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Каспинфо сентябрь 2001 |
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Название: Сообщения НПО на англ. яз. Главные Пункты: * Подборка материалов о строительстве нефтяного терминала Кулеви, Грузия: - Всемирный Банк, выступавший против строительства нефтяного терминала в Кулеви, т.к. оно нарушает природный баланс в регионе и может привести к экологической катастрофе, тем не менее поддержал проект. - Строительство нефтяного терминала ведется на заболоченных угодьях, охраняемых Рамсарской конвенцией. * Организация Друзья Земли призывает к прекращению поддержки Международными Финансовыми Институтами проектов по добыче минерального сырья и ископаемого топлива и к введению ими моратория на новые инвестиции в такие проекты , т.к. они ведут к разрушению окружающей среды, нарушению прав человека и оказывают негативное влияние на развитие в бедных странах. * и др. сообщения. (05.09.2001) Полный Текст Сообщения НПО на англ. яз. Сообщения НПО региона на англ. яз. *** THE WORLD BANK WILL STUDY THE ISSUE OF CONSTRUCTION OF THE OIL TERMINAL IN KULEVI The mission of the World Bank visited Georgia to study the issue of construction of the oil terminal in Kulevi. The mission had meetings with authorities, including heads of the Ministry of Transport and Communications and the Ministry of Environment. The delegation visited Batumi and Poti. It should be noted that the World Bank is not financing this construction, however the World Bank is implementing the Project on Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project in Georgia at a coast of around $4,5 million approved in December 1998. Only $ 0,5 million is used from this amount for today; the Project will last till 2004. The mission will prepare memorandum of recommendation and submit it to the Government of Georgia. The resolution adopted at the special session of the Parliament of Georgia held in July legalized construction of the Kulevi oil terminal, which is situated on wetlands with 96 ha total area protected by the Ramsar Convention. According to the resolution, the territory with the same area will be designated for inclusion into the Ramsar list instead of the construction site. Construction of the Kulevi oil terminal has been started in the beginning of 2000 without any permit of the Ministry of Environment. News Agency Prime News, 6.08.2001 Caucasus Environmental NGO Network (CENN) 35 Electronic Bulletin: Caucasus Environmental News *** 3.2 THE WORLD BANK SUPPORTED CONSTRUCTION OF NEW PORT AND OIL TERMINAL ON THE GEORGIAN COAST OF THE BLACK SEA The World Bank (WB) supports construction of new port and oil terminal in Kulevi on the Georgian coast of the Black Sea. As the President of Georgia Eduard Shevardnadze stated in his traditional interview to the National Radio, the members of the Commission of the World Bank officially stated about it during their visit in Georgia. In the beginning the World Bank was against this project due to it's potential risk to the World Bank financed ICZM project. This decision was made on the basis of opinion of some experts that the construction would destroy the natural balance and could result in the environmental disaster. However, as the President of Georgia informed, the management of the World Bank cardinally changed its attitude towards the Kulevi Terminal Construction Project. According to the World Bank, in a couple of days, the Bank will send the aide memoir of the fact-finding mission to the Government, and a news press release with the key Bank's findings and recommendations with regard to the Kulevi Oil Terminal will be issued by our Tbilisi Office -- to clarify any misunderstanding. Glasnost Media, 15.08.2001 Caucasus Environmental NGO Network (CENN) 35 Electronic Bulletin: Caucasus Environmental News *** KULEVI: THE GREATEST CONSTRUCTION OF THE THIRD MILLENNIUM Mr. George Arsenishvili, State Minister of Georgia, visited construction site of the Kulevi oil terminal in order to study situation and solve problems. The terminal will be used for oil and oil products; the capacity of it is 380,000m3. The State Minister had a short conversation with Mr. John Nippers, General Manager of "Burwell-Georgia" than he had a meeting at the Poti Customs Department. According to Mr. Arsenishvili, the Kulevi terminal is a very important strategic establishment in Georgia due to its capacity. Construction is being carried out according to the modern standards. More than 1,200 persons are involved in construction works. Moreover, the Kolkheti National Park (more than 44,000 hectares of wetlands and forests) is located near the Kulevi terminal. The World Bank allocated about $3,5 million needed for its arrangement. Other prospective programs also depend on it too. According to the State Minister, the joint work of scientists and specialists from the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Construction and Urbanization is required. The main problem is the definition of boundaries of the protected territory. According to the State Minister, the Kulevi terminal and the protected