News
Water Forum calls for region-wide task force to tackle urgent water issues
NGOs from Central Asia and the Caucasus, together with some government officials, formed a region-wide task force to tackle the transboundary water problems and hydropower issues facing the region. The decision was a result of the intense dialogue among the participants of the Water Forum in Astana, Kazakhstan. Full story
Regional Water Forum opens in Central Asia and the Caucasus
Amidst continuing debate surrounding water resources management in the region, the IFI Monitoring Working Group in Central Asia and the Caucasus formally opened the two-day regional water forum in Astana. "The Water Forum aims to address the problems and probable mechanisms for regional cooperation on shared water resources in the region," Maya Eralieva of NGO Forum on ADB said. Full story
Former NGO Forum head comments on G8's position on climate change
Private corporations involved in fossil fuel projects in G8 countries benefit from almost every project finance package. "The ADB, of which Japan and the United States are the biggest shareholders, is a major lender to coal, oil and gas projects in Asia," Hemantha Withanage, Forum's former executive director said. Full story
Related Story: Humming the same tune on
Civil society groups criticized the G8 for its position on climate change saying, “the agreement among the G8 to reduce global greenhouse emissions by 50 percent by 2050 is a step back from the minimum cut needed by 2050." G8 members bear part of the responsibility for the continuous funding by multilateral banks, such as the ADB, of fossil fuel projects. Full story
NGOs demand better Safeguards Consultation from ADB
The NGO Forum on the ADB has demanded for a meaningful second round of Safeguards consultation from the ADB. In an official letter, the ADB watchdog reminded the Bank that there was disappointment and concern from civil society on the first Safeguards consultation. Full story
One Bumpy Highway Ride
"I was totally disagreeing with the compensation offered by the government and ADB," said Ek Vendara, one of the affected people by the ADB-funded Highway One project in Cambodia. Avilash Roul's interview with Mr. Vendara reveals that the ADB has yet to resolve compensation for the community. Full Story
ADB ‘fails’ in carbon footprint test
The ADB's footprint is much larger than it professes, said NGO Forum strategic research coordinator Abby Don in a recent study. "While the focus is more on high-profile, widely known culprits such as ADB's support for coal, what unnoticed is the ADB’s transport sector lending which is mostly for roads, freeways and hi-ways. It's bad, sad and has to change,” said Don.
Full story
Related story: Not even close
Contrary to its recent pronouncements that it “practices what it preaches with respect to energy efficiency and resource conservation,” Forum's study on the ADB's transport sector reveals its likely complicity in exacerbating global climate change. Full story
CSOs hit ADB communication policy on Bishkek Heating Plant
One of the largest civil society networks in Central Asia and the Caucasus region questioned today the relevance of the touted public communication policy of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in relation to issues surrounding a controversial Bishkek heating project. It has criticized the hypocrisy and duplicity of the the Bank's policies. Full story
ADB's LTSF criticized for its anti-poor stand and corporate bias
"The ADB is urging corporations to establish its economic and political hegemony over people's life through its long-term strategy 2020," said Ahmed Swapan Mahmud. Adding, the LTSF is prepared in a non-transparent way without any meaningful participation with CSOs. Full story
ADB Jumps To Corporate Welfare
"I don't see how a profit-oriented private sector will win the war against poverty," said Annie Geron, a stalwart of the labor network Public Services International. Better, said Ms. Geron, that "the resources ... be given to the public sector," for projects such as hospitals, clinics and schools.
Full story
Keeping the Asian Clean Energy Forum clean
The Asian Clean Energy Forum (ACEF) 2008 will be remembered as the event where the ADB finally decided to drop the term 'clean coal'. Unfortunately, it has little else to show. Full story
Related Story: Coming Clean (Sort of)
Leading Philippine business paper takes on ADB's move to drop clean coal.
