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Coal study names top 20 ‘climate killer’ banks

Richard — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 09:23:46 +0000

Barclays, the Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC are among the top banks that have lent billions of euros to the coal sector – despite their much-vaunted environmental credentials, a new investigation has found.

See http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/nov/30/coal-banks.

Report available at http://www.banktrack.org/download/bankrolling_climate_change/climatekillerbanks_final_0.pdf.

Follow the Money: Tar Sands Protest in Scotland

Richard — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 09:46:25 +0000

The Royal Bank of Scotland, like most banks these days, likes to tout its green credentials. But PR flacks and fancy brochures can’t hide the fact that RBS is investing $7.5 billion into tar sands production. In fact, UK banks have underwritten 17% of all the tar sands related deals over the last three years (for more info check out this article in the Independent).

See http://www.tarsandsaction.org/follow-money-tar-sands-protest-scotland/.

Shining a light on Europe’s role in the Tar Sands

Richard — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 10:54:28 +0000

UK Tar Sands Network and friends have been in Brussels for the Canada-EU trade talks. The tar sands may be being extracted in Canada, but the debate over the industry’s future is raging in Europe this week. On Monday 11th July, the next round of Canada-EU trade negotiations (CETA) began. These secretive talks could be dangerous.

British companies Shell and BP are involved in the Alberta tar sands ‘development’ and Royal Bank of Scotland is helping finance it.

See http://www.no-tar-sands.org/2011/07/shining-a-light-on-europes-role-in-the-tar-sands/.

Video: To the Last Drop

Residents of one Canadian town are engaged in a David and Goliath-style battle over the dirtiest oil project ever known. The small town of Fort Chipewyan in northern Alberta is facing the consequences of being the first to witness the impact of the Tar Sands project, which may be the tipping point for oil development in Canada. The local community has experienced a spike in cancer cases and dire studies have revealed the true consequences of “dirty oil”. Gripped in a Faustian pact with the American energy consumer, the Canadian government is doing everything it can to protect the dirtiest oil project ever known.

See http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/witness/2011/06/20116227153978324.html.

First Nations protest Tar Sands investments at RBS AGM

Richard — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 15:24:30 +0000

Representatives from some of Canada’s First Nations demanded in person that the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) stops financing the controversial tar sands industry in Alberta, Canada, at the bank’s AGM.

See http://www.no-tar-sands.org/2011/04/first-nations-protest-tar-sands-investments-at-rbs-agm/.

New report released on RBS coal finance during RBS-sponsored Climate Week

Richard — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 17:06:25 +0000

‘Dirty Money – Corporate greenwash and RBS coal finance’ takes the case of the Royal Bank of Scotland, an international bank with interests across the fossil fuel sector that is promoting itself as a genuine actor in climate change efforts. RBS is the UK high street bank that has been most heavily involved in financing the hydrocarbon industry. It is sponsoring Climate Week, a nation-wide event involving hundreds of organisations around the country that is undermined by sponsorship from RBS.

In the years from 2008 to 2010 inclusive, RBS was involved in providing finance worth almost €8 billion to companies listed in the world’s 20 biggest operators of coal mines and generators of coal-based electricity.

See http://blog.platformlondon.org/content/new-report-released-today-rbs-coal-finance-launch-day-rbs-sponsored-climate-week.

Uranium Meltdown in Japan

Richard — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 10:21:42 +0000

As this story was being written, reports from Japan suggest that a full meltdown of the nuclear cores in two reactors at the country’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station may not be averted. Japanese officials have already acknowledged a “partial” melting of the two cores. Speculation that there will be a “Tchernobyl-type” catastrophe is fast growing.

See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/10785.

Top global producers of uranium include Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton. See http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/14/japan-quake-uranium-idUSN1418047020110314.

Among the top ten banks funding nuclear power are Barclays, RBS and HSBC. See http://www.nuclearbanks.org/#/home.

For updates on Japan’s Nuclear Crisis, see:
http://www.beyondnuclear.org/
http://www.nirs.org/reactorwatch/accidents/Fukushimafactsheet.pdf
http://www.nukefree.org/
http://allthingsnuclear.org/tagged/Japan_nuclear

Nuclear meltdown at Fukushima plant highly likely
Japan’s chief government spokesman Yukio Edano said that a meltdown was “highly likely” at three of the plant’s nuclear reactors on the country’s shattered northeastern coast, the Kyodo news agency reported. See http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/world/japan-earthquake-new-explosion-rocks-fukushima-nuclear-power-plant/story-e6frev00-1226021506205.

