San Francisco – ConocoPhillips’ agreement yesterday to acquire Houston-based Burlington Resources comes with serious environmental, political, and financial liabilities, Amazon Watch said today in a letter sent to James Mulva, the CEO of ConocoPhillips.
The letter and an accompanying dossier described Burlington’s involvement in two controversial projects on indigenous territories in Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest which have faced years of protest and legal actions, are currently paralyzed, and have provoked concern among shareholders and the international community.
In Ecuador, Burlington has held concession blocks 23 and 24, since 2000 and 2003 respectively. The two concessions encompass nearly 1 million acres of pristine rainforest and fall entirely within the homelands of the Shuar, Achuar, and Kichwa peoples. In Peru, Burlington’s massive concession 104 is also in the heart of the Achuar territory. These traditional and remote peoples have successfully kept oil, logging, and mining companies out of their territories for nearly a decade and vow to fight to defend their land.
Amazon Watch warned ConocoPhillips about a legal case brought by the Kichwa community of Sarayaku alleging human rights abuses by the companies and the military in block 23 where Burlington holds a 50 percent interest. The case is before the Inter-American Court on Human Rights of the Organization of American States.
A group representing Burlington investors and socially responsible shareholder advisors traveled to Ecuador in March to meet with the communities, as well as with Ecuador’s Attorney General and Civic Anti-Corruption Commission. This year, members of the group filed two shareholder proposals relating to Burlington’s conduct in the Amazon.
“The blocks in Ecuador and Peru will be the litmus test for ConocoPhillips’ commitment to social responsibility,” said Kevin Koenig, Amazon Watch Spokesperson. We hope ConocoPhillips will recognize that Burlington’s conduct in the Amazon has brought needless financial and reputational risk while offering investors zero reward.”
The dossier included a declaration issued on December 10, 2005 by the Achuar federation denouncing Burlington’s attempts to divide the communities: “We demand that our government immediately get the transnational oil companies to leave the concession areas that fall within the lands and settlements of our indigenous nations . . . It is us, the Achuar and the Shuar who are the owners of this rainforest and we are united to fight until our last breath.”