Full story and cartoon
ADB abandons Asia's poor, says ex-ADB Social Development manager
Whom does the ADB really serve? Why is it denying developing country government access to much-needed funds for social development? What can the region's poor look forward to with the ADB's recently approved LTSF? A former ADB official gives a no-holds barred perspective. Full story
Coming clean (sort of)
Leading Philippine business paper takes on ADB's move to drop clean coal. Click for full story and cartoon.
Peoples' Voice: Dispatches from the field
Lanterns, wind and people. A profiteering bank called the ADB. A poem, signs and sangria. Do we have your attention now? Come inside and read the stories. And tell us yours. Go to our new feature Peoples' Voice: Dispatches from the Field and find out what the Forum's members and friends are talking about. Full story
ADB warned of Asia’s risks without strong Safeguards
May 6, Madrid – Asia’s vulnerable communities and environment will continue to be at risk if the Asian Development Bank fails to improve its existing Safeguards that are currently being revised. Full story
ADB’s 'climate change hypocrisy' denounced by civil society groups
05 May, Madrid -- Asian environmental and human rights groups branded today the Asian Development Bank as a "leading world emitter of climate change hypocrisy" for issuing calls for clean energy investments to fight global warming while extending massive funding support for dirty mega-coal projects in Asia. Full story
NGOs to ADB president: "No future for Asia's poor under ADB!"
3 May 2008, Madrid -- Asian Development Bank President Haruhiko Kuroda opened the 41st Annual Meeting of the ADB today under a hail of questions from civil society groups critical of the ADB's pursuit of private sector development at the expense of poverty-alleviation efforts and community and environmental interests.
Full story
Forum calls for stronger policies safeguarding social rights and the environment
29 April 2008, Manila - NGO Forum on ADB has submitted to the ADB its comments on the Draft Safeguards Policy Statement calling for a stronger set of policies safeguarding the local communities and the environment from destructive impacts brought by its funded projects. Read Forum's comments
ADB's 2020 Strategy confirms corporate bias
10 April 2008, Manila – Civil society groups criticized the new strategic framework of the Asian Development Bank, saying it is moving towards private sector-led development, which is anti-poor and vulnerable to corruption. Read more
ADB agrees to investigate the Taza Su water project in Kyrgyzstan
7 April 2008, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan - The Asian Development Bank agreed to investigate the Taza-Su Water Project in Kyrgyzstan. This was in response to complaints filed by Anara Dautalieva, head of NGO “Taza-Tabigat” and representative of the affected people during the lobby day organized by the NGO Forum on ADB on 28 March 2008. Read more
NGOs Comment on ADF X Replenishment, Call for Stronger Safeguards
11 March 2008, Manila - Members of NGO Forum have submitted their comments on the Asian Development Fund (ADF) X replenishment to the Board of Directors of the ADB. They called for more stringent set of environmental and social safeguards to complement the ADF X replenishment to ensure that the Bank's anti-poverty goal would be fulfilled. Read the letter
NGOs Pull Out of ADB's Mekong Safeguards Consultations
5 March 2008, Washington, DC- Groups from Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and Burma have refused to attend the Asian Development Bank's safeguard policy update consultations held this week in Hanoi, citing weakness of the draft. As a result, only three (3) NGOs attended the consultation adding another blow to ADB's beleaguered efforts to pass off the consultation process as credible. Full story
NGOs Cease Talks with ADB on Crucial Environmental and Social Issues
8 February, Manila – Non-governmental organizations from different parts of the world have halted their on-going consultative talks with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) over the latter’s egregiously prepared consultation paper on its environment, involuntary resettlement and Indigenous peoples policies.
more
Phulbari Coal Project to Violate Safeguard Policies, ADB Told
20 December 2007, Bangladesh Phulbari Coal Project to Violate Safeguard Policies, ADB Told- Local communities have strongly protested over ADB's support on the proposed Phulbari Coal Project. In a letter signed by local community members, they urge the regional bank to remove its support to the controversial coal project. They claim that the project will not only cause poverty in the area, but environmental disaster as well.
Local people believe that the project will violate ADB's Safeguard and Disclosure Policies, and Bangladeshi laws. Further, they said that the ADB will be condoning human rights violations related to the project if it continues to provide its support.
read the community letter
more on Phulbari
Civil Society Slams 2007 Global Accountability Report
7 December 2007, Manila - NGO Forum on ADB has lambasted the recent 2007 Global Accountability Report that highly rates the institutional accountability and transparency of the Asian Development Bank, saying it is insulting to all communities affected by poorly implemented ADB-funded projects. The ADB was found to be 100 percent transparent and 81 percent accountable by the UK-based organization One World Trust. more
Related Documents
Forum Press Statement: We Distrust One World Trust's Findings
BIC Remarks At One World Trust 2007 Report Launch
From policy to practice: BIC comments on the 2007 Global Accountability Report
ADB Responds to Forum's Call
6 November 2007, Manila - The ADB has responded to Forum's call for genuine safeguards consultation. On a letter sent to NGO Forum, the regional bank has said that it is willing to reschedule the following Safeguards consultations: East Asia (Beijing), Civil Society Organizations (Manila), and Mekong and Indonesia (Hanoi). In addition, it has confirmed that it would translate the Safeguards Policy Statement into Bahasa and Vietnamese. Earlier, ADB has already translated the SPS into Russian.
read the letter
More on Safeguards Update
Northeast Cambodians Abandon Riverside Homes for Safer, Higher Ground
15 Oct 2007, Ratanakiri - More than 3,500 dam-affected people in northeastern Cambodia have abandoned their riverside villages and moved upland, according to research conducted by 17 communitybased researchers with technical support by the 3S Rivers Protection Network (3SPN) in Ratanakiri province. more
PSIRU Releases Briefers on ADB-Funded Power Projects in South Asian Region
15 October 2007, Manila - The
Public Services International Research Unit has recently released briefers
on ADB-funded power projects in South Asia. The briefers specifically cover
power projects funded by the regional bank in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
ADB-funded power projects
in Bangladesh
ADB-funded power projects
in Sri Lanka
19
September 2007, Manila - Amidst the strong rain, debt and trade activists
staged a rally in front of the Asian Development Bank's headquarters in
Manila to protest against the proposed Aid for Trade. They stressed that
that the “Aid for Trade” being pushed by World Trade Organization (WTO),
international financial institutions (IFIs), especially the ADB, and the
powerful G-8 nations is “nothing but a bribe” or a “dangling rotten carrot”
in front of developing countries.
read press release
The Wrath of the Gods: Dream Road Turned into a Disaster!
22 June 2007, Sri Lanka - Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ) Sri Lanka claims that the ADB, Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), and/or the Sri Lankan goverment were unable to implement the STDP in an environmentally and socially sound manner. It says in its monitoring report that the supposed-to-be "Dream Road" for the Sri Lankans has only caused many sufferings to them. read the report
ADB: Putting Profit Before People
20 June 2007, Osaka - The People's Forum on ADB in Kyoto recently uploaded the materials distributed during the worksop entitled, "Water Privatization & Struggles in Asia - In Search of Alternatives - Asian Development Bank: Putting Profit Before People." The workshop, which was held in Doshiya University on 6 May 2007, was one of the many activities of civil society organizations parallel to ADB's 40th AGM in Kyoto, Japan last May. read more
ADB Will Continue to Fund Climate Change
1 June 2007, Manila – “The Asian Development Bank will continue to fund climate change. The Bank will still invest in coal power plants inspite its recognition that coal projects have serious environmental and health implications,” said Hemantha Withanage, executive director of NGO Forum on ADB. more
ADB's Draft Energy Strategy Now Available for Comments
29 May 2007, Manila - The ADB
has recently released its draft energy strategy. Commenting period begins on 28 May 2007 to 27 July 2007.
View the draft energy
strategy
[ PDF: 1010kb | 84 pages ]
Russian version
of the draft energy strategy
[ PDF: 531kb | 42 pages ]
Chinese version
of the draft energy strategy
[ PDF: 297kb | 29 pages ]
Read more about the Energy Policy
ADB Asked to Commit to Respect Indigenous Peoples' Fundamental Rights
24 May 2007, New York - The Asia Caucus and Forest Peoples Programme calls for the recognition of the indigenous peoples' fundamental rights by the Asian Development Bank in its development finance safeguard policies and funding mechanism.
In their statement presented to the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues on its 6th session, the Asia Caucus and FPP pointed out that the ADB has not committed to full and effective consultations with indigenous peoples in Asia. They also express concern over the ongoing Safeguard Policy update, more specifically on the Bank's present trend of leaning towards stronger reliance on the country systems instead of international safeguard standards. read the statement
ADB Washes Its Hands Off Melamchi Project
22 May 2007,
Kathmandu - Asian Development Bank today finally said it would not be
possible to carry on with the project activities of US$500-million Melamchi
Water Supply Project (MWSP) because the government has not given the
contract to manage water supply to the Severn Trent Water International
Limited (ST) as suggested by the bank.
more
Read more about MWSP
Visit WAFED website
CSOs Opposes ADB Co-Funded PPIAF
15 May 2007 - Civil society organizations all over the world urge donors to oppose the extension of the Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF). Since the release of the report evaluating the PPIAF entitled, "Down the Drain," the Norwegian Government has withdrawn its support to the project due to the latter's bias to private sector solutions. read open letter
CSOs Tell ADB: Honor Your Anti-Poverty Promise
7 May 2007, Kyoto, Japan - “We do not want another 40 years of debt, poverty and ecological plunder,” according to civil society groups and affected peoples on the last day of the ADB’s Annual Governors Meeting in Kyoto. They called on the Bank to honor its commitment to poverty alleviation and respect human rights and the environment during the closing of the CSOs' parallel activity to the ADB Kyoto AGM. more
ADB Should Not Fund Phulbari Coal Project
1 May 2007, Tokyo, Japan -
Japan Center for a Sustainable Environment and Society (JACSES) said that
ADB should not fund Phulbari Coal Project. In its position paper, JACSES
pointed out that the project would displace 50,000 people that include 2,200
indigenous peoples.
more
Read JACSES position
paper
ADB: Save the Climate! Quit Coal Now!
18 April 2007, Manila -
Greenpeace activists held a demonstration in front of the ADB headquarters
calling for the Bank to quit coal and save the climate. With a four-meter
replica of a coal plant, Greenpeace reminds the Bank about its role in
funding climate change in Asia and the Pacific region.
"The ADB has the power to
jumpstart an energy revolution in Asia—a revolution that leaves behind
climate-damaging fossil fuels and drives the massive expansion of renewable
energy and energy efficiency programs," Jasper Inventor of Greenpeace
said.
read press statement
more
Stop Funding Climate Change! - ADB Told
8 December 2006. Greenpeace
activists, together with other non-governmental organizations, raised a
balloon "Stop Funding Climate Change" in front of the ADB headquarters in
Manila. The ADB is one of the biggest lenders of fossil fuel projects in
Asia that lead to greenhouse emissions, resulting to climate change.
more
Poor Technical Quality of EIAs: OED Releases Result of Evaluation Study on the Safeguard Policy
26 September 2006. "The quality of environmental assessments was found to be inconsistent and often did not reflect current international good practice," the report stated.
read more on SES on Env't
Policy
read more on SES on IR
Policy
Joint Letter to ADB President on SPF Selection Process
6 September 2006. We are writing to express our concerns regarding the selection process for members of the ADB’s Accountability Mechanism, particularly the current opening for the Special Project Facilitator and the upcoming opening for the regional panel member of the Compliance Review Panel in December 2006. more