BRICS meet in India to discuss future of new bank
In the second meeting since the creation of the New Development Bank, NGOs oppose investments in large hydroelectric dams and fossil fuels
The second meeting of the BRICS New Development Bank, in New Delhi, will begin this Friday, March 31, under the watchful eye of human rights and environmental and social organizations. In side events and meetings with representatives of the bank, the organizations will urge the NDB to include in the drafting of its strategy – the main purpose of the event – concrete commitments to sustainable development. They will also ask the institution to avoid investing in large hydroelectric dams and in fossil fuels.
Since the first disbursement made by the bank, in April 2016, seven projects worth a total of US$1.5 billion have been approved: two each in China and India and one each in South Africa, Russia and Brazil. It is known that the investments are in the areas of renewable energy (solar and wind), power transmission and small hydroelectric dams. The Brazilian project is the second largest, with financing of US$300 million, and it will be handled by the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) – which has not yet provided details of the nature or the location of the project.
In a joint statement, dozens of civil society organizations from around the world are calling for the strategy of the bank to “break away from development models that have failed to address the needs and priorities” of communities and that “too often result in more environmental degradation and growing inequality”.
Click here to read the document submitted by civil society.
The organizations also draw attention to the commitment made by the five BRICS nations to contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals – a list of 17 priority areas and environmental and social goals to be achieved by 2030. “The NDB should develop institutional mechanisms for meaningful engagement with civil society and develop clear sustainability criteria and performance targets for its investments,” reads the statement.
According to the lawyer Caio Borges, coordinator of the Business and Human Rights program at Conectas, who is taking part in the meeting in New Delhi, “the bank was founded based on the conviction that the international financial system needed to be rebalanced, but the time has come to demonstrate that the countries are indeed rethinking development with a focus on the human person”.
“Developing nations are more vulnerable to climate change and, in this context, the NBD should lead a truly inclusive and sustainable global development agenda,” said Borges. “We hope that this commitment is embedded in the strategies that the bank will present at the end of the meeting. Otherwise, the countries will miss the opportunity to lead a global process as positive as it is urgent,” he added.
