Recourse

03/09/2026

Development banks cannot claim to finance climate-resilient development while failing to act on risks identified in the projects they finance.

A new investigation by Scroll.in finds that the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Asian Development Bank (ADB), Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and British International Investment (BII) were among the institutions financing Nepal’s Upper Trishuli-1 hydropower project despite serious gaps in assessing its exposure to climate and disaster risks.

An independent panel had already warned that no climate resilience assessment had been carried out and called this a “significant gap”. A year later, the assessment was still outstanding. Now, following devastating floods, workers remain missing and communities are again facing the consequences of safeguards that were not properly implemented.

Recourse’s Sunil Acharya told Scroll: “There is a clear lapse of their own accountability duties. These projects are simply being pushed through.”

Development banks must stop treating climate risk assessments as optional. They must ensure that existing safeguards are properly implemented, that climate risks shape project design and financing decisions, and that banks are held accountable when their own requirements and warnings are ignored.

Over 70 Indian workers have been rescued from the Upper Trishuli-1 project. Many are still missing.

03/09/2026

On 17 September, we are launching our new report, The IMF’s Climate Turn: Lending, Debt and Extractive Dependence, examining these tensions across IMF programmes in Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, Pakistan and Egypt.

We’ll be joined by report authors Alexandros Kentikelenis and Thomas Stubbs, alongside Haneen Shaheen from Menafem movement and Daniele Berdeja from Latindadd. Shehrzade Moeed from Alternative Law Collective will moderate the conversation.

The discussion will explore what the findings tell us about IMF lending, climate policy and extractive dependence, as well as opportunities to influence ongoing reforms of IMF conditionality and debt sustainability frameworks.

📅 Thursday, 17 September
⏰ 7am MX / 9am EDT / 3pm CEST / 4pm EAT / 6:30pm IST

🔗 Register here: https://tinyurl.com/IMFlending

02/09/2026

AIIB Infrastructure Asset-Backed Securities: untransparent, unaccountable and far too fossil-friendly.

As the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank celebrates 10 years of operations, we've been looking under the hood of the bank’s claimed achievements on sustainability and climate — to find a less rosy story than the one being told.

Take one of its most "innovative" financing mechanisms, for example: Infrastructure Asset-Backed Securities (IABS).

• Since 2021, the AIIB has backed 9 IABS products at a collective value of $4.2bn — more than 50% of which is going to oil and gas projects.

• In 8/9 of these products, oil and gas finance is more than twice the value of renewable energy projects.

• Many of the products have documented links to social & environmental harms, yet affected communities are not granted access to the bank’s complaint mechanism.

It's time for the AIIB to change course! 🛑 Stop funding fossil fuels across all financing instruments and remove barriers to accountability.

We're taking this call to the bank's Annual Meetings later this month.

Check out the full article with data visualisations in the first comment ⤵️

27/08/2026

10/08/2026

Reko Diq mine – a recipe for disaster funded by public money?

Multilateral development banks are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into the Reko Diq mining project in Balochistan, Pakistan, despite awareness of the huge social and environmental risks it poses.

The IFC, the ADB and the US Exim Bank have already approved their loans, while the EIB and Canada's EDC are reportedly appraising the project.

Public development banks are mandated to uphold human rights, environmental safeguards, and inclusive development – all of which is impossible in the Reko Diq context.

Join us in urging the banks to reconsider their investments! Click the link in the first comment.

30/07/2026

The World Bank Group and the African Development Bank Group say that 50 million people have gained access to electricity across Africa through since its June 2023 baseline.

A new analysis by ODI Global argues that most of these reported connections come from projects approved before Mission 300 was launched, raising important questions about how results are counted and attributed.

People can only hold development banks accountable when reporting is transparent and backed by reproducible data. Clear reporting helps ensure public finance is delivering genuinely additional impact for the communities it is meant to serve.

ODI Global advises leaders on driving positive change. We turn bold ideas, evidence, and broad expertise into actionable strategies for a more resilient, just and equitable future.

27/07/2026

Reko Diq mining project: “development” or dispossession?

The Reko Diq mine in Balochistan is framed as a “sustainable development” project by its financiers.

Yet the Indigenous Baloch communities, who have lived and depended on the land for generations, were not adequately consulted about it.

Despite official UN recognition of their Indigenous status, the company behind the mine denied the Baloch peoples’ indigeneity in project documents. That way, Barrick Mining avoided its obligations to uphold their rights to consultation and consent.

We’re urging the multilateral development banks involved in the project – ADB and IFC – to rethink their involvement. Inclusive and rights-based development starts with upholding rights.

Join us and call on the banks to !

24/07/2026

Multilateral development banks have claimed record levels of in 2025, but questions remain over the quality and impact of this finance.

“The risk is that we celebrate record volumes while overlooking the quality and distribution of that finance. If climate finance is not reaching the people and sectors that need it most, then bigger numbers alone will not deliver climate justice or build resilience where it is urgently needed,” explains Mariana Paoli (Oxfam) in this Eco-Business article ⤵

Multilateral development banks delivered a record US$163 billion in climate finance in 2025, with funding for low- and middle-income countries rising to nearly US$103 billion.

Adaptation finance also climbed sharply, but campaigners say bigger sums do not necessarily mean the poorest communities are getting the support they need.

They warn that the World Bank's decision to drop its flagship climate lending target could weaken ambition across the wider MDB system. The debate is shifting from how much climate finance is delivered to whether it reaches those most vulnerable.

Read more: https://hubs.ly/Q04pYzd60

09/07/2026

Transition minerals: Will the IFC centre human rights? ⚒️

The UN has called for human rights to be at the core of mineral value chains.

The International Finance Corporation, a major mining financier, must overhaul its standards to protect people affected in the race for minerals.

Natalie Bugalski of Inclusive Development International explains the stakes in this article 🔗 linked in first comment.

08/07/2026

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How can the IFC - International Finance Corporation close policy gaps on reprisals in its Sustainability Framework review?

The IFC has taken steps, but gaps remain that leave communities in fear of reprisal if they speak out.

Katelyn Gallagher from Bank Information Center explains in this article 🔗 link in first comment