World Bank funds bad pulp-mills
To: All Executive Directors of the World Bank and IFC
From: Uruguayan and Argentinian Organizations and individuals
Date: June 3, 2005
The undersigned wish to support the serious concern that Uruguayan and Argentinian organizations raise over the possible installation of two pulp mills on the Uruguay River in the vicinity of Fray Bentos, Uruguay. One of the projects has been submitted by the Finnish company, Metsa Botnia, that has requested a loan from the International Finance Corporation amounting to 100 million dollars (under project number 23817, project name: Orion). At the same time, the IFC would be also facilitating a syndicated B loan of up to $100 million for the same project. We consider it very important that their reasons for concern should be taken into account when examining this loan request.
Argentinean and Uruguayan organizations concerns refer to:
"In the first place it is important to highlight the scale of these undertakings and their possible accumulated impacts in the event that they are effectively implemented.
Secondly, the Metsa Botnia environmental report has been criticised in detail by a group of experts linked to the Uruguayan environmental group, Guayubira.
Thirdly, neither Metsa Botnia nor Ence carried out any serious studies on the possible negative social impacts of their projects, either in the matter of foreseeable loss of jobs (due to the contamination produced by the liquid effluents and to gaseous emissions with a strong and disagreeable smell of the pulp mills), or of the possible impacts on the health of the local population.
Furthermore, both companies have exaggerated the number of "indirect" jobs that they will generate, handling figures that are completely unfounded.
In the fourth place, it has been observed that the timber requirements to supply the Metsa Botnia mill (and the Ence mill in the event it is also installed) are very much higher than local supply, even if it were also to come from neighbouring Argentina. The installation of one or of both plants would imply tripling the present area under plantation. It must be noted in relation to this, that serious environmental and social impacts are already evident in the existing eucalyptus plantations, that would be worsened in the event that the area planted were to be increased to reach the levels necessary to supply one or both pulp mills.
It is also important to point out the impacts that one or both plants would have on the use of the country's highway facilities due to the traffic of hundreds of trucks with 40 ton loads or more.
Furthermore, there are other, unresolved problems regarding the installation of both plants:
1) An international conflict that has not yet been formalized with Argentina, linked to the possible contamination of the Uruguay River, shared by both countries.
2) Questions on the legality of granting a free trade zone to each of the two companies that intend to install pulp mills.
3) Questions regarding the legality of using enormous volumes of water and its possible contamination following the adoption of a constitutional reform on water at the last elections.
Finally, the growing social opposition to these projects should be noted, both regarding the eucalyptus plantations and the pulp mills."
For the above reasons, we consider that the International Finance Corporation should not be involved in the Metsa Botnia project nor grant it any loans, given the fact that the installation of one or two pulp mills will result in serious environmental and social impacts that will do nothing to solve the problems of the country and its people, but only contribute to make them more serious.
Yours sincerely,
----------------------------------
World Rainforest Movement
Movimiento Mundial por los Bosques
Maldonado 1858
CP 11200 Montevideo
Uruguay
Tel: (598 2) 413 2989
Fax: (598 2) 410 0985
e-mail: teresap@wrm.org.uy
http://www.wrm.org.uy
From: Uruguayan and Argentinian Organizations and individuals
Date: June 3, 2005
The undersigned wish to support the serious concern that Uruguayan and Argentinian organizations raise over the possible installation of two pulp mills on the Uruguay River in the vicinity of Fray Bentos, Uruguay. One of the projects has been submitted by the Finnish company, Metsa Botnia, that has requested a loan from the International Finance Corporation amounting to 100 million dollars (under project number 23817, project name: Orion). At the same time, the IFC would be also facilitating a syndicated B loan of up to $100 million for the same project. We consider it very important that their reasons for concern should be taken into account when examining this loan request.
Argentinean and Uruguayan organizations concerns refer to:
"In the first place it is important to highlight the scale of these undertakings and their possible accumulated impacts in the event that they are effectively implemented.
Secondly, the Metsa Botnia environmental report has been criticised in detail by a group of experts linked to the Uruguayan environmental group, Guayubira.
Thirdly, neither Metsa Botnia nor Ence carried out any serious studies on the possible negative social impacts of their projects, either in the matter of foreseeable loss of jobs (due to the contamination produced by the liquid effluents and to gaseous emissions with a strong and disagreeable smell of the pulp mills), or of the possible impacts on the health of the local population.
Furthermore, both companies have exaggerated the number of "indirect" jobs that they will generate, handling figures that are completely unfounded.
In the fourth place, it has been observed that the timber requirements to supply the Metsa Botnia mill (and the Ence mill in the event it is also installed) are very much higher than local supply, even if it were also to come from neighbouring Argentina. The installation of one or of both plants would imply tripling the present area under plantation. It must be noted in relation to this, that serious environmental and social impacts are already evident in the existing eucalyptus plantations, that would be worsened in the event that the area planted were to be increased to reach the levels necessary to supply one or both pulp mills.
It is also important to point out the impacts that one or both plants would have on the use of the country's highway facilities due to the traffic of hundreds of trucks with 40 ton loads or more.
Furthermore, there are other, unresolved problems regarding the installation of both plants:
1) An international conflict that has not yet been formalized with Argentina, linked to the possible contamination of the Uruguay River, shared by both countries.
2) Questions on the legality of granting a free trade zone to each of the two companies that intend to install pulp mills.
3) Questions regarding the legality of using enormous volumes of water and its possible contamination following the adoption of a constitutional reform on water at the last elections.
Finally, the growing social opposition to these projects should be noted, both regarding the eucalyptus plantations and the pulp mills."
For the above reasons, we consider that the International Finance Corporation should not be involved in the Metsa Botnia project nor grant it any loans, given the fact that the installation of one or two pulp mills will result in serious environmental and social impacts that will do nothing to solve the problems of the country and its people, but only contribute to make them more serious.
Yours sincerely,
----------------------------------
World Rainforest Movement
Movimiento Mundial por los Bosques
Maldonado 1858
CP 11200 Montevideo
Uruguay
Tel: (598 2) 413 2989
Fax: (598 2) 410 0985
e-mail: teresap@wrm.org.uy
http://www.wrm.org.uy
posted by ferdinand m at 7:07 am
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