May 1, 1991
WORLD BANK THREAT TO THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT
Environmentalists and indigenous peoples representatives from
around the world have expressed strong opposition the the World
Bank's handling of the "Global Environmental Facility" (GEF).
The so-called 'Green Fund', which has been set up to counter
global environmental changes - pollution of international
waterways, global warming and the loss biodiversity - was
entrusted to the World Bank and the United Nations Environment and
Development Progammes last year (UNDP and UNEP). The Development
Committee of the World Bank meets to consider the GEF today and
Thursday.
The non-governmental groups say the Fund, which has already some
US$ 1.4 billion at its disposal, will not be effective as it is
currently organised and may even facilitate environmentally
destructive projects. Their main concerns are:
1. Current Bank activities are still causing major environmental
and social destruction. The GEF is being used to "grease the
skids" of prospective Bank projects by greening otherwise
environmentally destructive Bank schemes. GEF grants can be
disbursed before the rest of a Bank project is approved.
The NGOs insist that the Bank should first and foremost reform
its main lending portfolio.
2. The approval process for GEF projects is not controlled by an
executive board as is the case for the Ozone fund and other Bank
activities, but merely requires the signature of World Bank Senior
Vice President, WP Thalwitz. As such, the GEF approval procedure
is a giant step backwards from what is needed in order to assure
high quality and appropriate development.
Financing projects that are environmentally sensitive is best
done in a decentralized manner rather than through a single,
ponderous and unaccountable bureaucracy.
3. The World Bank, which is obliged by its mandate to deal
directly with governments, has proved itself both unaccountable
and unable to work directly with local communities. Yet a
sensitive and community-based approach is essential if
'environmental' projects are to be effective.
4. Many of the problems that the GEF deals with are symptoms of
the global economy and are rooted in the industrial countries.
Instead of trying to patch up problems in the developing world,
the global community should address the roots of the crisis which
lie largely in the overconsumption of the industrial world and the
stranglehold that the rich nations hold over endebted and
empoverished nations.
Levels of CO2 in the atmosphere should be checked by reducing
emissions in the North not by planting trees on poor peasants
lands in the South.
In view of these serious deficiencies, NGOs are calling on
donor Governments to halt further flows of money into the GEF.
They are also requesting participating Governments to see that the
existing moneys of the Fund are not disbursed until:
1. Consultations take place with local people who could be
affected by proposed projects and local NGOs with an interest in
the proposed projects. Local people should be given the
opportunity to modify or veto project proposals.
2. Regional and international consultations take place with
indigenous, local and international NGOs to develop issues,
concerns, criteria for project selection, mechanisms for local
peoples and NGO input, project designs, implementation mechanisms,
evaluation processes, and specific project proposals.
3. All GEF projects are given a category A listing, as defined by
the World Bank's Environmental Assessment procedure.
For further information contact:
Patrick Anderson, Greenpeace International tel: +31 20 5236555
fax: +31 20 5236500
Marcus Colchester, World Rainforest Movement tel: +44 60 876691
fax: +44 60 876743