Open letter to Dr Jim Yong Kim, President concerning IFC investment in the financial sector

An open letter from civil society organisations to Dr Jim Yong Kim arguing that the IFC's action plan for financial sector lending fails to address critical gaps in accountability and risk management. The authors highlight that the IFC cannot currently determine if financial intermediary investments cause harm to the environment or local communities, despite these investments accounting for nearly 20 per cent of World Bank Group annual commitments. They call for a fundamental rethink of the IFC's investment strategy, including independent input and participatory consultation with affected communities.

• The Compliance Advisor/Ombudsman (CAO) audit indicates that the IFC lacks the means to verify that investments in financial intermediaries do not cause environmental or community harm, regardless of whether clients have an environmental and social management system (ESMS).
• Financial intermediary sub-clients represent nearly 20 per cent of the World Bank Group's annual commitments, yet the IFC does not measure the results of these investments for sub-clients and claims it is not accountable for them.
• The IFC's action plan is deemed insufficient because it fails to address several core issues: the inability to assess development and social outcomes of lending, a lack of third-party verification, transparency problems regarding sub-client investments, weak contractual arrangements for non-compliance, and poor sequencing of capacity building.
• Specific transparency failures are noted regarding the Agua Zarca hydropower project in Honduras and the India Infrastructure Fund case brought by Odisha Chas Parivesh Sureksha Parivesh.

APA

Carbon Market Watch (2013). Open letter to Dr Jim Yong Kim, President concerning IFC investment in the financial sector. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/publications/open-letter-dr-jim-yong-kim-president-concerning-ifc-investment-in-the-financial-sector/

Chicago

Carbon Market Watch. Open letter to Dr Jim Yong Kim, President concerning IFC investment in the financial sector. 2013. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/publications/open-letter-dr-jim-yong-kim-president-concerning-ifc-investment-in-the-financial-sector/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Carbon Market Watch |title=Open letter to Dr Jim Yong Kim, President concerning IFC investment in the financial sector |date=28 November 2013 |url=https://carbonmarketwatch.org/publications/open-letter-dr-jim-yong-kim-president-concerning-ifc-investment-in-the-financial-sector/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{carbonmarketwatch2013open, author = {{Carbon Market Watch}}, title = {{Open letter to Dr Jim Yong Kim, President concerning IFC investment in the financial sector}}, publisher = {Carbon Market Watch}, year = {2013}, month = nov, url = {https://carbonmarketwatch.org/publications/open-letter-dr-jim-yong-kim-president-concerning-ifc-investment-in-the-financial-sector/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }