Export Credit Agencies: The Hidden Agents of Corporate Globalization
www.eca-watch.org
Citizens worldwide are increasingly aware of global institutions (like the WTO and the World Bank) and their harmful impacts on the environment and human rights. But other secretive, often overlooked government bodies known as export credit agencies also play a leading role in the process of corporate globalization.
Non governmental organizations (NGOs), journalists, government officials, academics and others increasingly seek information on Export Credit Agencies (ECAs). Important issues of concern include ECAs' project impacts, their lack of transparency and consultation with civil society, and their failure to make progress in adopting internationally accepted environmental and social policies. In response, the ECA Reform Campaign Internet site has been established to provide helpful background material, policy analysis, case studies, news articles, feature projects and campaign contacts.
As a timely feature, the ECA Reform Campaign Internet site contains a February 24, 2000 NGO press release and protest letter to the OECD Working Party on Export Credits and Credit Guarantees, which meets February 24 and 25 in Paris to discuss environmental issues. The letter protests the OECD Working Party's refusal to meet with the NGOs that focus on the ECA reform effort, and the failure of world's biggest ECAs to make meaningful progress toward achieving environmental mandates of the G-8. You can find the press release and letter at www.eca-watch.org/actionalerts.html
What are ECAs?
Export Credit Agencies and Investment Insurance Agencies, commonly known as ECAs, are public agencies that provide government-backed loans, guarantees and insurance to corporations from their home country that seek to do business overseas in developing countries and emerging markets. Most industrialized nations have at least one ECA, which is usually an official or quasi-official branch of their government. ECAs are now the world's biggest class of public finance institutions supporting private sector projects, collectively exceeding in size the World Bank Group.
What are their impacts?
Because of the inherent risks of controversial projects in the mining, forestry, oil and gas, coal, power sectors, many of these potentially harmful projects in the developing world could not go forward but for the support of bilateral ECAs. These ECAs provide the political and financial support that allows corporations to proceed with projects that harm the environment and disrupt the lives of the people in the affected regions. Yet, like the World Bank Group 20 years ago, most ECAs have no environmental and social standards nor development mandate. This creates a race to the bottom, a vicious cycle where more and more harmful projects are attracted to ECAs for financing, which simultaneously serves as a disincentive to efforts to strengthen all international finance institutions.
What is the ECA reform campaign about?
The ECA Reform Campaign believes that public taxpayer money should not be spent on ecologically and socially harmful projects. The International ECA Reform Campaign objectives are to see that all ECAs adopt and upgrade environmental and social policies and to support the advocacy efforts of affected people against specific harmful projects.
For More Information Contact:
Doug Norlen, Pacific Environment and Resources Center; dnorlen@igc.org, and Emilie Thenard, Center for International Environmental Law; ethenard@ciel.org:
