Civil society organisations have set out key principles and recommendations for the IFC/MIGA Sustainability Framework review
The IFC/MIGA Sustainability Framework includes the environmental and social safeguards designed to prevent development projects financed by these institutions from causing harm to people and the environment.
The Framework is currently up for review, with disclosure of the first draft expected in November–December 2026 alongside the launch public consultations.
In September, 116 civil society organisations – including the 19 publishers of these briefings – wrote to the World Bank Group Board outlining four core principles that should guide the review.
The four principles are:
- Alignment with best available practice and human rights norms
- Non-regression from existing policies
- Improved implementation
- Meaningful consultation of affected communities and dedicated, rights-based engagement with Indigenous Peoples
The first briefing explains the four core principles in more detail, with reference to other international standards used by peer institutions and the private sector.
The second briefing provides detailed recommendations on priority issues that must be addressed in the revised Sustainability Framework, including recommendations on existing and new Performance Standards, the Access to Information Policy, and cross-cutting issues such as gender.
These briefings are co-published by Recourse with AIPNEE, Arab Watch Coalition, Bank Climate Advocates, Bank Information Center, Bretton Woods Project, Centre for Financial Accountability, Friends of the Earth US, Inclusive Development International, Industrious Labs, Indigenous Peoples Rights International, OECD Watch, Oxfam, SIRGE, Tallgrass Institute, International Trade Union Confederation, Stop Financing Factory Farming (S3F), and Urgewald.
Four principles to guide the Sustainability Framework review
It has been almost 15 years since the IFC/MIGA Sustainability Framework was last updated. While the 2012 Framework represented an important step forward at the time, developments in human rights norms and environmental and social approaches mean that the IFC/MIGA safeguards are no longer the leading standards they once were.
Civil society is calling on the World Bank Group Board to ensure that the revised Sustainability Framework:
- aligns with best available practice and human rights norms
- does not weaken existing environmental and social safeguards (non-regression)
- addresses persistent gaps in implementation
- ensures meaningful consultation with project-affected communities and dedicated, rights-based engagement with Indigenous Peoples.
Civil society recommendations for the IFC/MIGA Sustainability Framework
Civil society also provides detailed recommendations covering environmental and social risk assessment, labour and working conditions, climate and pollution, community health and safety, land acquisition and resettlement, biodiversity, Indigenous Peoples, financial intermediaries, stakeholder and rightsholder engagement, gender and access to information.
Read the briefing Four principles to guide the IFC Sustainability Framework review
Read the Civil society recommendations for the IFC/MIGA Sustainability Framework