The World Bank has published several papers on its pilot programmes for index-related insurance in developing countries to hedge against weather-related risks. They vary from support for local insurance companies to weather derivatives sold in international financial markets. According the Bank, private insurance should be seen as supplemental to public intervention and other forms of support such as cooperatives. A September briefing from the Bretton Woods Project, however, faults the Bank for
Briefings
IFI governance
Analysis
IMF financial package for low-income countries: Much ado about nothing?
This briefing analyzes announcements made at the end of July by the IMF regarding the level of their financial commitments to low-income countries (LICs) and finds them wanting in relation to the size of new resources, the flexibility of conditionality, and the imrpovements needed to SDR allocations.
Conditionality
Analysis
The potential development implications of enhancing the IMF's resources
In April 2009, the G20 group of leaders committed $1.1 trillion to combat the financial crisis, with the bulk of this being channelled through the International Monetary Fund (IMF). However, this substantial amount of resources may never be provided, and if it is, may not have the intended positive effect on developing countries. Experience so far demonstrates that the IMF is still imposing damaging pro-cyclical conditions on some borrowers, and that the finance provided to low-income count
Environment
Analysis
Are climate pilots building towards the right climate architecture?
Current climate pilot projects, many of which are housed under the World Bank, are not leading us towards an equitable and effective post 2012 climate architecture envisioned by NGOs in the UK and beyond.
Accountability
Analysis
Bretton Woods Project submission on the DFID White Paper
In a submission the the DFID white paper consultation, we set out the significant change needed at the World Bank and IMF to bring them into line both with international norms and with UK policy, in order to improve their contribution to sustainable development. In this submission we outline changes needed in: IFI governance; IFI conditionality policies; IFI policies related to aid effectiveness; IFI policy on climate change; private-sector finance; and the financial sector's impact on devel
IFI governance
Analysis
Memorandum by the Bretton Woods Project for the UK Treasury Committee
There are two major problems which interacted together to cause the crisis: the failure of the financial regulatory and supervisory systems and the failure of the international monetary system. These problems are outlined in written evidence submitted to trhe UK Treasury Committee.
Environment
Analysis
REDD and the rights of Indigenous Peoples
One of the most contentious issues under discussion in current climate change debates is how to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) by ensuring protection of the world's rainforests. Mrinalini Rai of the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change argues that this initiative, heavily backed by the World Bank among others, raises questions about how to ensure fair compensation to those developing countries that undertake a commitment to such reductions.
IFI governance
Analysis
Country positions for the London Summit
On April 2 several industrialised and emerging market economies will meet at the London summit. Slowly, the policy positions of participating countries are emerging and give an overview of what might be the outcomes of the meeting. This paper gives an overview of official standpoints of participating countries ahead of the summit on a variety of topics and, taking that into considerations, provides an overview of what is likely to be agreed on in the end.
IFI governance
Analysis
Bretton Woods 2: What should be on the agenda?
What roles should twenty first century international financial institutions (IFIs) play, and how should they be structured? This paper sets out some of the key issues that would need to be resolved at a second UN monetary and financial conference - a 'Bretton Woods 2' - and discusses the road ahead.
Conditionality
Analysis
The World Bank, the IFC and the antecedents of the financial crisis
The financial crisis seemed to come out of the blue, but Paulo dos Santos of the University of London argues that the ground was laid by financial sector privatisation, liberalisation and deregulation. Far from these trends being confined to the rich world, the World Bank and the IFC have played a key role in pushing these policies throughout emerging markets, exposing them to the fallout of the financial crisis.
Finance
Analysis
Africa and the making of adjustment
Development economist and professor of African studies Howard Stein examines the evolution of policy in the Bank, focusing on how economists became hegemonic. In this essay he details the origin of structural adjustment, tracing its roots back to a set of neoliberal economists who gained influence at the Bank in the late 1970s.
Accountability
Analysis
The IMF's regressive secret
While tax policy and reform is an election battleground in developed countries, the IMF has increasingly turned it into a secret technocratic exercise in developing countries. This briefing examines the IMF's involvement in providing advice on tax policy, particularly its recommendations for the imposition of value added taxes (VATs).
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Year one of World Bank Paris Agreement alignment in the energy sector: ‘green conditionality’ dwarfs green investments
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The Bretton Woods Observer: Summer 2024
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Is the World Bank rolling back commitments to citizen engagement, again?
Understanding the Bank’s chequered history with public, community and civil society participation is key for understanding what is at stake and what to do next.