76 NGOs demand right to know about pollutants released from IFC projects
16 September 2004
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.
The International Finance Corporation is currently undergoing a process to review its social and environmental safeguard policies in addition to 70 technical pollutant standards contained in the World Bank Group Pollution Prevention and Abatement Handbook. A recent letter to the IFC, signed by 76 civil society organizations, urges the IFC to apply mandatory disclosure requirements for their private sector clients that would divulge the pollutant releases and transfers that would occur during IFC financed projects. The letter explains that “communities have a right to know about the pollutants that are being released into their environment and that the IFC should require regular reporting and take steps to ensure that data for each project is available directly to local communities…”
This initiative is mirrored in the UN’s Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers (PRTR), which 36 countries have endorsed. In addition, the letter gives examples of countries in both the developed and developing worlds which have begun to implement PRTR systems and have proved successful in reducing toxic releases. The letter also calls on the IFC to make publicly available the contract conditions with which project sponsors are required to comply regarding pollutant releases. Mandatory disclosure of PRTRs by IFC clients would greatly further the IFC’s mission of financing projects that are environmentally and socially sustainable.
To read the entire NGO letter including endorsements, click the link below:
For more information on the International Finance Corporation’s environmental and social safeguard review, click on the following links:
Additional resources