Freestone, David --- "The World Bank and Sustainable Development" [2010] ELECD 595; in Fitzmaurice, Malgosia; Ong, M. David; Merkouris, Panos (eds), "Research Handbook on International Environmental Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2010)

Book Title: Research Handbook on International Environmental Law

Editor(s): Fitzmaurice, Malgosia; Ong, M. David; Merkouris, Panos

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781847201249

Section: Chapter 7

Section Title: The World Bank and Sustainable Development

Author(s): Freestone, David

Number of pages: 23

Extract:

7 The World Bank and sustainable development
David Freestone*



This chapter will look at the ways in which the World Bank ­ particularly the International
Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development
Association (IDA) ­ has sought to address environmental and sustainable development issues
within the context of its economic development mandate.1 It reviews the main instruments
with which the Bank works with its member countries; it looks at the evolution of the envi-
ronmentally and socially sustainable development mandate within the Bank, together with
necessary internal technical capacity. It considers the development of the Bank's environ-
mental and social `Safeguard Policies' and the role of the Inspection Panel in overseeing
these. It then looks at the growth and evolution of the modalities to fund and encourage global
environmental `public goods', specifically at the Global Environment Facility (GEF), but also
the Bank's work on carbon financing in the context of the much wider spread of trust funds
and partnership arrangements which involve the World Bank. It also considers the develop-
ment of a Clean Energy for Development Investment Framework for the World Bank Group
in the context of the very real threats that climate change now represents, particularly to the
poorest groups in society, and finally discusses the relevance of human rights considerations
to the work of the World Bank.

Financing sustainable development
The financial instruments available to the World Bank to promote sustainable development
include the full suite of Bank Group financial and technical assistance. ...