Last week, the World Bank released a draft of its proposed new environmental and social safeguards.
While over a hundred civil society groups, development practitioners and professional associations denounced the draft as a significant roll-back of standards, Devex reported last week how Kyle Peters, vice president for operations policy and country services, defended the proposed new rules because they “will uplift sustainable development” and represent “a strengthening of existing policies.”
However, after a careful analysis of the draft, we think that Peters’ assertions are wrong.
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About the authors
Natalie Bugalski
Natalie Bugalski is co-founder and legal director of Inclusive Development International. A human rights lawyer with expertise in housing, land and property rights, over the past decade Bugalski has done advocacy work on land tenure policy, resettlement and displacement issues at local and international level, including U.N. agencies, ADB and the World Bank.
David Pred
David Pred is the co-founder and executive director of Inclusive Development International. A global advocate for land, housing, and natural resource rights, David has spent the last 15 years working to support communities and social movements around the world to hold governments, corporations and financial institutions accountable for land-grabs, forced displacement and related environmental and human rights violations.
