Inbrief

Seventy-two environmental and human rights groups from 29 countries have written to companies and investors asking them to withdraw from the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline project. The groups, which include Amnesty International Business Group, argue the pipeline will intensify human rights problems along the route, and ‘the historical lack of freedom of speech and corruption in the region make proper consultation and land compensation impossible’. BP, leading the project consortium, says there has been stakeholder consultation on an unprecedented scale, and there is no reason why a pipeline should rekindle civil conflict.