territory supplement each other. I hope they will have good-neighbor relations, - Mr. George Arsenishvili stated. Otar Turabelidze, Saqinformi Caucasus Environmental NGO Network (CENN) 35 Electronic Bulletin: Caucasus Environmental News *** CHILDREN'S ECOLOGICAL POLICE WANTS CLEANER CASPIAN The Baku and Ali-Bayramli branches of the Children's Ecological Police held a joint action "Caspian with a clean coast", as hundreds of people joined the kids to collect household wastes in the beaches and distributed children's appeals to beach-goers. The action ended with a Brain Ring intellectual contest held in Shikhov. The world's only children's ecological police have operated in Azerbaijan since 1998, with 85 schoolchildren at work. Azernews, 22.08.2001 Caucasus Environmental NGO Network (CENN) 35 Electronic Bulletin: Caucasus Environmental News *** PROTEST ACTION AGAINST DESTRUCTION OF RELICT FORESTS DURING CONSTRUCTION OF THE RUSSIAN-TURKEY PIPELINE IS STARTED A protest action against illegal felling of unique forest tract has been started in forestry Arkhipo-Osipovskoe on August 18. Illegal felling of trees included in the Red Book for construction purposes of the Russian-Turkey pipeline was started on August 16. The construction site is located on the territory of the natural monument "Tract of the Crimean pine "Arkhipo-Osipovskoe" having a regime of reserve. This natural monument is included in the fund of natural reserves of Russia and construction on its sites is prohibited. 12 activists of the Social - Ecological Union of the Western Caucasus climbed on trees along the route of the pipeline to prevent their felling. Information of the Independent Ecological Service on the Northern Caucasus Caucasus Environmental NGO Network (CENN) 35 Electronic Bulletin: Caucasus Environmental News *** To: all organizations and movements concerned with fossil fuel and mining projects: Amsterdam, July 2001 Friends and colleagues, Friends of the Earth International is seeking your support for a campaign that aims to phase out International Financial Institution financing for fossil fuel and mining projects. In the past several years, public financial institutions such as the Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) and Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) have come under increasing fire for their large volume of lending in the fossil fuel and mining sectors. As concerns about climate change escalate, and as the development impacts of extractive industries become increasingly dubious, citizens around the world are questioning the role that publicly financed institutions have in perpetuating extraction-based economies and fossil fuel dependence rather than clean energy. Acknowledging this concern, the World Bank agreed to undertake a process of examining its role in the fossil fuel and mining sectors. In response, Friends of the Earth International has produced a position paper calling for an immediate moratorium and eventual total phase-out of International Financial Institution (IFI) investments in these sectors. This call is directed at the World Bank, as well as the rest of the MDBs and ECAs. The Oilwatch Network has similarly called for a moratorium on investments in these sectors. Friends of the Earth International believes it is that the World Bank Group, and other IFIs, receive a strong signal from civil society around the world as the World Bank undertakes its review. As development institutions, MDBs should be pursuing investments that genuinely lead to improvements in people's lives and in their environments. A shift away from fossil fuel and mining investments and towards socially and environmentally sustainable energy solutions is one important way of doing that. Friends of the Earth International seeks to build a broad coalition of citizens' groups and movements to work in solidarity to achieve such a moratorium and subsequent phase-out. If you or your organization would like to join as partners in this campaign we urge you to get in touch with us. Please find below our call for a moratorium. To endorse this call, please contact the International Financial Institutions program of Friends of the Earth International at ifi@foei.org. The full Friends of the Earth International position paper is available at www.foei.org. Appeal: Towards a Phase-Out of International Financial Institution Support of Fossil Fuel and Mining Projects We, the undersigned organizations, are calling for an immediate moratorium on, and subsequent phase-out of all financing for fossil fuel and mining projects by International Financial Institutions, including Multilateral Development Banks and Export Credit Agencies. It is estimated that from 1995-1999, IFIs allocated around US$55 billion to projects in these sectors (not including fossil fuel thermal generating plants). This financing catalyzed even more private sector financing. Problems associated with fossil fuel and mining development include: Environmental destruction Fossil fuel and mining projects threaten biodiversity and destroy pristine lands. Toxic spills, oil flares, and