Despite an unprecedented consultative process involving thousands of stakeholders from government, civil society, and the private sector, the review and update of the World Bank safeguard policies has proven to be a missed opportunity for the Bank to reclaim its place as a global leader in development. While the new Environmental and Social Framework (ESF) …
Washington, DC—Trustees of the Calvert Social Investment Fund are considering a ban on purchasing World Bank bonds, in response to proposed changes to the Bank’s Environmental and Social Framework (ESF) that weaken protections for Indigenous Peoples. Since 2012, the Bank has been revising the ESSF, which is intended to identify and minimize harm caused by …
As World Bank member governments gather in Myanmar to discuss their contributions to the International Development Association, the Bank’s fund for the poorest countries, the Bank Information Center is calling on donors to make the adoption of stronger safeguard policies a key objective in the replenishment negotiations. In support of this call, BIC has released …
Joint letter asks the World Bank to go public with the final draft of its safeguard policies WASHINGTON, DC Today, 69 civil society organizations from 26 different countries asked World Bank management to maintain transparency throughout the ongoing review of its environmental and social policies. The World Bank’s environmental and social safeguard policies have been …
International activists discussed research gaps, safeguards, and new advisory position at the World Bank On April 11th, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim met with activists from 17 countries to discuss how LGBTI individuals can fully benefit from World Bank projects and programs in light of the powerful discrimination they experience in their countries. The …
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Water Disputes Persist as Rio Tinto Pushes Ahead with Second Oyu Tolgoi Mine (PRAGUE; KHANBOGD SOUM, MONGOLIA, February 10, 2016) – A large new copper mine in Mongolia could cause irreversible damage to terrain and deprive water from some of the world’s last remaining nomadic herding groups, finds a new report released today …
New research today reveals that not one of the world’s main development banks is on track to help keep the world below 2 degrees warming. Instead, the banks – funded by tax-payers – continue to support fossil-fuel projects in developing countries. Worst performers include the World Bank’s private sector lending arms[1] which promote fossil fuels …
PRESS RELEASE (October 5, 2015) The World Bank, with an overarching mission to end poverty, hosts its Annual Meetings this week in Peru. Given that the impacts of climate change disproportionately harm the poor, and that world leaders are set to make a global agreement on climate change this December, climate is at the top …
PRESS RELEASE Dangerous Rollback in Environmental and Social Protections World Bank’s New Framework Undermines President Kim’s Commitment to “No Dilution” (Washington, August 4, 2015) The World Bank has released new draft safeguard policies[i] that will vastly weaken protections for affected communities and the environment at the same time as the bank intends to finance more …
More than 100 organisations across the world released a joint open statement expressing deep concerns about the World Bank’s support for a multinational chain of low-fee profit-making private primary schools targeting poor families in Kenya and Uganda, Bridge International Academies (BIA).