When the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) was first announced by China in 2013, a flurry of speculation erupted around which countries would join and how closely the new institution would follow the path trodden by traditional multilateral development banks such as the World Bank.
In September 2020, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced in a speech to the UN General Assembly that China aimed to hit peak carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060 (Xi 2020).
For too long, consumer brands have sourced raw materials from abusive companies. With mandatory due diligence laws on the horizon in Europe, communities will finally have the opportunity hold brands accountable for violations in their supply chains.
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank wants to mobilise private capital to meet infrastructure needs. But by harnessing the capital markets, the bank is entering dangerous territory – and putting people and the environment at risk.
In early 2020, Cambodian authorities fast-tracked approval of two new coal plants. Soon after, they also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Lao Government committing to purchase energy imports from two proposed coal plants in southern Laos.
While most of the world was sheltering in place due to the pandemic in March, a hundred families were uprooted from their lush, centuries-old village in western Guinea and relocated to a hilltop to make way for a bauxite mine, backed by the IFC.
When news broke in Asheville that the New Belgium Brewing Company was being sold to a multinational beer giant, local reporting noted the sizable pay-off the employee owners would receive.
The implications are terrifying. The global assessment report on biodiversity released by the United Nations In May warned that human economic activities, including those driving global warming.
Since the early 2000s, Chinese overseas investment has been driven by its formidable state machinery, financed by policy banks and developed in large part by state-owned enterprises (SOEs). China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) continues this trend
