Urgent action… Urgent action… Urgent action… Urgent action…

Stop British banks from financing the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline!!

Although the IFC (World Bank) and EBRD have now approved loans to the pipeline, they are only providing a minority of the finance. The largest portion will come from private banks - ie high-street banks like HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland (which owns NatWest).

These banks will make their decisions on whether to provide loans next week! (Week beginning 15th December).

They are considering providing loans to the BTC pipeline, despite the fact that it should be excluded by environmental rules they have signed up to, the Equator Principles. Please email them urgently to tell them not to finance the pipeline. If you bank at any of these banks, then you could also phone your branch, and tell them about your concerns.

A suggested email text is below - but feel free to write it in your own words; in fact, the more personal the letter, the better. Write to:

Stephen Green, Group Chief Executive, HSBC
Fred Goodwin, Group Chief Executive, Royal Bank of Scotland

Sample text:

I am writing to you to express my concerns about the Baku-T'bilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, which I understand that your bank is considering financing.

I am deeply concerned about serious impacts the pipeline will have on the environment, on regional tensions, and on people living on the pipeline route.

Your bank is a signatory to the Equator Principles, a voluntary set of guidelines designed to prevent project financing being given to the most environmentally and socially damaging projects. Research by NGOs has found that the BTC pipeline violates the Principles on numerous counts. I urge you to show that your commitment to the Equator Principles is genuine by not supporting projects such as BTC which violate them.

The BTC pipeline is a political project sponsored by the USA, designed to undermine Iran and Russia, while boosting the regimes of Azerbaijan and Georgia. The recent toppling of the Georgian regime shows the instability of the political approach. Azerbaijan's Presidential election this autumn is widely recognised to have been rigged, and was followed by a brutal clampdown against opposition parties. It is not an appropriate role for a bank such as yours to participate in such geopolitical interference.

The region is highly unstable, and this project stands to exacerbate conflicts. For example, Azerbaijan's new President Ilham Aliyev hinted in his inauguration speech that he would use oil revenues to build up the army and restart the war with Armenia.

The pipeline looks set to cause major human rights abuses. In Turkey, it will be guarded by the notorious state Gendarmerie, which has a record for some of the worst atrocities in the region. It seems BP, the lead company behind the pipeline, has not learned its lessons from the human rights problems with its operations in Colombia.

Research by environment and human rights groups has shown that the pipeline will damage livelihoods of local people living on the route. Compensation for lost land has been inadequate, and many people stand to be forced into the city slums as their land becomes unusable. Meanwhile, massive corruption will prevent any of the revenues reaching those who need them.

I assume that your bank has rigorously assessed the BTC pipeline's compliance with the Equator Principles. Please send me a copy of this analysis.

Please reassure me that you will not provide a loan to the BTC project.