Climate change directly threatens forests, agriculture, fisheries, and human health. Recognizing the grave threat that global climate change poses to development, 167 nations signed the Framework Convention on Climate Change at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. The treaty commits all signatory governments to stabilize worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. Almost all of the signatories are members of the World Bank.

The World Bank will administer the Convention funds through the Global Environment Facility (GEF), to assist developing countries in developing and financing energy projects that reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and therefore combat global climate change. The main source of CO2 is from fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas.

Throughout the entire negotiation process for the Climate Convention, developing countries opposed the World Bank administration of the GEF because of its previous record. This opposition continues.

Greenpeace believes that the World Bank's responsibilities under the Climate Convention to cut CO2 cannot be carried out unless the same policies are applied to the rest of its work. The World Bank continues to fund almost exclusively fossil fuel energy projects, even with the knowledge that it will add to the global increase in CO2 emissions. Only 1.4% of all Bank energy lending now goes to renewable energy sources, and as little as 0.8% finances energy efficiency on the consumer side. Huge energy saving potentials in developing countries remain untapped.

The largescale coal, oil, and dam projects financed by the World Bank for over 30 years have had tremendous social and environmental impacts, not only in the sphere of climate change. Millions of people's lives and culture have been completely disrupted, and entire ecosystems have been destroyed. Whole sector loans do not even receive Environmental Impact Assessments.

Case Study In India

In 1993, the World Bank approved a $US 400 million loan to India's National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) for coalfired power expansion in the Singrauli region in eastern central India. Over the next ten years, the Bank intends to finance, with US$1.2 billion, the construction of 15 new coalfired power plants and two gasfired power plants. This will be the single biggest new source of greenhouse gas emissions on earth. India's coal-fired power plant expansions will produce an annual minimum 100 million tonnes of CO2. The impacts of this loan on global climate change and the social impacts on the affected people in India, were simply not considered.

Around 51,000 Singrauli citizens have been uprooted in the Singrauli area because of Bank projects. Many of the mostly poor tribal families have been displaced several times. Future coal loans will displace more. Already Singrauli coal mining has turned the area into a moonlike landscape, drinking water is polluted and there are widespread health problems on the local people who are now entirely dependent on NTPC and the national coal company.

Ironically, about 60% of the regions' inhabitants do not have electricity in their homes.

Greenpeace Demands

• The World Bank must adopt a CO2 reduction policy, requiring energy lending to be based on comprehensive lowest cost energy plans, and including social and environmental costs in sector and project evaluations.
• The World Bank must stop NTPC loans unless true rehabilitation of displaced people is carried out.

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