US has abstained from voting on an IFC investment in a forestry project in Mozambique, raising concerns about environmental and social impacts.
Forests
Accountability
News
Gonzalo Castro de la Mata appointed new Inspection Panel member
Gonzalo Castro de la Mata was appointed as a new member of the World Bank's Inspection Panel in December 2013.
Rights
News
Inspection Panel finds World Bank did not apply safeguards on Kenya forest project
The World Bank board has approved the action plan in response to the Inspection Panel report on the Kenya Sengwer case. The Sengwer indigenous community welcomed the action plan but demanded recognition of their status as "custodians" of the Embobut forest.
Environment
Analysis
World Bank forests projects under fire
World Bank continues to strongly back REDD+ forest projects, which have been criticised for not consulting indigenous peoples or respecting land rights.
Rights
Analysis
IFC fails to act on human rights abuses in Honduras
IFC accountability mechanism formally links World Bank client to human rights abuses on palm oil project in Honduras, and highlights systemic problems with IFC procedures.
IFI governance
News
US Congressional legislation threatens IMF and World Bank plans
US legislature’s spending bill blocks IMF governance reform, insists the World Bank pay reparations to communities that suffer human rights abuses, and bans US support for large dams or extractive projects in tropical forests.
Environment
Analysis
Kenya evictions: foreshadowing future World Bank forest work?
Indigenous peoples have been evicted from their forests by a conservation project in Kenya funded by the World Bank. The Bank is currently drafting a new forests action plan.
Environment
Analysis
Forest Investment Program (FIP)
Chapter of CIFs Monitor 8 on the Forest Investment Program (FIP)
Finance
Analysis
The IFIs in 2013: year in review
The Bretton Woods Project review of the most important developments at the World Bank and IMF in 2013.
Private Sector
Analysis
IFC financed 'land grabs' in Cambodia, Laos and Honduras exposed
While the World Bank's leadership is further embracing private equity funds, the IFC's investment in financial intermediaries is again hitting the headlines over allegations of 'land grabs' in South East Asia and lack of respect for indigenous people's rights in Honduras.
Featured briefings
1 October 2024
Year one of World Bank Paris Agreement alignment in the energy sector: ‘green conditionality’ dwarfs green investments
New BWP research finds the Word Bank's approach to Paris alignment is being used to a significant extent to impose ‘green conditionalities' on borrowing countries, especially in the Global South.
3 July 2024
The Bretton Woods Observer: Summer 2024
3 July 2024
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.