The 95-page report, A Dirty Investment: European Development Banks’ Link to Abuses in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Palm Oil Industry, documents that investment banks owned by Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom are failing to protect the rights of people working and living on three plantations they finance. Human Rights Watch found that Feronia and its subsidiary in Congo, Plantations et Huileries du Congo, S.A. (PHC), exposes workers to dangerous pesticides, dumps untreated industrial waste into local waterways, and engages in abusive employment practices that result in extreme poverty wages...

The development banks have considerable leverage over the companies in which they invest, given the numerous conditions they attach to their lending, Human Rights Watch said...

The development banks should adopt policies that ensure that the businesses they invest in pay living wages to their workers... The banks should conduct systematic risk assessments [...] and establish time-bound plans to carry out mitigation measures. They should disclose this information to potentially affected communities and relevant authorities.

The banks should also strengthen their complaint systems to provide a real remedy to victims, publicize the systems in potentially affected communities...