Rich countries agree to provide a paltry $300 billion in public finance by 2035 including funds channelled through MDBs, as Small Island States and Least Developed Countries stage walkout.
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International Finance Corporation (IFC)
Accountability
Analysis
Missing in action: accountability is noticeably absent from the World Bank Group’s new Corporate Scorecard
The Corporate Scorecard’s accountability gap is symptomatic of a broader failure on the part of the WBG to fully internalise, integrate and learn from the work of its accountability mechanisms.
Land
News
World Bank goes full steam ahead on agribusiness, but new CAFOD report highlights gendered harms of Bank's approach
Under President Banga, the World Bank is going full steam ahead on agribusiness financing with a $9 billion annual commitment by 2030, but a CAFOD report highlights harmful gendered impacts of current approach to commercialising farming.
IFI governance
News
New report debunks claims that inadequate MDB transparency results from private sector concerns
Amid underwhelming private capital mobilisation, new report underscores poor state of transparency and disclosure of private sector finance by multilateral development banks and development finance institutions.
IFI governance
Analysis
Annual Meetings 2024 Wrap-up - Don’t look back: BWIs plough down path of reforms lacking evidence and willingness to engage with broader UN-led reform processes
The 2024 World Bank and IMF Annual Meetings, taking place in the context of the institutions’ 80th anniversary, offered little substantive reform despite multiple ongoing organisational processes and reviews.
IFI governance
Analysis
Annual Meetings 2024 Preamble: BWIs’ management and key shareholders stand in the way of transformative governance reforms despite ‘evolution’ rhetoric
Unconvincing World Bank Evolution Roadmap reforms and IMF’s struggle to mainstream climate and gender symptomatic of wider malaise.
IFI governance
Analysis
New World Bank Corporate Scorecard: overlooking client priorities and ignoring development impact
The World Bank’s new Corporate Scorecard misses the forest for the trees as it lacks an indicator to measure the Bank’s contribution to economic transformation, a cornerstone of its development mandate.
Finance
Analysis
The lost call for international financial architecture reform in the G20
At the 80th anniversary of the World Bank and IMF, global civil society must maintain pressure on the Brazilian and South African G20 presidencies to ensure the forth Financing for Development Conference in 2025 results in urgently required international financial architecture reform.
Other news
Accountability
News
CAO report adds to concerns about IFC's compliance with its own GHG emissions obligations
CAO report substantiates civil society findings about IFC’s failure to comply with its own requirements for GHG emissions measurement, alternatives analysis, mitigation and disclosure.
Environment
News
Trump election may add pressure to reverse World Bank’s prohibition on support for nuclear power
Donald Trump’s election may result in a revision of World Bank’s long-standing prohibition of support to nuclear power.
Infrastructure
News
Banga calls energy access a ‘human right’ as he announces World Bank will provide access for 250 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2030
Explicit mention of human rights obligations has long been a taboo subject at the World Bank.
Environment
News
IFC trade finance continues to invest in fossil fuels, with no board oversight
New research by Urgewald finds that the World Bank Group invested an estimated $3.7 billion in oil and gas developments in 2022 via trade financing.
IFI governance
Background
Beyond size in IDA21 replenishment: What about socio-economic transformation?
Notes from Civil Society Policy Forum panel 19 April titled, "Beyond size in IDA21 replenishment: What about soci0-economic transformation?"
IFI governance
Background
When exits and accountability collide: What happens when IFC exits projects mid-accountability process?
Notes from Civil Society Policy Forum on Thursday, 18 April titled, "When exits & accountability collide: What happens when IFC exits projects mid-accountability process?"
Environment
News
Civil society raises concerns of widespread IFC noncompliance with its own Performance Standards on greenhouse gas emissions
New analysis by Bank Climate Advocates of 300 projects found IFC failed to follow its own guidelines on ‘emissions quantification, alternatives analysis, mitigation, disclosure and affected communities impact assessment’.
Finance
News
A different ‘evolution roadmap’: Havana conference calls for changes in world order hierarchy
As IMF and World Bank tinker at margins, 50 policymakers, diplomats and academics from over 26 countries issue Havana Declaration calling for an assertion of Southern power and the building of a new "planetary bloc".
Featured briefings
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16 October 2024
The lost call for international financial architecture reform in the G20
At the 80th anniversary of the World Bank and IMF, global civil society must maintain pressure on the Brazilian and South African G20 presidencies to ensure the forth Financing for Development Conference in 2025 results in urgently required international financial architecture reform.