Environment

News

Unearthing the IFC's links to mining abuses

3 October 2012

As mining projects in South Africa and Peru face violent opposition, critics are questioning the stakes held by the International Finance Corporation (IFC, the World Bank's private sector arm) in the corporations at the centre of the controversies. New IFC funding for mining projects in Mongolia and Guinea is also causing alarm, leading to a call for a return to the recommendations of the 2005 Extractive Industries Review.

Infrastructure

Commentary

World Bank making poverty worse in Kosovo

Before joining civil society organisations (CSOs), I worked for Kosovo's state-owned power company for many years. During my time there I learned how the coal industry works and how much it negatively affects every segment of our lives. Already two years ago, Kosovan CSOs warned the World Bank that things would not turn out well for Kosovo should the Bank continue supporting and pushing for coal development projects in the country.

3 October 2012 | Guest comment

Environment

News

World Bank's climate record in the dark

As the World Bank officially stepped into its role as interim trustee of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change's (UNFCCC) new Green Climate Fund (GCF), its track record on fossil fuel investments continues to raise concerns.

2 October 2012

Background

Clare Woodford joins the Project

We are delighted to welcome Clare Woodford as the new communications and research officer of the Bretton Woods Project, taking over from Ana Paula Canestrelli.

12 October 2012 | Project news

Finance

News

IMF commits gold windfall to PRGT, concerns this risks "entrenching" LIC debts

As the IMF reviews lending facilities, it has decided to commit windfall profits to financing such lending, raising concerns that this may prolong poor nations' indebtedness.

3 October 2012

Conditionality

News

IMF's "incompetence" and "failures" in Europe led to "suffering"

The IMF's role as a member of the Troika, the grouping of the European Central Bank (ECB), European Commission and the Fund in the eurozone crisis, is attracting new criticism. Deepening recessions in eurozone nations have brought the efficacy and appropriateness of Troika-led reforms into question.

3 October 2012

Conditionality

News

No strings attached?

Egypt has been in talks to get over $11 billion in foreign aid, of which at least $7.5 billion will be contingent on IMF approval, sparking concerns from activists over policies likely to be imposed by the Fund, just as it has ended its conditionality review.

3 October 2012

IFI governance

Background

World Bank lending facilities

The World Bank's investment lending (ILs) have been joined in recent years by new lending instruments, whilst IL itself faces an overhaul, as the Bank's operational policies come under review and pilots for the use of 'country systems' mature. The Bank is presently using four lending instruments: investment lending, development policy lending (DPL), Program-for-Results, and the World Bank guarantee program.

3 October 2012 | Inside the institutions

Finance

News

Avoiding crashes on the financial "highway"?

The launch of the World Bank's new annual study, the Global financial development 2013 report (GFDR) and an IMF conference on financial crises, both in September, have renewed scrutiny of the Bank and the IMF's support for the development of private sector financial systems and the role their policy advice played in the global financial crisis.

3 October 2012

Finance

News

Revamped IMF surveillance: lacks influence?

The IMF has modified its mandate for scrutiny of its members' economies, pushing for greater oversight of large important countries. Doubts remain over its ability to influence the policy process in its biggest members.

3 October 2012

Accountability

News

World Bank safeguards under scrutiny

With the World Bank's safeguards review due to be launched, indigenous groups and civil society organisations (CSOs) called for it to be rigorous and extensive. Meanwhile, the environmental and social track record of the Bank and its private sector arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), has come under scrutiny in India, Colombia and Brazil.

2 October 2012