“Enel suspends blood coal imports” 04-05-2017

Europe’s biggest energy company, Italian multinational Enel, has suspended imports of coal from the Cesar mining region Colombia. Enel CEO Francesco Starace stated this at the annual stockholders meeting in Rome. The announcement was made in the context of investigations into the human rights impact in the coal mining region of Cesar and Enel’s de-carbonization strategy…Enel will not renew its contracts unless its operational requirements and sustainability standards, including on human rights, are met…Starace: "We did identify certain areas – in particular relating to the local communities in the region – where substantial improvement areas were suggested.” Asked if this research led Enel to cease its coal imports from Drummond and Prodeco, Starace said, ”We interrupted all import of coal from the identified companies, in line with Enel’s reduced coal demand. At the moment, we do not have ongoing contracts with Prodeco or Drummond.”…