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WRM ACTION
ALERTS
MARCH 2004
| Request for Endorsements: Call to Action against IMF/World Bank |
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Source:
IRN - International Rivers Network
Date: March 24th 2004 is: - the 60th anniversary of
the founding of the World Bank and the IMF; For six decades, the World
Bank and IMF have imposed policies, programs, * Decimate women's rights
and devastate their lives, their families, and their communities;
Help end global economic injustice
driven by the policies, projects, and Educate, Organize, Mobilize!
Be the change you want to see in our 50 Years Is Enough Network:
http://www.50years.org
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| Brazil: Sign-on to letter to Brazilian development bank | ||
Source: IRN - International
Rivers Network The Brazilian Environment and Development Forum of NGOs and Social Movements (FBOMS), the Rios Vivos Coalition ask for your support to the following petition to be sent to Brazilian Development Bank. Please send sign-ons to alcidesf@riosvivos.org.br Sr. Carlos Francisco Theodoro Machado
de Lessa March, 2004. Sr: President. We are particularly concerned with the
presence of the BNDES, together with the Inter-American Development
Bank (IDB) and the Andean Development Corporation (CAF) in planning
the program called the “South American Initiative for Regional
Infrastructure Integration” (IIRSA). As you are aware, infrastructure
projects are being planned for the Paraguay River, the Pantanal,
and the Amazon, among other regions. In the Paraguay River and Pantanal,
the program attempts to resuscitate the old proposal for construction
of the Paraná-Paraguay Hidrovia industrial waterway project,
which, if carried out, would provoke economic, social, and environmental
alterations, with negative consequences for local economic activities
which intensively generate employment and income such as tourism
and fishing. Prior official environmental impact studies, prepared
under the coordination of the Inter-governmental Committee on the
Hidrovia were rejected by renowned specialists as inadequate. The
! In the Amazon region, the implementation
of the IIRSA program will exert strong pressure on the best-preserved
parts of the rainforest and the savanna, promoting a new and disastrous
surge of predatory occupation by loggers, cattle ranchers, and soy
plantations. Within this context is complex of hydroelectric dams
and industrial waterway on the Madeira River, which you defended
in your closing remarks of the “International Seminar for
BNDES-CAF Co-financing: Prospective Projects for South American
Physical Integration” held in August, 2003, saying “I
do not know whether the energy from these dams (Madeira River) will
go to Manaus or in the other direction, but I am absolutely certain
that the 4,800 kilometers of aquavias, and the planting (with soy
and other grains) of 30 million hectares in Brazil and Peru …
represent for our history … what was the occupation of the
old west of the North American continent”. We are all aware
of the results for indigenous peoples! It is unacceptable to finance more and more hydroelectric dams without being interested in where the energy is destined. A correct energy policy, in accord with the country´s best interests, should prioritize energy efficiency and conservation. It has been technically proven that it is possible to increase production using the same quantity of energy currently generated. Last year, following the threat of “blackouts”, it was widely reported that there was a surplus of 7,000 MW available, without cuts in industrial production and in other sectors of the economy. The country has advanced greatly in terms of conservation and energy efficiency but, unfortunately, subsequent governmental actions provided incentives instead for increased energy consumption. It is necessary to redirect part of those investments planned in energy generation toward technological development – support for adequate production systems; substitution of obsolete electric motors with more efficient motors; new lighting systems and minimizing losses in electricity transmission, considering that in this case the Brazilian indices are much higher than those accepted internationally. Part of this new policy we propose should include the retrofitting of older dams. Studies indicate that this measure would permit a 20% growth in the quantity of energy available. Another alternative worth pursuing is incentives for “new” energies through renewable sources with lesser impacts, particularly wind, solar, and biomass. Why spend billions and billions of dollars on destructive and unnecessary dams such as Belo Monte on the Xingu River and Peixe Angical on the Tocantins River. It is worth remembering that BNDES is ignoring directives of the Environment Ministry when it decides to finance dams without carrying out prior studies to identify impacts of hydroelectric dams on the basin-wide level. In fact, a “Strategic Environmental Assessment” should be urgently carried out in the Araguaia and Tocantins basin, considering the