Petition handed over with 42,000 signatures to the BMWE: ‘Aluminium: Germany’s profit is Guinea’s damage’
Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg, 15.05.2025: Due to persistent serious human rights violations during bauxite mining by the Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée (CBG) for the German industry, the NGOs FIAN, PowerShift and Rettet den Regenwald have today handed over a petition with around 42,000 signatures to the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE).
The Federal Government supports the mine through an Unbound Financial Loan Guarantee (UFK) as part of its foreign trade promotion. The signatories call on the Ministry to fully fulfil its human rights obligations in this case as well.
The mining company Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée (CBG) is destroying the livelihoods of many villages in the area of its bauxite mine near Sangaredi (Guinea). Due to excavations, water resources dry out or become heavily polluted. Agricultural land and forests are being destroyed. Explosions damage homes. Swirled dust causes respiratory diseases. CBG does not sufficiently compensate those affected and does not sufficiently renaturate them. This is possible because the federal government has insured a loan from ING Diba to CBG to ensure the supply of aluminium to German industry.
The signatories of the petition call on the Federal Government to ensure that:
- the living resources of the affected villages are not destroyed,
- avoid forced relocations,
- the entire mine area is being renaturalized,
- the persons concerned are compensated in a transparent, proportionate and non-discriminatory manner.
"The Federal Government must finally live up to its human rights obligation and enforce that the human rights of the local population are fully restored and protected," says Gertrud Falk of FIAN Deutschland, who conducted research on the ground in December 2024.
Marianne Klute, Chairman of Rescue the Rainforest, points out the serious environmental degradation caused by the mine: “CBG has recklessly and irretrievably deforested primary forests and destroyed water ecosystems. This will also destroy the habitat of rare animal species.’
Photos of the handover can be found here: Petition handover 15.05.2025 – Google Drive
Press contacts:
Gertrud Falk, FIAN speaker,
Tel.: +49 221-47449113
E-mail: g.falk@fian.de
Marianne Klute, CEO of Rettet den Regenwald
Tel.: +49 40 228510831
E-mail: marianne.klute@regenwald.org
