IF-EYE Newsletter
Issue #48
Thursday, June 24, 2010
A publication of the Bank Information Center (BIC)
Welcome to the June 24, 2010 issue of the IF-EYE – the Bank Information Center’s monthly synthesis of key developments concerning international financial institutions. This issue spotlights an article on Egypt's opportunity to invest in renewable energy, a BIC report on the Camisea project in Peru, and an interview with activist Mirvari Gahramanli of Azerbaijan. Please send suggestions, contributions and subscription requests to: info@bicusa.org. Thanks for reading!
in this issue:
1. SPOTLIGHT: Investing in renewable energy for Egypt's future
2. SPOTLIGHT: BIC co-publishes report on natural gas in Peru
3. SPOTLIGHT: Activist Q&A: Meet Mirvari Gahramanli
4. Civil Society Updates
5. IFI Updates
6. Announcements and Resources
1. SPOTLIGHT: Investing in renewable energy for Egypt's future
6/22/2010 Al-Masry Al-Youm
Writing in the Egyptian daily Al-Masry Al-Youm, Amr Mohsen of Lotus Solar Technologies and BIC's Amy Ekdawi lay out the case for Egypt to seek a transition to renewable energy now and to request that the World Bank aid this change of direction in concert with the input of Egyptian civil society. The Bank will hold an energy consultation in Cairo on June 29th, which can be attended by video conference. To sign up for more information about the consultation click here.
read the article
Read More (Al-Masry Al-Youm)
2. SPOTLIGHT: BIC co-publishes report on natural gas project in Peru
6/17/2010 Bank Information Center
The Camisea natural gas project in Peru was promoted as a means of turning Peru's natural wealth into development outcomes for its residents, but years later social and environmental problems persist. This report uses the problems of the Camisea project as a lens to analyze ways that international financial institutions can better manage extractives projects to ensure that local populations reap the benefits of development and don't fall prey to the resource curse.
Read more (BIC website)
3. SPOTLIGHT: Activist Q & A: Meet Mirvari Gahramanli
6/24/2010 Bank Information Center
BIC highlights the work of Mirvari Gahramanli of Azerbaijan's Oil Workers’ Rights Protection Organization (OWRPO). OWRPO’s focuses on the protection of human rights, evaluation of the impacts of activities of oil companies on society and the environment, and advocates for transparent, equitable and efficient expenditure of oil revenues. OWRPO’s. mission is to both protect human rights and hold the government accountable.
Read more (BIC website)
4. Civil Society Updates
International Rivers and nearly 100 others send letter to World Bank on dams
6/23/2010 Various CSOs
In response to the World Bank's pledge to increase large hydropower projects, Shannon Lawrence of International Rivers and nearly 100 cosigners from civil society write to ask that the Bank honor the findings of the World Commission on Dams and only invest in projects with specific provisions to mitigate social and environmental impacts as well as guarantee that the project directly reduces poverty. If you would like to sign on to the letter, please contact Katy of International Rivers at Katy@internationalrivers.org.
read the letter
CSO letter to the World Bank on Dams, June 23, 2010 (PDF, 68KB)
Human rights (the World Bank way)
6/21/2010 World Resources Institute
A new article published in the Bretton Woods Update from the staff of the World Resources Institute examines the World Bank's relationship with human rights. Many studies have found a correlation between respect for human rights and economic development. The Bank has several policies in place that approximate or overlap with human rights law, but do not explicitly tie the Bank to compliance.
Read more (Bretton Woods Project website)
Low cost solution could empower off-grid poor
6/17/2010 AllAfrica.com
A new lamp using inexpensive solar technology is being developed in Africa as part of the "Lighting Africa" initiative started by the World Bank. This technology, less efficient but more affordable than others, could bring electric light to off-grid Africans and reduce dependence on kerosene, which is both expensive and can be dangerous.
Read more (AllAfrica.com)
Update on large dams “bible” released
6/11/2010 Water Alternatives
Case studies in the 10 years since the World Commission on Dams report demonstrate that true partnership amongst key stakeholders can produce transformative resource-sharing agreements. This follow up report from Water Alternatives finds that in order to counter the renewed pressure to expand large dam investment, additional research into non-dam alternatives is essential.
Read more (BIC website)
read the report
The World Commission on Dams +10: Revisiting the large dams controversy, Water Alternatives, June 2010 (PDF, 612 KB)
Communities speak out against displacement
6/3/2010 The NGO Forum on Cambodia and Conservation and Development for Cambodia
On May 9, 2010, women and men from five villages of Sihanoukville in Cambodia gathered and met with representatives of the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO), the independent recourse mechanism for the IFC regarding the IFC financed expansion of the Sihanoukville airport.
Read more (BIC website)
BIC's concerns and policy recommendations on IFC policies and Performance Standards
6/2/2010 Bank Information Center
In light of the International Finance Corporation's review of its Sustainability Policy, Performance Standards and Disclosure Policy, the Bank Information Center has outlined its major concerns and policy recommendations that it will be presenting to the IFC throughout the review process. BIC highlights the issues of extractive industries revenue and contract transparency; reporting on development outcomes; and the principle of free, prior and informed consent and broad community support for risky projects.
Read BIC's position statement
Review of IFC Sustainability Policy, Performance Standards and Disclosure Policy: BIC Concerns and Policy Recommendations 5/11/2010 (PDF, 228KB)
Joint CSO statements
CSO letter on IFC policy review, 7/27/2009 (PDF, 87KB)
IFC's Response to Civil Society Letter, 8/11/2009 (PDF, 76KB)
Joint Submission of CSO Comments on IFC Policy Review Process 2010, 3/11/2010(PDF, 228KB)(Also available in Español)
Activists protest Energy Strategy consultation in Brussels
6/3/2010 Friends of the Earth Europe
The protestors, led by Friends of the Earth Europe, gathered peacefully outside of the meeting where they demanded an end to the World Bank's financing of fossil fuel projects.
