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- Convenors:
-
Kate Watters
(Crude Accountability)
Sebastien Peyrouse (GWU)
Send message to Convenors
- Theme:
- ENE
- Location:
- Room 505
- Sessions:
- Thursday 10 October, -
Time zone: America/New_York
Long Abstract:
This panel will discuss the impacts of Chinese investments in oil and gas in Central Asia, looking specifically at investments in Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The presenters will provide varying perspectives, looking at the on-the-ground impacts gathered from field research and fact-finding missions, and also from desk research, including from sources in Mandarin and Russian. Environmental defenders from Central Asia will report on their research, including results of travel to oil and gas fields in the region. Dr. Weinthal will report on the work she and her team have done working with Chinese experts on investments in the sector, focusing on transparency and access to information. Wawa Wang will describe environmental and public information access standards of Chinese corporations and investors. Discussion will focus on what these written standards mean in actual practice and the prospects for prosperity, environmentally clean investments, and public participation look like for citizens of Central Asian countries.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Thursday 10 October, 2019, -Paper long abstract:
Field research in population points close to oil fields managed by CNPC in Kazakhstan has shown that local residents are suffering from numerous environmental and social problems. Local residents to not have access to any information about the state of the environment or about environmental or social conditions related to the field. Local authorities and CNPC fail to provide it to them and this lack of transparency is the chief negative factor related to the activities of Chinese oil and gas companies in Kazakhstan. In comparison, western oil companies appear to be positive examples of social and environmental responsibility, although in reality, their engagement is also problematic. This paper will focus on these issues, providing information from site visits, engagement with local communities, and on the ground analysis.
Paper long abstract:
In 2014 the governments of Kazakhstan annd China signed a joint plan to relocate 51 facilities from China to Kazakhstan. Thereafter, Kazakhstan integrated this idea into the Nurly Zhol state program. This state program is valid until 2019 and the status of the plan on the relocation is very obscure for the public.
Many members of the public in Kazakhstan have expressed their interest to know the details of the plan of the Government to relocate the facilities from China to Kazakhstan. Nevertheless, the information even on types of planned facilities for the relocation was declared by the Government of Kazakhstan as confidential information. A number of requests were made by Ecoforum of NGOs of Kazakhstan and other members of the public to the Government of Kazakhstan to disclose this information.
Our requests were substantiated by the reason that this information is environmental information. Kazakhstan has an international obligation to disclose this information as a Party of the UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making Process and Access to Justice in Environmental Information (Aarhus Convention). Also the Government shall provide this information upon public requests in accordance with the national legislation.
The paper will update on efforts of Ecoforum of NGOs of Kazakhstan and other members of the public to get the information and why the Government of Kazakhstan shall provide public access to this information.
Paper long abstract:
Over the past decade, China's overseas investments in infrastructure construction and resource extraction are estimated to total around $2 trillion USD.
Today, on the heels of the 'Belt and Road Initiative', China's stated policy is to increase both developmental assistance and the export of its industries to countries in the global south that are key to China's geopolitical interests—and where governance accountability is low. One such place is Central Asia, where China makes daily headlines over its interest in energy and natural resource extraction.
Citing the lack of transparency around Chinese financed activities in Central Asia, the panel intends to explore how Chinese loans and investments in the energy sector in Central Asia are changing the social and environmental landscapes.
Paper long abstract:
This presentation examines economic and political developments pertaining to China's Belt and Road Initiative vis-a-vis infrastructure investments in Central Asia. In particular, the presentation will focus on the geostrategic and economic dimension of the Great Silk Road Economic Belt that seeks to connect China via Eurasia to Europe. While China formally launched its BRI initiative in early 2017, there has been less attention focused on the infrastructure investments in Central Asia than in Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Africa. Thus, because the BRI is still in its incipient phase in Central Asia, this presentation will explore the political and economic motivations establishing the Silk Road Fund, for example, to provide financial support for infrastructural and energy projects as well developments to advance "green rules" for social and environmental safeguards. Areas of interest include policy proposals for green investment as well as the extent to which the Great Silk Road Economic Belt may adhere to the UN's 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.