Blog

Accountability Counsel’s campaign succeeded in ensuring a public review of the OA’s procedures.  We commend the OPIC OA for its positive response to the April 2012 letter sent by AC and 18 civil society partners denouncing the OA’s planned private, non-transparent review process.  We look forward to participating in the OA’s public review process, and we will continue to work with the OA and civil society to make sure that the process is fair, independent and transparent.  More details.

Accountability Counsel is pleased to announce our Communities initiative, which supports communities that have local capacity but are in need of specific help learning about, accessing or leveraging accountability mechanisms.  Through this initiative we are currently working in Panama, India, Mongolia, Kenya, and Russia, and recently completed a successful collaboration with Law Students for Environmental and Economic Justice, a student-led organization at Berkeley Law.

Accountability Counsel submitted comments on June 18, 2012 to the United Nations Development Programme (“UNDP”) on the Proposal for Environmental and Social Compliance Review and Grievance Processes.  The UNDP’s Proposal and Accountability Counsel’s comments are available here.

We are pleased to welcome Summer 2012 Law Fellows from UC Berkeley School of Law and UCLA School of Law, Katie Adamides, Scott Exner, Anisha Gupta and Sara Stephens.  Read all about them here!

Accountability Counsel and 18 civil society partners submitted a letter to the OPIC President and Board alerting them that the OA’s current review of its procedures is unacceptable.  Any review must be independent, transparent and public.  More details.

Download our Spring 2012 Newsletter to hear updates from our work around the world, including in Peru, Papua New Guinea, Mexico, Panama and India, and our policy work to improve accountability mechanisms at the US Department of State and three other offices.  Please contact us to receive our bi-annual Newsletter via email.

After two years of advocacy by Accountability Counsel and partners, the U.S. Department of State has agreed to form a Stakeholder Advisory Board to “provide recommendations … on implementation of the OECD Guidelines, including their public promotion, collaboration between the U.S. National Contact Point and stakeholders to anticipate and address future challenges in a proactive manner, and the operations of the U.S. NCP. The SAB is comprised of leaders from business, labor, civil society, and academia.”

On December 19, 2011, the Inspection Panel released its Investigation Report, confirming violations of the Bank’s policies and announcing the Board’s approval of an action plan to require steps to bring the project into compliance!  This news comes after two years of Accountability Counsel’s work to support smallholders in Papua New Guinea working to hold the World Bank accountable for this poorly designed and implemented project.  Read more about our Papua New Guinea case page here.

Read about the historic conclusion to the dispute-resolution phase of our case involving the US Government’s OPIC Office of Accountability!  On November 14th the communities announced their decision and the case has now moved to an audit of OPIC’s compliance with its own policies and procedures.

Accountability Counsel and CELCOR released a report, The World Bank’s Duty in PNG, which highlights the ongoing concerns of smallholders in Project-affected areas and the responses still required by the World Bank to bring the Project into compliance with its own policies, along with a detailed critique of the Effluent Study that the Bank released many years late in July 2011.  We presented the report to the Bank’s Board of Directors, and the Board will vote regarding next steps on December 13, 2011.   Read more about our Papua New Guinea case page here.

We are pleased to welcome attorney Sarah Singh to our staff!  

Learn more about the risks to the Inspection Panel and read our comments here.

On September 8, 2011, a multi-sectoral commission of Peruvian Government Vice-Ministers signed an agreement with the indigenous communities Nuevo Sucre and Canaán confirming the negative impacts of Maple Energy/ Maple Gas operations on Shipibo territories.  Read the press release.  At their request, Accountability Counsel is providing support to the communities during these meetings.  More about this case.

The Shipibo villages we represent in the Peruvian Amazon decided on August 11, 2011 to end negotiations with Maple Energy.  The communities made the decision after Maple failed to take responsibility for the health and environmental consequences of at least six oil spills on their territory in three years.  Read the press release (Spanish version) and see our Peru case page.

Two indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon ended mediated negotiations regarding the harmful effects of six oil spills in their territories with Maple Gas Corporation del Peru SRL. Maple Gas is a majority owned subsidiary of Maple Energy plc (MPLE), a company registered in Ireland. Community leaders cite Maple’s lack…

The Guide contains updated sections on the Inter-American, African and Brazilian Development Banks, among others.  Please see our Resource Guide page for more information.

On July 10, 2011, children bathing in a creek observed a spill while the community was in mourning over the death of Luis Saldaña, see below.  The company had men from Nuevo Sucre clean up the spill with no training, protective gear, or information about the impacts of exposure to crude oil.  Women and children continued to use the water during the spill.  Despite our complaint to the CAO about the same atrocities in 2009, Maple provided no food or water to the community members who rely on the waterway for their survival.  Read more on our Peru case page.

We mourn the loss of our client Luis Saldaña, who passed away on July 7, 2011 in the Shipibo village of Nuevo Sucre in the Peruvian Amazon.  Luis suffered greatly in the past few years from the impacts of oil contamination on his land.  We will continue to fight for accountability on behalf of Luis and his people.

On March 11, 2011, the company and the communities reached an agreement that places the future of the project in the communities’ hands.  See the agreement (English version).

In late January 2011, the World Bank’s Board met to discuss Inspection Panel reports in three cases.  The Chinese Executive Director to the World Bank requested that the Bank’s General Counsel intervene in the cases, significantly challenging the Panel’s independence.  Accountability Counsel and colleagues worked to ensure that the Board vote maintained the Panel’s key independent role – and succeeded.  This was a reminder of the vigilance required by civil society to keep accountability mechanisms strong for the communities who need them.