Uranium shares fall as Japan battles meltdown
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/uranium-shares-fall-as-japan-battles-meltdown-2011-03-14?reflink=MW_news_stmp

Behind the Hydrogen Explosion at the Fukushima Nuclear Plant http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/03/12-3

What will spark the next Fukushima? An untrustworthy nuclear industry, incompetently regulated, is leading the world into greater and greater danger http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/14/fukushima-nuclear-industry

Vedanta plans to use IPO money of KCM to part fund Cairn deal

Richard — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 17:39:19 +0000

London-listed miner Vedanta Resources Plc plans to use some of the USD 1.1 billion it plans to raise through an initial public offering (IPO) of Zambian miner Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) to repay part of the USD 6 billion debt it has taken to acquire majority stake in Cairn India from Scottish company Cairn Energy, according to company’s circular to its shareholders. Shareholders of Vedanta gave their consent to the Cairn acquisition at a meeting in London on December 13.

Vedanta has put April 15, 2011 as deadline for closing the Cairn India acquisition after obtaining all necessary regulatory consents and government approvals.

Besides the USD 1 billion bridge loan, Vedanta has also got another bridge loan of USD 1.5 billion from Barclays Capital, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, The Royal Bank of Scotland and Standard Chartered Bank, the circular said.

It has got a syndicated term loan of USD 3.5 billion from Barclays Capital, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan plc, Morgan Stanley Bank, The Royal Bank of Scotland and Standard Chartered Bank.

See http://in.news.yahoo.com/vedanta-plans-ipo-money-kcm-part-fund-cairn-20101215-021600-637.html.

It just ain’t football: London Calling kicks Vedanta into touch

Richard — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 17:40:32 +0000

Vedanta’s profits for the first half of its current financial year have disappointed the London-listed, Indian uber-miner. In fact, since January 2010, the company has “under-performed” the British mining index by 25%. Just three years ago it was leading that index.

Not that this downturn has noticeably perturbed Mr Anil Agarwal. The simultaneously self-effacing & self -aggrandising chair and majority-owner of Vedanta is now mooting a stock exchange listing of his company’s copper interests in Zambia. He’s also optimistic about gaining Indian government permission to take over the Rajasthan operations of Edinburgh-based oil outfit, Cairn Energy, claiming last Friday that he’d secured the £3.8 billion necessary from eight complicit banks: Barclays Capital, RBS, Citi, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and Standard Chartered.

But, as the saying goes – “it ain’t over ’til the fat cats purr”.

See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=10540.

Vedanta arranges $ 6 bn funding for Cairn India deal

Richard — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 17:38:50 +0000

Vedanta Resources Plc said it has entered into financing agreements with a consortium of banks for $ 6 billion to fund its proposed buyout of up to 60 per cent stake in Cairn India. London-listed Vedanta Resources planned stake acquisition in Cairn India, which was announced in August, is worth as much as $ 9.6 billion.

The bank consortium comprises Barclays Capital, Citi, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Royal Bank of Scotland and Standard Chartered, the statement said.

See http://www.hindustantimes.com/Vedanta-arranges-6-bn-funding-for-Cairn-India-deal/Article1-628397.aspx.

Climate crisis deepens as talks take place in China

Richard — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 14:23:14 +0000

World Gobbling Up Greenhouse Gas Budget: WWF

Greenhouse gas emissions worldwide risk overshooting by a third the threshold beyond which dangerous global warming looms, the environment group WWF said on Wednesday, urging climate talks in China to tackle the gap. Negotiators from 177 governments are meeting this week in the north Chinese city of Tianjin trying to agree on the shape of the successor to the current phase of the Kyoto Protocol, the key U.N. treaty on fighting global warming, which expires in 2012.

See http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFTOE69408520101006.

Green Outcry As EU Blesses Spanish Support Of Coal

Spain has gained approval from Europe’s competition watchdog to support unprofitable coal mining until 2015, which critics said would prop up an ailing sector to the detriment of the environment. See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=10412.

RBS funding for the tarsands

See a three minute video of activities around the RBS AGM earlier this year at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9LLdloRGyk.

Looking at the Real Cost of Fossil Fuel

In economics, conduct that re-allocates part of the cost of doing business upon other parties without their consent (such as pollution of public air and waters) is called an externality. To the extent that environmental impacts are not reflected in the market price of electricity, consumers are not paying the full cost of that power (i.e., their energy use is being subsidized), and energy markets become distorted, resulting in inefficient use of resources.

See http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/10/04-5.

BHP signs jumbo $45bn Potash bid loan

Richard — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 16:03:14 +0000

London-listed BHP Billiton is pursuing a bid to take over Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan.

The five underwriters — Banco Santander, Barclays Capital, BNP Paribas, JP Morgan and Royal Bank of Scotland — had stumped up $8,4 billion each, while TD Securities made a $3 billion take-and-hold commitment.

Joining the facilities as mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners were ANZ Banking Group; Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria; Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ; Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce; Commonwealth Bank of Australia; Credit Agricole CIB; ING Bank; Intesa Sanpaolo; Lloyds TSB Bank; Mediobanca; Mizuho Corporate Bank; National Australia Bank; Scotia Capital; Societe Generale; Standard Chartered Bank; Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation; UBS Investment Bank; UniCredit Bank; and Westpac Institutional Bank.

