World Bank / key documents

International Rivers and Mekong Watch sent a letter on commercial operation of Nam Theun 2 Hydropower Project in Lao PDR to the President of the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank on March 26, 2010.

International Rivers' February 2008 Nam Theun 2 report, based on a recent site visit by International Rivers’ staff, shows that shortcomings and delays in programs to compensate villagers and restore their incomes have not been addressed. Furthermore, it is unclear if resettlement infrastructure for more than 6,200 villagers on the Nakai Plateau will be completed on time for reservoir filling to begin in June 2008.

Some proposed World Bank dam projects, and a selection of other proposed energy and water projects, excerpted from the World Bank's Monthly Operations Summary and Projects Database. Last updated January 9, 2012.

As the World Bank plunges back into the large dam business, the legacy of its past dam projects remains unresolved. This briefing paper highlights the ongoing social, environmental and economic problems of a number of Bank-funded dams, and provides recommendations to address this legacy.

 

The Unresolved Legacy of the World Bank's National Drainage Program in Pakistan - an Eyewitness Account

The World Bank's Inspection Panel (IP) issued its investigation report for the Bank-funded Pakistan National Drainage Program in 2006. The IP report found that Bank management had violated six of the Bank's safeguard policies in the NDP project, contributing to the loss of lives and livelihoods in Pakistan's southern Sindh province. In response to the findings of the IP investigation, Bank management outlined measures they would take to address the policy violations and problems in the NDP.

This article by Ann-Kathrin Schneider first appeared in World Rivers Review in February 2007. It is a plea to the World Bank to take responsibility for the Bank's failed projects and to compensate those harmed by its failures. The article discusses the World Bank-funded National Drainage Project in Pakistan that violated six of the Bank's safeguard policies and led to the loss of lives and livelihoods in Sindh province, Pakistan.

Report Counters World Bank’s "High–Risk / High–Reward Strategy",
NGOs Predict Increased Conflict Around Risky World Bank Projects

As World Bank representatives gather in Dubai for the 2003 World Bank/IMF Annual Meetings, Environmental Defense, Friends of the Earth, and International Rivers released a report in response to the World Bank’s new "high–risk/high–reward" strategy in the water, forestry, and extractive industries sectors. The report, Gambling With People’s Lives, analyzes the World Bank’s ability to manage social and environmental risks in high–risk projects and to learn from its past mistakes. The report is available at www.foe.org (or, International Rivers Gambling With People’s Lives).

As the World Bank unveiled its new Investment Framework on Clean Energy and Development at its annual meeting in Singapore in September 2006, a coalition of environment and development organizations charge that the strategy will not be effective at combating climate change and expanding energy access for the poor.