|
|
ING Group of Netherlands Pulls out of controversial papermill while World Bank postpones loans |
|
|
Friday, 21 April 2006 |
 Amsterdam, April 12 2006. It was Black Sunday for the pulp mills in Fray Bentos Uruguay, as ING Group communicated to CEDHA that following recommendation by its advisory and coordinating team, that ING’s participation in the multimillion dollar Finnish papermill mill project by Botnia in Uruguay “is no longer in consideration”. In parallel, and just a few days earlier, the International Finance Corporation announced it would postpone consideration of loans to the papermill projects by ENCE of Spain and Botnia of Finland, until new identified shortcomings of the environmental and social impact studies could be addressed. |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Disinvest from Monterrico Metals |
|
|
Thursday, 23 March 2006 |
 British mining company involved in human rights violations
The British mining company Monterrico Metals owns the Rio Blanco copper/molybdenum deposit, located in Northern Peru. Rio Blanco will become Peru's second largest copper mine. The project threatens farmers and biodiversity. Confrontations with the police close to the mining site resulted in casualities on two occasions. The AXA group is the largest investor in Monterrico Metals. According to Netwerk Vlaanderen, institutional investors that respect basic human rights in their investment policy should disinvest from Monterrico Metals. |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Preparations for a new Fallujah? |
|
|
Thursday, 16 March 2006 |
 ING and AXA invest in the modernisation of white phosphorous weaponsOn 18th and 19th March, millions of people will take to the streets to oppose the war and occupation in Iraq. Demonstrations are planned in no less than 208 cities around the world, including New York, London, Jakarta, Sao Paulo and Brussels. The protests oppose, amongst other things, the use of "dirty weapons" in the war. One example is the US attack on Fallujah in November 2004, where the use of white phosphorus caused many civilian casualties. Since then, work has begun on the modernisation of the factory that makes white phosphorus weapons for the US armed forces.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
Tuesday, 14 March 2006 |
 Belgian campaign puts banks under pressure to stop investing in BurmaThe Burmese democrats call on Belgian Banks to disinvest from companies operating in Burma. They claim these investements offer a substantial moral and financial support to the military regime, notorious for its systematic violations of human rights. A recent Netwerk Vlaanderen (B) report revealed the links between the five biggest financial groups in Belgium (KBC, Dexia, Fortis, ING and AXA) and companies with activities in Burma. The conclusions of the report were well covered in the press, and lead to talks with the banks about their investment policies. One bank, the KBC, has since then decided to exclude Total from its ethical investment portfolios. |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Banks failing environment and social standards |
|
|
Wednesday, 25 January 2006 |
 Davos, Switzerland, January 26th 2006 A new study released by BankTrack and WWF today has found that there is a growing commitment to sustainable banking within the international banking sector. However, the report also highlighted the need for the sector to adopt more transparent financing policies, advancing sustainability while helping to reduce their exposure to risk. The report, Shaping the Future of Sustainable Finance: Moving the Banking Sector from Promises to Performance, ranked the financing policies of 39 international banks across 13 issue areas, from climate change to human rights. The study also benchmarked the banks’ policies against international norms, and found that banks are failing to uphold environmental and social standards developed by UN agencies and other international bodies. |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Belgian bank groups invest in companies that abuse human rights |
|
|
Monday, 14 November 2005 |
 AXA, ING, Fortis, Dexia and KBC have invested more than US$ 8 billion (more than €6.6 billion) in companies that are involed in the violations of human rights. That is the conclusion of research from Netwerk Vlaanderen, the results of which are published today. The companies and projects that the banks invest in have been criticised due to practices such as support for dictatorial regimes, forced relocations of population, and forced labour. |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Go To Top
Home
