ING: three NGOs file complaint with Dutch contact point for the OECD, demanding that the bank ceases investment in the palm oil sector

On 5 July, environment-focused NGOs from three different countries – Milieudefensie (Netherlands), Sustainable Development Institute (Liberia) and Wahana lingkungan Hidup Indonesia – announced that they have filed a complaint with the Netherlands’ contact point for the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) against the Dutch banking group ING. The complaint regards the bank’s funding of three palm oil companies: Noble Group, Bolloré Group/Socfin and Wilmar International. The NGOs allege that these companies are involved in large-scale deforestation of tropical rainforest (Noble Group), land grabbing (Bolloré Group/Socfin) and child labour (Wilmar International). They demand that ING divests from these palm oil companies and the industrial palm oil sector as a whole. According to the complainants, if the Dutch contact point upholds the allegations, ING risks being excluded from trade missions, subsidies and government support abroad. See the full statement in English here.