http://www.bicusa.org/en/Issue.4.aspx The latest news on Environmental & Social Policies from the Bank Information Center 10 http://www.infodev.org/images/infodev.gif http://www.bicusa.org/en/Issue.4.aspx At the Washington National Cathedral an unlikely gathering of bishops, preachers, and advocates met to explore how they might draw attention to the harm that bad mining practices wreak on people and land. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12634.aspx Wed, 16 May 2012 15:14:09 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12634.aspx Today residents of Obiliq, Kosovo carried out a protest against a new coal power plant that has funding from the World Bank and the support of the US government. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12613.aspx Fri, 30 Mar 2012 12:29:40 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12613.aspx The workshop Oslo REDD Exchange 2011 was organized by Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI) and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), on 23-24 June 2011. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12531.aspx Thu, 01 Sep 2011 14:35:41 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12531.aspx It took many years to establish the World Bank's operational policies that safeguard society and the environment, and are some of the world's highest development standards. As the Bank reviews these policies, civil society is organizing efforts to present their concerns and expectations, and offer their imputs as to what the outcome of the review should be. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12528.aspx Wed, 31 Aug 2011 15:01:29 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12528.aspx Granting titles to large companies and individuals in national parks and other protected ecosystems is controversial because it was an openly illegal action. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12522.aspx Mon, 15 Aug 2011 11:54:54 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12522.aspx According to the MPF, the evaluation of impacts of hydroelectric plants has been partial and does not reflect the true environmental risks. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12521.aspx Mon, 15 Aug 2011 11:32:03 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12521.aspx http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12520.aspx Thu, 11 Aug 2011 15:29:21 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12520.aspx The disimbursement of the funds for the third section of the Villa Tunari-San Ignacio de Moxos highway is now being withheld until the preservation of the ecosystem in the Indigenous Territory in the Isiboro Sécure National Park (TIPNIS) is guaranteed, a commitment by the government of Evo Morales to Brazil. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12519.aspx Thu, 11 Aug 2011 15:18:44 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12519.aspx The Bank Information Center, World Resources Institute, and the Center for International Environmental Law have prepared a briefing that introduces the World Bank safeguards review which will begin in September 2011. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12509.aspx Thu, 04 Aug 2011 12:08:38 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12509.aspx The Peruvian legislature has approved an additional payment to complete the Southern Interoceanic Highway, linking the Andean country with Brazil. The highway is expected to be completed in 2012 http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12498.aspx Sun, 24 Jul 2011 20:51:56 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12498.aspx President Evo Morales again accused indigenous leaders —who he says are influenced by European NGOs— of borrowing money for projects like the construction of the Villa Tunari-San Ignacio de Moxos highway, which cuts through the TIPNIS. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12489.aspx Wed, 13 Jul 2011 11:23:37 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12489.aspx At the same time it is funding a dam that will devastate indigenous lands and block the Xingu River, Brazil's National Development Bank (BNDES) may allocate some $14.3 million (BRL 22.3 million) in grants for projects developed within the Kayapo indigenous lands, reports Conservation International. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12467.aspx Tue, 12 Jul 2011 11:05:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12467.aspx The BNDES’s preposterous involvement in the corporate dispute between French multinationals over the Pão-de-Açúcar supermarket chain shows that the state-owned bank has strayed far from its original mission. What exactly is the BNDES’s role nowadays? http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12466.aspx Tue, 12 Jul 2011 10:07:01 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12466.aspx With emotionally-charged messages, the representatives of indigenous communities marched against the construction of a highway that would split the TIPNIS in two, arguing that its construction allows for the ethnocide of communities who arduosly worked for the park to become an Originative Communal Land (TCO). (Spanish). http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12464.aspx Fri, 08 Jul 2011 11:15:44 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12464.aspx The World Bank, the Technical Advisory Panel, and the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility present their comments on the latest draft of the the Colombia R-PP. (Document links). http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12459.aspx Thu, 07 Jul 2011 16:27:34 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12459.aspx Peru submits their fourth version to the FCPF Participants Committee at their eight meeting in March 23-25. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12458.aspx Thu, 07 Jul 2011 14:18:08 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12458.aspx http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12456.aspx Tue, 21 Jun 2011 17:11:21 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12456.aspx After nearly three years and numerous endeavors, the Carabayan clamor attains the cancellation of the Inambari Hydroelectric dam construction, and not precisely due to the consent of the central government, but because the situation grew unsustainable alongside other unrealized social and environmental problems in the Puno region. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12454.aspx Mon, 20 Jun 2011 13:05:59 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12454.aspx http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12427.aspx Thu, 28 Apr 2011 10:37:28 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12427.aspx The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights considered that Indigenous Peoples must be consulted BEFORE the dam’s construction begins http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12401.aspx Tue, 05 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12401.aspx A few days before the presidential elections, the party Peru Posible's (PP) spokesman Carlos Bruce, signed the Environmental Agreement, an initiative that seeks after environemtal proposals and commitments for the political parties that will participate in the elections on April 10th. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12398.aspx Tue, 29 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12398.aspx http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12392.aspx Sun, 27 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12392.aspx Peru approved the 4th version of its R-PP at the 8th meeting of the FCPF Participants Committee in Da Lat. They agreed to incorporate some inputs they discussed with Indigenous Peoples and Mesa REDD Peru. The changes will be added to the next version. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12391.aspx Fri, 25 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12391.aspx Guyana has seen deforestation rates soar over the last year, despite the signing of an agreement with the Norwegian government aimed precisely at supporting a reduction in deforestation rates, said Global Witness today. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12378.aspx Mon, 07 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12378.aspx In general the REDD discussions are based on the assumption of command and control policies that combines investment and capacity to implement economic incentives to avoid deforestation. In this sense there is relatively little emphasis in the discussion of solutions to structural problems that lead people from different sectors to adopt strategies that lead to deforestation and forest degradation, in other terms governance scenarios. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12152.aspx Fri, 24 Sep 2010 18:25:41 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12152.aspx Andrew Steer was recently appointed to be the World Bank's first envoy on climate change, overseeing the creation of a coherent plan for the Bank to confront the issue. ClimateWire profiles Steer, seeing many praises of the man, but uncertainty in how much change he can bring. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12136.aspx Thu, 09 Sep 2010 11:29:04 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12136.aspx The World Bank recently created the position of Special Envoy for Climate Change, a position charged with overseeing massive amounts of money put toward mitigation efforts. Andrew Steer is the first person appointed to this position. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12122.aspx Thu, 02 Sep 2010 10:01:12 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12122.aspx A coalition of stakeholders has demanded that the World Bank continue its freeze on palm oil investments until it has implemented an acceptable strategy for investment in the sector. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12120.aspx Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:44:18 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12120.aspx Three environmental groups called on the World Bank to stop obstructing the overhaul of the United Nations program for awarding emission credits tied to hydrofluorocarbons. They claim that analytical and factual errors in a World Bank report would lead to a derailing of the Clean Development Mechanism. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12112.aspx Fri, 27 Aug 2010 10:13:40 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12112.aspx Ecuador's £3.6bn scheme to save its rainforest from exploitation could point the way to sparing other threatened landscapes. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12088.aspx Tue, 10 Aug 2010 11:44:15 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12088.aspx Following the Inspection Panel's decision to launch a full investigation into the recently approved loan to South African utility Eskom, South African and international CSOs called for the World Bank to learn from the loan as it reviews its Energy Strategy. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12073.aspx Wed, 04 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12073.aspx The Panel was given the green light today to conduct a full investigation into alleged policy violations in the World Bank's loan to South African power utility Eskom based on a complaint from local communities, who allege that the project will result in significant harms to their health, environment and livelihoods. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12065.aspx Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:58:12 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12065.aspx Bolivian Deputy Minister of Environment Juan Pablo Ramos and Director Environment Luis Beltrán submitted irrevocable resignation from their posts on Friday of last week, after government officials tried to force them to sign an environmental permit for the construction of a highway in the Chapare region of Cochabamba. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12058.aspx Tue, 27 Jul 2010 14:29:13 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12058.aspx Prof. Jeffery Webster interviews Alberto Acosta, ex-Minister of Energy and Mines, and ex-President of the Constituent Assembly. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12054.aspx Fri, 23 Jul 2010 11:10:52 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.12054.aspx Organizations from different Asian countries demanded that multilateral agencies place additional and stronger safety provisions in their investment standards to ensure that poor communities do not become more vulnerable due to 'aggressive' development projects. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11991.aspx Wed, 14 Jul 2010 09:11:41 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11991.aspx According to the World Bank, as part of the public consultation process under the Red Sea–Dead Sea Water Conveyance Study Program, the Beneficiary Parties (the Government of Israel, the Government of Jordan and the Palestinian Authority) plan to hold a series of meetings to update interested stakeholders on the progress under the Red Sea-Dead Sea Water Conveyance Study Program and seek their feedback. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11905.aspx Thu, 10 Jun 2010 16:21:02 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11905.aspx 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. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11890.aspx Thu, 03 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11890.aspx 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. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11889.aspx Mon, 24 May 2010 14:02:48 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11889.aspx The Peruvian Congress approved on Wednesday a provisional ruling on a law for the Right to Prior Consultation of Indigenous and Native Peoples. Still, indigenous groups emphasize the need to reconcile the development vision of the State and that of indigenous peoples, which is not always the same. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11887.aspx Fri, 21 May 2010 10:44:32 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11887.aspx Jake Schmidt of the Natural Resources Defense Council writes that before the U.S. commits to funding the World Bank's capital increase, the Bank must commit fully to being part of the climate change solution. