Most companies that pollute try to draw attention away from their environmental impact. The World Bank just came across a handful that tried to overstate it.
On Tuesday the world’s largest international financial institution announced the debarment of six companies that submitted inaccurate documents to qualify for grants related to an environmental project in Vietnam. The companies, in an apparent attempt to show their potential to stem pollution, overstated the extent of their emissions of hydrochlorofluorocarbons — a man-made, ozone-depleting chemical.
The first phase of the Vietnam HCFC Phase-Out Project was designed to help the government of Vietnam reduce the country’s output of these pollutants — in order to comply with Montreal Protocol obligations, which were put in place nearly 30 years ago to protect the ozone layer that absorbs solar radiation.
About the author
Jeff Tyson@jtyson21
Jeff is a former global development reporter for Devex. Based in Washington, D.C., he covers multilateral affairs, U.S. aid, and international development trends. He has worked with human rights organizations in both Senegal and the U.S., and prior to joining Devex worked as a production assistant at National Public Radio. He holds a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree in international relations and French from the University of Rochester.