Environment
Section Articles
Issue Brief: World Bank Extractive Industries Review - June 2006
In preparation for the 2006 National Roundtables on Corporate Social Responsibility and Extractives in Developing Countries, the Halifax Initiative has prepared this issue brief backgrounder, "World Bank Extractive Industries Review - Lessons Learned (and promptly ignored)"
Issue Brief: The IFC's Performance Standards - June 2006
In preparation for the 2006 National Roundtables on Corporate Social Responsibility and Extractives in Developing Countries, the Halifax Initiative has prepared this issue brief backgrounder, "The International Finance Corporations's Performance Standards - the New 'Gold Standard' or 'Fool's Gold?'"
Press Responses: Sunday, March 27, 2005
Canadian mine in eye of storm; Protests bring moratorium on licences for extraction of gold and silver
Comments on Bank Operational Policy on Indigenous Peoples (February 2005)
The Halifax Initiative Coalition sent official comments to the World Bank's Indigenous Peoples Coordinator highlighting the need for the World Bank to strengthen its draft Operational Policy (OP 4.10) on Indigenous Peoples in order to ensure that it sufficiently meets international standards and guarantees on the rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Government of Canada Response - NGO/PRESS Pass
Response to August 10, 2004 letter expressing concerns over the World Bank and International Monetary Fund decision to cancel the NGO/PRESS pass for this year's Annual Meetings.
Call to adopt the World Bank's own recommendations for extractive industries (March 2004)
A letter signed by representatives of over 120 Canadian NGOs calls on Finance Minister Goodale to insist on the adoption of the recommendations of the World Bank’s Extractive Industries Review – March 15, 2004
Issue Brief: The World Bank & Water Privatization - March 2004
A short summary of the influential role the World Bank plays in the privatization of water in developing countries
Letter to Hon. Ralph Goodale on the EIR : March 15, 2004
This letter urges Minister of Finance, Hon. Ralph Goodale, to ensure that Canada plays a strong role in getting the Extractive Industries Review (EIR) adopted at the World Bank, and goes on to explain some of the findings of the EIR.
Rebuttal to IFC response to NGO comments on BTC pipeline (November 2003)
Letter to IFC which is a rebuttal to the IFC's dismissal of the NGO analysis of the environmental impact assessment for the BTC pipeline which found up to 173 partial or full violations of World Bank policies.
The Global Environment Facility: The First Ten Years - Growing Pains or Inherent Flaws? (August 2002)
The report offers a succinct overview of the GEF's first ten years, examining some of its history, structure and governance, the conflicting expectations of its participants and the implications of the central role of the World Bank. Co-released with Environmental Defense (August 2003). [ PDF Format]
Marketing the Earth: The World Bank and Sustainable Development (August 2002)
This report, released at the time of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, documents the World Bank's approach to sustainable development in specific sectors addressed in Agenda 21. [PDF format]
The World Bank and the G-7: Changing the Climate for Business (June 1997)
The consequences of the World Bank's fossil fuel expansion in the global South are proving devastating for the Earth's climate as greenhouse gases generated in mining and burning of fossil fuels are released into the Earth's atmosphere. The total of World Bank-financed fossil fuel-related emissions for Bank projects since the 1992 Earth Summit will result in 9.5 gigatons of carbon being emitted over the lifetime of the targeted oil, gas and coal fields, pipelines, and power plants;
