Bank board accepts status quo in oil and gas
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The management response to the Extractive Industries Review (EIR) – described by development and environment campaigners as “completely inadequate” – has been accepted by the board of the World Bank. The management response rejected calls in the review for a phase-out of support for oil and coal, made merely symbolic gestures towards increasing support for renewables, and watered down language on the rights of indigenous peoples to oversee extractive developments on their land.
‘The World Bank has ignored the EIR recommendations and endorsed business as usual’, said Jon Sohn of Friends of the Earth. ‘The EIR called for an ‘extreme energy makeover,’ but the Bank has opted for a cheap pedicure. It has missed a historic opportunity to bring its lending more in line with its mission to alleviate poverty’.
