Photo: Forest in Indonesia. © Curt Carnemark / World Bank
A submission from 21 civil society organizations from Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe and the United States, underscores civil society concerns about the unprecedented dilution of World Bank safeguards for biodiversity, forests and resource-dependent communities.
The dilutions proposed in the World Bank’s draft Safeguards Framework stand in stark opposition to President Kim’s promise of “no dilution” of the Bank’s safeguard policies. In addition, rather than fostering upward harmonization, the revised language in the biodiversity safeguard (ESS6) renders the World Bank’s protection for natural habitats and resource-dependent communities substantially weaker than policies of other international financial institutions, including the Asian Development Bank.
As noted by one Operational Vice President in comments on the draft, “language in ESS 6 would severely weaken the protections that currently exist for biodiversity and natural habitats under both IFC’s PS6 and the Bank’s OP 4.04.”
This analysis identifies some of the main dilutions and failures of upward harmonization found in ESS6 which must be corrected in order to meet President Kim’s promise to ensure no dilution of Bank safeguards.
See the full safeguard submission on biodiversity, forests and forest-dependent peoples