Barclays Bank is facing a formal complaint concerning its financial ties to a coal-fired power station situated near the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest, which is home to millions of people in Bangladesh and India.
Three complainants from the region have submitted a case to the UK government’s Office for Responsible Business Conduct. They allege that the British bank violated international guidelines by underwriting companies involved in the Maitree super thermal power project, also known as the Rampal power plant.
The coal-fired power station is located near the Sundarbans, a Unesco world heritage site that supports numerous plant and animal species, including the Bengal tiger. Sharif Jamil, an environmental campaigner and one of the complainants, stated that heavy-metal pollution from the plant and surrounding industrial development is entering the Sundarbans via interconnected rivers and canals.
The complainants allege that Barclays failed to conduct sufficient due diligence on environmental and human rights risks before providing financial services to organisations connected to the project. King’s Legal Clinic, assisting the complainants, states that Barclays underwrote debt for India’s state-owned NTPC Ltd, a joint-venture partner in the plant, and also underwrote bond issues for the Export-Import Bank of India, which provided a loan for the project.
The Office for Responsible Business Conduct, which is part of the Department for Business and Trade, will now assess whether to consider the complaint. Barclays Bank and BIFPCL, the holding company for the Maitree super thermal power project, declined to comment.