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11876.aspx Wed, 12 May 2010 11:49:09 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11876.aspx At a dinner in the Rayburn Congressional Office Building, representatives of non-governmental organizations, the U.S. government, and multilateral development banks came together to celebrate the Pelosi Amendment, a longstanding requirement for environmental assessment in MDB loans. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11875.aspx Wed, 12 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11875.aspx On April 24, BIC launched a model Energy Strategy for the World Bank. Taking advantage of the many representatives of government and civil society in town for the World Bank Spring Meetings, we held an event with an expert panel addressing the World Bank's problmetic approach to energy and how the Bank can transform its lending. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11874.aspx Thu, 06 May 2010 10:08:50 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11874.aspx A BIC-IeSR press release calls on the World Bank to clean up its energy investments before approval of an $86 billion recapitalization this fall. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11873.aspx Wed, 05 May 2010 11:25:32 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11873.aspx The Huffington Post publishes a BIC op-ed on civil society's insight and input into the World Bank's Energy Strategy review process. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11870.aspx Mon, 03 May 2010 14:11:57 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11870.aspx Despite pledges to the contrary, a new report from environmentalist Joshua Frank shows that the Obama administration is subsidizing coal to an unprecedented degree, including through the World Bank and other MDBs. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11869.aspx Fri, 30 Apr 2010 15:52:43 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11869.aspx A new report from WRI coathored by BIC board member Athena Ballesteros examines MDB investment in the power sector between 2006 and 2008 and what the policies, regulations, and institutional capacities of this period mean for the future. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11868.aspx Fri, 30 Apr 2010 15:13:56 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11868.aspx A new factsheet from BIC consultant Heike Mainhardt-Gibbs shows that fiscal year 2010 is the most the World Bank has ever loaned for fossil fuel. There are still two months left in FY2010, during which the Bank will decide on a coal plant to be built in Botswana. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11867.aspx Thu, 29 Apr 2010 15:21:15 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11867.aspx Against the backdrop of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund's spring meetings this weekend, numerous groups have chimed in on the need for and direction of a new World Bank energy strategy. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11863.aspx Wed, 28 Apr 2010 11:19:42 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11863.aspx As the World Bank is crafting its new Energy Strategy, BIC has put together a model for how we think the Bank's final strategy should look. The model was created in consultation with civil society and energy experts worldwide. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11859.aspx Mon, 26 Apr 2010 11:49:30 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11859.aspx Civil society organizations voice opposition to the World Bank's recapitalization ask. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11857.aspx Thu, 22 Apr 2010 13:41:27 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11857.aspx http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11864.aspx Thu, 22 Apr 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11864.aspx http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11865.aspx Mon, 19 Apr 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11865.aspx In an interview with Amy Goodman of Democracy Now, Desmond D'Sa of the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance spoke about the controversial loan to Eskom and what will be done now that the Board has approved it. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11839.aspx Fri, 09 Apr 2010 16:18:32 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11839.aspx South African activist Desmond D'Sa is quoted in the ClimateWire article. Sources say that later today, the U.S. will abstain from voting on the controversial Eskom loan rather than vote against it. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11837.aspx Thu, 08 Apr 2010 10:42:38 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11837.aspx http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11849.aspx Thu, 08 Apr 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11849.aspx Civil society activists converged at the World Bank on Wednesday afternoon in protest of the proposed $3.75 billion loan to South African power utility Eskom. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11836.aspx Wed, 07 Apr 2010 17:00:01 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11836.aspx http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11846.aspx Wed, 07 Apr 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11846.aspx http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11851.aspx Mon, 05 Apr 2010 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11851.aspx BIC highlights the work of Sergei Vorsin of Tajikistan's Taraqqiet Development Centre. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11825.aspx Wed, 31 Mar 2010 17:24:57 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11825.aspx Habi Center for Environmental Rights continues to engage the World Bank and the Egyptian government on the West Delta project. Egyptian CSOs have been urging the Bank to consider an alternative irrigation project which would help poor farmers as well. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11824.aspx Thu, 25 Mar 2010 16:01:58 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11824.aspx Cofan leader Emergildo Criollo traveled to California recently from his indigenous village in Ecuador to the home of Chevron’s new CEO John Watson, demanding that the oil giant take responsibility for the contamination of the Amazon and hundreds of related deaths. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11820.aspx Mon, 22 Mar 2010 11:31:23 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11820.aspx Friends of the Earth is planning a discussion with two South African activists about the proposed $3.75 million loan to Eskom which will fund the construction of the Medupi power station tomorrow at 1 p.m. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11803.aspx Tue, 16 Mar 2010 11:25:22 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11803.aspx The staff of Senator Richard Lugar released a report to the Committee on Foreign Relations calling for reform of the IFIs before Congress approves upcoming capital replenishment requests for the institutions. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11797.aspx Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:10:34 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11797.aspx “In our capacity as regional authorities, we have conducted a technical analysis of this project and we will not endorse it, because this project will only benefit Brazil” stated Víctor Paredes Argandeña, regional director of Energy and Mining in Puno. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11786.aspx Mon, 01 Mar 2010 12:16:30 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11786.aspx The Bangladeshi government objects to grant money being channelled through the World Bank, which it says will attach unfavourable "strings and conditions." http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11774.aspx Tue, 16 Feb 2010 15:31:16 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11774.aspx Alongside the Energy Strategy review, the Bank has been working on a revision of its broader Environmental Strategy since September 2009. This calendar shows both the upcoming consultation dates and summaries of previous consultations. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11747.aspx Thu, 28 Jan 2010 09:39:12 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11747.aspx Five countries recently submitted Readiness Preparation Proposals to the Participants Committee of the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility. Argentina, DRC, Ghana, Mexico, and Suriname will have their proposals for grant allocation reviewed at the next meeting of the Participants Committee in March. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11733.aspx Wed, 20 Jan 2010 12:39:47 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11733.aspx The U.S. Department of the Treasury recently released guidelines on the funding of coal power plants by multilateral development banks, prompting mixed reactions from civil society. BIC board member Athena Ballesteros and Sustainable Energy Expert Yong Chen are quoted, expressing enthusiasm as well as concern about the guidelines and their effectiveness. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11732.aspx Wed, 20 Jan 2010 10:58:25 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11732.aspx Dr. Vandana Shiva of the Navdanya Trust reviews the Copenhagen conference and its underlying politics. Coming from a Global South perspective, he finds little basis for continued delay in action or the implicit assumption that present economic dominance by the Global North and certain polluters must be maintained at all costs. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11723.aspx Wed, 13 Jan 2010 11:01:03 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11723.aspx On December 14th, the U.S. Treasury released a note titled "Guidance to MDBs for Engaging with Developing Countries on Coal-Fired Power Generation" which will guide how U.S. representatives to MDBs deal with proposed coal projects. Here, BIC comments on the functionality of the new policy. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11715.aspx Mon, 11 Jan 2010 10:17:21 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11715.aspx In December 2009, the U.S. Treasury released a guidance note intended to be adapted by individual MDBs and incorporated into their respective operational policies, country and sector strategies, and other procedures that are related to the public or private project cycle for coal-powered generation operations. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11708.aspx Thu, 07 Jan 2010 13:25:02 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11708.aspx Phil Radford, executive director of Greenpeace USA, writes a rebuttal to the World Bank on their energy lending and argues that they are still quite far from being a "climate-friendly" bank. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11699.aspx Tue, 22 Dec 2009 17:26:59 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11699.aspx Using BIC's recently published numbers on World Bank energy lending, Richard Mahapatra of InfoChange India writes about the "carbon trap" that the World Bank is locking developing countries into for the next 30 to 40 years. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11694.aspx Tue, 15 Dec 2009 11:31:49 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11694.aspx In his op-ed featured on All Africa, Frank Muramuzi of the National Association of Professional Environmentalists analyzes the World Bank’s disastrous approach to energy lending, focusing specifically upon large hydropower projects in Uganda. He emphasizes the point that the Bank’s current policies lead to more poverty, further widening the gap between the rich and the poor. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11691.aspx Mon, 14 Dec 2009 12:34:14 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11691.aspx Straddling one the Amazon's main tributaries and flanked by dense jungle, a construction pit the size of a small town bustles with bulldozers and nearly 10,000 workers blasting huge slabs of rock off the river bank. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11690.aspx Mon, 14 Dec 2009 10:42:06 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11690.aspx As the World Bank is expediting a $3.75 billion dollar loan to the South African power utility Eskom, mostly for the coal fired Medupi power station, a new report from South African NGO GroundWork looks at the state of Eskom, and what the influx of money will mean for the company and the country. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11687.aspx Mon, 14 Dec 2009 09:28:49 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11687.aspx Colombia asserts that it does not deforest to clear land for palm plantations and is seeking support for investment in biofuels. The Minister of Environment proposes zoning of national territory to identify appropriate zones for palm plantations "so that we all have a clear understanding of where we should go with palm plantations in this country and to avoid unorganized, poorly planned development". http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11686.aspx Fri, 11 Dec 2009 11:24:46 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11686.aspx Phil Radford, Executive Director of Greenpeace USA, has written an Op-Ed for Foreign Policy on the World Bank and coal. He argues that there is a contradiction between the Bank's stated goals about reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the continued funding for coal centered projects. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11683.aspx Wed, 09 Dec 2009 16:19:45 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11683.aspx BIC board member and environmental expert Korinna Horta considers the challenges and opportunities for REDD and forest governance in the Congo Basin region. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11682.aspx Wed, 09 Dec 2009 11:57:14 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11682.aspx James Hansen, the scientist who drew attention to the Bush administration's manipulation of climate change data, says that despite improved rhetoric, politicians are still engaged in "greenwash" and that they are seeking to continue business as usual. