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January 21, 2005
Kyosuke Shinozawa
Governor
Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC)
To: Kyosuke Shinozawa Governor Japan Bank for International Cooperation
(JBIC)
Dear Respected Governor Shinozawa!
The Russian Association of Indigenous
Peoples of the North, Siberia and Far East (RAIPON) would like to
respectfully raise extremely serious concerns about the adverse
impacts from Sakhalin Energy Investment Company's (SEIC/Shell, Mitsui,
Mitsubishi) Sakhalin II project on the livelihoods and environment
of indigenous peoples on Sakhalin Island, Russia.
Adverse impacts of Sakhalin II on
the livelihoods and environment of Nivkh, Uilta, and Evenki people,
and the lack of responsiveness to these concerns by SEIC compel
indigenous peoples to launch direct action protests against Sakhalin
II, which began January 20, 2005.
We urge you to exercise your authority
to require that the Sakhalin II project conduct an independent Ethnological
Expertisa (cultural impact assessment), support a Sakhalin Indigenous
Peoples' Development Fund, take immediate action to mitigate the
harmful impacts of the Sakhalin II project on indigenous peoples
and otherwise comply with your environmental and social policies
and guidelines. We call on you to respect our rights and not to
finance Sakhalin II until these conditions are met.
JBIC Environmental and Social Requirements
As a financier of Phase 1, and potential financier of Phase 2 of
Sakhalin II, JBIC requires that the project complies with its Environmental
guidelines. The guidelines define important requirements regarding
indigenous peoples and affected people's rights.
Indigenous Peoples
When a project may have adverse impact on indigenous peoples, all
of their rights in relation to land and resources must be respected
in accordance with the spirit of the relevant international declarations
and treaties. Efforts must be made to obtain the consent of indigenous
peoples after they have been fully informed. (Part 2, 1. Environmental
and Social Considerations Required of Funded Projects,, page 16)
Social Acceptability and Social
Impacts
Projects must be adequately coordinated so that they are accepted
in a manner that is socially appropriate to the country and locality
in which the project is planned. For projects with a potentially
large environmental impact, sufficient consultations with stakeholders,
such as local residents, must be conducted via disclosure of information
from an early stage where alternative proposals for the project
plans may be examined. The outcome of such consultations must be
incorporated into the contents of the project plan.
(Part 2, 1. Environmental and Social Considerations Required of
Funded Projects,, page 14)
Appropriate consideration must be given to vulnerable social groups,
such as women, children, the elderly, the poor, and ethnic minorities,
all of whom are susceptible to environmental and social impact and
who may have little access to the decision-making process within
society.
(Part 2, 1. Environmental and Social
Considerations Required of Funded Projects,, page 15)
Compliance with Laws, Standards
and Plans
Projects must comply with laws, ordinances and standards relating
to environmental and social considerations established by the governments
that have jurisdiction over the project site (including both national
and local governments). They are also to conform to environmental
and social consideration policies and plans of the governments that
have jurisdiction over the project site. (Part 2, 1. Environmental
and Social Considerations Required of Funded Projects, page 15)
However, the Sakhalin II project contravenes
Russia's obligations under the International Labor Organization
Convention # 169 Concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent
Countries, which requires that, inter alia:
Article 4
1. Special measures shall be adopted as appropriate for safeguarding
the persons, institutions, property, labour, cultures and environment
of the peoples concerned.
2. Such special measures shall not be contrary to the freely-expressed
wishes of the peoples concerned. Article 7
3. Governments shall ensure that, whenever appropriate, studies
are carried out, in co-operation with the peoples concerned, to
assess the social, spiritual, cultural and environmental impact
on them of planned development activities. The results of these
studies shall be considered as fundamental criteria for the implementation
of these activities.
4. Governments shall take measures, in co-operation with the peoples
concerned, to protect and preserve the environment of the territories
they inhabit.
Article 15
1. The rights of the peoples concerned to the natural resources
pertaining to their lands shall be specially safeguarded. These
rights include the right of these peoples to participate in the
use, management and conservation of these resources.
2. In cases in which the State retains the ownership of mineral
or sub-surface resources or rights to other resources pertaining
to lands, governments shall establish or maintain procedures through
which they shall consult these peoples, with a view to ascertaining
whether and to what degree their interests would be prejudiced,
before undertaking or permitting any programmes for the exploration
or exploitation of such resources pertaining to their lands. The
peoples concerned shall wherever possible participate in the benefits
of such activities, and shall receive fair compensation for any
damages which they may sustain as a result of such activities.