mining waste destroy local ecosystems and harm human health. On a global level, fossil fuel projects contribute to catastrophic climate change, and worsen already increasing temperatures, rising sea levels, and volatile weather patterns. Human rights violations Fossil fuel and mining extraction is too often associated with repression, violations of human rights, and suppression of the rights of indigenous peoples. Projects have forcibly displaced indigenous peoples and destroyed their way of life. Authoritarian regimes use repression as a way to protect projects and their investors. These conflicts over resources, access to land, and compensation can fuel already volatile social situations and lead to armed conflict. Dubious development impacts There is no body of statistical evidence demonstrating that fossil fuel and mining investments substantially enhance GDP for most 'developing' countries, or that these projects automatically deliver measurable benefits to the communities that need it most. In fact, some research shows that extraction-based economies have lower development indices than natural resource-poor countries, partly the result of corruption and rent-seeking. For these reasons, we call on publicly financed International Financial Institutions to phase out of financing fossil fuel and mining investments. Instead they should use their scarce resources for projects that tackle the dual challenge of combating poverty and stopping catastrophic climate change. This phase-out should cover all phases of the fossil-fuel and mining cycles: prospecting, exploration, test drilling, exploitation, as well as construction of related infrastructure such as pipelines and roads, and any financial and regulatory advice or programs by IFIs that favor such projects. While there could be some exceptions to the phase-out, these should only be determined through genuine local participatory processes, and local communities should retain the right to veto projects. This phase-out should be complemented by a phase-in of energy investments that meet the energy needs of the poor, and are based on renewable energy and energy efficiency projects that should be the standard for meeting future energy demands. CALL TO ACTION For the reasons set out above, the undersigned organizations call on International Financial Institutions (MDBs and ECAs) to agree on a moratorium for new investments in fossil fuel and mining projects. This moratorium would allow for: The establishment of a strict ban on financing by any IFI for any new fossil fuel and minerals exploration projects in areas of high conservation value, territories of indigenous peoples' and nations, areas where local communities oppose such projects, and areas where investments will exacerbate armed conflict. IFIs should immediately consult and work openly with civil society and governments to establish these critical no-go zones. A detailed reevaluation of all pending projects which have an impact on the areas mentioned above, with the objective to find better alternatives for these projects or to cancel the project when no such alternatives exist Development of concrete action plans for a complete phase-out of financing for these types of projects within five years. These plans should systematically identify policies and projects that help phase-in a positive targeted energy lending shift, to enable IFIs to target the dual goal of eradicating poverty and preventing catastrophic climate change. IFIs must assume responsibility for any damage caused by their projects to ecosystems and to the economic and social situations of communities. It is therefore necessary to carry out a study of the impacts that energy policies and projects of IFIs have had on developing countries and the plight of specific communities. IFIs must provide resources for the compensation of damage and the physical restoration of affected areas. IFIs must acknowledge the need to limit investments in other sectors and projects that are based on technologies with high use of fossil fuels and oil byproducts. IFIs should respect the sovereign rights of communities to choose their own development path, based on their own priorities and preferences. Therefore, IFIs must establish participatory systems through which communities to be affected by IFI financed projects can freely establish their decisions on the project, with the capacity to modify or veto such projects. Export Credit Agencies have been documented to finance the environmental and social destruction of local communities and to exacerbate long-term global climate change. ECAs must begin meaningful transformation towards binding environmental standards and portfolio shifts away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy within two years, or they should be abolished. Signed by (organizations only): Friends of the Earth International *To find out more about the international campaign to reform Export Credit Agencies (ECAs), go to http://www.eca-watch.org. *Please note: Clicking on the reply button will send your reply only to the sender of the message . |