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11684.aspx Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11684.aspx Nine years after the Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline was begun, and one year after IBRD and IDA pulled out, attention has faded fast. The disasterous effects of the project, however, are just beginning. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11677.aspx Fri, 04 Dec 2009 10:31:57 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11677.aspx http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11676.aspx Fri, 04 Dec 2009 08:03:28 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11676.aspx The major IFIs have appealed to the governments meeting at Copenhagen to come to a comprehensive agreement on climate change mitigation, pledging to use their own resources to contribute. Some are critical, however, of how ready these institutions are to tackle the issues involved. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11671.aspx Wed, 02 Dec 2009 16:14:01 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11671.aspx Former president of Ireland Mary Robinson and Senior Fellow at the Miller Institute Alice Miller have written a new article about the social impacts of climate change. They argue that if the World Bank is going to be the default institution for climate financing, it can vastly improve its practices to live up to this role. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11669.aspx Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:39:37 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11669.aspx The Peruvian head of state reiterated the country's need to become a great energy power in South America. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11668.aspx Tue, 01 Dec 2009 10:22:31 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11668.aspx The Bolivian government and IDB have signed funding agreements totaling US$262mn to finance a number of development initiatives in the country, according to a communications official at IDB's Bolivian office. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11667.aspx Mon, 30 Nov 2009 11:17:20 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11667.aspx Public money in Brazil is being used by the state development bank to finance deforestation projects and others that trample rights, concentrate wealth, and encourage "imperialist" expansion of large national companies, according to activists at a three-day meeting in Rio de Janeiro. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11665.aspx Mon, 30 Nov 2009 10:48:05 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11665.aspx The project, to be signed next December, will allow both countries to take advantage of transport via the Huallaga, Marañón and Amazon rivers. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11654.aspx Wed, 25 Nov 2009 10:08:02 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11654.aspx South Africa's power company believes that the World Bank will make a decision about whether to loan up to $5 billion to the company in the first half of 2010. The money would go toward the construction of the Medupi coal fired power station, as well as other energy projects throughout the country. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11653.aspx Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:57:30 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11653.aspx The Inambari dam would flood 120 km of the Interoceanic Highway, on which upgrading work has already begun. It seems that in both Peru and Brazil the ministries of transport and of energy don’t talk to each other. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11651.aspx Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:09:25 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11651.aspx "The new roads and waterways have to be built, but built in compliance with local communities looking for protection of the forest," said Marina Silva, a senator from the western Brazilian state of Acre, and the country's former environment minister. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11650.aspx Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:01:52 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11650.aspx Documents from the informational forum held in Madre de Dios stated that the hydroelectric center's reservoir would flood all territory below 540 meter above sea level, covering approximately 410 square kilometers. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11638.aspx Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:51:16 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11638.aspx In a statement from President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the Brazilian government announced that the rate of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon was reduced by 45% between August 2008 and July 2009 compared to the previous year. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11636.aspx Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:28:45 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11636.aspx Two days after the United States and China again refused to sign an agreement to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, the United Nations expressed its expectation that a legally binding international agreement on the issue will be ratified in Mexico in late 2010. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11635.aspx Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:39:44 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11635.aspx The following video was presented to the Inter-American Comission on Human Rights in Washington, protesting the construction of mega-projects financed by the World Bank and IDB. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11631.aspx Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:19:16 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11631.aspx Guyana and Norway on Monday inked an agreement that will see Oslo paying up to a total of US$250 million by 2015 for Guyana to preserve its forests. Norway will provide financial support to Guyana based on its success in limiting emissions, enabling Guyana to begin implementation of its Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS). Terms of the deal stipulate Guyana must take action on issues of transparency and accountability before any money is disbursed. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11629.aspx Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:00:32 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11629.aspx Parliament Representative from Puno, Susana Vilca Achata, presented a declaration from civil society of the Carabaya province to the vice minister of Energy and Mining, Daniel Camac Gutiérrez, in which they demanded public consultation before construction of the Inambari mega-project. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11623.aspx Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:58:48 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11623.aspx Ex Minister of Energy and Mining, Carlos Herrera Descalzi, asserts that Peru's energy demand over the next several years puts the country at a disadvantage regarding the hydroelectric project. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11621.aspx Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:49:03 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11621.aspx Indigenous groups from Bolivia, Brazil and Peru filed a case against their respective governments Nov. 2 in the Washington-based Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, alleging that the Initiative for the Integration of Regional Infrastructure in South America, or IIRSA, is causing collective human rights violations against their communities. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11620.aspx Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:36:50 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11620.aspx The Bolivian president demanded today that the "gendarmes of the global economy" pay for damages that the capitalist system has caused to the environment. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11618.aspx Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:42:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11618.aspx The World Bank is moving to become one of the major institutions taking on climate change through its Climate Investment Funds, among other policies. However, Heinrich Boell Foundation president Barbara Unmuessig believes that without reforms, the Bank will not be able to effectively or fairly alter the course on global warming. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11614.aspx Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:48:10 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11614.aspx The 220 km IIRSA project will cut through territory of the indigenous communities of Flor de Ucayali and others in the Iskonahua Territorial reserve. Indigenous groups have expressed concern over the consequences forced contact could have on these groups, which live in voluntary isolation. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11600.aspx Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:54:46 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11600.aspx http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11597.aspx Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:54:58 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11597.aspx BIC's Africa Program Manager, Josh Klemm, is quoted in a This is Africa article about the problematic $860 million Bujagali Hydropower plant project in Uganda, financed, in part, by the IFC. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11595.aspx Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:13:53 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11595.aspx The bid to include forests in initiatives to mitigate climate change is turning out to be a sensitive issue for the planet. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11590.aspx Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:16:46 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11590.aspx "Climate change has been produced principally by the rich countries, but it most affects the countries of the third world," President Rafael Correa said in London. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11589.aspx Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:39:10 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11589.aspx The “Corina” megaproject will require a total investment of US$ 10 billion, to be provided by the central government and private capital sources. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11584.aspx Mon, 26 Oct 2009 10:16:18 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11584.aspx There are many reasons to oppose carbon trading. The most important is that carbon trading will not address climate change. Rising Tide North America together with Carbon Trade Watch and the Camp for Climate Action is launching a new website, 350 Reasons. Governments should not be looking for innovative ways to create loopholes for polluters or to create fortunes for carbon traders. Instead we need to dramatically reduce emissions – quickly. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11583.aspx Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:54:21 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11583.aspx A report recently released by Greenpeace illustrates clearly why REDD offset projects will neither address climate change nor stop deforestation. The report questions the claims made by the project developers about leakage, additionality, permanence and the ability of the project developers to measure accurately the amount of carbon stored in the forest. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11559.aspx Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:05:34 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11559.aspx Representatives from social and environmental organisations and movements met recently for two days in Belém, Pará state, Brazil to discuss REDD. After the meeting they produced the following letter calling on the Government of Brazil to reject REDD as a carbon market-based mechanism, and as a way of compensating emissions from Northern countries. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11555.aspx Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:58:59 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11555.aspx http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11554.aspx Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:32:15 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11554.aspx It was confirmed yesterday that Mexico will receive 1.504 billion dollars in financing for “encouraging green growth”; the loan will focus on economic strengthening and environmental programs. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11553.aspx Wed, 21 Oct 2009 09:32:04 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11553.aspx Declaration of the Peruvian College of Engineers (CIP) published in El Comercio October 19 http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11552.aspx Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:19:57 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11552.aspx The two leaders are pushing for the meeting in hopes that "all countries in the region with Amazon territory arrive at the Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen in December of this year with a unified strategy ", explained Lula da Silva. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11550.aspx Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:48:48 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11550.aspx The tribunal will hold its first hearing in Cochabamba, Bolivia today, judging the multinationals and states responsible for global warming and violating the rights of the people and Mother Nature. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11549.aspx Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:41:01 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11549.aspx At a ceremony in Roraima, Lula announced that Minister of Mines and Energy, Edison Lobao and president of the Brazilian National Development Bank (BNDES), Luciano Coutinho will meet in Guyana in October to discuss the matter with Guyanese president Bharrat Jagdeo. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11534.aspx Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:13:09 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11534.aspx http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11533.aspx Thu, 08 Oct 2009 13:49:59 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11533.aspx “It's difficult to say whether Inambari or the other dams will represent a benefit to Peru. What is evident is that the construction of large dams on Amazonian rivers will have enormous economic repercussions in terms of foreign debt, and obviously extreme social and environmental impacts. The truth is that we are obligated to reflect on these impacts before embarking on construction”, said Marc Dourojeanni, consultant to the IDB. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11532.aspx Thu, 08 Oct 2009 13:46:22 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11532.aspx Sociedad Civil por la Carretera Transoceánica (SOCIT) accused the College of Engineers of Peru (CIP) of altering the final conclusions of the Regional Forum “Construction of the Inambari Hydroelectric Station", organized and hosted by the college August 28 and 29. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11531.aspx Thu, 08 Oct 2009 13:43:41 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11531.aspx The renowed journalist stated on Pachamama Radio that the construction of the Inambari Hydroelectric Station should be decided through a referedum, given what he described as an attitude of conquest and disrespect toward local regions among authorities in Lima. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11530.aspx Thu, 08 Oct 2009 10:29:58 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11530.aspx National congresswoman Susana Vilca warned that granting definitive concession to the Inambari Hyrdoelectric Station to EGASUR would be permanent, as stipulated in the Law of Electric Concessions. Definitive concessions for the development of electric projects are granted for unspecified periods of time. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11528.aspx Thu, 08 Oct 2009 09:59:09 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11528.aspx In the Regional Forum “Construction of the Inambari Hydroelectric Station” which took place August 28 and 29, the College of Engineers of Peru reached some critical conclusions surrounding the proposed hydroelectric project. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11527.aspx Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:18:10 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11527.aspx The estimate, which does not consider transmission, includes the provision of tax exemptions, the cost of training of the Special Purpose Company (SPC) and the cost of insurance. "This was the value quoted to TCU as the result of a study on investment optimization" says Mauricio Tolmasquim, president of EPE. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11526.aspx Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:07:09 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11526.aspx Disregard of environmental impacts, lack of foresight on how to compensate the families who will be impacted by the work, and overestimation of energy and jobs that will be generated. According to investigators, prosecutors and civil society organizations, these are just some of the flaws in the Environmental Impact Assessment of the hydroelectric plant of Belo Monte, planned for construction on the Xingu River. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11524.aspx Wed, 07 Oct 2009 15:42:58 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11524.aspx Understanding desertification as a macroeconomic problem, with financial, productive, environmental and civil society aspects, is a major concern for Christian Mersmann, the managing director of the Global Mechanism of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11498.aspx Mon, 28 Sep 2009 10:55:51 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11498.aspx http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11478.aspx Thu, 17 Sep 2009 15:48:24 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11478.aspx In response to pressure from civil society and a CAO report detailing violations of the IFC's social and environmental standards in Indonesia, IFC agreed to suspend all palm oil financing until the gaps in procedures that allowed these violations to happen are closed. Over the next six months, IFC will study how failures have happened in the palm oil sector and how they can be overcome in the future. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11456.aspx Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:04:40 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11456.aspx After meeting with World Bank President, Robert Zoellick, Israel’s Deputy Prime Minister of Regional Development, Silvan Shalom, stated that the World Bank had agreed to fund the Red-Sea-Dead Sea Water Conveyance Program that involves Jordan, Palestine and Israel. However, Bank officials say that they have made no promises and that the project is still in the feasibility study phase. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11420.aspx Fri, 28 Aug 2009 17:05:04 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11420.aspx Brazil is building hydroelectric dams in the Amazon that some technicians and economists applaud while several environmentalists regret. It is worth the risk and investment? http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11405.aspx Thu, 20 Aug 2009 14:22:32 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11405.aspx An examination of how the hydroelectric plants of Jirau and Santo Antônio will impact the environment and the lives of Amazonian communities. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11404.aspx Thu, 20 Aug 2009 14:11:23 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11404.aspx The World Bank’s private sector arm – the International Finance Corporation (IFC) – has allowed commercial interests to override its social and environmental standards in making major loans to the oil palm sector in Indonesia, an internal audit reveals. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11402.aspx Mon, 10 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11402.aspx Puerto Maldonaldo, Madre de Dios, in heart of the Peruvian jungle, is the home to some of the worst offenses of sexual trafficking of minors. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11382.aspx Sun, 09 Aug 2009 10:27:21 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11382.aspx The project of constructing the Inambari mega-hydroelectric dam is generating discontent in the various affected communities in the province of Carabaya, who demand respect for the lands dedicated to agriculture. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11379.aspx Fri, 07 Aug 2009 11:25:19 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11379.aspx Read a BIC op-ed in The Huffington Post about Indonesia's problematic Readiness Preparation Proposal to the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11371.aspx Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:27:49 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11371.aspx Will the new crisis in the Nile affect the implementation of the West Delta project? http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11300.aspx Mon, 06 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11300.aspx The World Bank approves loans for renewable energy in southern countries while making sure Europe meets its energy goals. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11279.aspx Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:42:26 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11279.aspx As member countries assess the 9th replenishment proposal advanced by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) on July 2 in Santiago, Chile, eight civil society organizations submitted recommendations on leadership steps the IDB should take in several critical areas before qualifying for any capital increase. These recommendations focus on two core areas of the IDB’s comparative advantage as a development bank in Latin America, Sustainability and Management for Development Results. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11274.aspx Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11274.aspx After an abrupt about-face, an agency frets about its footprint http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11276.aspx Sun, 28 Jun 2009 07:39:50 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11276.aspx One of the key issues in Copenhagen climate change negotiations in December will be the creation of an international superstructure to provide incentives, and ultimately payments, to combat deforestation in tropical countries. As delegates from around the world gathered in Bonn last week to discuss the so-called "REDD issue" (e.g., reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation), violence erupted in the rainforests of Peru between indigenous groups and the government about plans to step up oil and gas exploration, mining, and logging in the Amazon. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11275.aspx Sat, 27 Jun 2009 09:21:16 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11275.aspx The Egyptian government's engagement in the West Delta project raises many questions regarding the repayment of the World Bank's loan. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11268.aspx Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:52:59 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11268.aspx The increasingly important topic of Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEAs) was recently discussed among civil society organizations in Bogota, Colombia. Participants in the event discussed the ways in which the SEAs can be most effective and how to overcome certain challenges in applying the SEAs to certain projects. Infrastructure and sustainable development topics are also covered in this SEA bulletin. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11262.aspx Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11262.aspx Someone should contact Neil Young and tell him to stop making albums about electric cars and start writing songs about the Amazon. While I write this in jest, the boringness of someone pulling your ear about the devastation of deforestation should still be as important as talking about topics such as the duel between San Francisco and Portland for electric car supremacy. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11240.aspx Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11240.aspx Government urged to drop criminal charges against indigenous leaders and allow independent investigation into violent incidents in Bagua, Peru http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11264.aspx Fri, 19 Jun 2009 11:21:32 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11264.aspx Negotiations are underway for the construction of six hydroelectric power plants in the Peruvian Amazon Region in a joint initiative of Alan Garcia and Lula da Silva. Serious inquires about the nature of the intiative and its implications for the region are not resolved which signals further problems. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11256.aspx Tue, 16 Jun 2009 10:45:40 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11256.aspx The debate surrounding carbon markets and REDD is polarizing and multi-faceted, especially for the Amazonian populations. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11238.aspx Tue, 02 Jun 2009 14:46:05 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11238.aspx State-owned oil company Petroperu said Sunday protests organized by Indians in Peru’s Amazon region were causing fuel shortages in several jungle cities. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11206.aspx Mon, 25 May 2009 08:40:25 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11206.aspx Two day conference underscores the need for improvements in the quality of social, environmental and economic evaluation, as well as the search for energy alternatives. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11201.aspx Fri, 22 May 2009 13:45:37 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11201.aspx The World Bank warned earlier this year that many of the Andes' tropical glaciers will disappear within 20 years. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11182.aspx Tue, 19 May 2009 11:48:53 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11182.aspx The recent April meeting among indigenous leaders of the Guiana Shield revealed their concerns about the IIRSA project and the lack of clarity around REDD and climate change. The indigenous leaders and their political counterparts agreed that there would be more participation and joint decision-making processes in the future about topics affecting the indigenous groups' land. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11174.aspx Wed, 13 May 2009 15:22:08 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11174.aspx The recent April meeting among indigenous leaders of the Guiana Shield revealed their concerns about the IIRSA project and the lack of clarity around REDD and climate change. The indigenous leaders and their political counterparts agreed that there would be more participation and joint decision-making processes in the future about topics affecting the indigenous groups' land. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11173.aspx Wed, 13 May 2009 14:46:36 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11173.aspx The recent April meeting among indigenous leaders of the Guiana Shield revealed their concerns about the IIRSA project and the lack of clarity around REDD and climate change. The indigenous leaders and their political counterparts agreed that there would be more participation and joint decision-making processes in the future about topics affecting the indigenous groups' land. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11172.aspx Wed, 13 May 2009 14:37:52 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11172.aspx http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11169.aspx Mon, 11 May 2009 10:52:41 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11169.aspx Peru is rushing to hold superficial public meetings to inform the public about plans to build the fifth largest hydroelectric dam in Latin America. