This World Bank Annual Meetings 2016 Civil Society Policy Forum session addressed how the World Bank Group can ensure that its financial intermediary (FI) investments are consistent with its forest and climate commitments. New research by Inclusive Development International on the impacts of IFC FI investments on forests, land rights, and climate was presented. A …
Photo © Joe Athialy (Washington DC, October 3, 2016) – The World Bank Group has secretly funded a coal boom in Asia despite announcing a moratorium on such projects in 2013, according to the results of a new investigation. World Bank President Jim Yong Kim has spoken forcefully about the dangers of new coal projects. …
[Valerie Plesch/Al Jazeera] BIC’s Nezir Sinani was quoted in an Al Jazeera article on Kosovo’s coal country by Valerie Plesch. The article finds that “residents living in the polluting shadows of two power plants may soon contend with a third.” Find the full article here.
On September 30th, the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission held a hearing at the United States Congress on international financial institutions (IFIs) and human rights, chaired by Congressman Jim McGovern. Witnesses included BIC’s Nezir Sinani from Kosovo, Milton Sanchez from Peru, and Obang Metho from Ethiopia, who testified on the human rights impacts of World …
Fishing communities and farmers from India filed suit against the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in federal court in Washington, D.C. The plaintiffs allege that the IFC caused the loss of their livelihoods, destroyed their lands and water, and created threats to their health by funding the Tata Mundra coal-fired power plant in Gujarat, India.
The World Bank seems eager to provide financial support to the Kosovar government for construction of a new coal-based power plant. But what about the people who are in the path of the expanded power plant and coal mine? Kosovo and the World Bank are trying to avoid responsibility for the impoverishment and suffering that will surely come on the heels of the involuntary resettlement of over 7,000 Kosovars from their homes and communities.
Currently the World Bank lags behind other financial institutions when it comes to integrating climate-related issues into their environmental and social policies. The safeguard policy review the Bank is currently undergoing presents an important opportunity for the Bank to establish a stand-alone safeguard policy on climate change. This gap in policy has allowed the World …
A Kosovo police officer inspects the damage caused by an explosion that rocked Kosovo’s main power plant, in Obilic, Kosovo, Friday, June 6, 2014 Photo: AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu via Climate Progress On Friday, Kosovo’s oldest lignite-based power plant exploded, killing two and injuring 13 people. The accident is the latest to occur in this country’s …
Tuesday, April 8, 2014 Contact: Nicole Ghio (nicole.ghio@sierraclub.org) 202-675-6270 Jelson Garcia (jgarcia@bicusa.org) and Bharat Patel (bharatp1977@gmail.com) , 202 802 2995 As the World Bank and IMF hold their Annual Spring Meetings this week, the General Secretary of Machimar Adhikar Sangharsh Sangathan (MASS – Association for the Struggle for Fishworkers’ Rights) Dr.Bharat Patel will deliver a …
Forbes Asia recently published an article, entitled “Doing Big Business in Modi’s Gujarat“, that exposes the political context and the influence of Big Business interests in the development of the Tata Mundra Coal Plant. The project has faced growing opposition by fishing companies over the national and World Bank policy violations, which were confirmed in …