Post by account_disabled on Feb 28, 2024 6:14:29 GMT
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), one of the world's leading development banks, has for decades touted its success in financing companies that it says can help end extreme poverty in emerging countries.
However, new investigation suggests that the organization, which operates under the World Bank Group, has been providing hundreds of millions of dollars in loans to potential companies linked to forced labor of Uyghurs and other ethnic minority groups in the western region of Xinjiang in China.
Support for companies linked to forced labor?
The report, titled Financing and Genocide: Development Finance and the Crisis in the Uyghur Region , presents evidence that in recent years the IFC has lent money to four Chinese companies that have been linked to forced labor and land expropriation in the Uyghur Region. region, along with environmental damage and the destruction of indigenous cultural heritage sites.
According to public statements, the four corporations mentioned in the report—Chenguang Biotech Group, Camel Group, Century Sunshine, and Jointown Pharmaceutical Group—have received IFC loans and equity investments worth $439 million. If loans obtained from institutional investors are included, the figure rises to about $485 million.
The credits could contravene the IFC's own Changsha Mobile Number List internal guidelines — known as its Performance Standards — which function entirely to "prevent it from financing projects that will have adverse environmental and social impacts that jeopardize its development objectives," the study notes.
CNN Business had exclusive early access to the report, led by the Helena Kennedy Center for International Justice at Sheffield Hallam University (United Kingdom) and published by the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think tank.
The Helena Kennedy Center for International Justice investigates modern slavery, gender-based violence and hate crimes, while publishing reports exposing the use of forced labor in Xinjiang to produce cotton and solar panels. They affirm that the four companies mentioned are not the only ones that receive IFC funds in the area.
This bank is accused of financing companies linked to forced labor
I think it is clear that the IFC must divest itself of all its investments in the Uyghur region .
It is up to you, based on your own standards, to ensure that your clients are not involved in forced labor.
Laura Murphy, Professor of Human Rights and Contemporary Slavery at Sheffield Hallam University and author of the report.
The IFC's response
In a statement, an IFC spokesperson said the corporation has "strong environmental, social and governance ( ESG ) standards" that are diligently applied throughout the life of the investment and are considered a model for development financing across the world. world.
However, new investigation suggests that the organization, which operates under the World Bank Group, has been providing hundreds of millions of dollars in loans to potential companies linked to forced labor of Uyghurs and other ethnic minority groups in the western region of Xinjiang in China.
Support for companies linked to forced labor?
The report, titled Financing and Genocide: Development Finance and the Crisis in the Uyghur Region , presents evidence that in recent years the IFC has lent money to four Chinese companies that have been linked to forced labor and land expropriation in the Uyghur Region. region, along with environmental damage and the destruction of indigenous cultural heritage sites.
According to public statements, the four corporations mentioned in the report—Chenguang Biotech Group, Camel Group, Century Sunshine, and Jointown Pharmaceutical Group—have received IFC loans and equity investments worth $439 million. If loans obtained from institutional investors are included, the figure rises to about $485 million.
The credits could contravene the IFC's own Changsha Mobile Number List internal guidelines — known as its Performance Standards — which function entirely to "prevent it from financing projects that will have adverse environmental and social impacts that jeopardize its development objectives," the study notes.
CNN Business had exclusive early access to the report, led by the Helena Kennedy Center for International Justice at Sheffield Hallam University (United Kingdom) and published by the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think tank.
The Helena Kennedy Center for International Justice investigates modern slavery, gender-based violence and hate crimes, while publishing reports exposing the use of forced labor in Xinjiang to produce cotton and solar panels. They affirm that the four companies mentioned are not the only ones that receive IFC funds in the area.
This bank is accused of financing companies linked to forced labor
I think it is clear that the IFC must divest itself of all its investments in the Uyghur region .
It is up to you, based on your own standards, to ensure that your clients are not involved in forced labor.
Laura Murphy, Professor of Human Rights and Contemporary Slavery at Sheffield Hallam University and author of the report.
The IFC's response
In a statement, an IFC spokesperson said the corporation has "strong environmental, social and governance ( ESG ) standards" that are diligently applied throughout the life of the investment and are considered a model for development financing across the world. world.