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11141.aspx Thu, 07 May 2009 15:42:08 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11141.aspx At the recent Guiana Shield meeting, the Commissioner of Forest, Mr. James Singh, assured indigenous leaders that their communities will be consulted and included in the decision processes for the REDD project (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation). http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11130.aspx Fri, 01 May 2009 12:03:08 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11130.aspx http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11129.aspx Fri, 01 May 2009 11:46:24 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11129.aspx http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11128.aspx Fri, 01 May 2009 10:59:34 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11128.aspx Groups representing indigenous people of Guyana and the Amazon fear that climate change is superseding the guarantee of actions towards ensuring the rights of the indigenous people. Trevor Stevenson, Executive Director of the Amazon Alliance, is one of those who supports this view. He was in Guyana last week for the meeting of indigenous leaders of Guyana, Suriname and French Guyana. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11125.aspx Thu, 30 Apr 2009 12:29:48 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11125.aspx In a time when the financial market is lacking credit, the fund for investment in infrastructure which derives its resources from the FGTS (FI-FGTS) will contribute R$ 1,640 billion in financing to the construction of the San Antonio hydroelectric plant in the Madeira river, and become a shareholder of the consortium. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11119.aspx Mon, 27 Apr 2009 12:35:54 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11119.aspx Criticized by the Ministry of Environment, a streamlined licensing process should reach 40% of the roads listed in the federal program http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11113.aspx Sat, 18 Apr 2009 11:27:34 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11113.aspx The Ministry of Environment announced an agreement with the Brazilian Federation of Banks (Febraban) incorporating environmental criteria and guidelines for the release of credits to companies and ventures. While representing an improvement regarding to the enviromental impacts made by some investments, the coordinator of the Eco-Project Finance and the organization Friends of the Earth - Brazilian Amazon, Roland Widmer, warns that for the agreement to be effective, more it needs to be done. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11108.aspx Sat, 18 Apr 2009 11:00:38 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11108.aspx Civil society organizations have written a letter expressing their opposition to a measure that would allow the paving of roads through the Amazon. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11106.aspx Fri, 17 Apr 2009 10:02:40 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11106.aspx Scientists say 4°C rise would kill 85% of the Amazon rainforest. Even modest temperature rise would see 20-40% loss within 100 years http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11103.aspx Thu, 16 Apr 2009 16:12:14 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11103.aspx On the one hand, Brazil made some improvements reducing the rate of deforestation. On the other hand, IIRSA prevents the country from achieving its national environmental goals while deforestation puts the survival of the entire planet at risk. Deforestation is the cause of 20% of the world's global warming - more than the effects of all automobiles. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11101.aspx Thu, 16 Apr 2009 16:00:15 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11101.aspx The Machiguengas took over Petrobras' ships in the Bajo Urubamba river http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11099.aspx Wed, 15 Apr 2009 23:38:49 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11099.aspx http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11097.aspx Tue, 14 Apr 2009 00:29:14 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11097.aspx Both Bolivians and Brazilians do not agree with the privatization of the Rio Madeira. For different reasons but the same objective, the Bolivians and Brazilians join forces to oppose the privatization. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11077.aspx Thu, 19 Mar 2009 15:52:48 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11077.aspx Bolivians fear negative impacts from two dams (part of the Rio Madeira) in Bolivian territory. The Brazilian Minister, Celso Amorim assures the Bolivian government that the construction of the dams will not have these negative impacts. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11076.aspx Thu, 19 Mar 2009 15:34:09 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11076.aspx http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11068.aspx Fri, 13 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11068.aspx http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11065.aspx Tue, 10 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11065.aspx BIC to serve as NGO observer at the next meeting of the Committee of Participants for the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) that will take place on March 11-13 in Panama, Central America. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11055.aspx Fri, 27 Feb 2009 12:17:26 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11055.aspx Civil society requests for a delay go unanswered as the project is approved in the absence of an environmental impact assessment and amid significant transparency and governance issues. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11047.aspx Fri, 20 Feb 2009 16:23:40 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11047.aspx Panel finds policy violations, provision of false information, and direct support for controversial demolition of homes in an Albanian village http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11044.aspx Wed, 18 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11044.aspx Zoellick: "Bank's record with this project is appalling." Executive Directors acknowledge mistakes in Jale home demolitions and approve action plan. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11045.aspx Wed, 18 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11045.aspx The Amazon Basin Indigenous Peoples Organization (COICA) with our worldview, diversity of languages, history, cultures, spirituality, territory, economy, have existed since before recorded time. We have adopted different forms of organization and identity under the framework of the nation states which have established laws and regulations according to their own interests, not recognizing the ancestral rights of the first inhabitants of the amazon region. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11034.aspx Tue, 10 Feb 2009 11:08:15 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11034.aspx For the 2009 World Social Forum (WSF), a group composed of various organizations is organizing a two day workshop for updates and strategy building to inform, discuss, plan and act in defense of the rights of affected populations and the environment. The organizations are working to prevent and/or mitigate any type of social and environmental negative impacts caused by the Initiative for the Integration of Regional Infrastructure in South America (IIRSA) and other harmful development strategies. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11019.aspx Tue, 03 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11019.aspx The state of Rondonia, Brazil is subject to ongoing land conflicts between large land owners, small farmers and the state. The proposed hydroelectric dams on the Madeira River and the promise of jobs will only accelerate uncontrolled migration to the region. Weak governance results in frequent, violent confrontations over natural resource use. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11013.aspx Thu, 01 Jan 2009 07:32:51 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11013.aspx http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11011.aspx Mon, 29 Dec 2008 15:19:31 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11011.aspx A new agreement between Brazil, the World Bank and the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies is intended to train Brazilian state governments on reforms to local regulatory and licensing frameworks to facilitate great foreign direct investment in infrastructure projects. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11009.aspx Mon, 29 Dec 2008 11:05:23 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11009.aspx A new book of articles edited by Ricardo Verdum of the Brazilian Instituto de Estudio Socioeconomicos (Inesc) explores the trends in financing for megaprojects in South America. The book highlights the shifting balance between IFIs such as the World Bank, the IDB and CAF toward new institutions such as BNDES, as well as the competition between IIRSA and UNASUR. The book emphasizes the urgency for greater transparency and accountability in information and decision making about large, high risk infrastructure in the region. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11006.aspx Mon, 29 Dec 2008 08:50:57 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11006.aspx IDB Loan Approval Set for early 2009: The $200 million road project in Putumayo, Colombia is an anchor project for the IIRSA Amazonas Corridor and will unlock commercial traffic between the ports of Tumaco and Belem, as well as between Bogota and Quito. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11004.aspx Fri, 26 Dec 2008 09:33:56 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11004.aspx The Madeira Energy S/A (Mesa) business consortium, responsible for the construction of the Santo Antônio 3,100 MW hydroelectric dam, the first of several mega-dams planned for the Madeira in the Brazilian state of Rondônia, was fined R$ 7,7 million ($US 3.3 million) by the Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis (Ibama) as a penalty for their responsibility in the ecological accidente that resulted in the death of 11 tons of fish. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11003.aspx Wed, 24 Dec 2008 14:49:27 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11003.aspx The Inter American Development Bank set aside more than $900,000 to conduct a feasibility study into the road linking Guyana with Brazil. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11002.aspx Wed, 24 Dec 2008 10:08:25 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11002.aspx The October meeting between the Brazilian and Bolivian bilerateral technical commission on the Madeira Hydroelectric Dam and related projects focused on new technical research related to the cross-border health effects of the project. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11000.aspx Tue, 23 Dec 2008 07:37:03 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11000.aspx The financial crisis and environmental risks have affected the willingness of banks to finance the mega-hydroelectric project which would cost R$21 billion. Santander and Banif are facing difficulties in attaining funds for San Antonio Dam; and Itau has already given up on Jirau and San Antonio. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.10998.aspx Mon, 22 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.10998.aspx African Development Bank also contributing record loans to address power shortage. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.10992.aspx Fri, 19 Dec 2008 12:20:39 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.10992.aspx Meanwhile, people displaced by the project finally receive monetary compensation, nearly four years after being impoverished through a resettlement process that denied them the option of the land compensation they were entitled to. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.10989.aspx Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.10989.aspx Concerned parties threaten to file a court case against the Egyptian government if they do not receive satisfactory answers. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.10985.aspx Tue, 16 Dec 2008 12:30:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.10985.aspx Civil society groups argue that the fund is essential to any new global climate agreement involving the large-scale transfer of financial resources to help poorer nations reduce emissions that cause global climate change. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.10977.aspx Thu, 11 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.10977.aspx Network charges that poor quality of 2nd draft implies that President Kuroda has been unable to convince the ADB bureaucracy to uphold and support his vision of the ADB as the leading regional development organization on poverty alleviation and climate change. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.10972.aspx Mon, 08 Dec 2008 16:44:36 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.10972.aspx Indigenous leader calls for suspension of REDD activities. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11693.aspx Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11693.aspx Civil society organizations (CSOs) from 10 South American countries have invited the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to engage in dialogue about the use and misuse of Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEAs) in a two-day workshop to be held in Bogota, Colombia (Dec. 2 and 3, 2008). The workshop will feature presentations on the IDB's progress in developing a strategic decision making system that includes clearer rules for SEAs. CSOs will present lessons learned and recommendations for more effective use of SEAs drawn from a decade of experience with high risk infrastructure projects. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.10958.aspx Tue, 25 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.10958.aspx The governments of the United States and Peru have reached an agreement to reduce Peru’s debt payments in exchange for protecting Peru’s tropical forests. