WRM Action Alerts - Ecuador 1710

SAMPLE LETTER:
Worldwide actions against WestLB for financing rainforest destruction

LETTER TO WESTDEUTSCHE LANDESBANK AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE FEDERAL STATE OF NORTH RHINE-WESTPHALIA, GERMANY:

To send the letter by e-mail you can copy the following e-mail addresses:

wolfgang.clement@landtag.nrw.de
poststelle@mwmev.nrw.de
info@rsgv.de
thomas_friebel@westlb.com
Robert_Edmonds@westlb.com
Mark_Worley@westlb.com

To the

CEO of Westdeutsche Landesbank (WestLB), Mr. Jürgen Sengera
Minister President of the Federal State of NRW, Mr. Wolfgang Clement
Minister of Economy of the Federal State of NRW, Mr. Ernst Schwanhold
Federation of Rhenisch Savings and Clearings Banks, Mr. Dr. Karlheinz Bentele
Representative offices of WestLB in the US

Dear Sirs,

I am writing to invite you to make a personal visit to the cities, villages, communities and protected ecosystems along the route of the new heavy crude oil pipeline OCP and to the pristine rainforests in the Amazon region in Ecuador where the oil will be extracted, to prevent a social, economical and environmental tragedy.

I object that you are financing the OCP project without ever having consulted the population effected by the project, and without ever having visited the region which is in grave danger due to this project.

It is totally unacceptable that the public bank WestLB and the government of the Federal State of NRW decide from their offices in Germany - far away from the project area in Ecuador - about a US$900 million project with such severe social, economic and environmental effects on the basis of two environmental impact assessments which have been paid for by the companies that will benefit from the project.

It is a travesty of justice that WestLB and the government of NRW want to finance a project that would never be approved in Germany because of its uncontrollable danger to the life of the population and its catastrophic effects on environment. The population effected by the project has never been consulted about this project. The already existing SOTE pipeline (to which the OCP will run parallel through most of its route) is in an earthquake zone and has ruptured on 48 occasions causing the death of 30 people and spilling 74 million liters of crude oil into rivers, forests and farmland.

I urge you to immediately end all loan disbursement to the OCP project and stop financing oil exploration and production in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

Sincerely,

[Date, your name and address]

1.) WestLB
Mr. Juergen Sengera
Head of Executive Board
Herzogstr. 15,
40217 Duesseldorf
Germany
Phone: 0049 - 211 - 826 2210 or 0049 - 211 - 826 3072
Fax: 0049 - 211 - 826 6121
E-Mail: presse@westlb.de

2.) Prime Minister of Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia
Mr. Wolfgang Clement
Stadttor 1
40213 Duesseldorf
Germany
Phone: 0049 - 211 - 837-1200 or 0049 - 211 - 837-1201
Fax: 0049 - 211 - 837- 1562
E-Mail: wolfgang.clement@landtag.nrw.de

3.) Minister of Economy of Federal State of
North Rhine-Westphalia
Mr. Ernst Schwanhold
Haroldstr. 4
40213 Duesseldorf
Germany
Phone: 0049 - 211 - 837 - 02
Fax: 0049 - 211 - 837 - 2200
E-Mail: poststelle@mwmev.nrw.de

4.) Federation of Rhenisch Savings and Clearings Banks (Rheinischer
Sparkassen- und Giroverband)
President of Executive Board
Mr. Dr. Karlheinz Bentele
Kirchfeldstr. 60
40217 Duesseldorf
Germany
Phone: 0049 - 211 - 3892-01
Fax: 0049 - 211 - 3892-240
E-mail: info@rsgv.de