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Article

8 Nov 2017

Author:
Swedwatch

Press release: New report finds Swedfund and FMO failed to respect human rights when they exited a bioenergy project

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The Addax Bioenergy project was supposed to increase food security and reduce poverty in local communities in Sierra Leone. Instead, communities were left worse off after the project stalled. A new report by Swedwatch titled “No Business, No Rights”, shows how development finance institutions Swedfund and FMO failed to respect human rights when they sold their shares in Addax without conducting human rights due diligence... ”Human rights risks related to a project failure are generally not accurately assessed by investors beforehand”, she [UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food Hilal Elver] says. According to the UN Guiding Principles for Businesses and Human Rights, companies have a responsibility to conduct ongoing human rights due diligence. Swedwatch recommends Swedfund and FMO, as well as other DFIs, to conduct human rights due diligence both in relation to project shut-downs and to exits. Swedfund and FMO, together with other involved parties, are also urged to assess the human rights impacts related to the stalling of the Addax project, and to contribute toward remediation for affected communities