Media Briefing Note

The CAO audit reveals that the IFC "knows very little" about the environmental and social impacts of its financial market lending, which constitutes over 40% of its portfolio. The audit found that the IFC focuses on whether clients have management systems rather than actual outcomes, leading to a situation where approximately 60% of subclients showed non-improved performance. Furthermore, 10% of sampled clients were non-compliant with requirements, and 25% were only partially compliant or uncertain. Despite these findings, the IFC has not committed to changing its practices, suggesting the issue is one of "corporate messaging." Civil society organizations have called for a fundamental overhaul of this lending approach to increase transparency, accountability, and focus on development outcomes.

• The IFC lacks the tools to measure whether its financial market lending avoids harm, resulting in a significant knowledge gap regarding the environmental and social impacts of a portfolio valued at nearly $20 billion.
• The IFC's oversight focuses on the existence of management systems rather than actual results, with approximately 60% of subclients showing no improvement in performance.
• A significant portion of the IFC's sampled clients failed to meet environmental and social requirements, yet the IFC continued to provide financing in some cases despite these breaches of contract.
• The IFC has not committed to policy changes in response to the audit, instead attributing the problem to a need for better "corporate messaging" and maintaining that partner financial intermediaries should manage sub-client impacts.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (2013). Media Briefing Note. https://www.ciel.org/Publications/CAO_BriefingNote_Feb2013.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. Media Briefing Note. 2013. https://www.ciel.org/Publications/CAO_BriefingNote_Feb2013.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=Media Briefing Note |date=8 February 2013 |url=https://www.ciel.org/Publications/CAO_BriefingNote_Feb2013.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centerforinternationalenvironmentallaw2013media, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{Media Briefing Note}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2013}, month = feb, url = {https://www.ciel.org/Publications/CAO_BriefingNote_Feb2013.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }