Saying no to coal: IFC’s new Green Equity Approach unveiled
The World Bank’s private lending arm has unveiled its new approach to greening equity investments in financial institutions. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) says it will end equity investments in financial institutions that do not have a plan to phase out investments in coal-related activities. The “30 by 30 Zero Program” aims to help the banking […]
Civil Society Organizations to the African Development Bank: Don’t fund EACOP
(March 23, 2020) – More than 100 civil society organizations have written to the President of the African Development Bank warning the bank against financing the East African Crude Oil Pipeline, which they call “an exceptionally high-risk project.”
East African oil pipeline would cause more emissions than Denmark | China Dialogue
Chinese lenders should pull out of the risky Uganda–Tanzania oil project and invest in renewables instead, argues Erik Myxter-lino. Since 2017, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) has been working with oil majors Total and Tullow to exploit untouched oil in western Uganda. Yet the project is stuck in limbo. The stoppage is a chance […]
Watchdog to investigate World Bank Group’s opaque support for coal expansion in Philippines
The International Finance Corporation’s independent watchdog has announced that it will launch a compliance investigation into the World Bank Group member for its investments in a commercial bank in the Philippines that bankrolled the country’s recent coal power boom. After receiving $254 million in IFC funds, Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation became a key financier of […]
Opinion: Can the World Bank clean up its fossil fuel problem? | Devex
The IFC’s Green Equity Strategy could be a pivotal engine for transformation — if it truly rises to the challenge. Inclusive Development International’s David Pred and Bank Information Center Europe’s Nezir Sinani explain. READ FULL ARTICLE ▶
International call on banks: Don’t finance the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline
A coalition of African and international organizations is today calling on South Africa’s Standard Bank and Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp (SMBC) to withdraw from their role as lead arrangers for a massive oil pipeline under construction in Uganda and Tanzania. The East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline is being developed as part of a push to open oil fields […]
New report exposes World Bank links to destructive coal mining in Indonesia
(April 11, 2019, Washington DC) – The World Bank Group is quietly bankrolling some of Indonesia’s most destructive coal mining companies, despite instituting a virtual ban on coal financing in 2013, according to a report released today.
As climate crisis bites, World Bank further distances itself from coal
As climate crisis bites, World Bank further distances itself from coal International Finance Corporation announced new ‘green equity’ policy to encourage financial intermediaries to divest from coal, while Bank pulled plug on mooted Kosovo coal project. READ FULL ARTICLE ▶
Civil society welcomes IFC’s moves to exclude coal in its financial intermediary lending
(Bali) – Civil society groups from around the world today welcomed news that the World Bank’s private sector arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), has taken significant steps to vastly reduce its exposure to coal through new financial intermediary (FI) investments. The CEO of the IFC, Philippe Le Houérou, has committed to help FI clients […]
World Bank and International Investors Bankrolling Climate Disaster in Philippines
International investors have in recent years poured billions of dollars into coal-fired power plants in the Philippines, one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to climate change. The World Bank Group, commercial banks and asset managers have quietly bankrolled a coal boom on the island nation despite many of them pledging to end or cut […]