Safeguards

Infrastructure

News

Bank response to oil, gas and mining review “completely inadequate”

The Bank management response to the recommendations of the Extractive Industries Review was released 18 June to widespread criticism.

26 July 2004

Rights

News

Middle-income strategy threatens safeguards

A coalition of NGOs led by International Rivers Network has raised alarm bells that a proposed World Bank middle income country strategy will seriously weaken policies meant to protect vulnerable groups and the environment.

28 May 2004

Infrastructure

Commentary

The World Bank's high-risk hypocrisy

the World Bank is not serious about the social and environmental policies it trumpets at global conferences. Senior World Bank staff in its India office indicated that they neither know nor care about procedures that are supposed to make its infrastructure lending socially responsible. This represents institutional hypocrisy.

5 April 2004 | Guest comment

Environment

News

Indigenous Peoples Policy delayed

On 20 October, World Bank Vice President Ian Johnson responded to Extractive Industries Review Eminent Person Emil Salim confirming that the Bank will delay finalisation of the Indigenous Peoples Policy until the first quarter of 2004.

24 November 2003

Rights

News

New book examines key Bank accountability mechanism

A book assesses the impact of the World Bank Inspection Panel which hears grievances of project-affected people.

17 November 2003

Environment

News

Pipeline approval sparks renewed criticism of Bank role

An outcry from NGOs has followed the World Bank Group decision to invest in a Central Asian oilfield and pipeline development.

8 November 2003

Rights

Analysis

World Bank social and environmental policies: abandoning responsibility?

The World Bank is planning a controversial major overhaul of its ten social and environmental policies.

12 September 2003 | Briefings

Environment

News

Controversial extractives review nears endgame

Emil Salim, the 'Eminent Person' in charge of the Bank's Extractive Industry Review (EIR), has…

11 September 2003

Environment

News

World Bank announces renewed big infrastructure push

The World Bank President has pledged that the Bank will revive its support for megaprojects and a new report expresses serious concerns about the Bank's track record in this area.

8 September 2003

IFI governance

Analysis

G-7, civil society press for IMF, World Bank transparency reforms

The World Bank and the IMF have responded to complaints about their lack of transparency by issuing mountains of documentation and offering innumerable meetings and consultations. But critics are still not satisfied, pointing to the difficulty for people to find and interpret many of the documents produced, and to the opacity of the institutions’ key decision-making bodies.

29 May 2003 | Briefings