Common Approaches
JBIC has agreed with the so-called "Common Approaches" of the Export
Credit Group of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD). The Common Approaches require that projects comply with
the more stringent of host country, regional development bank and
World Bank Group environmental standards and guidelines, and the
Safeguard Policies of the World Bank. The appropriate regional development
bank in this instance is the European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development (EBRD)
EBRD Environment Policy and Indigenous
People:
EBRD requires sponsors of Category A projects to conduct an adequate
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). We understand that the EBRD
has determined the Sakhalin II, Phase 2 EIA is unfit for purpose
for many of the same reasons that concern us. We believe that an
independent Cultural Impact Assessment should be among the addendum
material that is required before EBRD and JBIC can conclude that
the EIA is acceptable. We note that the Cultural Impact Review must
be independent; in other words, experts for the review may not be
chosen by Shell and Sakhalin Energy, but rather must be chosen by
indigenous peoples themselves.
EBRD's Environment Policy also states
that the Bank will not finance projects that contravene country
obligations under relevant international environmental treaties
and agreements.
IFC (World Bank Group) Requirements:
The Sakhalin II project contravenes IFC's Operational Directive
4.20 for Indigenous Peoples, inter alia, the following:
For an investment project that affects
indigenous peoples, the borrower should prepare an indigenous
peoples development plan that is consistent with the Bank's policy.
Prerequisitesc[include that studies] should make all efforts
to anticipate adverse trends likely to be induced by the project
and develop the means to avoid or mitigate harm.
The development plan should be prepared in tandem with the preparation
of the main investment. In many cases, proper protection of the
rights of indigenous people will require the implementation of
special project components that may lie outside the primary project's
objectives. These components can include activities related to
health and nutrition, productive infrastructure, linguistic and
cultural preservation, entitlement to natural resources, and education.
Experts have challenged the economic
benefit for Russia from the Production Sharing Agreements signed
between the Russian Federation and transnational companies. Eight
years of oil and gas extraction on Sakhalin Island have provided
no significant benefit to the island's population, and certainly
not to the indigenous Nivkh, Evenki,and Uilta who depend on the
land and marine resources of northern Sakhalin. Indigenous peoples
have already begun to feel the damaging effects of project implementation,
especially to our fishing and reindeer herding.
The indigenous peoples of Sakhalin
- the Nivkhi, Evenki and Uilta, who have a traditional self-subsistence
economy based on fishing, hunting, reindeer herding and wild plant
gathering, disproportionately suffer the negative ecological consequences
of project implementation. Structural engineering has destroyed
reindeer pastures and forests and construction on the shelf has
led to an abrupt decline in fishing and fishing limits for the indigenous
population. Indigenous peoples in northern Sakhalin are being left
without any sustainable, long-term source of livelihood.
Sakhalin II's project sponsor, Sakhalin
Energy (Royal Dutch/Shell, Mitsui, Mitsubishi) takes little account
of indigenous peoples' interests. An analysis of published impact
assessments showed that no serious consideration was taken of the
cumulative, long-term negative impacts on indigenous traditional
lifestyles. There is also an absence of long-term mitigation programs
or programs to adapt indigenous peoples to the serious ecological
consequences of the projects, which will be implemented on Sakhalin
for decades to come. The attempts of indigenous peoples' organizations
to negotiate with oil and gas companies with regard to assessing
the long-term economic, social and cultural consequences have failed.
An independent Ethnological Expertiza
(Cultural Impact Assessment) can be an important component of the
required indigenous peoples development plan. However, we are not
aware of any indigenous peoples development plan that has been prepared
by Sakhalin.
SEIC has never made complete and reliable
project information available to us. Furthermore, the disinformation
contained in published project documentation and the companies'
unwillingness to engage in a serious dialogue with indigenous peoples'
organizations has forced them to commence a process of civil protest.
The 5th Congress of Indigenous Peoples of the North of Sakhalin
Region, held on October 29, 2004, came to the following decision:
"To commence a process of defense of our constitutional rights via
protest actions against oil companies violating indigenous peoples'
rights according to the norms and principles of international justice
and Russian legislation." This decision has been supported by the
Russian Association of Indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia
and Far East. This decision will now manifest in part in the form
of protests that began on January 20, 2005. The duration of these
protests will depend on the response received from the oil and gas
companies and authorities.
Thank you for your leadership at JBIC
and for your interest in the future of indigenous peoples of Russia.
Given the serious nature of our concerns, we will appreciate your
personal attention to this matter. We look forward to your prompt
response.
Kind regards,
Pavel Sulyandziga
I Vice President
Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia,
and Far East .
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