Bretton Woods Update No.67 September/October 2009PDF version | At Issue PDF | text version | versión en español Breaking the chains? IFC backs out of palm oilNews|22 September 2009 
Violations of the IFC's performance standards in a palm oil project in Indonesia could have far reaching effects, drawing attention to the IFC's responsibility for the impact of whole supply chains as a review of their social and environmental standards gets under way. read article... Asia debates moving away from IMF and WestNews|22 September 2009 At a conference in Penang, Malaysia in August, officials, academic and members of civil society from the Asian region sought to chart a way towards greater regional cooperation that would insulate them from the IMF and financial crises. read article... IFIs and Zimbabwe a love - hurt relationshipNews|22 September 2009 The allocation of special drawing rights to Zimbabwe have stirred controversy about whether the country should use these to bolster its flagging public finances, while the fragile coalition government struggles with an external debt burden projected by the IMF to hit almost $7 billion by the end of the year. read article... Bank's approach to agriculture under fireNews|22 September 2009 The World Bank and the IFC have committed to increase funding to agriculture to help tackle the food crisis, but their enthusiasm for agribusiness has been questioned by academics who suggest the benefits will not reach the hungry. read article... Dollars, devaluations and depressions How the international monetary system creates crisesAt Issue|23 September 2009 The international monetary framework which emerged after the collapse of the Bretton Woods system in the 1970s has proved volatile, damaging and prone to crises. It is time for a fundamental redesign and the introduction of a global reserve currency, to help stabilise international exchange rates, smooth commodity prices, promote international economic cooperation, and prevent future financial crises. read article... G20 versus UN: the battle continuesNews|22 September 2009 The future of international economic governance and financial reform is still being debated separately at the United Nations and the G20, but little progress is being made. read article... The Byzantine governance of the IFIsComment|22 September 2009 On August 28, in Bariloche, Argentina, the presidents of twelve South American countries met to discuss a life-or-death issue for their newly created Union of South American Nations (Unasur): the Colombian-US agreement allowing for extra-regional military to set up a chain of bases very close to the heart of the Amazon. read article... Good cop, bad cop? IMF in Honduras, Sri LankaNews|22 September 2009 There has been significant concern about IMF programmes in Honduras, where the IMF has not made clear whether it will deal with coup leaders who seized power from the elected president, and in Sri Lanka due to concern over allegations that the government is abusing the human rights of hundreds of thousands of Tamils. read article... Concerns over IFC's upcoming performance standards reviewNews|22 September 2009 The IFC has launched the three year review of their performance standards on social and environmental sustainability but civil society has raised concerns about the review and critiques remain with regard to the content of the standards. read article... Safeguard policies and performance standardsInside the inst|22 September 2009 Originally drafted as internal operational policies to guide staff, World Bank safeguard policies evolved after pressure from environmental and social groups in the 1980s and were first officially implemented in 1998. They aim to protect people and the environment from the adverse effects of Bank-financed operations and are based on international agreements, even if these protections are not explicitly provided for in the borrower country's national law. read article... Contract transparency missing as IFC expands oil investments in AfricaNews|22 September 2009 As the World Bank's private lending arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), expands its role in the African oil and gas sector, civil society groups are insisting that it adopt a requirement for full contract transparency in all of the extractive industries projects that it finances. read article... Business as usual? The World Bank's new energy strategyNews|22 September 2009 The World Bank's planned energy strategy review focusses on energy access for the poor and environmental sustainability, but NGOs fear it will justify continued fossil fuel finance. read article... Jockeying for position over World Bank's role as climate talks nearNews|22 September 2009 With roughly two months until the Copenhagen climate negotiations commence, questions loom about quantities of climate finance and which institutions will channel it, leaving speculation about the role the World Bank will end up playing read article... Rebranding hides little change for IMF lendingNews|22 September 2009 The IMF has launched a rebranding exercise for all of its lending to low-income countries, and while the new facilities will deliver more resources, the money seems destined to come with the usual damaging conditionality attached. read article... IMF advice paradox increase social spending, but contain deficitsNews|23 September 2009 During the last year, endowed with record funding and painted by the G20 as the 'saviour' of crisis-hit developing countries, the IMF has embarked on a public relations offensive to prove that it has changed its traditionally austere policy advice and conditions and has become 'more flexible'. read article... IMF conditions stoke controversy, prompt strikesNews|22 September 2009 The IMF's loans across Europe, from Iceland to Romania are stoking deep controversy and protest. Resistance is building from civil society aganist the austerity benig imposed. read article... Flexibility or seeds of new crisis? IFIs debt framework revisedNews|22 September 2009 A flurry of papers by the IFIs, UNCTAD and NGOs raise concerns over renewed debt difficulties in poor countries just as the IFI's complete a review of the debt sustainability framework to allow more borrowing. read article... Other stories in this issue
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Update issues
No.82, Sep/Oct 2012 | PDF
Recent briefings & reports
Climate Investment Funds Monitor 7: April 2013 25 April 2013
Working paper: The private sector and climate change adaptation: International Finance Corporation investments under the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience 24 April 2013
The UK's role in the World Bank and IMF: Department for International Development and HM Treasury 13 March 2013
World Bank on jobs: a "significant departure" or "business as usual"? 13 February 2013
The World Bank and industrial policy: Hands off or hands on? 6 December 2012
Climate Investment Funds Monitor 6: October 2012 26 October 2012 Newswire |
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