Barclays Bank is facing a formal complaint over its financial links to a coal-fired power station near the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest and home to millions of people in Bangladesh and India.
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Bank → face → Bangladesh
Three complainants from the region have submitted a case to the UK government’s Office for Responsible Business Conduct, alleging that the British bank breached international guidelines by underwriting companies involved in the emission-heavy Maitree super thermal power project, also known as the Rampal power plant.
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bank → submit → plant
The coal-fired power station is situated near the Sundarbans, a Unesco world heritage site made up of more than 100 tiny islands across a river delta that supports hundreds of plant and animal species, including the Bengal tiger.
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that → fire → tiger
Sharif Jamil, an environmental campaigner based in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, who is one of the complainants, said heavy-metal pollution from the plant and the industrial development surrounding it was entering the Sundarbans through its interconnected rivers and canals.
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pollution → base → rivers
“The Rampal power plant is right on the bank of the Pasur River, which is the lifeline of the Sundarbans,” he said.
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he → say → Sundarbans
Last November, a study found elevated levels of mercury and arsenic in water samples taken from the Sundarbans, with the highest concentrations recorded in the Pasur River.
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concentrations → find → River
Researchers identified industrial discharge and port-related activities among the sources of heavy-metal contamination and said the Rampal power station posed “a significant environmental threat due to emissions from coal combustion and increased navigation traffic”.
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station → identify → combustion
Millions of people live in the Sundarbans, and many depend on the river and forests for food and other resources.
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many → live → food
The claimants allege that Barclays failed to conduct sufficient due diligence on the environmental and human rights risks before providing financial services to organisations connected to the project.
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Barclays → allege → project
Barclays underwrote debt of India’s state-owned NTPC Ltd (formerly the National Thermal Power Corporation), one of the joint-venture partners behind the plant, according to King’s Legal Clinic, which is assisting the complainants.
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which → underwrite → complainants
It also says Barclays underwrote bond issues for the Export-Import Bank of India between 2016 and 2019, which provided a loan for the Rampal project.
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which → say → project
The complainants argue that emissions from the plant will contribute to global heating, rising sea levels and extreme weather in a region already highly vulnerable to the climate crisis.
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emissions → argue → crisis
Mangroves act as a natural barrier against cyclones and other extreme weather.
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Mangroves → act → cyclones
The power station faced sustained opposition during its planning and construction, including concerns raised by Unesco in a report in 2016, which concluded that “air and water pollution have a high likelihood to irreversibly damage the … World Heritage property”.
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pollution → face → property
Some financial institutions, including banks in France, refused to support the project because of its potential environmental and social effects, the complaint says.
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complaint → include → effects
Jamil said Barclays’ international standing obliged it to consider the consequences of financing.
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standing → say → financing
“The greater your reputation, the greater your responsibility to behave responsibly towards the planet and its people,” he said.
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he → behave → planet
“Barclays is a reputed global organisation, and that is why it also has a responsibility.
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it → have → responsibility
“Other banks and financial institutions were divesting from, or declining to finance, this project,” he added.
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he → divest → project
“Barclays and other financial organisations should change their policies and examine how their operations can protect the planet from climate catastrophe.”
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operations → change → catastrophe
Jamil also called on banks to direct more funding towards renewable energy rather than imported fossil fuels.
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Jamil → call → fuels
“Bangladesh has sunlight throughout the year,” he said.
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he → have → year
“Why should we expand fossil fuels when there is enormous potential to produce electricity from renewable energy?”
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we → expand → energy
The other complainants include Animesh Mandal, a farmer and politician, and the Dakshinbanga Matsyajibi Forum, a trade union representing fish workers in West Bengal.
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complainants → include → Bengal
They are being assisted by students and lawyers at King’s Human Rights and Environment Clinic, part of King’s College London’s law school.
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They → assist → school
Sue Willman, a solicitor at the clinic, said: “Rural communities in the Sundarbans are on the frontline of the climate and nature crisis.
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communities → say → crisis
We hope to persuade banks and financial institutions to think again before financing oil and coal developments that are contributing to that crisis.”
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that → hope → crisis
The Office for Responsible Business Conduct, part of the Department for Business and Trade, will assess whether to consider the complaint.
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Office → assess → complaint
Barclays Bank and BIFPCL (Bangladesh India Friendship Power Company Ltd), the holding company for the Maitree super thermal power project, declined to comment.
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Bank → hold → project
