As climate crisis bites, World Bank further distances itself from coal
As climate crisis bites, World Bank further distances itself from coal International Finance Corporation announced new ‘green equity’ policy to encourage financial intermediaries to divest from coal, while Bank pulled plug on mooted Kosovo coal project. READ FULL ARTICLE ▶
Civil society welcomes IFC’s moves to exclude coal in its financial intermediary lending
(Bali) – Civil society groups from around the world today welcomed news that the World Bank’s private sector arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), has taken significant steps to vastly reduce its exposure to coal through new financial intermediary (FI) investments. The CEO of the IFC, Philippe Le Houérou, has committed to help FI clients […]
Experts call on Supreme Court to reverse decision protecting IFC’s absolute immunity
(Washington, DC) – On Tuesday, nine NGOs and experts filed an amicus brief before the US Supreme Court in support of the Indian fishing communities and farmers who are challenging the International Finance Corporation (IFC)’s claim to absolute immunity in Jam v. IFC. The amici call for the Supreme Court to reverse the lower court’s decision, […]
World Bank and International Investors Bankrolling Climate Disaster in Philippines
International investors have in recent years poured billions of dollars into coal-fired power plants in the Philippines, one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to climate change. The World Bank Group, commercial banks and asset managers have quietly bankrolled a coal boom on the island nation despite many of them pledging to end or cut […]
Report Shines a Light on Hidden Backers of World’s Most Destructive Coal Project
Some of the biggest players in global finance are quietly backing the world’s most dangerous coal plant, according to an investigative report released today. International investors are enabling and profiting from the proposed Rampal plant in southern Bangladesh despite persistent warnings that it will damage the world’s largest mangrove forest, intensify climate change and imperil […]
World Bank Fueling Climate Change, Philippine Groups Allege in Historic Complaint
(Washington DC, October 11, 2017) – More than 100 citizen groups and affected communities in the Philippines today filed a historic complaint against the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank’s private-sector arm. The complaint accuses the IFC of fueling global climate change through its opaque investments in a Philippine bank that is a major financier of the coal industry. This is the first climate change-related complaint received by the IFC’s independent watchdog, the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman.
New tools: Empowering communities to defend their rights in private sector investments
Inclusive Development International is pleased to announce the publication of two new action resources for communities impacted by private sector investments. The Community Guide to the International Finance Corporation is a resource for people affected by IFC-funded projects. The guide is designed to help communities understand their rights and entitlements vis-a-vis IFC projects and to decide […]
World Bank implicated in violent evictions for Guinea gold mine, victims file complaint with accountability office
A group of displaced people in northeastern Guinea has filed a formal complaint with the World Bank’s private-sector arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), for its role in supporting a mining company that grabbed their land and left them destitute. The complainants are artisanal gold miners, merchants and smallholder farmers, whose ancestors have lived in […]
IFC still failing to track impact of investments on local communities, reports say | Devex
Two new reports, one of which is by the IFC’s own watchdog, have criticized the World Bank’s private sector lending arm for negating its duty to make sure the high risk investments it makes to intermediaries are not causing environmental and social damage to communities further down the financing line. READ FULL ARTICLE ▶
Out of control: The World Bank’s reckless private sector investments in Southeast Asia exposed
Dozens of harmful and high-risk projects in Southeast Asia have received hidden funding from the World Bank Group, an ongoing investigation by Inclusive Development International has revealed. The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank’s private-sector arm, is surreptitiously channeling money to these projects through for-profit financial intermediaries, such as commercial banks and private equity […]