On September 15, 2011, the Canadian government's Centre for Excellence in Corporate Social Responsibilty held a workshop with John Ruggie entitled, 'Implications of the Guiding Principles for the Implementation of the UN Framework for CSR in the Canadian Extratcive Sector.' The Halifax Initiative participated on behalf of the Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability as the civil society respondent to Mr. Ruggie.
Selecting new IMF boss; CSOs urge UN to move beyond Ruggie; Argentine civil society sues Barrick Gold; Quebec court accepts jurisdiction in case against Anvil Mining.
Ruggie guidelines stir debate
In 2008, the UN Human Rights Council extended Special Representative John Ruggie’s mandate on business and human rights. Among other things, the Council asked Mr. Ruggie to identify “concrete and practical recommendations on ways to strengthen the fulfilment of the duty of the State to protect all human rights from abuses by or involving transnational corporations.”
Interview with Karyn Keenan, Halifax Initiative Program Officer and Gordon Peeling, President of the Mining Associati
Bill C-300: Narrow Defeat despite Widespread Support for Mining Accountability and Human Rights
Ottawa, October 28th, 2010 - The Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability (CNCA) deeply regrets the defeat of Private Member’s Bill C-300, The Responsible Mining Bill, at third and final reading in the House of Commons. The Bill lost by a narrow margin of 140 to 134.
The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA) recently devoted an edition of its magazine Report on the Americas to Canadian foreign policy in Latin America. The Canadian edition features an article by HI's Program Officer on Canadian mining investment in the region. The article describes recent efforts to reform domestic policy and law regarding the overseas operations of Canadian extractive companies. It focuses on current initiatives that seek to create accountability mechanisms for several government agencies that facilitate Canadian mining, oil and gas investments in the global South.
To read the article click here.
To access the article in Spanish click here.
Financial Transaction Tax feasible, says report
Fred P. Hochberg
President
Export-Import Bank of the United States
Washington, D.C.
[Via e-mail]
May 10, 2010
Re: Pascua Lama
Dear President Hochberg,
It has come to our attention that the Ex-Im Bank has received a request to finance the binational Pascua Lama mine. We are writing to strongly urge that the Ex-Im Bank reject financing for the Pascua Lama mine.
Brussels, 26 March 2010
Mr. Steve Tvardik
Head, Export Credits
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
Paris, France
Dear Mr. Tvardik,
Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments on the on-going review of the Sector Understanding on Export Credits for Renewable Energies and Water Projects (Sector Understanding) by the Participants to the Arrangement on Officially Supported Export Credits (Participants).
We have outlined our comments starting with our overall concern about ECA financing of fossil fuels and then following this up with specific inputs to sections of the Sector Understanding. It ends with a short conclusion bringing together the main issues to concentrate on.
Overall Issue: The need to end fossil fuel financing
Julian Paisey
OECD, Export Credit Division, Trade Directorate
2, rue André-Pascal
Paris Cedex 16 - France
Brussels, 12 January 2010.
Dear Julian,
Further to your letter of December 2009, you will find below the elements that ECA-Watch and Amnesty International would like to see addressed and revised in the review of the 2007 Revised Council Recommendation on Common Approaches on the Environment and Officially Supported Export Credits (Common Approaches). We believe that the 2010 Common Approaches Review must consider these issues in order to improve ECA standards and practices and to meet the objectives set out in the Recommendation.
