The World Bank Board approved the Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline project in early June. Several executive directors expressed concerns about the project but praised the efforts of World Bank management to integrate safeguards into the project such as the revenue management law for Chad.
The Board requested that World Bank management report back regularly to the Board on the progress of implementing this project and that an Independent Advisory Group be established.
Issues addressed will include:
- the funding and implementation of the Indigenous Peoples’ Plan;
- assessment procedures for future oil field development in the region, and;
- funding and management of off-set areas to compensate for biodiversity lost to the project.
The Environmental Defense Fund organised a joint NGO statement welcoming the proposal to establish an Independent Advisory Group, as the Bank is “notoriously weak in policy compliance and project supervision”. It suggested a series of principles for the establishment and functioning of the Group, to make it genuinely independent of the World Bank. This was signed by 73 NGOs and NGO Umbrella Organizations in 23 Countries.