large number of dams constructed and being planned, the advance of the agribusiness frontier, and the proposal for constructing the Araguaia-Tocantins hidrovia industrial waterway. The terms of this study should follow those proposed by the Rios Vivos Coalition and the Savanna (Cerrado) region NGO Network to the National Water Agency (ANA) and the IDB in September, 2002. In terms of social issues, the financing of large dams has shown the Bank´s fragility in failing to apply its own guidelines, as in the case of Barra Grande and Campos Novos dams, in the Uruguay River basin. In the case of these dams, the Bank´s directive for “social inclusion”, presented as the most important of the new directives announced in May, 2003, appears to have not considered the conflicts provoked by the intransigence of the companies building the dams regarding the demands of the affected populations. In these cases, thousands of families are facing a precarious future following the loss of their homes and rural lands. Internationally, BNDES has financed projects
of enormous economic, social, and environmental impacts without
being concerned with the Bank´s lack of capacity to evaluate
and monitor the projects´ consequences. Among these problem
projects are the Bolivia – Brazil Gas Pipeline, San Francisco
dam in Ecuador and Three Gorges dam in China. Three Gorges is an
obvious example – more than one million people forcibly removed
from their lands and homes without any right to question the authoritarian
Chinese regime, and the Bank´s failure, as financier, to guarantee
even minimal rights for the affected populations. In January, 2003,
dozens of organizations from Brazil and various other countries
sent you a letter regarding this situation. Unfortunately, more
than a year later, they are still awaiting your response. In order
that we not witness the repetition of what happened in China, we
would hope that the Bank abandon negotiations for financing Son
La dam in Vietnam, which, i! In terms of transparency and governability, we observe that rules and norms for BNDES, established by the National Congress, by Executive Decrees, and by the Bank´s own Directors appear to generally guarantee transparency and responsibility in the decision making process on loans. However, the reality is that these requirements are not being followed by BNDES, particularly as regards large-scale infrastructure projects. Concerns have increased following your recent declarations regarding the reduction of the timeframe for Project approval, a clear sign that analyses of proposals may further lose rigor and depth, fundamental conditions for identifying and establishing mechanisms for minimal economic, social, and environmental conditionality, including those in the “Green Protocol” document, which is intended to orient the Bank´s actions, but which has been largely ignored by the Bank. Under the curtain of “bank confidentiality”, BNDES has failed to provide clear information on the results of its operations, beyond their financial aspects. Beyond this, the Bank has refused to provide information on its participation in specific projects when questioned. An example is the Bank´s failure to respond to letters from civil society groups, as in the case of Three Gorges. As a financial institution operating with public resources, BNDES should, as a first step, furnish complete and readily accessible information to society regarding projects already funded or considered for funding by the institution. This procedure is followed by international institutions such as the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank and should be seen as a minimal requirement for promoting transparency in the institution. The organizations signing this document intend to promote a broad and democratic debate with BNDES, opening channels for the presence of society in its evaluations and decisions. We understand that it is necessary to re-orient actions so that the Bank may strategically attend other logics of interest to Brazil and other countries where it operates, and so that it may be transformed into a supporter of socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable development. As a basic agenda for discussion, we propose that BNDES re-evaluate: • its support for South American
integration through infrastructure works in the IIRSA program and
that it seek other possibilities for developing actions to integrate
the countries. As an important step, and trusting in your understanding and in the commitments made by the current Brazilian government, as well as the urgency that a solution be found for the themes presented, we ask for a meeting with you as soon as possible. We propose that six civil society representatives chosen by the Brazilian NGO and Social Movements Forum and the Rios Vivos Coalition take part. Sincerely, Fórum Brasileiro de ONGs e Movimentos
Sociais para o Meio Ambiente e o Desenvolvimento (FBOMS) Coalizão Rios Vivos Rede Brasil GT Energia** do FBOMS Vitae Civilis. Gambá Rede Pantanal Instituto Terrazul. Núcleo Amigos da Terra / Brasil.
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