Posted by jamie — 10 December 2007 at 6:20pm
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There have
been some great developments around our Congo rainforest campaign, as the FT
reported on its website this morning that one of the arms of the World Bank
will offload the shares it owns in a company known to be destroying the forest of
the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The
International Finance Corporation (IFC) has announced that it will divest its
holdings in Olam International, a Singapore-based company which has operations
in the DRC. The Congo report we released earlier this year showed how Olam was
holding forest land granted in breach of the current moratorium which the World
Bank itself helped establish and that it was also trading in dodgy timber. As a
result, Olam has since given back its forest holdings to the DRC government, but
it still buys illegal timber cut by local companies.
The World Bank's International Finance Corporation (IFC) is financing a Singapore-based trading group, Olam International Ltd, which has been involved in trading illegal timber in the rainforest of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The world's 'local bank', HSBC, is also providing financial services to the company, in breach of its environmental policy. Olam is today expected to report much improved profits in its half yearly financial results.
Posted by jamie — 29 August 2007 at 2:53pm
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Back in April, at the World Bank's spring meeting, there was much talk about the plight of the Congo rainforest. We'd just published a big report detailing how in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) logging titles were being granted in breach of a moratorium that the bank had been instrumental in establishing. The report launch was so high profile, we were able to force DRC's rainforest high onto the agenda of the World Bank meeting and have also managed to secure another session at the upcoming autumn meeting.
Posted by jamie — 6 July 2007 at 3:16pm
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Right now, a group of Greenpeace climbers are perched on top of a set of cranes in the port of La Rochelle on the French Atlantic coast. They've been there since Wednesday night and as well as admiring a no-doubt magnificent view, they're also preventing a ship unloading its cargo of timber which has come from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
We need your help to protect the Congo rainforest. It's the second largest rainforest on Earth (only the Amazon is bigger), supporting millions of people as well as being stuffed full of unique and engandered species, including gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos. And like all large forests, it is crucially important for regulating the local and global climate.
Reacting to today's G8 agreement on climate change, Greenpeace UK director John Sauven said:
"George Bush's final gift to Blair falls short of what was needed to protect the climate. An agreement without targets is barely worth the paper it's written on."
He continued: "Bush says the US will 'seriously consider' substantial long term cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, but that's like saying aid to Africa is a good thing then refusing to actually commit to donating a single dollar."
Posted by jamie — 6 June 2007 at 5:23pm
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The BBC have published a gallery of images focusing on the work of the rangers in Virunga National Park. Found in the Democratic Republic of Congo, it's the oldest reserve in Africa and home to the DRC's remaining mountain gorillas.
Posted by jamie — 30 May 2007 at 12:26pm
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If the testimonies of our two Congolese visitors weren't enough to convince you that there's trouble of the arboreal variety brewing in the Democratic Republic of Congo, try this film for size.
Posted by jamie — 21 May 2007 at 5:12pm
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Adrien Sinafasi Makelo (left) and René Ngongo (right) address MPs, civil servants and campaigners
On Thursday, I found myself at Portcullis House, an imposing edifice that sits across the road from the main Houses of Parliament building. The occasion was a panel discussion hosted by Greenpeace and (deep breath) the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on the Great Lakes Region of Africa, to discuss the crisis in the Congo rainforest. As the name suggests, it's a collective of MPs from all parties with a special interest in that part of the world who try to make sure issues affecting the region remain on the political agenda.
Forest officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo are woefully under-resourced
It's not a trick question, and the answer is simple: when a moratorium is failing to stop the problem it was originally designed to address, then it's not much of a moratorium at all. There's one in place right now in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that is supposed to help prevent the destruction of the country's rainforest, and yet it has been repeatedly breached until the moratorium itself is practically worthless.
