In January 2025, a coalition of CSOs urged the IFC and its leadership to immediately comply with its existing climate-related policies. In 2024, IFC’s Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) Climate Change Advisory Report confirmed that IFC policies require the institution to quantify greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, analyze lower-emission alternatives, and implement mitigation measures before financing projects, but the bank had failed to consistently follow these requirements.

According to research conducted by Bank Climate Advocates, IFC-financed projects are responsible for around 168 million tonnes of CO₂-equivalent emissions annually, roughly comparable to the yearly emissions of the Netherlands. CSOs argue that IFC’s current approach to aligning with the Paris Agreement is insufficient because:

  • It allows projects to rely on countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which collectively would still lead to 2.5–2.9°C of warming, far above the 1.5°C target.

  • The methodology does not require full emissions accounting or robust analysis of lower-emission alternatives.

  • It permits financing of fossil fuel and other high-emission projects that undermine climate goals.

Main demands

This letter, endorsed by 28 civil society organizations (CSOs) and CSO alliances which collectively encompass over 150 CSOs from the Global South and North, calls on the IFC to:

  1. Immediately implement its existing climate policy requirements for all investments.

  2. Publicly disclose Paris Alignment analyses before financing decisions.

  3. Accelerate and open the review of the IFC Sustainability Framework, allowing early civil society participation.

  4. Strengthen policies to align all IFC investments with the 1.5°C global warming limit.

Read the full letter here.

Additional resources