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3921.aspx Tue, 21 Oct 2008 12:36:33 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3921.aspx Committee aims to address the negative impacts of climate change in the region of Tumbes. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3920.aspx Mon, 20 Oct 2008 13:51:21 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3920.aspx International Rivers has just released a new report "Power Surge," which chronicles the social and environmental debt created by a boom in hydropower development in Laos. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3913.aspx Tue, 14 Oct 2008 13:59:05 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3913.aspx The World Bank Group (WBG) loans to countries in Europe and Central Asia (ECA) increased by 30% between FY07 and FY08. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3904.aspx Wed, 24 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3904.aspx The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has approved a US$50 million loan for expansion of oil and gas extraction operations in the Timan-Pechora basin of the northern Komi Republic in Russia. Various civil society groups have raised concerns of the major project's implications for the environment and the indigenous Komi-Izhemts people's rights. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3902.aspx Fri, 19 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3902.aspx Following the August 25 reopening of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline after the armed conflict in Georgia, the BTC has faced several technical and strategic issues when it comes to its future and viability. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3900.aspx Thu, 18 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3900.aspx International Financial Institution (IFI) lending through financial intermediaries (FIs) has become particularly significant in the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region, but the IFIs lack adequate policies to ensure social and environmental best practices are applied to subsequent FI lending. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3884.aspx Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3884.aspx Over 100 civil society groups from 31 countries are calling on financial backers to withdraw their support from the the controversial Phulbari Coal Project in Bangladesh. The project will displace over 200,000 people, impoverish farming households and cause immense environmental impacts in one of the most fertile regions of Bangladesh. Despite these factors, according to information available on its website, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) remains interested in financing the project after having distanced itself from it earlier this year. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3881.aspx Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3881.aspx Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and five other African countries were included in a list of 14 that will take part in the Bank's controversial Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF). http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3878.aspx Mon, 18 Aug 2008 09:18:36 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3878.aspx A new study finds that international project financiers, including the leading international banks and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), do not have a robust framework for minimizing the social risks posed by their projects. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3876.aspx Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:13:53 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3876.aspx But questions on compensation for displaced, “upstream” impacts, and gas flaring remain unanswered. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3864.aspx Tue, 05 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3864.aspx The author, Shripad Dharmadhikary, examines why being a knowledge provider is so important to the World Bank, and how the Bank uses its research and knowledge services to intervene in the policy making of borrowing countries. The Bank Information Center supported the distribution of this book so as to highlight this little discussed role of the World Bank. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3859.aspx Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3859.aspx The World Bank has agreed to additional financing for electricity and water projects in the West Bank and Gaza. But the reach of the assistance to the most needy, and the effects on curbing high utility bills are still questionable. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3843.aspx Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3843.aspx The World Bank will buy 325,480 tons of carbon credits from Egyptian Company for Solid Waste Utilization (ECARU) on behalf of governments and companies in Organisation for Econmic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3842.aspx Tue, 08 Jul 2008 16:02:01 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3842.aspx Bank Information Center has recently released it's new "Handbook for Advocacy on Extractive Industry Revenues: Good Practices and the IMF’s Guide on Resource Revenue Transparency." http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3836.aspx Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:34:41 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3836.aspx As Newmont, the world's largest mining company prepares for gold mining operations in Ghana, civil society groups challenge the purported benefits for local communities. Meanwhile, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) has come under fire for the environmental and social legacies of its gold mining investments in Ghana and its plans proceed to begin the next phase of Newmont's controversial Ahafo gold project. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3821.aspx Sat, 21 Jun 2008 14:45:24 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3821.aspx The World Bank’s support for the $15.5 million feasibility studies continues to raise questions about the Bank’s application of its operational safeguard policies on the project. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3786.aspx Wed, 18 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3786.aspx In a victory for environmental groups, the Kazakhstan’s Supreme Court ruled in favor of Green Salvation, a environmental group, in a precedent setting lawsuit seeking access to environmental information about atmospheric emissions at the Karachaganak Oil and Gas Condensate Field in western Kazakhstan. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3728.aspx Wed, 09 Apr 2008 10:55:25 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3728.aspx Read the special Spring Meetings edition of the Bretton Woods Update, co-produced with Afrodad, Bank Information Center, Choike, and Eurodad. The issue is also available in Spanish. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3724.aspx Mon, 07 Apr 2008 20:18:31 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3724.aspx The Director of the Asian Development Bank’s Private Sector Operations Department, Robert Bestani, notified the Bank’s Board of Directors last week that it will take the Phulbari Coal Project in Bangladesh out of the Bank’s funding pipeline. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3720.aspx Fri, 04 Apr 2008 11:29:16 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3720.aspx Updated April 10, 2008: The World Bank's Inspection Panel is recruiting qualified applicants to fill a vacancy in its three-member team. Regional balance considerations could likely mean selection of a candidate from the South East Asia region. The closing date for applications has been extended to April 30, 2008. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3716.aspx Thu, 03 Apr 2008 11:29:05 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3716.aspx As a result of the Inter-American Development Bank's (IDB) recent realignment, indigenous issues are now demoted within a Bank that touts its credentials for social inclusion. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3711.aspx Thu, 03 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3711.aspx As wealthy local and foreign investors purchase more and more Brazilian land, wuestions over how to contain rising land prices emerge. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3708.aspx Fri, 28 Mar 2008 09:56:19 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3708.aspx Phulbari resistance groups produce first documentary video. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3647.aspx Thu, 17 Jan 2008 11:09:47 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3647.aspx An Inspection Panel report on the World Bank’s safeguard policy violations in its Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) forest sector operations prompts discussion on new approach and greater role for Pygmies in decision-making about the future of the world’s second-largest rainforest. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3645.aspx Wed, 16 Jan 2008 16:43:34 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3645.aspx Close to fifty people representing social movements in India and other parts of South Asia delivered a boycott statement to Asian Development Bank officials in New Delhi on January 16th, at the start of the Bank's consultations on its Draft Safeguard Policy Statement. The organised protest consisted of slogans and plackards, one of which read: "End to Lending." http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3644.aspx Wed, 16 Jan 2008 12:24:50 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3644.aspx Civil society groups from South Asia are planning to boycott the Asian Development Bank's consultation meeting on its safeguards policy update, to be held in New Delhi, India tomorrow. The groups, from India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh state that the ADB's consultation draft, released in October 2007, greatly dilutes the Bank's earlier policies on Environment (2002), Involuntary Resettlement (1995) and Indigenous Peoples (1998), and is opposed to indigenous peoples’ rights and subverts environmental considerations. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3643.aspx Tue, 15 Jan 2008 10:04:40 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3643.aspx Citing violations of five of the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) own policies, non-governmental organizations from around the world have petitioned the ADB to discontinue its pre-appraisal of the Phulbari Coal Project and remove it from the funding pipeline. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3642.aspx Mon, 14 Jan 2008 17:04:37 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3642.aspx A high level delegation of indigenous, civil society and Parliamentarian leaders from Peru are in Washington, DC to lobby against the expected vote on public loans for the Peru LNG natural gas liquification plant. The delegation argues that by approving the project, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Ex-Im Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), would breach their own social and environmental safeguards. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3627.aspx Thu, 13 Dec 2007 15:10:14 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3627.aspx Environmental groups gathered in Bali for the United Nations convention on climate change warn that the World Bank's market-oriented Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), launched today, will have negative social and environmental impacts. Citing the Bank's poor track record in the forest sector and ongoing support for fossil fuels, the groups are demanding that forests be kept out of the carbon market and that governments increase their funding for other approaches to forest protection and climate change mitigation. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3620.aspx Tue, 11 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3620.aspx As the World Bank prepares to launch the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) -- its flagship initiative to address deforestation-related greenhouse gas emissions -- at the United Nations climate change conference in Bali, Indonesia, we offer some background on the FCPC and outline the concerns surrounding this controversial new mechanism. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3593.aspx Tue, 04 Dec 2007 10:17:28 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3593.aspx The Second Latin American Congress of National Parks and Protected Areas held in San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina was the largest gathering of environmental organizations working in Latin America since the last Congress in 1997, held in Santa Marta. Read Vince McElhinny's recap of the events of the Congress. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3588.aspx Fri, 30 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3588.aspx Resolution is welcomed by NGOs campaigning to have export credit agencies and public investment banks be held accountable for their actions. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3586.aspx Thu, 29 Nov 2007 14:36:41 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3586.aspx The World Bank touted it's meeting with a delegation of Pygmies from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) during the Bank's Annual Meetings in October. But as Simon Counsell of Rainforest Foundation UK points out, the Bank has consistently ignored the findings of the quasi-independent Inspecition Panel and violated its own "safeguard policies." http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3585.aspx Tue, 27 Nov 2007 19:51:55 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3585.aspx Guilt for the environmental catastrophe in the Strait of Kerch lies with the authorities in Russia and Ukraine, as well as with the companies transporting dangerous cargo http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3572.aspx Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3572.aspx The NGO Forum on ADB, on October 24 and 25, raised several issues with the ADB around the review of its Safeguard Policies. The ADB responded by agreeing to change dates of two regional consultations and to provide Vietnamese and Bahasa translations of the Consultation Draft. