Arrest of DESA staff member for murder of Berta Cáceres seems last straw for FMO
The Dutch development bank FMO and the Finnish FinnFund announced this week that they are seeking ‘a responsible and legal exit’ from the Agua Zarca project in Honduras. Last week, it was reported that four suspects had been arrested in connection with the murder of human rights activist Berta Cáceres, who opposed the project for many years. One of those arrested is the manager for social and environmental affairs of DESA, the company implementing the Agua Zarca project. Because the company is a direct client of FMO and FinnFund, the banks consider the arrest good reason to take action.
Foto: BankTrack.org - Agua Zarca militarization
Many years of protest
FMO's statement is a step in the right direction for the bank. The organisation led by Berta Cáceres, the Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH), has been protesting against the controversial hydro project since the plans were first revealed in 2013. Together with other organisations, including a number of Dutch NGOs, COPINH has been calling for investors in the project to withdraw their support for DESA.
Intimidation and repression
The Agua Zarca project, in de Gualcarque River, is being implemented without the approval of the local population being acquired according to international standards for Free Prior Informed Consent (FPIC). Since 2013, communities and groups that oppose the project have been silenced and protests have been violently crushed, resulting in several murders. The murder of internationally known human rights defender Berta Cáceres – according to COPINH, one of the six murders directly related to Agua Zarca – has increased the pressure on FMO and other investors to withdraw from the project.
Import role for the Netherlands
We expect FMO to see its decision through and terminate its involvement in Agua Zarca project speedily, responsibly and definitively. Together with the Dutch government, the bank must help ensure that local communities and families of the victims receive fair compensation. The Dutch government has also taken on the important role of ensuring through diplomatic channels that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights conducts an independent enquiry into the murders of Cáceres and the other victims. In addition, it is important that the Netherlands continues to exert pressure on the Honduran government to put a stop to the recurring violence and human rights violations. The violence continues; since the last reports by FMO, people have found themselves in immediate danger and thus have to be protected.
No business as usual
FMO’s withdrawal from Agua Zarca is a first sign that the bank realises that funding projects in areas where human rights are systematically violated can no longer go on as ‘business as usual’. After the bank’s definitive withdrawal from the project, it needs to make radical changes in policy to prevent similar situations, not only in Honduras, but everywhere the bank invests.
Sustainable development?
Together with its main shareholders, including the Dutch government, FMO needs to examine whether its activities are still in line with its development mandate. What kind of development most closely responds to the needs of the people the bank ultimately aims to help? How can it involve these people in its decision-making processes? And what social and environmental criteria need to underpin those processes to prevent violations of human rights and damage to the environment? Only if these questions are at the centre of policy can FMO really achieve its mission of sustainable and inclusive development.
update 20 May 2016: Letter from BankTrack, Both ENDS, Oxfam Novib and SOMO to FMO's sharoholders.
11 May 2016:Letter from BankTrack in reaction to FMO's statement
9 May 2016: FMO's statement
Earlier news items on this site about the Agua Zarca-project:
21 April 2016: Honduran Indigenous activists visit Europe to call for action
16 March 2016: FMO's suspension of activities in Honduras is just a first step
5 March 2016: Brave human rights defender Berta Cáceres murdered
Read more about this subject
-
Event / 4 December 2019, 15:00 - 16:30
Side event Both ENDS at Climate COP in Madrid
On Wednesday December 4th 2019 Both ENDS together with Heinrich Böll Stiftung from he US organises a side event at the UNFCCC COP in Madrid: Can the GCF Catalyze Inclusive, Gender-Responsive Local Climate Action Globally and in Latin America?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
-
News / 26 November 2019
55 organisations say 'the climate belongs to everyone'
No fewer than 55 NGO's, foundations and associations, many of whom do not normally deal primarily with climate change, express their concern about the dangers of climate change for everyone and everything in the statement 'The climate belongs to everyone'.
They call for urgent action and support the international Climate Strike taking place this Friday, November 29. In cities all over the world, young and old will take to the streets again. In the Netherlands too, climate strikes will be organised in many cities.
-
Press release / 18 November 2019
Press release: Government undermines its own climate policy with export credit insurance
The Netherlands provides export credit insurances and guarantees worth 1.5 billion euros annually to Dutch companies active in the oil and gas sector abroad. This support amounts to one and a half times the annual amount that the Cabinet of Prime Minister Rutte mobilises for climate initiatives worldwide. The intended effects of Dutch international climate policy are more than offset by this fossil export support. That is the conclusion of a new report from Both ENDS which is published today.
-
Publication / 17 November 2019
-
Video / 8 November 2019
Athi River Community Network
The Athi River Community Network is made up of communities who live along the Athi River watershed. Members of the Athi River Community Network promised to join forces with the Friends of Ondiri Wetland to ensure that this critical wetland is restored and conserved for the sake of current and future generations.
-
News / 8 November 2019
European Commission, help the European Investment Bank go Fossil Free!
