Bretton Woods Project

On 30 June 2024, The World Bank marked one year of aligning projects financed by its International Development Association and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development with the goals of the Paris Agreement. 🚀 Our latest briefing examines what this Paris alignment means for the Bank’s financing in energy sectors. It reviews all 71 ‘energy & extractives’ projects financed by IDA and IBRD in fiscal year 2024. Here are some of our main findings:  ▪ There has been a shift in the Bank’s energy financing approach where, since FY20, Development Policy Financing (DPF), which offers budget support contingent on policy reforms, has become the primary financing instrument, replacing Investment Policy Financing (IPF) that funds specific energy projects. ▪ The Bank’s approach to Paris alignment is being used to a significant extent to impose ‘green’ conditionalities on its borrowing countries, especially in the Global South. This is mainly done by structuring energy sector conditionalities to facilitate a private sector-led transition, which includes privatising and liberalising energy sectors and modifying regulatory frameworks to de-risk private investments. ▪ Alarmingly, only $2.34 billion was allocated directly to finance renewable energy projects, comprising just 12.3% of total energy financing in the first year of this Paris alignment. The lion’s share ($1 billion) went to finance a controversial hydropower project in Pakistan. ‼️  This raises concerns as the Bank’s private sector strategy is failing to deliver results, with large-scale private investments in renewable energy not materialising in most countries where the Bank operates. Furthermore, given the lower profitability of renewables compared to existing fossil fuels and the increasingly prohibitive capital costs in the Global South, this approach shifts financial liabilities and costs onto citizens and governments in low- and middle-income countries, undermining hopes for a just transition. The briefing recommends: 1️⃣ An external, expert-led review of the Bank’s private sector energy transition approach to facilitate genuine green transformation in the Global South. 2️⃣ Increased civil society participation to give national trade unions and civil society a voice in shaping green transition policies. 3️⃣ Enhanced transparency of the Bank’s energy investments and climate finance, allowing for greater public and parliamentary scrutiny. 👉 Read the full briefing here: https://lnkd.in/dS3UzWm4

Something is cooking at SOAS... 💥 Missed the full-day event deadline due to the ever-present overstimulation and overflowing calendars? Curious about the entanglement of international institutions, geopolitics, and development policy? FOMO no further! You can still join our open Evening Panel on October 11th, 6.30 pm (in person!). Register via the link below and listen to these stellar panelists on the politics behind development policy: ⚪ Jayati Ghosh, UMass Amherst ⚪ José Antonio Ocampo, Columbia University ⚪ Luiz Vieira, Bretton Woods Project ⚪ Pallavi Roy, SOAS ⚪ Sebastian Haug, German Institute of Development and Sustainability See you there! Don’t miss out (again)—register here: https://lnkd.in/eb2wpT_B Supported by: SOAS Department of Economics & INET Institute for New Economic Thinking

Our Gender IFI Summer School 2024 wrapped up last week with an empowering session on Imagining Feminist and Decolonial Development. In case you missed it, we have posted the recordings of all sessions that comprised the Summer School, which included Feminist Approaches to Debt and Women as Workers, Progressive Taxation for the Care Economy, Gender and Financialisation, and Moving Beyond Austerity in the Global South. Access them here: https://lnkd.in/dKDiCsxC #genderequality #womensright #advocacy #IFI

Last week the Bretton Woods Project hosted a Gender IFI Summer School, a convening for scholars and activists interested in understanding how international financial institutions (IFIs) impact women’s rights. The last session, which I was able to attend last Friday was titled ‘Imagining Feminist and Decolonial Development’. With  leading voices in feminist advocacy, we explored how feminist movements are pushing for decolonial justice and transforming global financial systems to better serve women and communities in the Global South. Some highlights: 🔑 Decolonial Knowledge Exchange: We need to prioritise knowledge systems that empower local communities and challenge the power structures rooted in colonialism. It's about building futures that center wellbeing over profits. 💡 Rethinking Development: The current development model must be redefined to align with the realities and priorities of the Global South. Feminist movements have already reclaimed autonomy and vision, but there's more work to do in disrupting neoliberal agendas. ⚖️ Systemic Change from the Bottom Up: Our feminist futures must include diverse visions. Sustainability of life, both for people and the planet, should be central to new economic systems, along with the crucial role of care economies. 💪 Building Collective Power: From young women’s leadership in urban movements to challenging structural violence, the work is complex and multi-layered. But through solidarity and global-local organising, we can dismantle unjust systems and build something better. 🌱 Embracing Pre-colonial Philosophies: Decolonisation doesn’t mean going back to pre-colonial times, but it’s about drawing on philosophies like Ubuntu, focusing on care, solidarity, and cooperation. The work continues as building inclusive, intersectional movements that challenge oppressive systems can enable our achievement of sustainable futures. 💪✨ #Decolonisation #Feminism #DecolonialJustice #GlobalSouth #WomenEmpowerment #Sustainability #CareEconomies #Leadership #Solidarity

The online Gender IFI Summer School 2024 full programme is now out! Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/e4hbgjkF

Interested in gender and macroeconomics? Join this year's free online Gender IFI Collective Summer School (27 Aug - 6 Sep), organised by BWP's Gender Equality and Macroeconomics (GEM) project and friends. WHAT IS THE GENDER IFI SUMMER SCHOOL?   Six free online learning sessions, featuring experienced speakers teaching about how international financial institutions (IFIs) impact women’s rights, plus the sharing of advocacy and mobilising tactics to rise up against them amongst participants.  Find further details of each session here: https://bit.ly/3YJrpLv. WHO CAN JOIN?   The summer school is free to any activist, scholar and advocate interested in learning about economic justice and IFI influencing – especially women’s rights groups!  WHO IS ORGANISING THIS?   The Gender IFI collective, a group of economic justice, women’s rights and IFI advocacy groups. Sign up here to receive joining links to the sessions: https://lnkd.in/eqS2EFfQ 

As debt crises escalate & overseas development assistance shrinks, #SDRs could provide crucial support to vulnerable countries. We need a financial architecture fit for the 21st century. In a new op-ed in Devex, experts Niranjali Amerasinghe, Jon Sward & Lara Merling explain why👇 http://bit.ly/4cTwfKi

Check out the latest At Issue briefing, by Rachel Nadelman, Ph.D., in our Observer Sumer 2024: Is the World Bank rolling back commitments to citizen engagement, again?

Is the World Bank rolling back commitments to citizen engagement? The summer edition of the Bretton Woods Project's Observer includes an article by ARC's Rachel Nadelman, Ph.D. She documents current rollbacks in the Bank's mechanisms for citizen engagement, and reflects on what their checkered history in this area means for future advocacy strategies