October 2001 The World Bank involuntary resettlement policy states that project planning must avoid and minimize involuntary resettlement, and that if people lose their homes or livelihoods as a result of Bank-financed projects, they should have their standard of living improved, or at least restored. The policy was designed to address the plight of … Read More.
March 2001 Recently the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change a panel made up of hundreds of the world’s top climate scientists updated its assessment of the impacts global warming could have on future generations. The report predicts devastating droughts, floods and violent storms over the coming years caused by air pollution that is … Read More.
Withholding Could Hamper Protection of Domestic Environment & Health Laws March 7, 2001 WASHINGTON, DC—At the same moment the new U.S. Trade Representative, Robert Zoellick, was urging Congress to grant President Bush new international trade powers, a lawsuit was filed against him down the street in U.S. District Court. The suit challenges Zoellick’s decision to … Read More.
February 28, 2001 Dear President Wolfensohn, We, the undersigned, representatives of Human Rights Groups, Unions, Environmental Protection and Development NGOs and Peasant Organisations in Chad and Cameroon, have been actively following the Chad/Cameroon pipeline project since its initiation. Meeting in Mbalmayo for a planning workshop for the monitoring of the pipeline project, we wish to … Read More.
CIEL/International Rivers Network Letter to James Wolfensohn February 22, 2001 Mr. James Wolfensohn, President The World Bank 1818 H Street, NW Washington, DC 20433 Dear President Wolfensohn: We are writing to express serious reservations with the ongoing revisions to the World Bank’s resettlement policy. While World Bank staff have stated that this process will not … Read More.
February 22, 2001 The World Bank Group’s announcement that it has appointed a special committee to oversee the controversial Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline project was met today with a lukewarm response from international environment and human rights groups, who expressed concern over potentially harmful loopholes and omissions in the committee’s charter. The Bank-appointed International Advisory … Read More.
For Immediate Release 29 January, 2001 Washington, D.C. —The Philippine Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) of 1997. Dr. Owen J. Lynch, senior attorney at the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), helped lay the theoretical foundation for the case and attended the hearing before the Philippine Supreme … Read More.
September 25, 2000 TO: Mr. Shengman Zhang, Managing Director, The World Bank CC: Robert Calderisi, Country Director for Cameroon and Chad James Wolfensohn,President RE: Comments on Draft Terms of Reference for the International Advisory Group for the Chad-Cameroon Pipeline Dear Mr. Zhang: Thank you for providing civil society with the opportunity to … Read More.
August 2000 On July 7th, 2000, the World Bank Board of Executive Directors, in a highly unusual move, rejected Bank Management’s support of the China Western Poverty Reduction Project, which centered on the resettlement of 58,000 Chinese farmers into an area that is traditionally part of Tibet. The Board decision to reject Management’s recommendation, … Read More.
April 2004 CIEL and the Lawyers’ Environmental Action Team (Tanzania), in coordination with the World Resources Institute and the International Association for the Study of Common Property, hosted a successful workshop on Public Interest Law and Community-Based Property Rights in Usa River (near Arusha), Tanzania from August 1 – 4, 2000. Financial support came … Read More.
Action Alert on China-Tibet June, 2000 All Gloves Are OFF! This is the final stretch in the campaign to stop the World Bank’s China-Tibet resettlement project formally known as the China Western Poverty Reduction Project. It is now up to the Bank’s Board of Directors to decide the final outcome of the project once … Read More.
For Immediate Release May 30, 2000 As the June 6 decision by the World Bank draws near on whether to fund a controversial oil extraction and pipeline project in Chad and Cameroon, an escalating civil war in Chad is threatening to turn deadly for citizens who oppose the project. The threats come as the current … Read More.
April 13, 2000 With larger-than-life puppets, placards, and banners, activists and citizens from developing nations held a vigil this evening in front of the World Bank headquarters in downtown Washington. The vigil was held to show solidarity with the millions of poor people displaced from their homes by World Bank dams and other infrastructure … Read More.
Environmentalists challenge US failure to enforce migratory bird law in NAFTA environmental forum For Immediate Release November 18, 1999 Washington, D.C. — Nine environmental groups from the United States, Canada and Mexico submitted a complaint today alleging that the U.S. government deliberately allows logging companies to flout U.S. laws that prohibit the killing of … Read More.
April 21, 1999 After a protracted and highly contentious internal review, the World Bank Board of Executive Directors today approved a proposal to revamp its independent Inspection Panel, a forum created to respond to citizen complaints about Bank-financed projects that harm people and the environment. The review was undertaken in an effort to resolve … Read More.
April 21, 1999 After several years of campaigning for more public accountability of the World Bank’s private sector side, US environmental groups today applauded the World Bank Group’s decision to appoint Meg Taylor of Papua New Guinea as the Ombudsperson for IFC and MIGA. This position was designed in part to address the concerns … Read More.
May 13, 1998 The Board of Executive Directors is expected to discuss the Yacyreta and Singrauli claims during May, although no date has yet been set. Both claims are at the point where the Board must make a decision about the remedies it will implement to address the Bank’s policy violations and to act … Read More.
For Immediate Release February 3, 1998 Several claimants to the Inspection Panel from around the world gathered in Washington, DC to meet with the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors. In an unprecedented meeting between the Board and people directly affected by World Bank projects, five claimants who filed a Request for Investigation to … Read More.
January 9, 1998 Over one hundred and sixty lawyers from forty countries sent a strong message to World Bank President James Wolfensohn, calling for the Bank to protect the integrity and independence of the World Bank Inspection Panel. The letter highlighted the importance of the Inspection Panel from an international law and international development … Read More.
World Bank Board of Executive Directors Authorize Panel Inspection for Singrauli, Deny Inspection for Itaparica September 1997 The World Bank Board of Executive Directors recently considered the Inspection Panel’s recommendation for full investigations into Bank-financed projects in Itaparica, Brazil and Singrauli, India. In both cases, the independent Inspection Panel had conducted initial reviews and felt … Read More.