IKPP could be sentenced to a maximum of 10 years in jail and fined a maximum of Rp 5,000,000,000 (five billion rupiah - around US$545,000).
2. There are strong indications that the logging group (ED, JN, SDH and KB) committed forest crime in violation of Article 50, Clause 3, which forbids encroaching upon forest areas without permission from the relevant authority; selling, storing or owning a forest harvest that is identified as, or suspected of, being illegally taken or collected from forest areas;
or delivering, possessing or owning a forest harvest without a permit for forest harvesting.
For these offences, a maximum 10-year jail sentence and maximum fine of Rp. 5,000,000,000 (five billion rupiah - around US$545,000) applies.
Recommended action
1. Forest Rescue Alliance Riau calls upon PT IKPP to check and control its raw material sources and stop purchasing all illegal wood, but especially that derived from Tesso Nilo.
2. Forest Rescue Alliance Riau calls upon the Riau Provincial Forestry Department and the Riau Police Department to follow up the findings of this report and prosecute all parties involved in these illegal logging and wood trade operations. This report could be used as evidence in the legal process.
Pekanbaru, 14 September 2004
The Forest Rescue Alliance Riau (FRAR)
RULLY SYUMANDA ZULFAHMI JOHNY S.MUNDUNG
ED WALHI RIAU JIKALAHARI ` ASOSIASI ORNOP SEC.GEN.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WALHI Riau
Jln. Amal No 31 Pekanbaru
Propinsi Riau - Indonesia
Ph/Fax +62761 33716/46676
emailto: riau@walhi.or.id
direct:
roelly@pekanbaru.indo.net.id
+62 812 7609 116
PRESS RELEASE
28 June 2004, Helsinki
FINNISH ECA VIOLATES THE GOVERNMENTAL POLICIES
The Finnish Export Credit Agencies act against the development policy program adopted by the Finnish government in February 2004. The development policy program requires the adopton of this development policy in all sectors including trade, security as well as the traditional development cooperation.
In the Friday 25th June 2004 NGO consultation of the OECD Export Credit and Guarantee Group (ECG) is was heard, among others, that the British ECA ECGD has to follow the governmental development policy and act upon that. The environmental guidelines of the ECGD go far beyond the OECD Recomendation on Common Approaches in export credits and environment. ECGD for example requires the projects to comply with the 10 safeguard policies of the World Bank where as the ECG only recomends the adoption of the three of them. Furthermore ECGD makes a human rights assessment of the projects. This so called progressive group of the ECAs inlculde the ECAs of Canada, Denmark, Japan, and USA. The Finnish ECA Finnvera only complies with the minimum requirements and does not even agree to discuss the human rights criteria. In the view of the Finnish ECA Reform Campaign Finnvera then acts against the governmental development policy program.
The Finnish ECA Reform Campaign together witht he Nordic NGOs is about to commission a study on the development impacts of the Nordic ECAs. All Nordic countiries have recently adopted a new development policy program concerning all sectors and requiring the promotion of the envrionmental protection, human rights and democracy, also in the trade policy. It however appears, in the light of some known projects, that the ECAs rather disturb the sustainable development of the developing countries. That is why we demand that the Finnish government sees that the promotion of the exports also promotes the development policy objectives of Finland.
Furher information: Coordinator Tove Selin, tel: +358-9-22808226, +358-41-5100616, email tove.selin@sll.fi , the negative impacts of Finnish ECAs see http://www.vientiluotto.net - English or http://www.finnwatch.org - English, Finnish Governmental Development Policy Program: http://global.finland.fi/english/publications/pdf/dev_policy2004.pdf
OECD ECG chart on the implementation of the Common Approaces by country: http://webdomino1.oecd.org/olis/2004doc.nsf/Linkto/td-ecg(2004)3-final
PRESS RELEASE
Helsinki, 14th June 2004
Finnish NGOs on the new environmental policy of the Finnish ECA FINNVERA:
EXPORT GUARANTEES MORE TRANSPARENT AT LAST
Finnish ECA Finnvera has finally complied with the demand of the civil society to increase transparency of the environmental policy of the partly publicly funded export guaranteeing. This is a major change in the present situation where the environmental information of the old projects is not available even to the researchers. Now in the big category A projects the environmental information is made public 30 days prior final commitment of the export guarantee.
The international ECA Watch campaign has demanded the increased accountability and sustainability of the public promotion of the exports. One of our central demands has been the increasing of the transparency of the projects. So this increased transparency is a remarkable victory tot he civil society in the South and North. Especially in the Nordic countries this lack of transparency has been a major problem that is now partially solved. Even the most stringent environmental policy is meaningless without transparency and the possibilities of discussion the practical function of the environmental policy. Also all using of the public funds should always bee transparent, socially accountable and environmentally sustainable. We demand still the publishing of the environmental information of the B and C category projects and the creation and putting in action of the social and human rights impact assessment processes.
The state owned export guarantee agency Finnvera renewed its environmental policy in the spring 2004 (see Finnvera press release 21.5.2004)
The new environmental policy of Finnvera differs from the previous one especially in making the Environmental Impact Assessment reports of the big, so called category A projects (forest industry, mining, power plants) public at least 30 days before the final commitment of the export guarantee. Besides the environmental impacts also some social impacts, such as the status of the indigenous people, involuntary settlement and protection of the cultural property is assessed. Furthermore the monitoring of the environmental impacts of the guaranteed projects is enforced. Also other Nordic ECAs are renewing their environmental policies according to the OECD Recommendations on Environment and Export Credits and Guarantees. Swedish ECA Eksportkreditnämden (EKN) has done so already.
