BRICS bank fails to define sustainable infrastructure, yet "promoting" it to help corporates, MNCs: NGO meet

By A Representative
A civil society convention in New Delhi has taken strong exception to the National Development Bank (NDB), which is the joint initiative of the five BRICS countries -- Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa -- for failing to define “sustainable infrastructure” even as seeking to promote it, wondering whose interests it is serving.
Held ahead of the NDB’s Second Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the New Development Bank, which began on March 31 and will end on April 2, 2017, the meet, titled, “NDB: Peoples Perspectives”, was addressed by academicians, economists, environmentalists, journalists and indigenous communities from BRICS countries.
Focusing on issues related to the lack to transparency, accountability, benchmarks about the environmental and social, grievance redressal mechanisms, and spaces of engagement for the civil society organizations and peoples’ movements in NDB, the convention decided that it would come up with a detailed response to the outcomes of NDB meet.
Speaking on the occasion, Ciao Borges, a lawyer representing Conectas, a not-for-profit organization with the consultative status from UN-ECOSOC from Brazil, said, “the NDB given its wide implications ought to have an accountability and transparency structure.” The convention was held on March 30.
He said, so far the Shanghai based Bank, which claims to focus on ‘sustainable infrastructure’, has approved seven investment projects in all member countries for a total of over USD 1.5 billion, with 75% investments on renewable energy.
Despite this, he said, the Bank has not felt the need to define the concept of sustainable infrastructure. “This leaves the door open for investments which are profit oriented and not completely sustainable in nature”, he opined.
“Moreover”, he added, “With lack of transparency and redressal mechanism, the affected communities would have no recourse to file their complaints and concerns.”
Soumya Dutta, convener, Climate & Energy Group of Beyond Copenhagen Collective, and one of the founders of India Climate Justice Platform, said that none of the investment made was related to health, education etc., and all has gone to construction of roads, solar and hydropower plants.
“This leaves one wondering if all money has gone to the needs of the industry where corporates can come into play”, he said, even as taking strong exception to the concept of climate proofing of infrastructure, which, according to him, “protects investments from climate change but not people who are at the receiving ends.”
“All this achieves considerable significance in the wake of recent statement of Bank’s president KV Kamath, who announced that the Bank would double its lending every year over the next 2-3 years to leverage its USD 10 billion capital in first 6-7 years”, Dutta added.
Madhuresh Kumar, convener of the National Alliance of Peoples Movement (NAPM), who has worked on displacement issues in the Narmada Valley, said, “We are not against renewable energy but it has to be decentralized. The current funding is for the large scale projects, which leads to the large scale displacements. For any project to be sustainable and inclusive the benefits have to be equally distributed.”
Susana Barria, Project Coordinator, Public Service International, gave the example of the promotion of the rooftop solar panels as a strategy to reduce displacement, pointing out, since NDB will “only facilitate the norms of the dominant global financial systems, we cannot expect much from them to work in peoples favour.”
Others who addressed the convention included Nagesh Prabhu, Prof Biswajit Dhar, Leo Saldhana, Atul Bhardwaj, Ram Wangkheirakpam, Himanshu Damle, Benny Kuruvilla, and Joe Athialy.

Comments

Modi’s Israel visit strengthened Pakistan’s hand in US–Iran truce: Ex-Indian diplomat

By Jag Jivan M. K. Bhadrakumar , a career diplomat with three decades of service in postings across the former Soviet Union, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Germany, and Turkey, has warned that the current truce in the US–Iran war is “fragile and ridden with contradictions.” Writing in his blog India Punchline , Bhadrakumar argues that while Pakistan has emerged as a surprising broker of dialogue, the durability of the ceasefire remains uncertain.

Why Indo-Pak relations have been on 'knife’s edge' , hostilities may remain for long

By Utkarsh Bajpai* The past few decades have seen strides being made in all aspects of life – from sticks and stones to weaponry. The extreme case of this phenomenon has been nuclear weapons. The menace caused by nuclear weapons in the past is unforgettable. Images of Hiroshima and Nagasaki from 1945 come to mind, after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the cities.

Incarceration of Prof Saibaba 'revives' the question: What is crime, who is criminal?

By Kunal Pant* In 2016, a Supreme Court Judge asked the state of Maharashtra, “Do you want to extract a pound of flesh?” The statement was directed against the state for contesting the bail plea of Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba. Saibaba was arrested in 2014, a justification for which was to prevent him from committing what the police called “anti-national activities.”

Food security? Gujarat govt puts more than 5 lakh ration cards in the 'silent' category

By Pankti Jog* A new statistical report uploaded by the Gujarat government on the national food security portal shows that ensuring food security for the marginalized community is still not a priority of the state. The statistical report, uploaded on December 24, highlights many weaknesses in implementing the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in state.

Manufacturing, services: India's low-skill, middle-skill labour remains underemployed

By Francis Kuriakose* The Indian economy was in a state of deceleration well before Covid-19 made its impact in early 2020. This can be inferred from the declining trends of four important macroeconomic variables that indicate the health of the economy in the last quarter of 2019.

The soundtrack of resistance: How 'Sada Sada Ya Nabi' is fueling the Iran war

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* The Persian track “ Sada Sada Ya Nabi ye ” by Hossein Sotoodeh has taken the world by storm. This viral media has cut across linguistic barriers to achieve cult status, reaching over 10 million views. The electrifying music and passionate rendition by the Iranian singer have resonated across the globe, particularly as the high-intensity military conflict involving Iran entered its second month in March 2026.

School closures across states raise concerns amid Govt of India claims of improved access

By A Representative A recent report has raised concerns over the closure and merger of government schools in several Indian states, particularly in Bihar, where a significant number of institutions have reportedly been shut down or earmarked for closure.

Health activist group raises concerns over HPV vaccination drive, seeks temporary halt

By A Representative Swasthya Adhikar Manch, a public health advocacy group, has urged the Union government to ensure greater accountability and transparency in the ongoing Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination campaign, and called for its temporary suspension pending a comprehensive review. In a letter addressed to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, the group flagged what it described as unresolved concerns surrounding the nationwide rollout of the HPV vaccine, which began on February 28, 2026. The campaign targets 14-year-old girls and involves administering Gardasil, a quadrivalent vaccine intended to protect against certain strains of HPV linked to cervical cancer.

Beneath the stone: Revisiting the New Jersey mandir controversy

By Rajiv Shah A recent report published in the British media outlet The Guardian , titled “Workers carved the largest modern Hindu temple in the west. Now, some have incurable lung disease,” took me back to my visits to the New Jersey mandir —first in 2022, when it was still under construction, though parts of it were open to visitors, and again in 2024, after its completion.

Search This Blog