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3562.aspx Tue, 06 Nov 2007 16:04:31 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3562.aspx As the World Bank launches its latest flagship World Development Report, this year on "Agriculture for Development," the Independent Evaluation Group's report clearly acknowledges that the Bank's engagement with the most important sector in its highest-priority region has largely been a failure. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3544.aspx Fri, 19 Oct 2007 15:15:38 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3544.aspx On October 15th, a public hearing on the World Bank will take place in The Hague. The hearing aims to raise the debate on the legitimacy of the World Bank and influence the aid distribution process. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3529.aspx Tue, 09 Oct 2007 16:10:57 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3529.aspx In its preliminary findings, the first ever Independent People’s Tribunal on the World Bank in India found that the Bank had an undue and disturbingly negative influence in shaping India’s national policies disproportionate to its contribution, financial or otherwise. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3514.aspx Wed, 26 Sep 2007 17:22:37 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3514.aspx Civil society groups monitoring the Asian Development Bank's "safeguard" policies find that the ADB needs to make substantial improvements to catch up with international standards and peer institutions. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3494.aspx Thu, 20 Sep 2007 16:17:44 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3494.aspx Four members of the team tasked with revising the ADB project "safeguards" have resigned in protest against management's efforts to dilute the bank's policies on environment, resettlement and indigenous people. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3487.aspx Thu, 13 Sep 2007 17:08:07 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3487.aspx The Asian Development Bank has completed the consultation process on its draft Energy Strategy. Civil society organizations from throughout the region have called on the ADB to incorporate current international best practices in sector, and at minimum to adopt the principles of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3461.aspx Fri, 17 Aug 2007 11:54:54 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3461.aspx The first U.S. Social Forum concluded July 1, having drawn over 10,000 activists to Atlanta, Georgia, for five days of talks on social, economic and political issues. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3435.aspx Wed, 11 Jul 2007 11:26:49 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3435.aspx The World Bank is preparing to announce a new $250 million fund aimed at using carbon finance to reduce emissions from deforestation. According to recent news reports, world leaders have encouraged the Bank to move forward with plans to create a Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), which would leverage private investor money and donor contributions to help countries develop strategies for avoiding forest degradation and secure payment for forest-related emissions reduction, through the creation of tradable carbon credits. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3398.aspx Thu, 14 Jun 2007 22:12:42 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3398.aspx The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) held its Annual Governors Meeting in Kazan, Russia May 20-21, 2007. The NGO Programme organized by the Bank attracted a large array of civil society organizations from Russia and abroad. While many questions were left unanswered by the Bank, NGOs succeeded in raising issues of critical importance to civil society in Russia and elsewhere. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3384.aspx Tue, 05 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3384.aspx Project affected people and civil society organizations highlight problems with current ADB policies aiming to protect the environment and human rights at a BIC and Oxfam Australia-hosted panel. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3356.aspx Thu, 17 May 2007 16:04:07 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3356.aspx At the 40th Annual Asian Development Bank (ADB) AGMs, CSOs outlined major gaps in existing ADB standards and discussed what the ADB should do to meet and surpass the highest international standards as ADB gears up to revamp its Safeguard Policies. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3354.aspx Thu, 17 May 2007 12:47:41 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3354.aspx World Bank Managing Director, Juan Jose Daboub, apparently tried to delete the words "climate change" from the institution's main environmental strategy paper, reports the Financial Times. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3286.aspx Thu, 26 Apr 2007 15:01:55 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3286.aspx The World Bank Group's pledge to reduce greenhouse gases rings hollow as the organization increases assistance for the development of fossil fuels. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3272.aspx Wed, 18 Apr 2007 16:44:10 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3272.aspx The World Bank's Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) has posted draft policies for public comment until April 27, 2007. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3175.aspx Fri, 23 Feb 2007 13:30:25 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3175.aspx The consultations were originally scheduled for March 2007. New consultations are tentatively scheduled for the late second quarter of 2007. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3152.aspx Wed, 14 Feb 2007 10:22:27 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3152.aspx An ADB Safeguard Policy Consultation was scheduled to take place on March 8, 2007, in Hanoi, Vietnam. This has now been postponed and a new date has not been announced. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3139.aspx Thu, 08 Feb 2007 17:42:02 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3139.aspx The consultation, whose date is yet to be determined, will collect the opinions of stakeholders from eight countries. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3122.aspx Wed, 31 Jan 2007 14:01:27 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3122.aspx The upcoming consultation aims to collect the opinions of stakeholders in eight countries. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3121.aspx Wed, 31 Jan 2007 13:43:56 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3121.aspx The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has decided not to fund the largest oil and gas project in the world, Sakhalin II, on Russia’s Far Eastern island after several years of consultations. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3091.aspx Tue, 16 Jan 2007 15:58:07 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3091.aspx An NGO letter to the World Bank details urgent concerns regarding the Bujagali hydropower project in Uganda, which is being fast-tracked for development early next year. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3035.aspx Wed, 06 Dec 2006 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3035.aspx The World Bank approved $170 million in International Finance Corporation (IFC) financing and $200 million in Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) support for the controversial Botnia pulp mill in Uruguay on Tuesday. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3019.aspx Tue, 21 Nov 2006 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3019.aspx BIC and partners challenge World Bank and US Government controversial support of Big Oil in November 14 Financial Times advertisement. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3014.aspx Mon, 13 Nov 2006 23:35:29 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3014.aspx Seminars and training sessions will center on the theme of "Better Governance and Improved Institutions". Some of the events open to participants this week and next include panels and workshops on clean energy, climate change, the IFC performance standards and disclosure policy, and on country systems. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3004.aspx Wed, 08 Nov 2006 12:36:41 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3004.aspx Kristalina Georgieva has been selected by the World Bank as the new Director for Strategy and Operations in the Sustainable Development Vice-Presidency. This position was established in June by World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz following the merger of the Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development Network and the Infrastructure Network. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2993.aspx Fri, 27 Oct 2006 17:28:24 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2993.aspx In a recent publication, author Frances Seymour of World Resources Institute contends that the evidence has never been stronger that protecting the environment is not only compatible with the World Bank's development objectives, but that it is in fact essential to achieving them. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2972.aspx Fri, 06 Oct 2006 13:15:49 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2972.aspx In a statement released on the last day of the IPF, the organizers celebrate the success of the event and renew demands for multilateral debt cancellation, transparency and participatory audits of IFI lending and policies, and an end to IFI involvement in privatization of public services and environmentally destructive projects. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2957.aspx Mon, 18 Sep 2006 23:56:04 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2957.aspx A new NGO report finds that the World Bank's promise to seriously support alternative enery remains unfullfilled. Released in Singapore during the Bank's annual meeting, the report--How the World Bank's Energy Framework Sells the Climate and Poor People Short--calls on the Bank to step up efforts to meet basic energy needs of the poor, to stop subsidizing northern oil companies, and to redirect existing dirty energy financing to renewable technologies and energy efficiency projects. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2954.aspx Mon, 18 Sep 2006 12:13:37 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2954.aspx http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2917.aspx Mon, 31 Jul 2006 10:26:57 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2917.aspx http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2873.aspx Mon, 10 Jul 2006 17:27:14 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2873.aspx The banks known as the Equator Principles Financial Institutions revised standards intended to ensure that projects financed by the institutions are socially and environmentally responsible. The standards are based on the International Finance Corporation's safeguard policies. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2870.aspx Fri, 07 Jul 2006 14:00:50 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2870.aspx Rumors of the pending reorganization have circulated for months, fueling doubts about the Bank's commitment to sustainable development. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2865.aspx Wed, 28 Jun 2006 09:38:46 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2865.aspx http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2844.aspx Fri, 16 Jun 2006 08:13:42 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2844.aspx The World Bank has initiated its review of the 2002 Forest Policy and Strategy and a draft report will be open for public comments in August. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2832.aspx Fri, 09 Jun 2006 10:35:09 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2832.aspx http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2800.aspx Thu, 18 May 2006 15:42:24 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2800.aspx The Development Committee met during last month's IMF/World Bank 2006 Spring Meetings. Agenda included discussion of clean energy and development, and the Global Monitoring Report 2006: Strengthening Mutual Accountability - Aid, Trade and Governance. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2762.aspx Thu, 04 May 2006 16:46:47 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2762.aspx In its recently posted audit, the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) found several compliance issues regarding the International Financial Corporation's environmental and social due diligence in considering the Orion-Celulosas de M'Bopicua (CMB) paper mill projects in Uruguay. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2708.aspx Fri, 31 Mar 2006 11:48:08 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2708.aspx From March 16-22 in Mexico City the World Water Forum brought together representatives from 148 countries, civil society organizations and private sector actors where debate was largely guided by strong opposition to the privatization of water. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2701.aspx Mon, 27 Mar 2006 12:06:18 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2701.aspx In an open letter to Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Kuroda and the Board of Directors, over forty civil society organizations warned against the approach outlined by the ADB in the review of its Environment, Indigenous Peoples, and Involuntary Resettlement Policies, highlighting the potential for drastically weakened standards of social and environmental protections. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2687.aspx Mon, 20 Mar 2006 11:16:33 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2687.aspx The Compliance-Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) released last week its comments on the January 25th drafts of the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) Safeguards policies, which the IFC approved February 21, 2006. Following the IFC’s lead, a collection of private sector financial institutions intends to complete a review of their guiding policies on social and environmental issues, the Equator Principles. