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World Bank Extractive Industries Review Author Visits London

Mar 5 2004

The `eminent person' leading the World Bank's review of funding for oil and mining projects, Dr Emil Salim, is in London on Tuesday 9^th March 2004 to discuss his recommendations to radically reform World Bank funding for the extractive industries with Government ministers. A leaked World Bank response suggested his recommendations would be ignored. Dr Salim will be available for interview.

Dr Salim was appointed by the President of the World Bank James Wolfensohn to conduct the Extractive Industries Review (EIR) four years ago. The findings were presented to Wolfensohn in January 2004. But a leaked draft copy [1] of the World Bank's response revealed that the bank has strong reservations and may not commit to Dr Salim's recommendations, which suggest that funding extractive industry projects is not a suitable use of public money in the vast majority of cases.

The former Indonesian Minister for Development Supervision and the Environment is currently touring European capitals, meeting with ministers to discuss the review. He will be discussing the findings of his review in London on Tuesday 9^th March at an open meeting in the House of Commons hosted by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Overseas Development [2]. He is also meeting with government departments, including DFID.

The recent review, commissioned by World Bank, recommends that the Bank should not support coal and oil projects and suggests it should instead reallocate funds towards renewable energy [3].

Friends of the Earth, International Finance Institutions Campaigner Hannah Ellis said:

"The report clearly shows World Bank support for oil and mining does not benefit local communities, protect basic human rights or the environment in the vast majority of cases. The World Bank Group, with its stated mission of poverty alleviation and sustainable development, must keep its promise to implement the crucial changes recommended in the review."

Notes

[3] The recommendations of the Extractive Industries Review include:

• Informed consent from local communities and indigenous peoples affected by extractive projects as a pre-condition for financing;

• Phasing out lending in support of oil and coal and to invest its scarce development resources in renewable energy by setting lending targets of increasing renewable energy lending by 20% a year;

• Ensuring the establishment of indigenous peoples' land rights as a condition for project finance;

• ensuring that revenues of Bank-financed projects benefit all affected local groups;

• requiring that freedom of association be present in Bank financed projects as a basic human/labor rights requirement;

• ensuring that good governance structures are in place before project finance and implementation occurs;

• protecting biodiversity through establishing "no go" areas for internationally recognized critical habitats;

• requiring that submarine tailings disposal not be used in World Bank Group supported mining projects;

• Increasing revenue transparency and improving public disclosure about projects; and promoting overdue key institutional reforms to deal with the long documented "pressure to lend" in the World Bank that has resulted in weakening of implementation of key environmental and social protection policies.

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