International Finance Corporation

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is the branch of the World Bank Group that provides loans to the private sector.  The IFC has helped finance dams such as Nam Ngum 3 (Laos), Bujagali (Uganda), and Cheves (Peru).

Meanwhile, the IFC's Performance Standards are a set of social and environmental safeguards that often guide the social and environmental practices of private dam builders.  The Performance Standards also directly influence the Equator Principles, a set of voluntary sustainability guidelines for some of the world's largest private banks.

International Rivers has worked to keep large dams out of the IFC's pipeline, and to hold the IFC accountable for financing destructive dams.  We have also worked with the IFC to improve the language of its Performance Standards as well as the Equator Principles, to make sure that private banks are held accountable to the highest social and environmental standards.

More information: 
  • Multilateral Development Banks' Project Pipelines: A quarterly report on dam projects to watch out for at the the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the European Investment Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the International Finance Corporation, and the World Bank.