Over fifty members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have called on the EU to imposer a moratorium on EU lending to mining companies. The appeal was made on the day that the world’s biggest mineral commodities’ trader, Glencore, went “ public” on the London and Hong Kong stock exchanges, being valued at around £36 billion
The MEps cited in particular the fact that Glencore’s subsidiary, Mopani Copper Mines in Zambia had received a £42m loan in 2005 from the European Investment Bank (EIB), intended to refurbish its ageing Mufulira copper smelter which has been poisoning the local community with toxic sulphur emissions, but failed to do so.