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2676.aspx Wed, 15 Mar 2006 14:37:58 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2676.aspx Following the approval of IFC financing for Newmont's Ahafo mine in Ghana, the Bank Information Center, Oxfam-America, FoodFirst Information Action Network, Earthworks, WACAM, and ABRANDH sent a letter to IFC repeating the call for urgent action to be taken on unresolved problems related to the social and environmental impacts of the mine. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2671.aspx Mon, 13 Mar 2006 18:23:59 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2671.aspx Warning that the International Finance Corporation’s overhaul of its social and environmental standards relies too heavily on promises of good intentions, international civil society organizations have called the IFC’s new approach a risky experiment that could leave the people and environments affected by its projects more vulnerable than they were before.<p/><a href="http://ifis.choike.org/esp/informes/307.html">Also available in Spanish </a> http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2650.aspx Tue, 21 Feb 2006 11:23:07 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2650.aspx The World Bank President met with Mario Tema and Magali Rey Rosa on December 9 http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2540.aspx Thu, 15 Dec 2005 19:23:09 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2540.aspx These comments address transparency and consultation concerns with the draft IFC Disclosure Policy, Social and Environmental Sustainability Policy and Performance Standards. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2501.aspx Fri, 02 Dec 2005 09:33:08 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2501.aspx The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has issued its much delayed Discussion Note for the Safeguard Policy “Update” it publicly initiated in July 2005. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2481.aspx Fri, 11 Nov 2005 16:34:07 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2481.aspx ADB requested to move quickly on establishing an independent resettlement monitoring panel. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2407.aspx Thu, 13 Oct 2005 10:07:20 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2407.aspx The Asian Development Bank acknowledged civil society recommendations for its Safeguard Policies update process and highlighted some important issues for the review. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2365.aspx Fri, 30 Sep 2005 17:00:59 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2365.aspx The release begins a 60-day period in which civil society may make comments before the policies receive final revisions and are sent to the Board for approval in late January. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2357.aspx Thu, 29 Sep 2005 13:13:06 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2357.aspx In response to recommendations arising from last July's G8 summit at Gleneagles, the World Bank and the G8 Presidency began work on an investment framework and implementation strategy for clean energy and sustainable development during the 2005 IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2355.aspx Wed, 28 Sep 2005 15:38:10 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2355.aspx Independent assessment of Safeguard Policies implementation also recommended. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2241.aspx Mon, 01 Aug 2005 15:07:44 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2241.aspx Asian Development Bank announces plans to review policies on Involuntary Resettlement, Indigenous Peoples, and Environment. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2234.aspx Mon, 01 Aug 2005 11:46:22 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2234.aspx Water Law will decentralize control of country’s water resources and allow private sector involvement. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2206.aspx Tue, 19 Jul 2005 14:25:24 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2206.aspx Read about the popular referendum on mining held in the town of Sipacapa, San Marcos, where ore from the Marlin Mine will be cyanide processed. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2191.aspx Fri, 01 Jul 2005 10:27:18 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2191.aspx http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2168.aspx Tue, 14 Jun 2005 16:13:21 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2168.aspx A new Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) audit calls for environmental reclassification and better oversight of the International Finance Corporation's (IFC) project. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2145.aspx Mon, 06 Jun 2005 17:02:41 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2145.aspx The World Bank Board of Directors voted to approve the Revised Draft Operational Policy on Indigenous Peoples (OP 4.10) http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2117.aspx Wed, 18 May 2005 16:12:23 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2117.aspx In 2002 the World Bank adopted a new policy on forests, over objections from civil society and indigenous peoples’ groups. Three years later, as the Bank policy comes up for review, a broad coalition of environmental and indigenous groups have published Broken Promises, an extensive report on the forest policy’s effects on the environment and communities. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2088.aspx Tue, 26 Apr 2005 14:04:22 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2088.aspx The International Finance Corporation (IFC) Safeguard Policy Review is the winner of the 2004 'Award for the Most Flawed Consultation Process' within the World Bank Group, civil society organizations announced. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2086.aspx Fri, 22 Apr 2005 11:39:07 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2086.aspx BIC submits comments on the IFC's Disclosure Policy Framework calling for strengthened disclosure principles, procedures and constraints; increased institutional transparency; and increased investment-specific transparency. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2063.aspx Wed, 06 Apr 2005 12:29:20 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2063.aspx On March 10, 2005, the Blue Ribbon Panel, a group of international environmental experts convened to review the IDB's environmental policy and make recommendations for sustainability and environmentally conscious development. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1969.aspx Fri, 11 Mar 2005 14:48:08 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1969.aspx The revision only allows stakeholders the “opportunity” to comment on large water projects, while the original policy required that all stakeholders agree on the project's justification. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1943.aspx Fri, 25 Feb 2005 15:50:28 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1943.aspx http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1933.aspx Fri, 18 Feb 2005 14:40:25 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1933.aspx http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1908.aspx Fri, 11 Feb 2005 14:47:42 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1908.aspx Several NGOs are demanding changes to the new policy, hoping to set the EBRD on a more sustainable and equitable energy development path. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1886.aspx Fri, 04 Feb 2005 13:38:32 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1886.aspx http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1876.aspx Thu, 27 Jan 2005 10:17:35 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1876.aspx http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1858.aspx Mon, 24 Jan 2005 09:54:41 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1858.aspx http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1855.aspx Mon, 03 Jan 2005 15:58:52 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1855.aspx Assures CSOs the opportunity to comment, but did not provide any timeline. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1850.aspx Fri, 17 Dec 2004 17:07:25 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1850.aspx Twelve Indian organizations reject the World Bank's proposal to use less rigorous national laws and policies to govern its projects. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1845.aspx Tue, 14 Dec 2004 13:39:38 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1845.aspx Once approved by the Board, Operational Policy 4.10 will replace the existing Operational Directive 4.20 on Indigenous Peoples. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1799.aspx Mon, 06 Dec 2004 16:01:35 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1799.aspx http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1776.aspx Thu, 02 Dec 2004 10:25:05 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1776.aspx Indigenous people present a declaration (in Spanish) to the IDB regarding the formulation of its indigenous peoples policy and strategic framework. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1647.aspx Tue, 12 Oct 2004 15:09:41 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1647.aspx In response to a rapid and substandard policy consultation process, 26 NGOs declined to participate in the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) civil society meeting in Washington DC. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1640.aspx Wed, 06 Oct 2004 10:07:47 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1640.aspx A September 9 letter signed by 76 civil society and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) urges the IFC to protect communities that may be exposed to pollutants due to IFC-financed projects. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1628.aspx Thu, 16 Sep 2004 14:42:32 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1628.aspx This policy update introduces the ongoing policy reviews at the IFC, outlines the review process, and provides useful links to background documents. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1619.aspx Tue, 07 Sep 2004 17:28:52 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1619.aspx Indian Law Resource Center submits "Ten Critical Points" on the IDB Policy Profile. Calls for fairness in consultations. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1582.aspx Wed, 18 Aug 2004 16:55:44 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1582.aspx On July 6, 140 NGOs endorsed a letter to the IFC regarding the reviews of its environmental and social policies and standards. The IFC responds ... http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1561.aspx Mon, 09 Aug 2004 12:38:52 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1561.aspx http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1529.aspx Thu, 22 Jul 2004 14:10:41 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1529.aspx In a letter sent to the IFC, civil society groups are calling for a greater focus on human rights and transparency as the IFC begins to draft its safeguard and disclosure policy approach papers this month. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1523.aspx Thu, 15 Jul 2004 17:25:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1523.aspx http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1495.aspx Mon, 28 Jun 2004 10:59:38 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1495.aspx Update includes final draft Indigenous Peoples Policy, indigenous concerns about a hastily planned WB legal roundtable, and information about a planned briefing for the Board on Free Prior and Informed Consent http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1474.aspx Tue, 22 Jun 2004 09:51:55 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1474.aspx New developments in the World Bank’s safeguard policies review indicates more reliance on country systems rather than Bank policy. This represents a profound shift in the development assistance framework. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1476.aspx Thu, 10 Jun 2004 13:24:47 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1476.aspx Indigenous representatives from the Americas met with President Iglesias on April 27 to discuss proposed consultations on an Indigenous Peoples Policy and Framework. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1441.aspx Mon, 03 May 2004 15:03:17 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1441.aspx The IFC has released the Terms of Reference for the PPAH review, laying out a rough timeline for the two-year project and identifying key areas that need to be addressed. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1399.aspx Tue, 13 Apr 2004 18:34:03 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1399.aspx Representatives from Amazon Alliance and other indigenous organizations presented a letter to IDB management proposing specific minimum steps necessary for a successful policy consultation. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1394.aspx Tue, 13 Apr 2004 12:13:54 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1394.aspx Indigenous Peoples Policy Profile mentions many of the key points indigenous peoples have been asking for. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1345.aspx Mon, 08 Mar 2004 12:09:32 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1345.aspx http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1224.aspx Wed, 04 Feb 2004 17:21:36 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1224.aspx http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1262.aspx Mon, 02 Feb 2004 12:18:55 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1262.aspx http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1225.aspx Thu, 29 Jan 2004 18:04:30 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1225.aspx In February 2004 the IDB is set to begin consultations of a draft indigenous policy together with an indigenous peoples framework. This is the direct result of pressure from indigenous communities who insist on a strong instrument to protect their rights in the face of an increase in the infrastructure portfolio at the IDB. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1203.aspx Fri, 23 Jan 2004 20:28:04 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.1203.aspx