NGO wants World Bank to withdraw environment policy

The proposed policy is only aimed at promoting corporate profits and an attack on human rights and the environment

Bangalore-based NGO Environment Support Group (ESG) has urged World Bank (WB) to withdraw its environment and social safeguards policy as it is aimed at promoting only the corporate interests.

On July 30 this year, the WB had put out a draft environmental and social framework, subtitling it as “Setting standards for sustainable development”. This document has been widely reviewed, including in a meeting held at Bangkok involving representatives of various civil society organisations, people’s movements, independent rese- arch organisations, environmental and social justice action groups, trade unions among others.

“The conclusion was unanimous. Demand the WB to withdraw its safeguard policy as it is nothing short of a strategy to recklessly promote corporate profit and an attack on human rights and the environment,” ESG said.

The WB is presentlys holding its Annual Meetings in Washington DC Peoples movements and environmental and social action groups from across the world have also gathered there to expose the WB’s disastrous record in securing human rights and environmental justice and financing undemocratic and unjust “development”, the ESG said in its release.

Over the past two years, officials of the WB have been jetting around the world holding “consultations” as part of a process to evolve a new environmental and social framework to guide the bank's investments. When WB held such “consultations” in India, it was ritualistic at best, and deliberately ignored communities and sectors impacted by the bank's investments in the past, the ESG said in a statement.

Also, the Bank was careful to select only certain kinds of sectors, and amongst them certain type of representatives, who would shy away from honestly critiquing the Bank's past due to their "politically correct" perspective. The consultations were also held without translating the Bank's proposal to reform in any local or regional or national language, and in effect denied millions the opportunity to participate, thus making the entire process a ritual fulfilling a procedure, ESG said.

In New Delhi and Bangalore, these consultations were engaged with representatives from various sectors and civil society organisations, and the World Bank was asked to go back with its destructive investment strategy. Similar responses greeted the World Bank officials in other parts of the world as well, ESG recalled.