31 October 2005
Manish Bapna, BIC's Executive Director, highlighted the importance of strengthening the IFC's performance standards and creating binding social and environmental obligations for the mining industry in a recent letter to the New York Times.
The New York Times Editorials and Op-Ed Page (New York Times website)
October 31, 2005
To the Editor:
The International Finance Corporation, the private-sector arm of the World Bank, is currently drafting performance standards for the operations it finances. If suitably strengthened before they are approved, these I.F.C. standards could serve as useful guidelines for the gold mining industry as well.
But several key improvements are required. The standards should ensure the free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples. They should declare critical natural habitats off limits. And they should provide for comprehensive resettlement plans that improve the livelihoods of affected communities.
More generally, environmental and social standards must include binding obligations for mining companies and governments, and these obligations must be carried out in a fully transparent and accountable manner.
Leading private and public banks have begun to recognize the importance of adopting strong standards. It is time for the gold mining industry to do so as well.
Manish Bapna
Executive Director
Bank Information Center
Washington, Oct. 27, 2005
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