News
PLATFORM's news articles are listed in date order below. For older news items, please consult our archive.
Publications posted here are in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format, and to view them, you may need to download Acrobat Reader.New research released today finds that transforming the Royal Bank of Scotland into the Green Investment Bank would kick start the green energy revolution. The research, by former Pricewaterhouse Coopers consultant, James Leaton, finds that it would bring 50, 000 new green jobs a year, increase efficiency, reduce the UK's carbon emissions and improve international competitiveness - whilst not increasing the budget deficit.
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How to win ‘the battle of the story’ in campaigning, movement organizing and changing the world!
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A letter today was published in the Guardian today signed by 171 figures from the art world condemning BP’s sponsorship of cultural institutions in the UK. The letter has been published on the day that Tate Britain is hosting a party to celebrate 20 years of BP’s sponsorship.
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New release to co-incide with Tate Summer Party celebrating 20 years of BP sponsorship.
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Confidential oil contracts held by UK companies Tullow and Heritage in the Democratic Republic of Congo were leaked today, revealing the danger of economic rip-off and rights abuses in one of Africa's most unstable countries. The PSAs are accompanied by PLATFORM's legal analysis, ''A Lake of Oil - Congo's controversial contracts compromise rights, environment & safety'' in English & French. Tullow and the British government have been pushing a deal which threatens to inflame conflict, increase gas flaring and cut Congolese revenues by $10 billion.
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Les contrats confidentiels pour le pétrole du lac Albert des entreprises britanniques et d'un consortium rival mené par l'Afrique du Sud ont été divulgués aujourd'hui, révélant un danger d'arnaque économique et d'abus des droits humains en Ituri. La divulgation des contrats pétroliers du lac Albert révèle la menace de guerre des ressources, de destruction environnementale en Ituri et d'exploitation économique en RDC. Corruption - des alliés stratégiques de Kabila s'apprêtent à accumuler des milliards en tant que partenaires de permis. Tullow et l'ambassade britannique appuient un accord controversé qui pourrait réduire les revenus du Congo de plus de 10 milliards de dollars. Contrat rival de Divine Inspiration comprend des paiements en nature à la FARDC
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This report looks at the role that UK banks are playing in providing the necessary capital, and how RBS, which is 84% owned by the UK public, has been the bank the most heavily involved in underwriting loans to companies engaging in tar sands extraction.
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- New report exposes RBS involvement in Canada’s “blood oil”
- Bank executives meet in Toronto and discuss concerns about public backlash over involvement in tar sands
- Environmental and development groups announce a week of protest around the RBS AGM in April over the bank’s tar sands investments
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Confidential documents revealing the impacts of Tullow Oil and Heritage Oil's operations in Uganda have been placed online by PLATFORM today. These are accompanied by a legal analysis published by PLATFORM in partnership with the Civil Society Coalition for Oil in Uganda.
The report ''Cursed contracts: Uganda's oil agreements place profit before people'' raises serious economic and environmental concerns about how oil will be extracted at Lake Albert. The terms of Uganda's Production Sharing Agreements, which the oil companies and Ugandan government continue to refuse to release, are now available in full for the first time. Two confidential audit reports carried out by Ernst &Young in 2009 have also been made publically available, confirming concerns over environmental damage and companies inflating their costs.
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