{"id":5441,"date":"2016-03-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-03-16T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/new.conectas.org.inf.br\/wp\/noticias\/interrupted-road\/"},"modified":"2021-03-22T20:51:47","modified_gmt":"2021-03-22T20:51:47","slug":"interrupted-road","status":"publish","type":"noticia","link":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/noticias\/interrupted-road\/","title":"Interrupted road","content":"<div class=\"tts_content_wrapper_1\" ><p>Brazil\u2019s National Development Bank (BNDES) failed to detect a raft of illegalities and serious social and\u00a0environmental problems when agreeing to finance a controversial highway project through the Bolivian\u00a0Amazon, according to an international coalition of organisations in a complaint published today.<\/p>\n<p>The coalition argues that the development bank \u2013 the world\u2019s third biggest, with a larger portfolio than the\u00a0World Bank \u2013 is financing major infrastructure projects across the Amazon with insufficient analysis of whether\u00a0or not they are legal, or of their social and environmental impacts. The coalition is calling on BNDES to urgently\u00a0reassess its methods for selecting projects that pose significant risks to the world\u2019s largest rainforest and its\u00a0indigenous and traditional communities.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"\/arquivos\/editor\/files\/Conectas_GW_Cedla%20-%20Complaint%20to%20the%20BNDES%20on%20Bolivia%20TIPNIS%20highway.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Click here to read the complaint in full<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>BNDES is a majority public-funded bank with major infrastructure projects across Latin America and parts of\u00a0Africa. In 2015 alone it provided US$ 36 billion for projects globally.<\/p>\n<p>In 2011 BNDES signed a U$332 million contract for the construction of a controversial highway that threatened\u00a0to cut through protected, indigenous land in the Bolivian Amazon &#8211; the \u201cTIPNIS\u201d National Park and Indigenous\u00a0Territory. Documents obtained by Conectas Human Rights, the Centre for Labour and Agrarian Development of\u00a0Bolivia (CEDLA) and Global Witness show that between 2009 and 2011 the bank failed to act on a series of \u00a0illegalities, including:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Widespread illegalities during the bidding round, as detailed in a leaked 2010 report by the Bolivian\u00a0Comptroller General obtained by the organizations<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Failure to consult indigenous communities in TIPNIS about the construction of the highway, as is their right\u00a0under Bolivian law<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Lack of an environmental impact assessment prior to the bidding round, indicating systematic failures by \u00a0the Bolivian Highways Administration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Legally flawed Environmental Impact Assessments of routes 1 and 3 of the highway, which failed to\u00a0consider the future impacts of construction and were heavily criticised by the Bolivian environmental\u00a0authority at the time.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>BNDES cancelled its TIPNIS contract in 2012 after widespread protests prompted the Bolivian government to\u00a0ban road construction in the area. The bank responded to criticism of its involvement saying that all of the legal\u00a0environmental requirements had been met2 and that it had respected the \u201clegal framework established by the\u00a0Bolivian authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Information obtained by the organizations, however, shows that data on all of the illegalities outlined above was\u00a0available to the bank well before it signed the financing contract, yet these were not properly addressed by its socio-environmental risk analysis.<\/p>\n<p>Since the TIPNIS case, the bank has reformed its Socio-Environmental Policy, which now contains clearer\u00a0requirements about the information needed by the bank before an investment outside Brazil will be made. But\u00a0the coalition group claims the policy is still insufficient to guard against potential human rights abuses\u00a0committed against local communities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBNDES\u2019 policies still lack sufficient requirements to consult with impacted communities before a project goes\u00a0ahead,\u201d said Juana Kweitel, the programs\u2019 director of Conectas. \u201cUntil this is dealt with, the bank will continue\u00a0to risk financing projects that are environmentally and socially unsound and that represent a threat to the\u00a0Amazon, as in the TIPNIS case.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is clear from the documents we obtained, and from the TIPNIS communities themselves, that their right to free prior and informed consent was not respected, despite the fact that this is mandatory under Bolivian law,\u201d said Silvia Molina of CEDLA.<\/p>\n<p>Conectas Human Rights, CEDLA and Global Witness are calling on BNDES to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Ensure the social and environmental legal compliance of its projects by improving its due\u00a0diligence assessments<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Directly involve communities and other interested parties across the entire life-cycle of any\u00a0projects the bank is involved in<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Provide an independent complaint mechanism that is adequate to the needs of affected\u00a0communities<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Promote accountability and when damages occur, provide effective remedies to the parties\u00a0affected.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"tts__custom-position_bottom_fixed\" ><\/div>","excerpt":"<p>Brazil\u2019s National Development Bank (BNDES) failed to detect a raft of illegalities and serious social and\u00a0environmental problems when agreeing to f&#8230;<\/p>\n","author":2,"featured_media":25494,"parent":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[7],"tags":[12443,12469],"tema":[12279],"class_list":["post-5441","noticia","type-noticia","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-bndes-en","tag-bolivia-en","tema-socioenvironmental-rights"],"acf":{"author":false,"subtitle-pt":"Latin America\u2019s biggest development bank overlooks widespread illegalities in financing of major highway project in the 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