Updates on the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

Kyrgyz lawmakers endorse NGO’s environmental complaints over Kumtor Gold Mine

Bishkek – Both the Kyrgyz government and the parliament took on board this week concerns expressed by environmentalists that the Kumtor gold mine operated by Canadian Centerra Gold Corporation poses serious threats to livelihoods and the environment, including causing the melting of two glaciers in the area.

Energy Security For Whom? For What?

How can fossil fuels and uranium be kept in the ground and agrofuels off the land in ways that do not inflict suffering upon millions? Mainstream policy responses to these issues are largely framed in terms of “energy security”. Yet far from making energy supplies more secure, such policies are triggering a cascade of new insecurities for millions of people.

Bankwatch input on EBRD country level transition indicators

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is revising its country level transition indicators, which help measuring the impacts of the bank’s lending. Bankwatch’s input comments on the EBRD’s current indicators and proposes to include indicators that more concretely could illustrate the EBRD’s impact on the environment and the lives of people in its countries of operation. Specifically, our indicators pertain to aspects of inequality, gender, labour standards, life satisfaction and resource efficiency.

Comments to draft EBRD country strategy for Romania

Earth’s riches, people’s troubles. Mining in Central Asia

Two new reports and two videos on the impacts of mining operations in Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia unearth some of the downsides of the mining business in Central Asia.

Kumtor gold facilities, Kyrgyzstan: Comments on water, environmental and related issues

This report, authored by hydrogeologist and geochemist Dr. Robert Moran, reveals that Canadian company Centerra Gold, owner and operator of the Kumtor gold mine, has been contaminating local waters and glaciers while hiding evidence of such negative impacts from public oversight.

Kumtor gold mine, Kyrgyzstan. Bringing risks to regional water systems

The briefing summarises findings of a report, authored by hydrogeologist and geochemist Robert Moran. The report reveals that Canadian company Centerra Gold, owner and operator of the Kumtor Mine, has been contaminating local waters and glaciers while hiding evidence of such negative impacts from public oversight.

Kyrgyzstan: Independent expertise exposes damage done by Kumtor gold exploitation

Bishkek — Canadian company Centerra Gold, owner and operator of Kumtor Mine, the largest gold mine in Central Asia managed by a Western company, has been contaminating local waters and glaciers while hiding evidence of such negative impacts from public oversight, reveals a report authored by an independent US-based expert published today by CEE Bankwatch Network (1). Had it operated in its home country Canada, Centerra’s practices would have caused the company serious trouble with the law.

Spirited away – Mongolia’s mining boom and the people that development left behind

The report, based on a fact finding mission to the Tavan Tolgoi and Oyu Tolgoi mines in Mongolia, examines the social and environmental impacts of mining in Mongolia. It offers a more in-depth look at the impacts on herders who have been displaced by the mining operations, the local effects of the construction of infrastructure and the mining operations themselves.

Bankwatch report and video: Mongolia’s mining bonanza poses threat to locals and planet

A new report launched today by CEE Bankwatch Network, urgewald and OT Watch (1), following on-the-ground research in Mongolia, details the impact of the country’s mining boom on local populations, shedding light on the ignored side of one of the biggest business stories of today: Mongolia’s planned public offering of the state-owned Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi and the rights to one of the world’s largest untapped coal reserves. (2)