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Barro Blanco

Issues

Biodiversity

Description: Complaint raises concerns about impacts on plant or animal species in the natural environment.

Complaints with this Issue: 135

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Consultation and disclosure

Description: Complaint raises concerns regarding inadequate or absent consultation about or disclosure of project information, including project impacts and/or mitigation plans.

Complaints with this Issue: 551

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Cultural heritage

Description: Complaint raises concerns about impacts on any type of tangible or intangible cultural heritage, including significant sites, unique environmental features, cultural knowledge, and traditional lifestyles.

Complaints with this Issue: 123

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Displacement (physical and/or economic)

Description: Complaint raises concerns about physical relocation, loss of shelter, and/or loss of assets that relate to income or livelihood.

Complaints with this Issue: 509

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Due diligence

Description: Complaint raises concerns about inadequate or absent prior investigation of project impacts.

Complaints with this Issue: 489

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Human rights

Description: Complaint frames concerns using the language of human rights violations.

Complaints with this Issue: 71

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Indigenous peoples

Description: Complaint raises concerns about impacts on indigenous or traditional communities.

Complaints with this Issue: 92

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Livelihoods

Description: Complaint raises concerns about impacts on the means by which people make a living, including wage-based income, trade and bartering, agriculture, fishing, foraging, and other natural-resource based means.

Complaints with this Issue: 357

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Water

Description: Complaint raises concerns about access to or availability of water. Concerns related to water pollution are not included.

Complaints with this Issue: 196

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Sectors

Energy

Description: Project relates to energy access, legal frameworks regarding the energy sector, and development and operation of energy infrastructure, including power generation and electric and gas distribution and storage. Projects specifically related to the extraction of oil and gas are not included.

Complaints in this Sector: 382

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Project

Name: Barro Blanco Hydroelectric

Investments: DEG 14-0002

Client: Generadora del Istmo S.A. (GENISA)

Support: Loans

Country: Panama

Complaint

IAM: Independent Complaints Mechanism (ICM)

ID: 14-002

Date Filed: April 14, 2014

Date Closed: Oct. 4, 2022

Status: Closed With Outputs

Description

Two complaints: This one, 14-002 is filed by Cacica General of the Comarca Ngäbe-Buglé and received by DEG on April 14, 2014 14-001 is filed by Movimiento 10 de Abril (M10) and received by FMO on May 5, 2014 (https://www.deginvest.de/%C3%9Cber-uns/Verantwortung/Beschwerdemanagement/Barro-Blanco/) Complaint description: 30. The Complainants include the Movimiento 10 de Abril (M10), which is an organisation centred in the three communities that are likely to be most affected by the dam and the General Cacica of the Comarca Ngöbe-Buglé, Silvia Carrera. Both complainants are supported and represented by two international NGOs with offices in the Netherlands – SOMO and Both Ends. 32. With regard to admissibility, the Panel declared that the complaint was admissible on 17 June 2014. 33. The nature of the complaint put forward by the complainants was that the failure to ensure the project’s compliance with international human rights standards meant that the institutions failed to comply with standards which applied to the lenders, in particular IFC's performance standards, FMO’s Human Rights Policy and the OECD Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises. It is important to note that the nature of the complaint and the scope of the issues considered by the Panel are necessarily restricted to the actions of the lenders. 40. There are a number of relevant IFC Performance Standards which the complainants claim have not been satisfied by the lenders in relation to this project. These are the following:  Adequacy of social and environmental impact assessment - it is argued that the social and environmental assessment based on the EIA process was not sufficient to meet the standards set out in PS1  Community engagement and consultation process was insufficient to meet the requirements of PS 1 and PS 7. The complaint argues that in various ways the documented meeting engagement and consultation process was not of a sufficient quality to fulfil the requirements of these two performance standards  Inadequate resettlement and forced eviction process. In terms of the failure to minimise resettlement, mitigate adverse impacts and improve or at least restore livelihoods of any displaced persons, the complainants argue that there have been breaches of PSs 7 and 5.  With regards to biodiversity, the complainants argue that the lenders failed to ensure that the impact of the project on biodiversity was properly assessed, particularly taking into account the different values attached to biodiversity by specific stakeholders, as well as impact on ecosystem services. The argument is that this not in line with paragraph 4 of PS 6.  Finally, the complainants argue that the lenders had not ensured that PS 8 was fully complied with in the sense that impacts on cultural heritage were not adequately assessed or mitigated (Source: Compliance Review Report, '2. Background / Complaint: 2.1 Overview / Summary of the complaint', pg 8-9, https://www.deginvest.de/DEG-Documents-in-English/About-DEG/Responsibility/Barro_blanco_final_report_EN.pdf)

Complaint Stages

Filing

April 14, 2014

Filing

Status:

Start Date: April 14, 2014

Registration

April 14, 2014 -

April 30, 2014

Registration

Status: Closed With Output

Start Date: April 14, 2014

End Date: April 30, 2014

Eligibility

April 30, 2014 -

June 17, 2014

Eligibility

Status: Closed With Output

Start Date: April 30, 2014

End Date: June 17, 2014

Dispute Resolution

Not Undertaken

Dispute Resolution

Status: Not Undertaken

Explanation: Not desired by complainant; Not desired by complainant, Complainant chose not to have dispute resolution

Compliance Review

June 17, 2014 -

May 29, 2015

Compliance Review

Status: Closed With Output

Start Date: June 17, 2014

End Date: May 29, 2015

Has Compliance Report: Yes

Non-Compliance Found: Yes

Monitoring

May 29, 2015 -

Oct. 4, 2022

Monitoring

Status: Closed With Output

Start Date: May 29, 2015

End Date: Oct. 4, 2022

Closed

Oct. 4, 2022

Timeline

Involved Groups

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