Comments to the IFC on the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan Pipeline Project

 

October 29, 2003

CIEL is particularly concerned with the legal, environmental, and social ramifications of the proposed BTC Pipeline Project. CIEL's primary concerns focus on three different realms of the project. First, CIEL finds that the BTC Project's legal regime is an example of a trend in investment liberalization and protection that undermines democratic structures of governance and the rule of law. Second, CIEL finds that the BTC Project has violated several International Finance Corporation (IFC) policies and procedures, particularly those related to compensation and consultation. Finally, CIEL finds that the project raises broader issues relating to how the IFC implements its mandate to provide social and economic benefits to alleviate poverty in the region.

CIEL seeks to ensure that international environmental and human rights rules are developed and applied effectively without negative interference from international trade and investment rules and practices, and that foreign investments and international financial institutions that fund these investments adequately consider the environmental and social impacts of their projects.

The purpose of this report is to communicate these concerns to the IFC and the EBRD before financial agreements are finalized for the BTC Project. CIEL has prepared these comments based on its analyses of existing sources of information available in the public domain, and field research conducted by a CIEL team in Turkey during May and June of 2003.

The report is available here (in PDF format)

October 31, 3003: The response of the IFC is now available.

For more information, please contact Marcos Orellana.