In February 2015, Glencore´s joint venture with Dan Gertler´s Fleurette Group, Mutanda Mining, acquired a further concession for copper and cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The state mining company Gécamines held 30% of the Kawama concession, while Dino Steel International held the rest. They received $10 million and $20 million respectively for their shares. ... →
Glencore Energy UK Ltd. has been accused of illegal oil bunkering in Nigeria. The Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) brought three companies and 14 individuals before the Federal High Court in Lagos, claiming they “without lawful authority or appropriate licence dealt with 1,738.087 Metric tons of petroleum products”. The hearings will start this June 2015. ... →
Second United Nations meeting on the subject opens in Geneva
(Geneva, 13 April 2015) – Concerns about the prospect of weapons systems that would select and attack targets without further human intervention are multiplying and show the urgent need for nations to begin drafting new international law to preemptively ban the weapons, said the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots as a second round of multilateral talks on the matter began today at the United Nations in Geneva. ... →
A report by the High Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows published in February 2015 revealed that Africa looses up to $ 50 billion a year due to fraudulent schemes among governments and multinational companies. This amount doubles the annual official development aid that the continent receives making it a net creditor to the rest of the world. ... →
The Council of Ethics for the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global, one of the largest investors worldwide, has issued recommendations to exclude 6 more companies from the investment portfolio.
Its annual report 2014 and the corresponding website give details on the recommendations concerning the following companies:
The Lower Sesan 2 Dam is a hydropower project in Cambodia, Stung Treng Province. According to an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the dam conducted in 2010, 5 villages will be flooded and 5,000 people resettled. Many of them are indigenous people who also fear to lose their culture and traditions. Apart from that, communities fear the loss of their livelihood through the depletion of fish and biodiversity. ... →