press release 22nd april 2004
On the 60th Anniversary of the World
Bank, the Friends of the Earth Chairman
Demands that President Wolfensohn Gets Out of
Oil, Coal and gas
Washington, DC – Today at 2p.m. EST,
Ricardo Navarro, chair of Friends of the
Earth International, will meet with President
Wolfensohn at the World Bank. Navarro, former
Goldman Environmental Prize Winner from El
Salvador, will be demanding the World Bank
end its financing for oil and mining. A
recent review of World Bank lending in the
oil, mining and gas sectors, commissioned by
Wolfensohn at the request of Navarro,
concluded these projects do not meet the
World Bank's mission of poverty alleviation
and sustainable development.
International environmental and human
rights groups are gathered in Washington D.C.
this week on the occasion of the World Bank's
60th Anniversary Spring Meetings. “The best
birthday present President Wolfensohn could
give to the world's poor would be to stop
Bank funding of fossil fuel and mining
projects and invest in wind and solar,” said
Ricardo Navarro.
Navarro, who at World Bank meetings in
Prague four years ago demanded the review by
Wolfensohn, will be presenting a painting
based on drawings by children from mine
affected communities around the world. The
World Bank's controversial development
policies and practices are under fire as a
result of the Extractive Industries Review
(EIR).
The review, led by former Indonesian
Environment Minister Dr. Emil Salim, found
systematic destruction of the environment and
harm to indigenous peoples because of World
Bank investments in oil, mining and gas. The
EIR recommends shifts in Bank investment
towards clean, renewable energy.
President Wolfensohn is expected to
implement these recommendations, and it is
anticipated that his meeting with Navarro and
other environmental leaders today will be a
key step in the deliberations of the World
Bank Group.
for more information
contact:
Jon Sohn, Friends of the Earth-US,
202-412-2467 Hannah Ellis, Friends of the
Earth-UK, (44) 7810-558246 Ricardo Navarro,
Friends of the Earth International,
202-49202154
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