World Bank

World Bank Advised to Stop Supporting Dams with Carbon Credits

The idiocy of carbon credits.
The idiocy of carbon credits. Nitrozac and Snaggy - joyoftech.com The Independent Evaluation Group (IEG), a wing of the World Bank charged with assessing the Bank's activities, has advised the Bank to stop buying carbon credits from hydropower projects because "it has minimal impact on project bankability".  We've known all along that hydro credits are NOT additional. For projects to be eligible for carbon credits under the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism, they must fulfill two criteria: sustainable development and additionality. Unfortunately, host coun

Ethiopia's Hydro Plans Get Stuck in the Mud

Meles Zenawi and Italy's Foreign Minister inaugurate Gilgel Gibe 2
Meles Zenawi and Italy's Foreign Minister inaugurate Gilgel Gibe 2 On Jan. 13, Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi inaugurated the Gilgel Gibe 2 scheme, the country's biggest hydropower project. "It is possible to speed up development without polluting the environment," Zenawi proudly declared as he cut the ceremonial ribbon. Yet this was wishful thinking. Due to shoddy preparation, the project had already been delayed by more than two years. And less than two weeks after the inauguration, the project's core component, a 26 kilometer-long tunnel, collapsed partl

Ethiopian Dam Suffers Tunnel Collapse Days After Inauguration

Friday, February 5, 2010
A critical water-passage tunnel in the newly inaugurated Gilgel Gibe 2 hydropower project in Ethiopia reportedly collapsed this week. With a price tag of 374 million Euros and a capacity of 420 megawatts, Gilgel Gibe 2 is currently Ethiopia’s biggest power plant. The project channels the water discharged from the Gilgel Gibe 1 Dam through a long tunnel and a steep drop directly to the valley of the Omo River. The project, being built by Italian firm Salini, had already been delayed by more than two years. A high-profile January 13 inauguration was attended by Prime Minister Meles Ze

Going After Uganda's Big, Bad Dam Investors

NAPE staff and Terri Hathaway (Int. Rivers), Uganda
A short documentary by the Dutch group BothEnds offers a clear, concise "you are there" view of problems being caused by the Bujagali Dam, now being built on the Nile River in Uganda. This well-done piece of activist filmmaking shows the viewer firsthand what is at stake in this controversial project. You'll see what the dam will flood, visit a village forced to move for the project, hear from Ugandans who hope their businesses can afford the project's costly electricity, and see the beautiful Bujagali Falls themselves – soon to be submerged by the dam. People on both sides of the debate giv

Dan Rather Does Carbonomics

Dan Rather
Dan Rather ClizBiz on Flickr Renowned TV anchor Dan Rather has done an excellent episode of his cable news show exploring the scams and stupidities of carbon offsetting. International Rivers' research on bogus emission reductions from Chinese hydro dams is featured in the 52-minute show. I'm interviewed about the Xiaogushan Dam, which has been approved by the UN to sell offsets under the Clean Development Mechanism. The offsets are being bought by German utility RWE to enable them to continue burning dirty coal. The World Bank helped the Xiaogushan project developers get offs

Key Issues to be Addressed Before Nam Theun 2 Commercial Operation

Woman in Sop Ma resettlement village in the Nakai Plateau is planting rice and corn in NTPC's allocated 0.66ha of land.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
On September 8, 2009, International Rivers sent a letter to the World Bank (WB) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) Executive Directors on the key issues that must be addressed before Nam Theun 2 begins commercial operation. Woman in Sop Ma resettlement village in the Nakai Plateau is planting rice and corn in NTPC's allocated 0.66ha of land. A copy of the letter was also sent to the U.S Department of the Treasury and the Nam Theun 2 Power Corporation (NTPC). The letter addresses International Rivers' main concerns and recommendations based on a site visit in May 2009, when International Rivers

Brazilian NGOs urge World Bank not to approve $1.3 billion environment loan

Thursday, March 5, 2009
For immediate release Brazilian environmentalists, social movements and networks monitoring international financial institutions have asked the World Bank to postpone a decision on the US$1.3 billion "Programmatic Environmental Sustainability Development Policy Loan Project" to Brazil. The loan is scheduled for a vote today by the World Bank board of executive directors. In a letter to Pamela Cox, Vice-President for Latin America and the Caribbean, the groups say that prior loans aimed at mainstreaming environmental considerations in Brazilian government policies have failed.

Carta ao Banco Mundial Sobre Empréstimo ao Brasil

Thursday, March 5, 2009
Ilma. Sra. Pamela CoxVice Presidente do Banco Mundial para a América Latina e o CaribeBanco MundialWashington, DC, Estados Unidos da América Com cópia para: Sr. Makhtar Diop, Diretor, Banco Mundial no BrasilDiretores Executivos, Banco MundialMinistro do Meio Ambiente, Sr. Carlos MincMinistro do Planejamento, Sr. Paulo Bernardo SilvaMinistro da Fazenda, Sr. Guido MantegaCasa Civil, Sra. Dilma RousseffPresidente do BNDES, Sr. Luciano Coutinho Prezada Sra. Cox, Subscrevemos-lhe para manifestar nossa preocupação sobre o empréstimo que está sendo concedido pelo Banco Mundial ao governo brasi

World Bank Should Address Legacy in Inga Rehab

Thursday, May 24, 2007
RE: Concerns of proposed Regional and Domestic Power Markets Development Project (ID P097201)Read a letter to the World Bank from Congolese NGOs To the World Bank Board of Directors: We commend the Bank’s interest and commitment to refurbish existing energy infrastructure at the Inga site in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). However, the legacy of the Inga dams and the interest in further hydropower development of the Inga site raise several issues which create a more complex context for the Bank’s proposed Regional and Domestic Power Markets Development Project (RDPMDP).1 The followin

Lesotho Highlands Water Project, World Bank’s Responsibilities and Impregilo Involvement in Corruption Court Case

Friday, November 19, 1999
Mr. James Wolfensohn President The World Bank 1818 H Street, NW Washington D.C. 20433 U.S.A. Fax: +1 202 522 0355 Dear President Wolfensohn, We are writing to you on behalf of Campagna per la riforma della Banca mondiale, a coalition of 40 Italian development NGOs and environmental and human rights associations that has been, and still is, following with great attention and concern the developments of the court case on alleged corruption by several companies, such as Italy’s Impregilo, in the Lesotho Highland Water Project. Impregilo is accused of having given bribes amounting t

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