Civil society urges the IFC and ADB to cancel financing for Pakistan copper mine
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Article summary
Located in a militarised region, the project risks exacerbating social disruption and environmental destruction.
Over 30 civil society groups published a letter on 19 August urging the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank’s private sector arm, and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to reconsider their financing for the Reko Diq copper mine in Balochistan, Pakistan.
The project is owned and developed by Reko Diq Mining Company (RDMC), a joint venture between Canadian corporation Barrick Gold, Pakistan’s federal government, and the Balochistan provincial government. According to the Financial Times, RMDC is seeking to raise $3.5bn in financing from the US – following Trump’s foreign policy prioritisation of access to minerals – and international lenders, including the IFC and the ADB. On 12 June the IFC approved a combined $700 million investment in RDMC, with $400 million as a subordinated loan under the IDA20 Private Sector Window.
The civil society letter warns the project, located in a militarised region, “risks exacerbating social tensions, attacks against peaceful activists, and environmental and social destruction.” It adds that the investment risks IFC’s (and ADB’s) compliance with its environmental and social safeguards – including the need for meaningful consultations and its alignment with the Paris Agreement – and their policies against reprisals and approaches to fragile and conflict-affected contexts.
“Both the IFC and the ADB have ignored civil society’s warnings and decided to proceed, claiming they can hold consultations. But in a context where human rights defenders and journalists are routinely threatened or disappeared — and where people are afraid even to raise questions — such consultations cannot be considered meaningful,” said Tala Batangan, of the Coalition for Human Rights in Development.
