Where: 10 coal power projects across the Philippines

Sectors:

  • Climate & environment
  • Energy – Fossil Fuels
  • Finance
About the project
Between 2011 and 2017, Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC), a financial intermediary client of the IFC, financed dozens of new coal fired power plants across the Philippines, in violation of IFC’s social and environmental Performance Standards [2]. This occurred while IFC held a 13% equity stake in the bank and a seat on its board of directors. In 2021, the IFC’s own Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) concluded, in response to a complaint from project-affected communities and non-governmental organisations, that the IFC had contributed to environmental, social and climate-related harms caused by ten of these power plants, and that it should contribute to remediating the harms. However, as of yet, no remedy has been delivered.
Relevant IFC standards that were violated
  • Performance Standard 1 Assessment and Management of Environmental and Social Risks and Impacts
  • Performance Standard 3 Resource Efficiency and Pollution Prevention
  • Performance Standard 4 Community Health, Safety, and Security
  • Performance Standard 5 Land Acquisition and Involuntary Resettlement
  • Performance Standard 6 Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Management of Living Natural Resources
  • Performance Standard 7 Indigenous Peoples

For more information, read here.