A publication of the Bank Information Center (BIC)
Welcome to the September 7, 2012 issue of the IF-Eye – the Bank Information Center’s bimonthly synthesis of key developments concerning international financial institutions. Please send suggestions, contributions and subscription requests to: dschwartz@bicusa.org. Thanks for reading!
World Bank Updates
Jin-Yong Cai, a Chinese national, has been announced as the New Executive Vice President and CEO of the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
Zeinab Bashir El Bakri, a Sudanese national, has been announced as the newest member of the World Bank Inspection Panel. El Bakri has more than 20 years of experience in international development, many of which were spent at the African Development Bank (AfDB).
Bretton Woods Project posts meetings notes of UK civil society organizations and UK Executive Director to World Bank, Susanna Moorehead. Agenda items included IDA16 mid-term review/IDA17 replenishment, Agriculture and Land, Doing Business rankings, the Oyu Tolgoi Mine Project, and more.
Do you know who your World Bank Executive Director Is? Check out the World Bank Executive Director Directory page from Bank Information Center.
Burma groups detect flaws in World Bank’s re-engagement move
After pressure from civil society in Burma, the World Bank released a draft summary of its Interim Strategy Note (ISN) last month, an outline of its re-engagement plans with Burma over the next 18 months. The move comes after local and international NGOs claimed that the Bank had not adequately engaged in consultation with civil society. The draft ISN is meant to inform the consultation process, and the final ISN is due to be released by the Bank in the end of October.
Tata Mundra Ultra-Mega Power Project (UMPP)
In July, Tata Power completed the second 800-megawatt unit of the power project. The first 800-megawatt unit was commissioned in March. Upon completion, the project would have five 800-megawatt units to power five states in India.
Early last month, the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO), and independent part of the World Bank Group, recommended a full compliance audit of the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) $450 million investment in the Tata Mundra UMPP. The CAO had been conducting a compliance appraisal for a year before
deciding to recommend a further inquiry into the environmental and social assessments.
Forests
AIDESEP, a Peruvian national indigenous peoples’ organization, has written to the World Bank Forest Investment Programme “expressing serious concerns that INDUFOR, the team of consultants hired by the Peruvian government to develop a draft national investment plan, are still failing to address their key concerns and ensure their rights are safeguarded.” Specifically, AIDESEP challenges the World Bank Forest Investment Programme to engage in the required full and effective consultations of indigenous peoples’ rights to land and resources.
The National Coordinator of Indigenous Peoples in Panama (COONAPIP) claims that the UN has failed to meet pledges made regarding Reducing Emissions from Desforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+)
implementation, including the delay of a $1.79 million payment to COONAPIP for REDD+ activities. In a recent letter, the UN denies ever making such a pledge to COONAPIP. As a result, COONAPIP has threatened to “formally definitively withdraw from the REDD process in Panama” if the pledged funds by the UN are not delivered and an agreement is not signed.
Lonmin Mine Massacre
After violence at Lonmin’s Marikana platinum mine, in which 34 South African striking miners were killed on August 16th and two police officers and eight other miners were killed in the preceding week, the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) called on the World Bank to revisit its investment in Lonmin, the operator of the Marikana platinum mine. The massacre was one of the bloodiest police actions since the end of apartheid.
Shortly after CIEL’s announcement about the violence and the World Bank Group’s investments in Lonmin, the International Finance Corportation (IFC) issued a statement which said it was “deeply concerned” with the violence at the mine and urged the parties to solve the labor disputes through negotiation. Subsequently, the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR) issued a report claiming that Lonmin has not met the obligations that it agreed to with the IFC, including the development of the local community.
Updates on Eskom, plans for a coal-fired power plant in Kosovo, the World Bank in Yemen, the Gibe III Dam, the Oyu-Tolgoi Mine, and more…
South African power utility Eskom was called before Parliament to answer questions regarding the cost of its Medupi and Kusile coal-fired power stations. MPs argued that the cost of electricity from Medupi would be far higher than what it costs Eskom to produce electricity elsewhere, essentially putting the price on par with renewable energy sources.
Bank Information Center recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Yemen Observatory for Human Rights. BIC and YOHR committed to coordinating their activities related to encouraging civil society participation in World Bank activities in Yemen.
In mid-July, the World Bank decided to provide $684 million in order to finance the transmission line from the Gibe III dam to Kenya, in an attempt to distance itself from directly supporting the dam project. International financial institutions like the European Investment Bank and the African Development Bank (AfDB) pulled out of the project as a result of lack of transparency and environmental effects on the Omo River, shrinking its flow to Lake Turkana by 85%.