ABSTRACT
Since 1973, Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée (CBG) has mined bauxite in Guinea’s Boké region without seeking the consent of the customary landholders or providing fair compensation for land takings and other damage to productive resources. CBG commissioned environmental and social (E&S) assessments and plans ostensibly to comply with IFC’s Performance Standards, and successfully secured almost $1 billion to expand its mine from IFC and other lenders. However, the mine has continued to cause harm to affected communities, including economic displacement and impoverishment. But what if IFC had taken seriously its responsibility to require broad community support as a loan condition? Communities could have an opportunity to determine the conditions under which the investment could proceed and gained real benefits. What if IFC (and other lenders) built in more effective contractual leverage over E&S performance into loan agreements? And what if, when things went wrong, affected communities had the option of activating arbitration to enforce the Performance Standards themselves and accessing a remedial fund to repair the harm? With a contractual right to enforce their entitlements through arbitration and access to a remedy fund, empowered local communities could have greater potential to hold corporations accountable and secure their human rights.
