MultiLaterAL Investment GUarantee Agency (MIGA) Campaign
BCA's Executive & Legal Director (right) engaging with MIGA Climate Change Management as to MIGA's failures to adhere to its climate change obligations under international law and its own board adopted policies during a livestreamed World Bank 2024 Annual Board Meetings Civil Society Policy Forum Session
MIGA and its Significant Impact on Climate Change
MIGA, an arm of the World Bank Group (WBG), provides risk insurance in the form of “guarantees” to lenders and investors against potential losses caused by risks in a country where their investment is located. These guarantees, which are non-commercial political risk insurance instruments covering everything from restrictions on currency conversions and transfers, expropriation, breach of contract, and civil disturbances and war, are critical to financing of development projects in Global South countries. Without this de-risking insurance, private sector investors will most likely avoid financing renewable energy and most fossil fuel projects in these regions. This is because guarantees take on the risk of investment by covering losses that investors would otherwise incur.
MIGA guarantees continue to enable natural gas plants, LNG projects, and fossil fuel investments in the Global South, while falling short of the guarantees needed to expedite the shift to renewable energy infrastructure. Further, BCA's groundbreaking data evidences MIGA is systematically failing to adhere to its own GHG emissions quantification, alternatives analysis, mitigation/avoidance, and disclosure requirements, and its obligations under international law to asses and prevent climate change harms, before issuing each guarantee. All of this this is especially consequential for climate change considering that in February 2024, WBG President Ajay Banga announced a significant overhaul of WBG’s guarantee operations to make it easier for the private sector to access guarantee solutions for their investments, supposedly to focus on climate action and renewable energy. The WBG's Evolution Roadmap also paints to expansion of MIGA guarantees, providing that they are needed “to catalyze more private investment, including equity investment, to address both country priorities and global challenges.” Without the MIGA reform BCA strives to achieve in MIGA's climate change policies and practices, MIGA will not align its guarantees with the 1.5°C warming limitation objective, and will continue to enable fossil fuel projects instead of feasible renewable energy infrastructure.
Read Devex Article Covering the Unveiling of BCA's Groundbreaking Data Evidencing MIGA's Systematic Failures to Adhere to its Policy Requirements Applicable to GHG Emissions Quantification, Alternatives Analysis, Mitigation, and Disclosure Before Issuing Guarantees
Click here for: The World Bank launched a one-stop guarantee shop. Here’s how it’s going. In a bid to increase private capital flows to the countries where it works the World Bank Group is streamlining and scaling its guarantee business. November 26, 2024, Adva Saldinger, Devex,
(web version here)
View BCA Livestreamed Presentation: "Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency's Failures to Adhere to its Climate Change Obligations in its Board Adopted Policies and Under International Law"
Jason Weiner, Executive & Legal Director, Bank Climate Advocates, World Bank 2024 Annual Board Meetings Civil Society Policy Forum Session: The Importance of MIGA: New Guarantee Platform and World Bank Evolution Roadmap (October 23, 2024, Washington D.C., USA)
View Recorded Livestream Here (Day 2 Tab - Third Video Down)