A community’s choice to give, or withhold, their free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) to a project or activity planned to take place on their land is a recognized right of Indigenous peoples under international law. It is also a best practice principle that applies to all communities affected by projects or activities on the land, water and forests that they rely on. Increasingly, the banking sector has recognized the importance of free, prior and informed consent. It is incorporated, at least in part, into guidelines and standards such…

More than 100 NGOs have written to a string of potential financiers of three fracked gas export terminals and related infrastructure projects proposed for the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas, calling on the institutions to turn down financing for Rio Grande LNG, the Rio Bravo Pipeline, Annova LNG and Texas LNG. The institutions contacted include JPMorgan Chase, Société Générale, SMBC Group, Citi, Morgan Stanley, Mizuho, MUFG and Bank of America. The projects in question, currently in their final permitting…

In today’s commitment, made in the bank’s new Environmental and Social Framework, to exit thermal coal by 2030, Commonwealth Bank has issued a stark warning to industry and policy-makers that coal has no place in Australia’s future. Commonwealth Bank’s announcement follows recent commitments by insurers QBE and Suncorp to exit the thermal coal sector by 2030 and 2025, respectively.  “Anyone planning to run a thermal coal mine or coal power station in Australia beyond 2030 must now contend with not being able…

Today, the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) released an updated Environmental, Social and Ethical (ESE) risk management framework that rules out financing for oil and gas drilling or exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.  The new framework prohibits project-specific lending for “projects involving oil exploration and production operations in Arctic (including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge),” and restricts lending to any company that engages in these activities.   This critical update to the bank’s…

One year after the devastating collapse of saddle dam D of the Xe Pian-Xe Namnoy hydropower project in southern Laos, none of the entities backing and profiting from the project have been held accountable, according to a joint reportreleased today by International Rivers and Inclusive Development International. “Reckless Endangerment: Assessing Responsibility for the Xe Pian-Xe Namnoy Dam Collapse” identifies the governments, corporations, banks and insurers that have backed the $1.02 billion project. The report sets out the responsibilities…