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Wednesday, October 15, 2014
Swiss firm Glencore Exstrata’s subsidiary was awarded two licenses offshore the Western Sahara. The Moroccan government awarded the licenses in the disputed territory with international organizations calling it a violation.
Western Sahara Resource Watch said the deal was against a UN legal judgment handed down in 2002 that stated further exploration was prohibited until approval was granted by the locals, called Saharawis. “It is hard to imagine a more fundamentally unethical business deal. It is completely undermining the difficult UN peace process for the territory. Morocco would have no interest to cooperate with the UN in negotiating a peace in the territory it has occupied as long as it can partner with a company like Glencore Exstrata in Western Sahara. Taking part in the looting of the territory’s resources is against any basic corporate social responsibility”, stated Erik Hagen, chair of Western Sahara Resource Watch.
The group is urging Glencore to reconsider its exploration goals and terminate its involvement in the region until the conflict has been solved. US company Kosmos Energy and Scottish firm Cairn Energy has the most developed program currently with plans to drill for the first time in the region’s history by the end of this year.
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