See http://miningweekly.com/article/bhp-signs-jumbo-45-bln-potash-bid-loan-2010-09-17.

For background to concerns about this purchase because of Potash Corp’s involvement in Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara, see http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sahara-Update/message/2178.

RBS, the tarsands and the climate camp

Richard — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 15:09:43 +0000

How RBS funds ‘dirty oil’

Last weekend, Royal Bank of Scotland faced its biggest protests in a long history of protests. Environmental groups and hundreds of climate protesters camped on the lawn at RBS’s Gogarburn headquarters, on the outskirts of Edinburgh. At the centre of the protest was a growing anger at the bank’s role in funding the world’s dirty oil and gas industries, at huge environmental cost. A report revealed by the Sunday Herald shows that RBS has provided nearly £13 billion worth of funding to the oil and gas industries since it was bailed out by the taxpayer two years ago.

See http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/transport-environment/how-rbs-funds-dirty-oil-1.1049758.

Oil sands toxins growing rapidly

Canada’s oil sands mining operations produce vast and fast-growing quantities of deadly substances, including mercury, heavy metals and arsenic, new data released by Environment Canada shows. The information on pollutants sheds new light on the environmental toll exacted by Canada’s bid to extract oil from bitumen, showing in stark relief how many nasty substances are being laid on the northern Alberta landscape in the process – and how quickly those are growing. In the past four years, the volume of arsenic and lead produced and deposited in tailings ponds by the country’s bitumen mines – run by Syncrude Canada Ltd., Suncor Energy Inc., Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. and Royal Dutch Shell PLC – has increased by 26 per cent. Quantities of some other substances have increased at even faster rates. The companies also released huge amounts of pollutants into the air last year, including 70,658 tonnes of volatile organic compounds, which can damage the function of human organs and nervous systems, and 111,661 tonnes of sulphur dioxide, a key contributor to acid rain.

See http://m.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/oil-sands-production-of-toxins-growing-rapidly/article1667306/?service=mobile

Question over funds for investment in Vedanta

Richard — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 09:37:55 +0000

Today, shareholders will be attending the AGM of Vedanta Resources, a UK-listed mining company whose operations in Orissa, India, have been the subject of international criticism. An existing alumina factory at the foot of the Niyamgiri hills is alleged to be polluting waterways and damaging crops, while plans to build a bauxite mine at the top of the hill threaten massive disruption to the lives of around 8,000 Dongria Kondh tribespeople.

See http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jul/28/question-over-funds-for-mining.

BankTrack calls on banks to stop funding nuclear power

Richard — Wed, 26 May 2010 14:16:18 +0000

BankTrack, in cooperation with a number of working partners, today (26 May 2010) launches http://www.nuclearbanks.org, a new website mapping the involvement of 45 leading commercial banks in funding nuclear power projects and companies active in the nuclear sector. These banks include British-based Barclays, HSBC and RBS.

BankTrack considers nuclear energy a grave danger for people and planet. The renewed interest in nuclear energy also poses a severe obstacle to achieving a sustainable solution to the climate crisis.

See http://www.banktrack.org/show/news/banktrack_calls_on_banks_to_stop_funding_nuclear_power.

To coincide with this launch, London Mining Network has published a technical briefing on the health and environmental hazards of uranium. See http://londonminingnetwork.org/2010/05/briefing-on-the-health-and-environmental-hazards-of-uranium-mining/.

Shell, RBS challenged over tarsands

Richard — Wed, 26 May 2010 13:41:13 +0000

Shell: investor campaigners strike blow on tar sands

Shareholders have fired another warning shot across the bows of an oil major with just under 11% of shareholder votes at today’s annual general meeting of oil giant Shell refusing to back management over the controversial Canadian tar sands issue.

See http://www.responsible-investor.com/home/article/shell_investor_campaigners/.

RBS AGM – the aftermath and the follow up

On the 28th of April, RBS held its Annual General Meeting in Edinburgh. Amidst the various motions relating to executive bonuses and a report back on the rocky road to recovery, two people raised concerns over the impact that RBS’ investments were having on indigenous communities in very different parts of the world. Eriel Tchekwie Deranger is a Dene woman from Canada, a community member of Fort Chipewyan in Canada, and a tar sands campaigner for the Rainforest Action Network. She spoke about the impact of the bank’s investments in tar sands. Film maker Simon Chambers spoke about the impact that Vedanta, part-funded by RBS, is having on tribal peoples in Orissa, the poorest state in India.

See http://blog.platformlondon.org/content/rbs-agm-aftermath-and-follow.

See also:
In the lion’s den: meeting RBS at http://www.foe-scotland.org.uk/meetingRBS.