Mining giant OceanaGold is suing the government of El Salvador before an obscure World Bank tribunal because the company the country’s health and environment laws are holding back an OceanaGold mining project.
The tribunal is due to make a decision in the coming weeks, and El Salvador could be forced to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to OceanaGold.
The mining giant doesn’t appear to care about public opinion, but it will listen to major investors. AMP is of the largest and most progressive Australian investment funds and is also the second largest investor in OceanaGold.
90% of El Salvador’s water is already polluted, putting low-income families and communities in danger of waterborne illness, food shortages, and the added expense of buying bottled water. If OceanaGold gets its way, it could destroy the last remaining source of drinkable water in this Central American country.
This mining corporation has repeatedly refused to listen to public pressure and drop its lawsuit. One thing is clear:OceanaGold only listens to money -- which is where its second biggest investor, AMP, comes in.
If we pressure its investors, Oceana will be forced to listen. AMP must demand that the money we’re saving and investing, under the assumption it’s being invested ethically, isn’t being funneled into destroying the water of an impoverished country.
In the past, SumOfUs members have stood up to corporations suing entire governments to protect their profits:
Over 300,000 of us stood with Costa Rica when it was being sued by Infinito Gold for protecting its pristine rainforests from a deadly mine.
In Australia, 11,000 members submitted comments to a government consultation opposing secret courtswhere corporations could sue governments, negotiated in the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP).
All over the world, our community is opposing the corporate takeover of people's democratic sovereignty over their resources. Let’s do it one more time!
Sign to ask AMP: Demand OceanaGold drop the lawsuit against El Salvador.
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For more information:
Australian mining is poisoning El Salvador. It could soon send it broke, too, The Guardian, October 3rd 2014.
World Bank Tribunal Weighs Final Arguments in El Salvador Mining Dispute, Inter Press Service, September 14 2014.