Cases / Oil, gas and coal operations · Bangladesh · 2015–2017
Adviser said UN environment award helped sway UNESCO on Rampal coal plant
Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.
Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
- The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
Bangladesh's energy adviser said a UN environment award helped persuade UNESCO to withdraw its objection to the Rampal coal plant near the Sundarbans mangrove forest. The sources reviewed do not report the plant's effects on the forest.
What?
Bangladesh's energy adviser said a UN environment award helped secure UNESCO's withdrawal of its objection to the Rampal coal plant. The Daily Star
Where?
Rampal, near the Sundarbans mangrove forest, Khulna Division, Bangladesh
When?
UN environment award dated 2015; Daily Star report dated 2017 The Daily Star
Who?
Gained
- Government of Bangladesh — Its energy adviser credited a UN environment award with easing UNESCO's objection The Daily Star
Lost
None on recordHarmed
None on recordWhy?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
According to the adviser, the award helped win UNESCO's trust and its withdrawal of objection. The Daily Star
6 of 6 questions answered from the record
What happened
The record, in order.
The Daily Star reported that Bangladesh's energy adviser to the prime minister said a UN environment award had helped win UNESCO's trust and persuaded it to withdraw its objection to the Rampal coal plant near the Sundarbans.
The adviser's statement is the only account of this link in the sources reviewed.
In court and with insurers
Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.
Lawsuits and rulings
No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.
Insurers
No insurer decision on record.
What we don't know
Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
Record
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: UNESCO recommended that the plant be shelved and relocated, and the government did not follow that advice.
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: the environmental impact assessment for the plant was prepared by CEGIS, a firm described as close to the government.
- None on record The sources reviewed do not report the plant's effects on the Sundarbans.
- None on record The sources reviewed do not describe the criteria or recipients of the UN environment award.
Did the harm stop?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Who paid?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Sources
Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers
Press and investigations
- Rampal power plant: 12 countries favoured Bangladesh at Unesco meetingThe Daily Star · 2017
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- UNESCO (International body) — here: UN body whose objection to the plant was withdrawn, according to the adviser; there: World Heritage listing, July 2021
- Rinca island work in Komodo National Park continued after UNESCO asked for a halt Indonesia · 2020–2021
- UNESCO (International body) — here: UN body whose objection to the plant was withdrawn, according to the adviser; there: asked for construction to stop in October 2020