IFC Campaign
Overview: After analyzing over 200 direct investments by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) from 2020-2023, and approximately 350 over the last 10 years, Bank Climate Advocates (BCA) discovered that the IFC is systematically failing to adhere to the requirements of its own policies pertaining to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions quantification, alternatives analysis, mitigation, and public disclosure before it approves financing for a project. The frequency and magnitude of these failures have greatly impacted global warming and continue to cause severe harm to communities all over the world, especially those who are differentially or disproportionately affected by changing climate.
Curing these failures is critical to IFC coming into alignment with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C warming limitation objective. This is because full implementation of its existing policies is needed to avoid and minimize GHG emissions to the furthest extent feasible from its investments, and to fill the gaps in its Paris Methodology procedures. In addition, significant improvements in IFC's policies (sustainability framework and Paris Methodology) - is needed for the IFC to align its finance flows with the Paris Agreement, 1.5°C, and basic human rights climate change harm assessment and prevention obligations.
International Finance Corporation (IFC) Compliance Advisor Ombudsman Report Substantiates Bank Climate Advocates' Findings - Says IFC's Climate Change Policies & their Implementation are Inadequate
Washington D.C., 30 October, 2024 – The IFC Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) today issued an advisory opinion highlighting significant misalignments between IFC’s current policies and their implementation and the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C climate target. The CAO report substantiates findings from Bank Climate Advocates’ (BCA) and raises questions about the IFC’s assertion that 85% of its new investments since July 1, 2023, are aligned with the Paris Agreement, and its commitment to achieve 100% alignment by July 1, 2025. BCA’s audit of 350 IFC investments unveils even more widespread failures by the IFC to adhere to its GHG emissions accounting, alternatives analysis, mitigation, and disclosure requirements prior to its financing decisions for each investment.
Click Here for BCA's Press Release detailing the CAO Report's Finding and BCA's Investigation
Bank Climate Advocates and a Coalition of 28 CSOs from the Global South and North Submit Groundbreaking Programmatic Climate Change Request to IFC Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) - December 11, 2023
The Bank Climate Advocates (BCA) drafted request supported by BCA's legal research and evidentiary database documents IFC's systematic failures across 350 investments from 2012 - present to adhere to its climate change policies and obligations under international law prior to its financing decisions. The Request documenting IFC's failures to adhere to its policy requirements pertaining to GHG emissions quantification, alternatives analysis, mitigation, disclosure, and affected communities impact assessment, and detailing IFC climate change policy shortfalls, asks the CAO to use its discretionary authority to issue an advisory report and undertake a compliance appraisal to help cure IFC's failures and redress harms. BCA submitted the Request to the CAO after IFC Management refused to take corrective action to adhere to the plain meaning requirements of the climate change aspects of its policies in response to BCA's and CSOs requests.
Click here for 28 CSOs' December 11, 2023 Request to the IFC CAO
Click here for 12 CSO's May 1, 2023 Request to IFC Management
Click here for IFC Management's July 7, 2023 Response
Click here for 14 CSO's September 1, 2023 Reply to IFC
Management's July 7, 2023 Response
3 Page Overview Summarizing the Request & IFC's July 7, 2023 Response
The 1st Step – Request to IFC Management and Directors for Corrective Action
On May 1, 2023, Bank Climate Advocates and 11 civil society organizations from around the world submitted a Request to IFC Management demanding immediate corrective action. The Request extensively documents the IFC's systematic failures from 2012 to the present to adhere to the requirements of its Board adopted policies applicable to GHG emissions quantification, impacts, mitigation, and alternatives analysis before project financing.
This internal IFC reform and corrective action must be accomplished as soon as possible for the IFC to play its part in assuring the 1.5°C warming goal is met, to meet its objectives of coming into alignment with the Paris Agreement and mitigating climate change, to prevent its projects from harming Affected Communities as its policies require, and to ensure it will and can implement its policies and Paris Agreement Methodology as applied to both its direct and financial intermediary investments.
Click here for 28 CSOs' December 11, 2023 Climate Change Request to the IFC CAO
Click here for 12 CSO's May 1, 2023 Request to IFC Management
Click here for IFC Management's July 7, 2023 Response
Click here for 14 CSO's September 1, 2023 Reply to IFC Management's July 7, 2023 Response
3 Page Overview Summarizing the Request & IFC's July 7, 2023 Response
BCA's and 6 CSOs' July 31, 2023 World Bank Evolution Roadmap Climate Change Comments - IFC is the private sector arm of the World Bank