Read more (BIC website)
BIC and FDPD co-host energy workshop in Cairo as first event within new protocol
6/1/2010 Bank Information Center
On May 3, 2010, the Forum for Dialogue and Partnership in Development and the Bank Information Center organized a panel discussion to bring together energy experts from NGOs, the private sector, and academia among others, to discuss Egypt's energy sector and the role that the World Bank Group would ideally play in that sector. The event also marked the first collaborative effort within a new BIC-FDPD protocol.
Read more (BIC website)
ClimateWire: Eskom fallout spurs new opposition to World Bank's role in climate funding
5/24/2010 ClimateWire
A new ClimateWire article looks into the growing number of voices concerned about the World Bank's role in a post-Copenhagen world. The Bank's recent approval of a controversial loan to South African utility Eskom has spurred several previously reserved groups to demand reforms. BIC board member David Hunter was quoted.
Read more (BIC website)
Civil society writes letter opposing general capital increase
5/18/2010 Various CSOs
More than 100 civil society organizations from around the globe signed on to a letter demanding an end to all fossil fuel projects at the World Bank with aims other than energy access for the poor. Until the Bank halts the financing of such projects, bringing them into line with the G20 and APEC pledges to phase out fossil fuel subsidies, these CSOs will oppose the Bank's recapitalization ask.
read the letter
Civil society statement on energy access and public financing of fossil fuels, May 6, 2010 (PDF, 124 KB)
5. IFI Updates
CSOs give feedback on IFC Performance Standards
6/17/2010 Various CSOs
More than 50 representatives from civil society organizations (CSOs) and industry convened at the World Bank headquarters in Washington, DC last week to provide feedback for International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) Policy and Performance Standards Review.
Read more (BIC website)
Nearly 300 CSOs say there is "no role" for the World Bank in climate finance
6/11/2010 Various CSOs
Civil society organizations from more than 50 countries released a letter to President Obama recently asking the U.S. to withhold support for any scheme in which the World Bank would have a major role in climate finance, citing the body's undemocratic nature and poor record with climate change.
Read more (BIC website)
read the letter
CSO letter to President Obama on climate finance, June 10, 2010 (PDF, 88 KB)
Ten years since the Chad-Cameroon pipeline, has the World Bank learned its lesson?
6/8/2010 Groupe Tchad
On the tenth anniversary of the funding of the Chad-Cameroon Oil & Pipeline Project, the World Bank continues to practice problematic energy investment strategies. Groupe Tchad has written a report documenting the failures of the project which the World Bank has not turned into lessons for its investments. This emblematic project and its problems should inform the Bank's new Energy Strategy and how it invests in poor communities.
Read more (BIC website)
read the report
"The logic was sound, but reality interferred," The World Bank Group and the Chad-Cameroon Oil & Pipeline project, Groupe Tchad, June 2010 (PDF, 414 KB) Also Available in French.
World Bank investigates Cambodian land titling project
6/3/2010 Bridges Across Borders Cambodia and the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions
The World Bank Inspection Panel began its investigation into the Bank-funded Land Management and Administration Project (LMAP) in Cambodia earlier this month, following a complaint that World Bank safeguard policies were disregarded during the $28.8 million project, leading to more than 20,000 forced displacements.
Read more (BIC website)
New South African coal plant seeks emission credits for "cleaner" coal
6/3/2010 ClimateWire
On the heels of winning a $3.75 million loan from the World Bank, South African utility Eskom is now seeking carbon credits from the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism. Environmentalists are outraged that one of the largest coal plants in the world could receive public funds from both the World Bank and the CDM.
Read more (New York Times website)
Civil society representatives bring energy concerns to Bank in Kazakhstan
6/1/2010 Various CSOs
In late May, nearly 100 representatives of civil society, government, and private sector companies consulted on the World Bank's Energy Strategy. The meeting, held in Almaty, Kazakhstan and videoconferenced to three other countries in the region, focused on hydropower, governance, and extractives.
Read more (BIC website)
6. Announcements and Resources
Energy Strategy consultation to be held in Cairo on June 29th
This upcoming Tuesday, the World Bank will hold a late announced energy consultation from Cairo via videoconference. This multi-stakeholder consultation will be open to anyone interested in participating in the process and helping to shape the Bank’s new Energy Strategy.
Click here to sign up for more information about this consultation
World Bank will launch new Access to Information Policy on July 1
The Access to Information Working Group is finishing up its preparations for the July 1 launch of the new policy. Though the policy was approved in December, AIWG has been working for 6 months to create guides for the new policy and to train staff on implementation. The World Bank's new Access to Information Portal, which will help users find documents they need or request documents they cannot find will be at www.worldbank.org/WBAccess
Read more (BIC website)
BIC to release new Access to Information Toolkit
The World Bank's new Access to Information Policy will drastically change how people get documents from the Bank. In order to help civil society navigate the new rules and processes, BIC is developing an Access to Information Toolkit, to be posted on our website in early July. Check the BIC website for additional details.
read more
BIC's World Bank Transparency Review website
Summer 2010 IFC policy review consultations
As the IFC conducts its consultations for the Performance Standards review in June and July, BIC will be collecting notes from each event, explaining the issues raised, suggestions made, and format of the meetings. This will be part of BIC's revamped IFC policy review page coming soon.
Summer 2010 IFC policy review consultations