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.
Indigenous peoples
Infrastructure
Analysis
World Bank says "stars are aligned" for large infrastructure
The World Bank, in conjunction with the G20, is reinvigorating its infrastructure focus, paying particular attention to leveraging resources from the private sector and investing in fragile and conflict affected states. It announced a return to big hydropower projects, despite continued concerns about projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guatemala and Uganda.
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 private equity fund implicated in Honduras dam
Amidst new complaints on the failure of the investments of the IFC’s financial sector clients to meet the IFC performance standards, including a controversial dam in Honduras, civil society organisations have rejected the IFC’s proposed action plan as unacceptable.
Rights
News
Ethiopia refuses Inspection Panel investigation
Ethiopia has said that it will not cooperate in a proposed investigation by the World Bank's accountability mechanism, the Inspection Panel (IP), into a programme linked to the Bank that according to the indigenous peoples filing the complaint led to "forced villagisation".
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.
Accountability
News
World Bank moves on 'land grabs'
In April World Bank president Jim Yong Kim said that the Bank shares the concerns "about the risks associated with large-scale land acquisitions" and that "additional efforts must be made to build capacity and safeguards related to land rights".
Environment
Analysis
Climate Investment Funds Monitor 7
The Climate Investment Funds (CIFs) are financing instruments designed to pilot low-carbon and climate-resilient development through the multilateral development banks (MDBs). They are comprised of two trust funds - the Clean Technology Fund (CTF) and the Strategic Climate Fund (SCF).
Environment
News
World Bank ignores IEG on logging
The World Bank board's Committee on Development Effectiveness responded in early February to a December evaluation of its forest strategy by the Bank's Independent Evaluation Group (IEG), by accepting some recommendations but "disagree[ing] with the IEG's recommendation regarding timber concession reform in tropical moist forest countries."
Rights
News
Safeguards: World Bank urged to incorporate human rights commitments "in all of its activities"
As the consultations on the World Bank's safeguards review progress, indigenous peoples groups and NGOs raised concerns over the process. There were also increased calls for the Bank to respect human rights in its policies, including a report from a UN Special Rapporteur.
Featured briefings
21 July 2022
Ending “absolute immunity” for the International Finance Corporation: The legacy of Jam v. IFC
EarthRights International examines how the Jam v. IFC case has helped to shift the landscape of accountability for international financial institutions by successfully challenging their claim to “absolute” immunity in US courts, potentially opening IFC up to further legal challenges in future.
21 July 2022
The Bretton Woods Observer: Summer 2022
14 April 2022