Pitfalls and Pipelines - Philippine Indigenous Peoples Links
Pitfalls and Pipelines - Philippine Indigenous Peoples Links Pitfalls and Pipelines - Philippine Indigenous Peoples Links
286 Pitfalls and Pipelines: Indigenous Peoples and Extractive Industries own environmental and social policies in place regardless of whether they are an Equator Bank or not. These should be studied and submissions made if any project or company financing seems to contradict such policies. Banks are usually very keen to protect their reputation, and where there may be a particularly bad case, it is worth contacting NGOs, which campaign on private finance, such as BankTrack, to explore if they can assist in “naming and shaming” in such institutions. 52 2.7.4 Other Complaints Mechanisms The most widely known voluntary mechanism for complaints are the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. The Guidelines constitute recommendations addressed to companies by the OECD member countries, and other signatory states. While the Guidelines are aimed at companies, the relevant states bear the ultimate responsibility to promote their application and ensure that they influence the behaviour of companies operating either inside, or directly out of, their territory. The Guidelines cover a wide range of issues, including labor issues, taxation, the environment, and disclosure. But for communities one of the main benefits is that they cover human rights. Direct reference to human rights in complaints mechanisms is otherwise rare. On top of this, within the Guidelines is a clear procedure to complain if a company fails to respect the Guidelines. 53 In order to make a complaint, you should approach the National Contact Point (NCP) of the home country of the company involved. Unfortunately, states enjoy a certain degree of flexibility to determine the structure and organization of the NCP in their country. Therefore the Guidelines are implemented with different levels of accomplishment, independence and enthusiasm within different countries. Many NCPs can be under-funded and under-resourced. A community should be able to get advice directly from the NCP, but there is also an NGO who gives advice, including materials and brochures on the Guidelines, called OECD Watch. 54
Chapter 2.7: International Processes and Complaints Mechanisms 287 There have been a number of problems with the Guidelines as a complaints mechanism. The main one is that they are voluntary in nature. For example, the complaint that was brought to the UK NCP about Vedanta on behalf of indigenous communities in Orissa, India (see case study in Chapter 2.3) was effectively ignored by the company. To date no specific action has been taken by the company with regard to the NCP’s request that it now “change its behavior.” 55 There have been times where complaints have been more effective. A complaint was submitted on behalf of the Mangyan communities of the Philippine against Intex Resources, a Norwegian mining company. The Norwegian NCP confirmed breaches of the Guidelines, specifically around inadequate consultations and failure to obtain legally required consent, lack of transparency and failure to adequately assess projects environmental risks. It was particularly important that although the NCP recognized the primacy of national law in regard to indigenous peoples in the Philippines, where there was obvious poor implementation it insisted there were international norms that the company should follow. Although the company has argued against this, the environmental compliance certificate (ECC) for large-scale mining, which had been revoked has at the time of writing not been reinstated. 56 In May 2011, the OECD updated its Guidelines to raise standards for corporations in the field of international human rights, including those pertaining to indigenous peoples, specifically referencing “United Nations instruments have elaborated further on the rights of indigenous peoples.” 57 They are also stronger on human rights, stressing companies should “seek ways to prevent or mitigate adverse human rights impacts that are directly linked to their business operations, products or services by a business relationship, even if they do not contribute to those impacts.” 58
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286 <strong>Pitfalls</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Pipelines</strong>: <strong>Indigenous</strong> <strong>Peoples</strong> <strong>and</strong> Extractive Industries<br />
own environmental <strong>and</strong> social policies in place regardless of<br />
whether they are an Equator Bank or not. These should be<br />
studied <strong>and</strong> submissions made if any project or company financing<br />
seems to contradict such policies. Banks are usually<br />
very keen to protect their reputation, <strong>and</strong> where there may<br />
be a particularly bad case, it is worth contacting NGOs, which<br />
campaign on private finance, such as BankTrack, to explore if<br />
they can assist in “naming <strong>and</strong> shaming” in such institutions. 52<br />
2.7.4 Other Complaints Mechanisms<br />
The most widely known voluntary mechanism for<br />
complaints are the OECD Guidelines for Multinational<br />
Enterprises. The Guidelines constitute recommendations addressed<br />
to companies by the OECD member countries, <strong>and</strong><br />
other signatory states. While the Guidelines are aimed at companies,<br />
the relevant states bear the ultimate responsibility to<br />
promote their application <strong>and</strong> ensure that they influence the<br />
behaviour of companies operating either inside, or directly<br />
out of, their territory. The Guidelines cover a wide range<br />
of issues, including labor issues, taxation, the environment,<br />
<strong>and</strong> disclosure. But for communities one of the main benefits<br />
is that they cover human rights. Direct reference to human<br />
rights in complaints mechanisms is otherwise rare. On top of<br />
this, within the Guidelines is a clear procedure to complain if<br />
a company fails to respect the Guidelines. 53<br />
In order to make a complaint, you should approach<br />
the National Contact Point (NCP) of the home country of<br />
the company involved. Unfortunately, states enjoy a certain<br />
degree of flexibility to determine the structure <strong>and</strong> organization<br />
of the NCP in their country. Therefore the Guidelines<br />
are implemented with different levels of accomplishment, independence<br />
<strong>and</strong> enthusiasm within different countries. Many<br />
NCPs can be under-funded <strong>and</strong> under-resourced. A community<br />
should be able to get advice directly from the NCP, but<br />
there is also an NGO who gives advice, including materials<br />
<strong>and</strong> brochures on the Guidelines, called OECD Watch. 54
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