Protecting Colombia’s Santurbán Páramo

Colombia’s thirty-four páramos are unique, high-altitude wetland ecosystems that serve as vital sources of freshwater for nearby inhabitants’ survival. To those who don’t directly rely on a healthy páramo ecosystem for life, however, these highlands have a different draw: precious metals buried deep beneath the surface. Therein lies the problem. In 1994, Greystar Resources Limited, … Read More.

Lend no evil

It’s a truism in environmentalism that the farther you are from the impact of your action, the less you know and, for the most part, the less you care.  That’s just what the International Finance Corporation (IFC)—the private sector lending arm of the World Bank—has done through its investments in so-called financial intermediaries (FIs).  A … Read More.

Getting the IFC to respect & protect human rights.

Today, CIEL, along with Amnesty International, Bretton Woods Project, and International Accountability Project, submitted a letter to the Vice President and CEO of the IFC, Lars Thunell, urging the IFC to respect and protect human rights. What is the IFC? The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector lending arm of the World Bank, lends … Read More.