Central Asia

Guest post: Mongolian herders file complaint with EBRD about Mongolian iron ore company

Herders from the Gobi Altai mountains in western Mongolia have filed a complaint with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The complaint addresses the company Altain Khuder, which at its Tayan Nuur iron ore mine has allegedly caused significant environmental pollution and the displacement of herders in the Mongolian Gobi Altai mountains.

Tags: Altain Khuder Gobi Altai mining SOMO Tayan Nuur Central Asia

Institution: EBRD

Theme: Social & economic impacts, Development, Mining

When the dust settles - Impacts of the Tayan Nuur iron ore mine on nomadic herders' lives in Mongolia

Study | December 9, 2014

This report from a fact-finding mission to the Gobi Altai mountains in Mongolia describes the impacts the Tayan Nuur iron ore mine has on local nomadic herders, including displacement, dust pollution resulting in diminished livestock, and more. While the mining company Altain Khuder responds to criticism with intimidation, the company's financier, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, is not doing enough to protect herders' rights.

Institution: EBRD

Theme: Social & economic impacts, Mining

Dust, displacement, intimidation - Mongolian herders are under pressure by iron ore mine

Herders in the Mongolian Gobi Altai mountains are facing pollution and displacement by an iron ore mine. The mining company Altain Khuder responds to criticism with intimidation. The financier, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, is not doing enough to protect herders’ rights.

Tags: Altain Khuder displacement dust Gobi Altai herders iron ore local communities mining nomads OT Watch pollution Tayan Nuur Central Asia

Institution: EBRD

Theme: Social & economic impacts, Mining

EBRD’s Environmental Policy Under Scrutiny in Kyrgyzstan

November 17, 2014

Source: Ryskeldi Satke et co., The Diplomat

Central Asia’s top producing gold mine Kumtor is back in the spotlight, after its major shareholder, Canadian company Centerra Gold’s environmental record was questioned by the Kyrgyz public, domestic activists, and international experts. The controversy surrounding Kumtor has translated into a highly politicized backlash in Kyrgyzstan over a lack of transparency and Centerra’s unwillingness to disclose information on the harmful effect of the mining operations on glaciers. In light of the growing public pressure on Centerra Gold in the republic, one of the Kumtor project’s creditors, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), has come under scrutiny.

Institution: EBRD

Theme: Energy & climate

Tags: Central Asia

Two great new websites on all things coal

As anti-coal movements are gaining momentum around the world, two new websites offer a slew of information about the dirtiest of fossil fuels and the campaigns against it. They also offer a stark reminder that despite progress in the last years coal is far from dead.

Tags: BankTrack campaign coal commercial banks endcoal.org resources Balkans Central Asia EU Global South

Institution: Chinese investors, Commercial banks, EBRD, EIB, World Bank Group

Theme: Energy & climate

Melting glaciers add to woes at Kumtor

October 28, 2014

Source: Ryskeldi Satke et co., Asia Times Online

Kumtor mine is the largest open pit gold deposit in Central Asia, whose majority shareholder since 2004 has been Centerra Gold, a Canadian mining company. The mine sits at an altitude of 4,000 meters above sea level, in the Tien Shan mountain range and among some of Kyrgyzstan's - and the region's - most important glaciers. These feed into the Naryn (Kyrgyzstan) and Syrdarya (Uzbekistan) rivers. Kumtor's main gold-bearing ore lies under glaciers adjacent to Kyrgyzstan's Sarychat-Ertash state reserve.

Institution: EBRD

Theme: Energy & climate

Tags: Central Asia

On Evgeny Vitishko, multilateral development banks and the criminalisation of public criticism

The recent rejection to release Evgeny Vitishko's, an imprisoned environmental activist in Russia, illustrates the backlash against fundamental rights and freedoms in some countries. Multilateral development banks need to take notice of this trend and be more wary of the risk that their lending may strengthen authoritarian regimes.

Tags: civil society democracy Environmental Watch on North Caucasus Evgeny Vitishko freedom human rights reprression Russia Sochi transition Caucasus Central Asia EU neighbourhood

Institution: EBRD, EIB, World Bank Group

Theme: Social & economic impacts

Kyrgyzstan: a song in the mountains

Study | June 20, 2014

'Kyrgyzstan: a song in the mountains' is photographic travelogue to the source of the nomadic Kyrgyz people, their traditions and environment. The book explores people's relationship to the Kumtor gold mine in the mountains of Central Asia, which is slowly degrading the environment of the area. The reader takes a journey past high mountain lakes, the lost caravanserai of the Great Silk Road and developing farms. Farmers and mountain locals tell the traveler secrets about the lives of their ancestors and their hopes for the future of this beautiful place.

Theme: Mining

New mega gas pipelines redundant according to EU's own projections

June 12, 2014

The EU’s plans for large new gas import pipelines and LNG terminals to Europe, outlined in the European Commission’s October 2013 list of priority energy projects as well as in the May blueprint for energy security to be discussed during tomorrow’s Energy Council, are not only counter to the EU’s long-term climate goals but also unjustified according to the EC’s own demand forecast.

Institution: EBRD, EIB

Theme: Energy & climate, Social & economic impacts

Tags: Central Asia, EU neighbourhood

EBRD transition role in the spotlight again

Bankwatch Mail | May 14, 2014

New analysis from CEE Bankwatch Network of how the EBRD conducts its financing and economic advisory activities finds serious deficiencies in the bank's overall 'market-oriented' approach and catalogues a range of startling EBRD interventions in central and eastern Europe (CEE) and further afield that should prompt deeper examination of the bank's promotional mantra “We invest in changing lives”.

Institution: EBRD

Theme: Social & economic impacts, Other harmful projects