PROMOTING RESPONSIBLE USE OF NATURAL RESOURCES
Snapshots of our work on natural resources
Business and conflict sensitivity
Liberia and Sierra Leone have identified economic growth, sustainable management of natural resources and inclusion of women as central to peace and prosperity. Still, research findings from Swedwatch show that business activities in land concession areas come with adverse impacts on human rights and the environment, contributing to conflict in already fragile settings.
Swedwatch has for many years investigated the role of business in efforts to sustain peace in Liberia and Sierra Leone, and highlighted the need for thorough due diligence by companies operating in conflict-affected and high-risk settings. Lear more about our findings in the report Prerequisite for Peace.
Export credits up in smoke
The Swedwatch report Up in Smoke also highlighted the adverse local impacts of the coal industry, and urged governments to stop export credits associated with coal projects and to increase transparency around state support to fossil fuels.
Swedwatch’s advocacy contributed to reducing support to companies exporting to the coal sector. During the course of Swedwatch’s work on the issue, Sweden’s export credit agency announced an end to all export credits to exploration, extraction and transportation of coal by the end of 2020.
Irresponsible exits
Swedwatch has for many years worked to raise awareness in the investor community on how the lack of responsible exit strategies, when investors pull out of large-scale land projects, have resulted in severe human rights implications for local communities.
In one case Swedwatch engaged with Swedish development finance institution Swedfund over its withdrawal from an ethanol project in Sierra Leone which contributed to loss of livelihoods and nearly 3,000 jobs.
In related projects, Swedwatch has engaged both with government agencies and communities, advocating for stronger policies on exits, human rights due diligence processes and access to remedy in land investments.
Food imports and water scarcity
Together with Peruvian civil society organisation Codehica, Swedwatch highlighted how excessive water use from commercial vegetable production severely affected communities in the Ica Valley of Peru.
As part of the collaboration, the report To the last drop called on companies importing produce from water-stressed areas to conduct human rights due diligence, while acknowledging the importance of vegetable production for local employment. After extensive dialogue with communities, civil society representatives, workers, producers and buyers, several companies pledged to ensure that conditions were improved.