Call from the People-- Our Appeals

The mission of Yuanli Self-Help Organization against Wind Turbines is to protect the development of renewable energy in Taiwan. We are against nuclear energy, as well as any energy development construction that sacrifices rural residents’ right to their chosen livelihood.  In recent years, we have seen InfraVest Wind Power Co., who enjoys a monopoly on wind power in Taiwan, randomly constructing large wind turbines along the west coast of Taiwan without proper consultation with local communities.  In our hometown of Yuanli Township, InfraVest Wind Power Co. is forcefully pushing through its construction agenda while damaging the environment and threatening the local residents and protestors with law suits.  We hereby demand that InfraVest stops construction immediately, and we propose the following appeals to the company and related governmental agencies. Only when these demands are met can the development of renewable energy in Taiwan be sustainable and friendly to people and the environment.

1.    InfraVest should immediately stop construction of all wind turbines and communicate with the local residents in Yuanli.

The construction of wind turbines in Yuanli should be suspended immediately. InfraVest should re-negotiate with the local residents in Yuanli to fully explain the impact of wind turbines on the environment and people living nearby. It is InfraVest’s responsibility to respect the local residents’ rights to livelihood and health, instead of pushing through construction plans behind the scenes. 

2.    The Environmental Protection Administration should ask InfraVest to resubmit its proposal and redo the Environmental-Impact Assessment (EIA) Review, since several major flaws were found in the EIA Review of InfraVest’s wind farm project in Yuanli.

The information in the EIA report of the Yuanli project that InfraVest provides is clearly flawed and insufficient. The Environmental Protection Administration should ask InfraVest to resubmit the proposal and redo the assessment.  Meanwhile, the EPA should also ask InfraVest to suspend all construction until it passes the EIA Review.

3.    The Ministry of Economic Affairs should regulate the distance between wind turbines and nearby residential buildings to protect people’s safety and health.

The Bureau of Energy in the Ministry of Economic Affairs is the supervising agency for the windpower industry in Taiwan.  They should strictly regulate a safe distance between wind turbine constructions and nearby residential buildings.  Before the regulations are enacted, the agency should ask InfraVest to stop the construction immediately to protect the renewable energy industry in Taiwan from becoming corporations without conscience or social responsibility.

4.    We call on Standard Chartered, which provides a loan of Euro 68,700,000 to InfraVest, to review its deal in accordance with Equator Principles   

As a signatory of the Equator Principles, Standard Chartered stated on its website that it is “committed to assessing and classifying the environmental and social impacts that a client's operations will have against a common set of criteria.” It is evident that InfraVest’s operation in this case has caused serious social and environmental impacts on local residents.  We call on Standard Chartered to re-examine and re-evaluate the operation of InfraVest.

5.    We ask the German National Contact Point, a government office that handles disputes related to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, to look into InfraVest’s practices in Taiwan, which have prompted grave concerns regarding human rights violations.  

From its operation in Yuanli, InfraVest, as a German renewable energy company, has violated its corporate social responsibility as stated in the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the UN Global Compact by using coercion and threats against people expressing their concerns and opposition.

Yuanli Self-Help Organization against Wind Turbines

05.2013

more information https://www.facebook.com/YuanLicarzywindmills