Divest from destructive Rampal coal businesses, groups urge global investors

Mangrove forest in the Sundarbans. Photo: Mohammad Rakibul Hasan Press release 7th of April 2017 During the current visit of the Prime Minister of Bangladesh to India, investors in the potential financiers of, and the company behind the planned Rampal coal power plant in Bangladesh are being urged to disinvest from the project by over 70 non-governmental organizations. Non-governmental organisations from around the world today expressed their concerns in a joint letter to banks and investors with links to the different entities that are aiming to construct the proposed Rampal coal-fired power plant, which presents a major threat to the ecological integrity of the world’s largest mangrove forest, the Sundarbans in Bangladesh, as well as to the health and livelihoods of millions of local people. The 1320 megawatt Rampal coal plant project has been proposed by the Bangladesh India Friendship Power Company, and if completed, would be co-managed by the National Thermal Power Corporation of India (NTPC) and debt financed by India’s Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank. “Investors with funds in NTPC or who hold India Ex-Im bonds must wake up to the Rampal threat and withdraw from climate-hazardous coal based energy projects, rather investing in renewable solar power instead,” said Amanda Tas from the NGO, Protect the Forest. “We also hope that this message gets through to the Prime Ministers of Bangladesh and India, who are hoping to expand their cooperative relationship. They must realize that burning coal is not an acceptable option, and that protecting the Sundarbans is not negotiable.” Read the letter here. The letter to the investors is supported by the following NGOs: Abibiman Foundation, Ghana AMIHAN National Federation of Peasant Women, Philippines Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD), Asia Pacific BankTrack, International Biofuelwatch, UK/USA Botswana Climate Change Network, Botswana Friends of the Earth, Bosnia and Herzegovina CHAUKATH voluntary network of feminists, Nepal Climate Action Network, International Climate Litigation Network, Transnational Conservatree, USA Cordillera Women's Education Action Research Center (CWEARC), Philippines Cultures of Resistance Network Foundation EcoNexus, UK Ecoropa, Germany Feminist League, Kazakhstan Forum Environment and Development, Germany Forum for Nature Protection NGO, Nepal Foundation for GAIA, International Fragile Planet Earth, South Africa Friends of the Earth US, USA Friends of the Siberian Forests, Russia Friends of the Tamar Valley, UK Nature and Youth, Sweden GenderCC - Women for Climate Justice e.V., International Genethics Foundation, Netherlands Global Environment Centre, Malaysia Global Forest Coalition, International Green IT. Uruguay Greenpeace Russia Grupo Para o Desenvolvimento da Mulher e Rapariga, Mozambique IBON International ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability – Africa, South Africa Institute for Planetary Synthesis, Switzerland Janabhivyakti, India Japan Tiger and Elephant Fund, Japan Japan Tropical Forest Action Network (JATAN), Japan Friends of the Earth, Sweden Klimataktion Stockholm, Sweden Korea Federation for Environmental Movements, Korea Michael Underwood Agroforestry Associates Africa, South Africa Mom Loves Taiwan Association, Taiwan National Indigenous Women Forum, Nepal NCA-Afghanistan, Afghanistan New Wind Association, Finland Next Big Thing Movement, Inc, USA Oil Change International Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), USA Persatuan Kesedaran Komuniti Selangor (EMPOWER), Malaysia Planetary Association for Clean Energy (PACE), Canada Protect the Forest, Sweden PUSH Sweden Quercus- National Association for Nature Conservation, Portugal Rainbow Eco-Farm and Training Center NPO, South Africa Re-nourish, USA Rettet den Regenwald, Germany Rewild, South Africa Rutale Development Association, Africa Students for a Just and Stable Future, USA SustainUS, USA Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, Sweden Tanzania Youth Coalition, Tanzania TFINS, India Thanal, India The Endangered Wildlife Trust, South Africa Timberwatch Coalition, South Africa WECF Women Engage for a Common Future, International Wildlife Impact, USA Women's Environment & Development Organization (WEDO), International World Heritage International, Netherlands YouthNet for Climate Justice, Banglades Contact Amanda Tas, Protect the Forest, Sweden Email: amanda.tas@skyddaskogen.se Phone: +46 (0) 73 5860099 Wally Menne, Timberwatch Coalition, South Africa Email: plantnet@iafrica.com Mobile: +27 (0) 82 4442083