21 April 2010
This edition of the BICECA Bulletin examines the World Bank Energy and Climate Change Strategies in the context of the upcoming Spring Meetings, which will take place April 24-25 in Washington, DC.
The World Bank Spring Meetings will take place in Washington, DC April 24-25. This is an excellent opportunity for civil society to participate in discussions on new World Bank Group strategies, including the Climate Change Strategy, the new Energy Strategy and the IFC Policies and Standards Review.
In this edition of the BICECA bulletin, you will find:
· The World Bank and Climate Change: Part of the Problem?
· World Bank, Energy and Climate Change in Latin America and the Caribbean
· Sustainable Transport and Climate Change
The complete bulletin (in Spanish) with images and footnotes in PDF format:
El Banco Mundial y Cambio Climático: ¿Parte del Problema?
Likewise, it is expected that the WBG will request a general capital increase during the Spring Meetings. As part of an initiative for greater consideration of climate and sustainability in the Bank's lending portfolio, and the discontinuation of financing for fossil fuels, a coalition of civil society organizations has drafted the declaration below. We ask that you consider adding your organization to the list of signatories. Please send signatures to , , or as soon as possible.
Civil Society Statement on Energy Access and Public Financing of Fossil Fuels
We, the undersigned representatives of development, environment, faith-based, human rights, community, and indigenous rights groups, are calling on international financial institutions to stop using public resources to subsidize the fossil fuel industry. These subsidies fuel overconsumption in wealthy countries, benefit an already highly profitable and well-established industry, and exacerbate many of the most urgent problems facing humanity today, not the least of which is climate change.
Therefore, in the spirit of the G20 and APEC pledges to phase out subsidies for fossil fuels, we call on governments to not support a general capital increase for any part of the World Bank Group unless the Bank Group ends support for all fossil fuel projects (other than assistance with transition such as mine closure) that do not have as their sole purpose energy access for the poor. Fossil fuel projects that expand energy access for the poor should only be supported after a full examination of all costs--including damages to public health, welfare and the environment--of the project and any renewable and efficiency alternatives demonstrates that they are best alternative for delivering energy services to the poor.
Until such policies are approved, countries should direct funds requested by the Bank and other institutions for general capital increases to other financing mechanisms for supporting sustainable development, poverty reduction and clean energy.
The members of the G-20 are currently in the process of identifying fossil fuel subsidies to be phased out. At the same time, the World Bank is engaged in consultations over a new energy policy and is requesting additional funding commitments for a general capital increase.
Our organizations, along with innovative policymakers and thought leaders around the world, know that there are numerous time-tested, effective approaches to capturing synergies among the challenges of expanding energy access for the poor, promoting sustainable development, and averting climate catastrophe. The World Bank Group, however, continues to promote interventions such as providing subsides for fossil fuels that trade these objectives off against each other. Until the World Bank Group can show that it can more effectively align these goals in its work, we believe that it does not merit additional donor support.
To this end, the undersigned groups support directing additional international public financing through mechanisms that will not subsidize fossil fuels, and will oppose the Bank and other institutions’ requested capital increases until they adopt the positions described above.
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About the BICECA Bulletin
BICECA Monthly Bulletin - Building Informed Civic Engagement for Conservation in the Andes-Amazon– A project of the Bank Information Center (BIC)
By means of this bulletin, the BICECA project of the Bank Information Center brings you up-to-the-minute news and information on the projects and policies related to the Southamerican Regional Infrastructure Integration Initiative (IIRSA). This publication is directed toward a diverse audience of civil society organizations, indigenous groups, students, academics, and other people or institutions that follow the policies and projects of the international financial institutions within the IIRSA integration initiative.
Contacts
Vincent McElhinny BICECA Project Manager, Bank Information Center/ 1100 H St. NW Ste 650 Washington DC 20005 / DC (202) 624-0621 / mobile: (240) 486 - 4224 TX (210) 348-7363 / fax: (202) 737-1155 / skype: vince.mcelhinny
Christian Velasquez-DonaldsonBICECA Project Associate, Bank Information Center/ 1100 H St. NW Ste 650 Washington DC 20005 / DC (202) 624-0627 / fax: (202) 737-1155 / / skype: cvdonaldson1
Ashley Warriner Latin America/BICECA Intern, Bank Information Center/1100 H St. NW Ste 650 Washington DC 20005 / DC (202) 624-0621 / fax: (202) 737-1155/ /skype: ashley_warriner