On Thursday November 7th, a group of European NGO's including Both ENDS, sent a letter to Vice-President of the EU Frans Timmermans, in which they ask him to support the phase out of European Investment Bank’s fossil fuel financing by the end of 2020.
-
News / 5 November 2019
Guatemalan women force Development Bank to investigate gender policy violations
After a complaint filed by women's groups from Ixquisis, Guatemala, the Interamerican Development Bank (IDB) has started an investigation on several policy violations, amongst which the Gender Equality policy. This is a unique chance to create a precedent, because complaints on the IDB's gender policy are very rare. The women from Ixquisis are fighting for their rights with support of the Global Alliance for Green and Gender Action (GAGGA).
-
News / 31 October 2019
Call for investigation of the death of Indonesian human rights defender Golfrid Siregar
Earlier this month, we learned that Golfrid Siregar, an Indonesian environmental lawyer working for our partner organisation WALHI died under suspicious circumstances. We call for a thorough and transparent investigation and have brought the case to the attention of the Indonesian embassy in The Hague and to the Netherlands' embassy in Jakarta.
-
Press release / 24 October 2019
Press Release: These five criteria help investors go green
Press release 24 October 2019
Starting today, investors can use five criteria to test whether companies in the fossil sector are actively working on phasing out their fossil activities. Too many investors still seem hesitant to switch to a profitable future of sustainable energy and these criteria should help them do this. The organisations DivestInvest Network, Sustainable Energy (Denmark) and Both ENDS (the Netherlands) publish the report "Managed Decline of Fossil Fuel Businesses" today, which describes these five criteria. The criteria aim to help investors choose investments that are in line with the Paris goal "stay below 1.5 degrees Celsius warming." The recommendations are presented at the World Pension Summit deliberately, because pension fund investors in particular can take more responsibility in this.
-
Publication / 24 October 2019
-
News / 11 October 2019
Rights for people, rules for corporations: the case of Indonesia
In Indonesia, US-based mining companies succeeded to roll back new laws that were meant to boost the country’s economic development and protect its forests. This is the level of impact that investment treaties can have on social, environmental and economic development and rights. Why? Because of the ‘Investor-to-State Dispute Settlement’ (ISDS) clauses that are included in many such treaties.
-
News / 11 October 2019
Rights for people, rules for corporations: the case of Paraguay
Indigenous communities in Paraguay saw their attempts to regain their ancestral lands thwarted by German investors. This is the level of impact that investment treaties can have on social, environmental and economic development and rights. Why? Because of the ‘Investor-to-State Dispute Settlement’ (ISDS) clauses that are included in many such treaties.
-
Dossier
Rights for People, Rules for Corporations – Stop ISDS!
Indigenous communities in Paraguay saw their attempts to regain their ancestral lands thwarted by German investors. In Indonesia, US-based mining companies succeeded to roll back new laws that were meant to boost the country’s economic development and protect its forests. This is the level of impact that investment treaties can have on social, environmental and economic development and rights. Why? Because of the ‘Investor-to-State Dispute Settlement’ clauses that are included in many such treaties.
-
Publication / 4 October 2019
-
Event / 27 September 2019, 13:00
Climate Strike
On Friday 27 September, Both ENDS joins the Dutch Climate Strike and the march in The Hague.
This way we let our government know that there is no more time to waste and that it must take significant action in all policy areas to stop climate change.
More information on the Dutch Climate Strike can be found on https://klimaatstaking.nl/english/
-
News / 25 September 2019
More than 50 organisations unite for the climate
52 charity organisations, community groups, foundations and NGOs, many of whom are not primarily concerned with climate change, have come together to express their concern about the dangers of climate change for everyone and everything in a joint declaration. They call for urgent action and support the Climate Strike this Friday 27 September in The Hague.
-
Press release / 23 September 2019
World's 5th largest pension fund ABP increases fossil fuel investments
Amsterdam, 23 September 2019 - The world's 5th largest pension fund, with assets of over €430 billion, Dutch ABP is continuing to invest in companies that are on a collision course with the Paris climate goals, such as coal and oil companies.
-
Publication / 23 September 2019
-
News / 20 September 2019
Call for solidarity with Philippine environmental rights defenders
We are shocked and alarmed by the news of a planned raid into the headquarters of an environmental organisation in the Philippines. Although the raid has not materialised until now, we are deeply concerned for their wellbeing.
-
Event / 20 September 2019, 19:30
The Dutch Climate Roundtable 'International'
Last June, after months of negotiations in five different 'climate roundtables', the Dutch government presented its Climate Agreement . Negotiations had taken place in a roundtable for 'industry', for 'built environment', for 'electricity', 'mobility' and for 'agriculture and land use'. Climate measures that the Netherlands can take within its borders are pretty much covered by these climate roundtables. But the Netherlands also has a huge climate footprint outside its borders. It seems we have forgotten about the 'International' Climate Roundtable.