In January 2017, CIEL supported Chilean organization Ecosistemas and the Coordinadora Ciudadana No Alto Maipo (CCNAM) to file complaints about the Alto Maipo Hydroelectric Project at the accountability mechanisms of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). After nearly six years of waiting, these processes are in the final stages. In recent months, the Independent Consultation and Investigation Mechanism (MICI) and the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) released reports on the current status of their cases. Communities provided formal responses to each report, emphasizing that the banks’ actions have been inadequate.
Response from Complainants to the MICI’s Monitoring Report and Case Closure Report for the Alto Maipo Hydroelectric Project at the IDB
In July 2022, CIEL, Ecosistemas, and the CCNAM provided comments and recommendations to the draft Action Plan Monitoring Report and Case Closure Report on the Alto Maipo case prepared by the MICI. Their response highlights the lack of remedy for complainants after the long accountability process and the problematic and irresponsible exit by the IDB from the project, while reflecting on the management of this complaint and the numerous impacts to complainants and affected communities including reprisals.
The Alto Maipo case is of great significance for the IDB Group’s accountability system, as it illustrates the need to take urgent steps to strengthen the MICI’s effectiveness to achieve remedy for the communities harmed by the projects the IDB finances. This response from the claimants is now part of the official record of the case at the MICI, as Annex III of the MICI’s Monitoring and Closure Report.
Read the response (currently available in Spanish only): Respuesta al Informe de Seguimiento al Plan de Acción e Informe de Cierre de Caso — Borrador Preliminar — MICI-BID-CH-2017-0115 Proyecto “Hidroeléctrico Alto Maipo” — CIEL, Ecosistemas y la Coordinadora Ciudadana No Alto Maipo — Julio 2022
Comments for the CAO on the IFC’s Management Progress Report on the Implementation of the Management Action Plan for Alto Maipo
In March 2023, CIEL, Ecosistemas, and the CCNAM submitted comments on the IFC Management’s Progress Report on the Implementation of the Management Action Plan for the Alto Maipo case to the CAO. Their response highlights five issues: (i) the consequences of the CAO’s structural flaws for complainants including reprisals; (ii) the lack of remedy for the claimants and the Chilean communities affected by the project; (iii) the expected and expanded damages that Alto Maipo has left behind; (iv) the scope of IFC’s responsibility and monitoring of Alto Maipo given its relationship to the project through financial intermediary Itaú Corpbanca; and (v) final conclusions and recommendations on the lack of remedy and the importance of responsible exit.
Read the response (currently available in Spanish only): Comentarios al Informe de Progreso de la Administración de la Corporación Financiera Internacional sobre la Implementación del Plan de Acción de la Administración relacionado con Alto Maipo – Chile Proyecto No. 31632 — CIEL, Ecosistemas y la Coordinadora Ciudadana No Alto Maipo — Marzo 2023
Background on Alto Maipo
The Alto Maipo Hydroelectric Project is a large-scale run-of-the-river hydroelectric project located 50 kilometers (km) southeast of Santiago, Chile. The project diverted water from the main tributaries of the Maipo River and rerouted this water through some 70 km of tunnels bored through the Andes Mountains, using underground turbines to produce electricity.
The watershed where the project is located supplies water to millions of people in the region, both in the Cajon del Maipo and the Santiago metropolitan area. Local communities from the Cajon del Maipo relied on the river as a basis of their culture and livelihoods. The construction of the project had immense environmental, social, and financial impacts on communities in the Maipo region at a previously unprecedented scale. The run-of-the-river project has caused large-scale damage to water access, farming, tourism, and the environment, exacerbating the impacts from desertification and climate change in an already fragile ecosystem.
Published June 28, 2023