On August 2, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) opened the first phase of public consultations on its Independent Consultation and Investigation Mechanism (ICIM), aiming to revise and update the ICIM policy that has been in effect since September 2010. The ICIM (commonly known by its Spanish acronym, MICI) is an IDB policy that establishes an independent body …
In July 2013, the Interethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Forest (AIDESEP) and the Federation of Native Communities of the Madre Dios River and its Tributaries (FENAMAD) recorded a video of members of the indigenous community “Mashco Piro,” an indigenous group that lives in voluntary isolation in Peru. The video constitutes definitive proof …
The Community Forestry Pre-Congress, an initiative by the Mesoamerican Alliance of People and Forests, will take place on September 24th and 25th in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. BIC and more than twenty other organizations from eight different countries will participate in the Community Forestry Pre-Congress: “Community Forestry as the Basis of Governance and the Starting …
Soumya Dutta outside the World Bank headquarters, August 2013 BIC highlights the work of Soumya Dutta in the campaign against Tata Mundra. Soumya Dutta is the National Convener of the Indian people’s science group Bharat Jan Vigyan Jatha and the Convener of the Climate and Energy Group in the Beyond Copenhagen collective in India, a network …
Human Rights Watch released a 59-page report on Monday, concluding that the World Bank “has closed its eyes to the risk to the human rights of the very people it seeks to benefit. “The World Bank pays tens of billions of dollars every year to support development efforts around the world,” said Jessica Evans, senior advocate …
Photograph of Oyu Tolgoi mining complex courtesy of Oyu Tolgoi Watch. Press release originally published by CEE Bankwatch. Ulaanbaatar, 04 July 2013 A group of Mongolian herders submitted today an official complaint to the Project Complaints Mechanism of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), hoping to initiate a process of evaluation of the …
The Mesoamerican Alliance of People and Forests (Alianza Mesoamericana de Pueblos y Bosques), an umbrella organization of indigenous and community forest organizations, recently published an announcement highlighting the failure of the REDD-CCAD/GIZ Program to invite indigenous authorities to a regional conference on forest governance. The event, held in Panama on July 9, 2013, is the second …
The Forest Carbon Partnership Facility’s Carbon Fund held back-to-back meetings of the Working Group on the Methodological Framework (MF), and the Carbon Fund in Paris, June 20-24, 2013. Despite plans to finalize a draft of the MF to circulate for public comment by the end of the CF7, the failure to meet this goal signifies …
Mexican civil society and indigenous representatives convened on June 24th and 25th in Mexico City for a workshop entitled “Towards the Construction and Articulation of Knowledge in the Process of Shaping REDD+”. With the goal of creating a new space for dialogue and shared learning around REDD, regional representatives from the Yucatan Peninsula, Central Mexico, and Northern …
As the consultation period of the first phase of the World Bank safeguard policy review and update concluded at the end of April, two coalitions of civil society organizations submitted comments on Forests and Natural Habitats Operational Policies The two CSO submissions outlined opportunities, concerns, and recommendations for the revision of Forests and Natural Habitats …