Environmental Groups applaud the divestment of shares from a company that proposed to build Senegal’s largest coal-fired power plant due to societal and environmental impacts of the company
By: Waterkeeper Alliance
UPDATE – MAY 12, 2015 – Waterkeeper Alliance and groups applaud development banks in Africa and the Netherlands for suspending funding for the Sendou coal-fired power plant project in Bargny, Senegal, on Hann Bay near the capital city of Dakar. The banks are halting the funding of the project while they seek further information on the scope of negative environmental and social impacts as identified by surrounding communities and environmental groups. More information to come.
Good news for the people and the environment of Senegal
March 21, 2015 – Dakar, Senegal and New York, NY – Environmental groups and people in Senegal celebrated the good news that the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, the Norwegian Government Pension Fund, has divested shares from the Jindal coal company. It was the primary sponsor of a proposal to build the largest coal plant in Senegal.
“Coal is the dirty energy of the past that pollutes air, water and the climate” said Mbacke Seck the Hann Baykeeper and Vice President of RENOP. “The people of Senegal are very happy that shares have been divested from Jindal and send our heartfelt appreciation to the Norwegian Government Pension Fund. We prefer to see international funding support renewable energy projects that will power a sustainable future for Senegal.”
Earlier this week, civil society organizations in Europe analyzed the updated holdings list of the Norwegian Government Pension Fund (GPF) and found that it divested funding from 53 coal companies including 5 Australian coal companies, 13 Indian coal companies including Jindal, 16 companies in the United States and more. Since 2013, the coal investments of the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund have sparked an ongoing political debate, in which several of Norway’s political parties and the country’s environmental organizations called for an exclusion of coal stocks and bonds from the Pension Fund’s portfolio.
“Senegal and all the countries impacted by the positive actions of the Norwegian Government Pension Fund have great reason to celebrate World Water Day this weekend with the announcement that shares were divested from 53 of the world’s riskiest coal companies,” said Sharon Khan, International Director of Waterkeeper Alliance. “Coal-fired power plants have profoundly negative impacts to water and in order to make the planet saving transition to a low carbon future, we must stop constructing coal-fired power plants.”
Hann Baykeeper and 246 communities in 29 countries represented by Waterkeeper Alliance all across the world are rising up against the outdated use of coal as an energy source due to their harmful impacts to water and people.
“As a result of an international climate change conference hosted in Dakar this week by Hann Baykeeper and Waterkeeper Alliance we have learned that if the coal-fired power plant is built in Bargny it will have significant, daily harmful impacts to our water and communities,” said Mr. El Hadji Daouda Gueye, the Imam of Bargny. “We call upon CES, SENELEC, the Government of Senegal and the African Development Bank to follow the wise decision of the world’s largest sovereign investment fund and divest its financial interest in the Sendou coal-fired power plant. It would be better for future generations of the Senegalese people if the CFAF 118 billion needed to build the Sendou coal plant is reinvested in responsible renewable energy projects that will provide clean jobs that power Senegal’s economic future.”
Photos and video available for press to use here. Please credit Waterkeeper Alliance.
Contacts:
Mbacke Seck, Hann Baykeeper, Waterkeeper Alliance Member, and Vice President of Reseau des Organisations Communautaires qui lutte pour la Protection de l’Environnement et des Eaux (RENOP), 00-221-77-649-0615, mseck1gmail.com
Sharon Khan, International Director, Waterkeeper Alliance, 00-221-77-434-8829 in Senegal and 001-917-769-9223 in the United States. [email protected]
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Hann Baykeeper has been a Waterkeeper Alliance member since 2006 working to keep the waters of Hann, Dakar, Senegal clean and safe for swimming, drinking and fishing.
Waterkeeper Alliance is a global movement uniting more than 240 Waterkeeper organizations around the world and focusing citizen advocacy in issues that affect our waterways, from pollution to climate change. Waterkeepers patrol and protect more than 2 million square miles of rivers, streams and coastlines in the Americas, Europe, Australia, Asia and Africa. For more information please visit: www.waterkeeper.org