A/HRC/38/48 43. Civil society groups have raised and continue to raise concerns about specific projects financed by export credit agencies.34 The case of the Ilisu dam is often cited as an example of a project which has had significant human rights impacts, such as population resettlement and the destruction of cultural heritage. In 2005, a consortium applied for export credit guarantees in Austria, Germany and Switzerland for the construction of a hydroelectric dam. The respective export credit agencies offered their support based on 153 environmental and social commitments but the Governments of Austria, Germany and Switzerland ultimately withdrew funding for the dam project. That followed independent expert assessments, which concluded that the dam project was not meeting the agreed standards, including in relation to social and environmental impacts. The lesson drawn from the Ilisu project was that export credit agencies needed to put in place due diligence processes and project monitoring. 35 More recently, in at least one instance, a national contact point has noted that an agency may not have fully used its leverage or engaged in the proper level of human rights due diligence as required under the OECD Guidelines.36 44. Other human rights impacts that arise outside of a traditional project finance context may relate to the nature of goods being exported in a global supply chain. For example, in information and communications technology an exporter may sell goods to a customer (State or non-State) that will use the equipment for surveillance, leading to adverse impacts on a person’s right to life, to arbitrary detention, torture and potential violations of other civil and political rights.37 45. Given the connection between export credits and finance linked to adverse human rights impacts, are there requirements in place that businesses who receive support in the form of export credit respect human rights, conduct due diligence and align their operations with the Guiding Principles? The answer is mixed, with only a subset of public or publicly supervised/funded export credit agencies currently requiring some form of human rights due diligence, and then only for a subset of transactions, typically with a term of two years or longer. 46. One of the largest gaps in terms of export credit and alignment with the Guiding Principles is that many public export credit agencies have no explicit focus on human rights due diligence as part of their operations, either for their own decision-making or as a requirement for their clients. 47. The largest export credit membership organization is the Berne Union, which is a network of private and public entities. Its 85 members include government-backed export credit agencies, private credit and political risk insurers and multilateral institutions which provide insurance products, guarantees and, in some cases, direct financing in support of cross-border trade. 38 The insurance products its members provide offer protection for exporting companies, investors and financial institutions against losses as a result of buyer default. 48. At present, the Berne Union has no explicit mandate to address human rights or social impacts as part of its activities, although its operating principles do refer to 34 35 36 37 38 10 See Export Credit Watch list of reports focusing on human rights concerns surrounding projects financed by public export credit agencies, available from www.eca-watch.org/ecas/export-creditagencies; Amnesty International, “A history of neglect: UK export finance and human rights” (June 2013); Halifax Initiative and others, “Export credit agencies and human rights: failure to protect” (2015). See Michael M. Cernea, “Population displacement and export credit”, Brookings Institution (December 2011). See also Christine Eberlein and others, “The Ilisu dam in Turkey and the role of export credit agencies and NGO networks”, Water Alternatives, vol. 3, No. 2 (June 2010). See www.oecdguidelines.nl/latest/news/2016/11/30/final-statement-both-ends-associacao-forumsuape-vs-atradius-dutch-state-business. Institute for Human Rights and Business, “Telecommunications and human rights: an export credit perspective” (February 2017). See www.berneunion.org/Members.