Further information:
Coordinator Tove Selin, tel: +358-9-22808226, +358-41-5100616, email: tove.selin@sll.fi, Internet: www.vientiluotto.net, www.eca-watch.org
Finnish Association for Nature Conservation, Friends of the Earth and Finnish ECA Reform Campaign
PRESS RELEASE Helsinki 7.6.2004
Environmental organisations oppose the building of the new pulp mill in Indonesia
– Finnish industry is advised not to take part in the project.
Indonesian and European NGOs advise in an open letter endorsed by 32 NGOs in Europe and Indonesia that the European industry and financers do not to participate in a new pulp mill planned in indonesia, because the acquiring raw material for the mill is not on a sustainable base.
The new pulp mill is planned to be built in the province of South Kalimantan. The project is owned by Union Fiber Systems Ltd which is owned by, among others, Swedish capital investors. The new pulp mill would worsen the existing over capacity in the pulp production in Indonesia, and the national and local problems connected to it. The UFS claims to use only tree plantations, but the company has not enough tree plantations at the moment to feed the projected pulp mill. The company has not even disclosed the Environmental Impacts Assessment report of the project.
Before guaranteeing the sustainability of this project, the Finnish forestr industry, forest machinery producers, forest consultants and finacers of the forest projects should abstain form taking part in the project. A pulp mill project in South Kalimantan in its present form does not fullfil the requirements of the sustainable forest industry. Indonesian forest industry today includes corruption, stealing of the state reforestation funds, land conflicts and clearing the rainforest for forming pulp plantations. Before the pulp mill is built, there should be guarantees on sustainable resources of raw materials, that is forming pulp plantations without destorying forest or reforresting areas, and land conflicts with local populations. The existing land conflicts should be resolved genuinely and the local people properly and adequately consulted.
The Finnish forest companies have designed and built large part of the existing Indonesian pulp and paper industry, partly with financial and political support of the Finnish government. Forest company UPM is still buying pulp from Indonesia. The forest industry built by Finns was supposed to be environmentally sustainable, as claimed in the planning of this new mill as well. The reality is different, as the forest industry has proven to be the major environmental problem in Indonesia
The pulp industry built in early 1990’s is largely (estimated 75 – 80 per cent) run by wood obtained from the rainforest, destroying permanently large areas of rainforest, though the mills were supposed to become quicly self reliant with the pulp plantations. The western part of the Indonesian rainforest, where the forest industry operates, is estimated to disapear during this decade. The destruction of the rainforest in Indonesia has escalated to 3,8 million hectars a year. The pulp industry is one of the most important reasons for the continuation of the destruction.
Further information: The Open letter of the NGOs is found as pdf file here and in www.sll.fi/tiedotus, www.maanystavat.fi/tiedotus
- Hanna Matinpuro, Finnish Association for Nature Conservation, hanna.matinpuro@sll.fi, +358-9-22808225
_ Otto Miettinen/Friends of the Earth Finland, otto.miettinen@iki.fi, +368-50-5514026
_ Tove Selin, Finnish ECA Reform Campaign, tove.selin@sll.fi, +358-9-22808226, +358-41-5100616
United Fiber System, www.ufs.com.sg
(draft translation from Finnish by Tove Selin)
----
The Press Release of the International ECA Watch
For Immediate Release
December 11, 2003
Contact: Sebastien Godinot, Amis de la Terre, Paris + 33-(0)148-511 892
Jon Sohn, Friends of the Earth U.S., Washington DC +1 (202) 222 0717,
+1 (202) 412 2467
Groups blast weak OECD agreement on environment
Loopholes allow export credit support for harmful projects to continue
Paris, December 11, 2003 - A common agreement among Export Credit Agencies (ECAs), likely to be adopted today at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), has been heavily criticized by ECA-Watch, an international network of environment, development, human rights and labour groups.
The environmental policy, dubbed the "Common Approaches", allows countries&Mac226; ECAs to support massive harmful infrastructure and extractive projects without applying internationally recognized minimal social and environmental standards, or even disclosing public interest information to affected communities and stakeholders, the
group says.
"The loopholes in this agreement are so huge that it hardly requires anything of ECAs," said Sebastien Godinot, with Amis de la Terre, part of ECA-Watch in Paris. "This perpetuates the ECAs&Mac226; race to the bottom", added Mr. Godinot.
Whilst the new agreement does make reference to international standards, it does not require ECAs to apply any specific minimum set of them to projects, deferring rather to a broad list of varying standards which they can elect to apply, or not, at will. And while the new agreement references making environmental information
publicly available 30 days prior to a final commitment, it still allows exceptions to this rule and does not explicitly require companies to make this information publicly accessible or consult with affected communities and stakeholders prior to project approval - an international norm and a long-standing demand of the ECA-Watch
network.
"This agreement confirms that as a class of finance institutions, ECAs are faking their concern for the environment," said Jon Sohn, with Friends of the Earth US, part of ECA-Watch in Washington D.C."Civil society will have to remain vigilant, because this new agreement offers both an opportunity and a threat: for a number of European ECAs, it will mean becoming much more transparent and finally joining the modern world of international norms, while others may use it as an excuse to move back into the stone age."
The OECD agreement was developed to promote coherence between all ECAs, and develop a level playing field through a common set of environmental standards. However, "Race to the Bottom II", an ECA-Watch publication released at the start of the new OECD negotiations, argued that despite the existence of an earlier OECD
agreement, in reality it did little to mitigate the devastating social, environmental and human rights impacts of ECA-funded projects. Race to the Bottom II is available at www.eca-watch.org.
ECAs are the largest source of public funding for extractive and infrastructure projects in developing countries.