Blog

Amidst a decade of profoundly gratifying moments I’ve experienced since founding Accountability Counsel, a pinnacle was this month’s gathering in Washington, D.C. with our board, staff team, and global partners from seven of the 50 countries in which we’ve worked. We came together to celebrate a decade of Accountability Counsel, to reflect, and to draw inspiration from one another as we launch our second decade.

Community members and activists have bravely and tirelessly resisted plans to construct a 1,050-megawatt coal-fired power plant on the Lamu coastline, in Kenya, despite intimidation, repression and smear campaigns. They have left no stone unturned in their efforts to hold the actors responsible for this disastrous project accountable. Yet a group of investors, led by the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), has narrowly avoided responsibility for its contributions to date. Steps must be taken to close this accountability gap.

Seventy-nine civil society organisations and partners have submitted a joint statement to the Equator Principles Association (EPA) and signatory banks today, expressing disappointment that the current review process of the Equator Principles does not go far enough to strengthen accountability and ensure access to remedy. With the EPA currently revising the fourth iteration of the Equator Principles, the “EP4” review should be a moment of ambition for advancing accountability in project finance.

On this International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, the need to put Indigenous Peoples at the center of conservation efforts could not be clearer. Evidence is mounting that Indigenous stewardship of natural resources is key to combating the climate crisis and protecting the biodiversity that sustains the planet. Meanwhile, Indigenous Peoples the world over are increasingly seeing access to their lands and resources restricted by top-down conservation projects that violate their rights. In Southeast Myanmar’s Tanintharyi Region, international organizations, financial institutions, and government have the opportunity to reverse this harmful approach to conservation that ignores Indigenous voices and rights.

The United Nations Development Program’s (UNDP) independent watchdog visited Myanmar last week to investigate a large conservation project posing grave risks to Indigenous communities in Tanintharyi Region, which has seen decades of armed conflict during Myanmar’s 70-year civil war.

Last week, members of Accountability Counsel’s Communities, Policy, and Research teams attended a series of meetings in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire centered around international finance institutions and their accountability offices, also known as independent accountability mechanisms (IAMs).

En celebración del Día Mundial del Medio Ambiente, Accountability Counsel habló con Gabino Vicente, un líder de la comunidad indígena Chinanteco en Oaxaca, México, quien tomó medidas para garantizar la protección de un arroyo que estaba amenazado por el proyecto hidroeléctrico Cerro de Oro, financiado internacionalmente.

In celebration of World Environment Day, Accountability Counsel spoke to Gabino Vicente, a Chinanteco Indigenous community leader in Oaxaca, Mexico who took action to ensure protection of a freshwater creek that was threatened by the internationally-financed Cerro de Oro hydroelectric project.

For the first time in nearly four years, the U.S. Export-Import Bank (EXIM) has the ability to make deals over $10 million following the confirmation of three EXIM board nominees this month. As this renewed spending power opens the door for EXIM to support larger – and potentially riskier – projects, the export credit agency needs a strong accountability framework to minimize those risks and effectively address harm when it occurs.

In 2016, Accountability Counsel worked collaboratively with 10 other civil society organizations to evaluate how the accountability system for development finance is – and is not – working. The result of this major research project was Glass Half Full? The State of Accountability in Development Finance. We are pleased to share the Mandarin Chinese version for the first time today.

Civil society organizations welcomed the new grievance mechanism policy for the London-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Most development banks have a grievance mechanism, also known as an independent accountability mechanism, to receive complaints from people harmed by activities they finance. Once operational, the new Independent Project Accountability Mechanism (IPAM)—which will replace the EBRD’s current grievance mechanism, the Project Complaint Mechanism—will be removed from the operational structure of the bank and have senior-level leadership and a direct reporting line to the bank’s Board of Directors.

Last week, we joined civil society groups from around the world in Córdoba, Argentina for the International Advocates’ Working Group (IAWG) 2019 Annual Retreat. This year’s retreat, hosted by FUNDEPS, brought together over 30 advocates working to support communities to defend their human rights and environment.

Accountability Counsel’s Policy team joined a diverse group of organizations working to ensure that corporations act responsibly and transparently, and provide remedy for harm tied to their activities, for the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR) annual meeting last week.

We welcome this morning’s statement from International Finance Corporation (IFC) CEO Philippe Le Houérou on accountability, which comes on the heels of the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision to end IFC absolute immunity from lawsuits in U.S. courts and as its accountability system undergoes a review. In order to matter in practice, this statement must transform into immediate IFC action to implement concrete changes and make the institution truly accountable to the people its investments harm.

The European Investment Bank (EIB)’s independent watchdog – known as the Complaints Mechanism – visited the Lamjung district of Nepal from March 15 to 18, 2019, to hear concerns of communities affected by the EIB-funded 220 kV Marsyangdi Corridor, a high voltage transmission line project which is being implemented by the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).

This week, the IFC published the final version of its ‘Impact Investing: Operating Principles for Impact Management’ (the Principles). The Principles are a set of voluntary guidelines for impact investors, touching on impact strategy, assessment, and monitoring.

Accountability Counsel gave a webinar presentation on incorporating community feedback into impact investments. The presentation, ‘How Community Feedback and Accountability Mechanisms Can Advance the Field of Impact Investing’, is part of a series of webinars hosted by Transform Finance.

Earlier this week, Accountability Counsel and 24 CSOs submitted joint comments and recommendations on the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s (EBRD) accountability mechanism policy review. The joint submission urges the EBRD to build on its draft Project Accountability Policy by retaining the good practices the Project Complaint Mechanism (PCM) already adheres to and addressing the remaining gaps in the policy.

As the global business landscape continues to expand and shift, there is a pressing need for corporate accountability in the world. Effective avenues where people can seek remedy for harm caused by businesses are crucial. In the United States, the U.S. National Contact Point (U.S. NCP) is meant to serve as a forum in which people harmed by American companies’ activities and operations can raise grievances. 

Today, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Jam et al. v. International Finance Corp., a landmark case challenging the World Bank Group’s claim to absolute immunity in a lawsuit brought by fishing communities in India and their lawyers at EarthRights International. In a 7-1 ruling, the justices have ended the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) absolute immunity from lawsuits in U.S. courts. The immunity upset at the IFC, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, will have wide-ranging and global implications.