CIEL/International Rivers Network Letter to James Wolfensohn

The Center for International Environmental Law and International Rivers Network express serious reservations regarding the World Bank's draft resettlement policy, arguing it curtails the rights of project-affected people. The authors highlight several problematic areas: the removal of protections for those lacking legal land titles, which disproportionately affects indigenous peoples; the limitation of compensation to 'direct' impacts only; the lack of safeguards for 'voluntary' resettlers; the rejection of an 'improvement' standard for livelihoods in favor of mere 'restoration'; and the creation of a separate, less protective process for people affected by conservation areas. The letter urges the World Bank to align its policy with the recommendations of the World Commission on Dams and to restore transparency to the revision process.

• The draft policy restricts compensation for loss of land or assets to individuals who possess "formal legal rights to land" or "a claim to such legal rights," leaving those without legal title entitled only to undefined "resettlement assistance."
• The authors argue that failing to compensate those without legal land titles will disproportionately impact ethnic minorities and indigenous peoples, whose rights are often not recognized in national legal frameworks.
• The draft policy introduces a standard that covers only "direct" social and economic impacts, which the authors claim externalizes project costs and increases suffering for local communities by ignoring indirect impacts on land and livelihood.
• The draft policy excludes "voluntary" resettlers from protections, but fails to define "voluntary," creating a risk that project planners may mischaracterize forced resettlement to avoid requirements for information disclosure, consultation, or grievance mechanisms.
• The World Bank has rejected proposals to change the benchmark for project-affected people from the "restoration of income" to a standard of "improving" lifestyles and livelihoods.
• The draft policy establishes a separate process for people affected by conservation areas that delays consultation until project implementation and denies them the same basic protections as involuntary resettlers.
• The authors contend that the World Bank's revision process has lacked transparency, noting a failure to post a matrix of public comments and responses as promised.

APA

Anderegg, B., Wilks, A., Lee, M., Colchester, M., Geary, K., Al Mufti, S., Yilidiz, K., Roche, R., Zelter, A., Woodford, C., Soltani, A., Dickerman, T., Fontaine, R., Nagar, S., Arunachalam, R., London, M., Treakle, K., Kamp, R., Inamti, P., ... Milwaukee, S. (2001). CIEL/International Rivers Network Letter to James Wolfensohn. Center for International Environmental Law. https://www.ciel.org/news/environmentalists-express-concern-regarding-world-bank-resettlement-policy-draft/

Chicago

Anderegg, Brigitte, Alex Wilks, Matilda Lee, Marcus Colchester, Kate Geary, Shirwan Al Mufti, Kerim Yilidiz, et al. CIEL/International Rivers Network Letter to James Wolfensohn. Center for International Environmental Law, 2001. https://www.ciel.org/news/environmentalists-express-concern-regarding-world-bank-resettlement-policy-draft/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Anderegg |first1=Brigitte |last2=Wilks |first2=Alex |last3=Lee |first3=Matilda |last4=Colchester |first4=Marcus |last5=Geary |first5=Kate |last6=Al Mufti |first6=Shirwan |last7=Yilidiz |first7=Kerim |last8=Roche |first8=Rachel |last9=Zelter |first9=Angie |display-authors=etal |title=CIEL/International Rivers Network Letter to James Wolfensohn |publisher=Center for International Environmental Law |date=1 February 2001 |url=https://www.ciel.org/news/environmentalists-express-concern-regarding-world-bank-resettlement-policy-draft/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{anderegg2001cielinternational, author = {Anderegg, Brigitte and Wilks, Alex and Lee, Matilda and Colchester, Marcus and Geary, Kate and Al Mufti, Shirwan and Yilidiz, Kerim and Roche, Rachel and Zelter, Angie and Woodford, Chris and Soltani, Atossa and Dickerman, Tom and Fontaine, Rebecca and Nagar, Shailabh and Arunachalam, Ravishankar and London, Martha and Treakle, Kay and Kamp, Richard and Inamti, Prashant and Goitein, Ernest and Feder, Claire and Grant, Barbara and Stockman, Vivian and Wyrostok, Charles and Oestreich, Ann and Srivastava, Amit and Prongay, Vickery J. and Silver, Dan and Rich, Bruce and Ambrose, Soren and Beck, Juliette and Murray, Kevin and Moreno, Dorinda and Tsering, Bhuchung K. and Rasmussen, Pat and Schrei, Josh and Morrison, Roy and Bohn, Diana and Hoyt, Katherine and Khanna, Ravi and Norlen, Doug and Solomon, Elizabeth and Dinsmore, Allison and Shan, Han and Bergoffen, Marty and Hocevar, John and Vinas, Cecilia R. and Ramos, Maria Lya and Milwaukee, Steve}, title = {{CIEL/International Rivers Network Letter to James Wolfensohn}}, publisher = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2001}, month = feb, url = {https://www.ciel.org/news/environmentalists-express-concern-regarding-world-bank-resettlement-policy-draft/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }