A Wrong Turn from Rio

A Wrong Turn from Rio
The World Bank's Road to Climate Catastrophe]
Presented on the occasion of the 10th Session of the Conference of Parties to the Climate Change Convention, Buenos Aires
Jim Vallette, Daphne Wysham, and Nadia Martínez
SEEN/IPS/TNI, 10 December 2004

This report is available in PDF

See also Press Release

Key facts

• Primary institution that emerged from 1992 Rio Earth Summit to catalyze sustainable energy in developing countries: The World Bank
• Amount of World Bank Group financing for fossil fuel projects, including extraction, power plants, and sector reforms, since Rio: $28 billion
• Frequency of approval of World Bank fossil fuel projects since Rio: Once every 14 days
• World carbon dioxide emissions from energy consumption, 2002: 24.5 billion tons
• Lifetime carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) from World Bank fossil fuel projects financed since Rio: 43.4 billion tons
• Percent of emissions associated with World Bank projects to export oil to the global marketplace: 49
• Area of plantation forest required to sequester 43.4 billion tons of carbon dioxide in one year: 8.7 million square kilometers
• Area of the country of Brazil: 8.5 million square kilometers
• Percent of World Bank executive directors who are economists or bankers: 50
• Percent who have development backgrounds: 8
• Country that holds sole veto power over the World Bank: U.S.A.
• Percentage of total World Bank oil projects for export to the North: 82
• Percentage of global oil consumed in the United States, 2001: 25 percent
• Projected percentage in 2025: 24 percent
• Projected rise in U.S. oil imports, 2001 to 2025: 8.6 million barrels per day
• World Bank executive director who said "relative economic weights in the world economy" [not population] should determine voting powers in the institution: U.S. Executive Director Carole Brookins
• Number of countries represented by parliamentarians who are demanding their own veto powers over World Bank programs: Over 70
• Percent commission that the World Bank proposed to charge for carbon trading in 1997: 5
• Profit World Bank projected it would make from this commission by 2005: $100 million
• Percent of private financial institutions whose standards for investment are linked to the World Bank: Over 75
• Ratio of World Bank fossil fuel to renewable energy and energy efficiency financing: 17 to 1

Table of Contents

• Key Facts
• Introduction
• Problems and Solutions
• A Crisis of Democracy
• The Promise and Demise of the Extractive Industries Review
• The World's Carbon Brokers
• Extraction for Northern Consumption
• Methodological Denial
• Appendices
• Renewable Deception
• Summary Table of World Bank Fossil Fuel Financing
• Endnotes