ABSTRACT
In October 2018, the World Bank began applying its new Environmental and Social Framework to all new Bank investment project financing. However, the final version of the Framework contains a number of weaknesses that could have significant impacts on the rights of indigenous peoples affected by a Bank-financed project. A fundamental problem is the Bank’s lack of an express obligation to respect human rights and promote borrowers’ respect for human rights. Other weaknesses of the Framework include: the terminology of ‘Sub-Saharan African Historically Underserved Traditional Local Communities’; the applicability and determination of free, prior and informed consent; and the limitation on borrowers’ need to compensate or offset residual impacts on indigenous communities only when ‘technically and financially feasible’. The article draws upon the authors’ close knowledge of the World Bank drafting process, and is intended to raise awareness about the insufficient protection afforded by the Framework to indigenous peoples and to encourage further advocacy to ensure that other international financial institutions do not replicate these deficiencies. The article demonstrates how the Bank’s handling of these issues reflects the deeper underlying tensions between governments’ desire to exploit land traditionally held and used by indigenous peoples and the rights of those communities.
