PRIZMA

In 1995, the Kyrgyz Republic established the Sary-Chat Ertash Reserve or Zapovednik (SCER/SCEZ) near Centerra Gold’s high altitude Kumtor gold mine. While inaccurate maps and politics seem to fuel misunderstandings about the SCER’s boundaries and Kumtor’s impacts, an important question deserves more attention: Is the SCER just another ‘paper park’ or is it generating biodiversity value? (more...)

- Assessing Kyrgyz Commission’s Report on Centerra Gold’s Kumtor Gold Mine

- Supporting ScottsMiracle-Gro with CR Reporting 

- Supporting Claimant at International Arbitration Hearing case before ICSID

-Completing 3rd Party Check for Lundin Mining’s 2011 Sustainability Report

You can access the  PDF version of the newsletter here or request via email here. Looking forward to your comments and suggestions.

Prizma's Mehrdad Nazari was engaged by White & Case to serve as an Expert Witness for Claimant in the case of Gold Reserve Inc. v. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela which is before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). According to its press release, Gold Reserve claims damages of approximately $2.1 billion arising from violations of provisions of the Canada-Venezuela bilateral investment treaty resulting in the effective expropriation of Gold Reserve's sizable investments in the Brisas gold/copper project and the Choco 5 property. (more...)

Even the most diverse projects in different parts of the world tend to share some communalities in terms of context. And sometimes, recognizing these can be very sobering. Two recent assignments in the lawn and garden sector in North America (ScottsMiracle-Gro) and the mining sector in Central Asia (Centerra Gold's Kumtor mine) drove home the importance of climate change issues.

(more...)

The IFC  published its Updated Guidance Notes, the companion to the Updated IFC Performance Standards, which will also apply to Equator Banks and be effective January 1, 2012. 

(more...)

As the year is coming to an end, I assembled the favorite entries on my blog. Are you curious to see which ones made it to the Top 10 list and which ones attracted most comments? (more...)

Prizma’s Bill Kennedy was recently invited to participate at the 6^th Sustainability Management Conference in Seoul, Korea.  The focus of the event, sponsored by the Korean Standards Association and the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, was an examination of the IFC Performance Standards, the Equator Principles and OECD’s Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the way in which companies and banks have been responding to them.  (more...)

OECD Watch reports that UK National Contact Point for OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises re-initiated review of BHP Billiton's bypass case of its MOZAL smelter in Mozambique after IFC Compliance Advisor Ombudsman appears to have failed to facilitate a resolution of this case.  (more...)

The Equtor Principles Association has recently co-launched the Biodiversity for Banks (B4B) program, with World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Business and Biodiversity Offsets Program (BBOP). (more...)

In advance of the gathering of Equator Banks for the fifth Community of Learning event hosted by the IFC this week, BankTrack published its critical review: The Outside Job -Turning the Equator Principles towards people and planet. (more...)