A number of Honduran organisations sent a letter to the FMO management to call on FMO not to do business with Honduran bank FICOHSA. The bank has close ties with the elite in Honduras, which holds considerable power in politics, the (para)military and the business community.
The Dutch government, through its export credit agency Atradius DSB (ADSB), provides export support to companies that undertake activities abroad. The state wants projects it insures to have no negative consequences for people and the environment and therefore sets requirements for corporate social responsibility (CSR). A consultation on CSR policy ran until the end of April, to which a coalition of thirteen social organisations from the Netherlands and abroad, including Both ENDS and Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth the Netherlands), responded.
The FMO development bank is proud of its results and the opportunities it seizes where commercial banks fail to act. But do the bank's actions really help, ask Anne de Jonghe and Nick Middeldorp.
Brussels, 18 February 2025 - Over 120 civil society organizations and trade unions from Indonesia and Europe today call on the Indonesian government and the European Union to stop the negotiations for the Indonesia-EU free trade agreement – the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).