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- Paper Pulp Mills - Uruguay
- Corporate Accountability and Human Rights
- Climate Change and Human Rights
Papermills: Crédit Agricole of France Steps in for Botnia
Wednesday May 10, 2006 – According to Botnia’s homepage (the Finnish company to construct one of the controversial papermills in Uruguay), Calyon (a subsidiary of Crédit Agricole), would step in to replace ING Group of the Netherlands, which recently withdrew US$480 million due to the increasing risk of the Uruguayan papermill projects. Between Nordea of Sweden and Calyon, Botnia would obtain approximately 40% of its total US$1.2 billion investment.
Calyon has offices in 55 countries including Finland and Uruguay, and also promises to uphold the Equator Principles (principles to guide responsible investment), a key element in ING Group’s withdrawal of support to the Botnia project. A recent report issued by the IFC (an agency of the World Bank) published yesterday, suggests that claims by concerned stakeholders including CEDHA, the Citizen’s Environmental Assembly of Gualeguaychu and the Argentine government, are in fact founded, and many of the risk issues they posit which were never considered by the IFC or by Botnia nor ENCE’s EIAs merit further study.
Given the many recognized deficiencies in the projects, it will be difficult for Calyon to publicly justify supporting the multimillion dollar Botnia investment. Already important financial news sources and credit rating agencies are looking closely at the rising international risk of the Uruguayan papermill projects.
CEDHA is preparing a new complaint to be filed against Calyon in the next few days, just as complaints were filed against ING Group and BBVA of Spain, for violations to the Equator Principles.
More Information
For more information contact:
Jorge Daniel Taillant
Center for Human Rights and Environment (CEDHA)
Tel. 54 3541 494 162
Cel. 54 9 351 625 3290
jdtaillant@cedha.org.ar
