On April 12, 2014, the World Bank held a session for civil society during Spring Meetings in Washington, DC entitled “Safeguards Review and Update: Setting Standards for Sustainable Development.” A full eighteen months after the World Bank initiated the review of its social and environmental safeguard policies, the review process is once again moving …
In late April 2014 BIC participated in the Regional Dialogue “Trends in Infrastructure Investments in the Region Climate Change and Governance” in Lima, Peru with more than 20 other Latin American organizations. The event was organized in two parts, one public and one internal workshop. The main objectives in the “regional dialogue” were: • Articulation …
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 …
Those wishing to join as signatories to this letter may contact David Shaman at dshaman@bicusa.org Mr. Jim Yong Kim President World Bank Washington, DC February 24th, 2014 Dear President Kim, We, the organizations and individuals undersigned, write to urge you to use your authority to expand funding for B-SPAN, the Bank’s Internet-based webcasting system, so …
The recently passed omnibus spending package clearly supports the broad poverty alleviation goals of the international financial institutions (IFIs)—fully funding most of them despite making difficult cuts elsewhere in the budget—but makes clear that their work must be subjected to effective safeguards against harms to people and the environment. This message should be heard loud …
Congressional Briefing: Human Rights at the World Bank On December 19, in conjunction with the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission of the U.S. House of Representatives, BIC was pleased to co-host a Congressional briefing on human rights and the World Bank with Human Rights Watch and the Center for International Environmental Law. The purpose of the …
Community Controlled Impact Assessment and Impact and Benefit Agreements: Relevance for upward harmonization of World Bank Group Safeguard Policies Presentation and Panel Discussion with Ciaran O’Faircheallaigh Professor of Politics and Public Policy in the School of Government and International Relations, Griffiths University, Australia Panel Moderator: Vince McElhinny, Sr. Policy Advisor, Bank Information Center Respondents: Meg Taylor, …
IFC’s dismissive response to the CAO’s findings regarding the Tata Mundra plant was met with immediate and heavy backlash from NGOs, especially those surrounding the Gujarati power plant. The full press statement from Machimar Adhikar Sangharsh Sangathan, along with the documents in question (IFC response, CAO audit), can be found here. Since that time, though, there …
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 …
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 …