IFC and the United Nations Secretary-General's Special Representative on Business and Human Rights (SRSG), Professor John Ruggie of Harvard University, have released a consultation draft of the research paper they commissioned on foreign direct investments and human rights. "Stabilization Clauses and Human Rights" aims to raise awareness of the relationship between the protection of investor rights and the host state's human rights obligations under international agreements. Specifically, it examined what, if any, impact stabilization clauses and similar risk allocation provisions in state contracts with foreign investors have on the host state's ability to adopt and implement human rights laws and regulations in areas such as labor, non-discrimination, and protection of health and the environment.
IFC has, from the earliest opportunity, used Global Environment Facility (GEF) and other donor funds to explore options for the commercialization of solar photovoltaic (PV) in the developing world. Through the implementation of its solar PV initiatives IFC has learned substantially not only about the solar PV market in general, but also about the type of financing required to support solar PV market growth and what it takes to develop a successful solar PV company — particularly for small solar household systems. This report aims to share some of these lessons learned and outlines IFC's current approach to addressing rural electrification issue.
In the "BTC Pipeline Project: Lessons of Experience," IFC environmental and social staff look back on an extremely challenging process and endeavor to extract some of the key operational lessons and good practices for the benefit of colleagues, clients, and the wider institution. While it is impossible to capture all the challenges and complexities encountered during the design and construction phase of the BTC project, this publication focuses on six thematic areas where environmental and social lessons learned were thought to be most valuable and applicable to other IFC-financed projects.
"External Monitoring of the Chad-Cameroon Pipeline Project: Lessons of Experience" provides lenders and project sponsors with an understanding of the business case for employing an external monitor, as well practical advice regarding the major steps and key issues for designing, implementing, and operating an external monitoring mechanism for complex projects. To highlight the practical challenges and value of the external monitoring mechanism, the publication draws illustrative examples from the experiences of IFC during the Chad-Cameroon Pipeline Project.
In the early 1990s, IFC commenced a decade-long involvement in the Pangue Hydroelectric project in Chile. By IFC standards at the time, the Pangue project reflected precedent-setting efforts to promote environmental and social stewardship. An executive summary of the Pangue Hydroelectric lessons learned case study has been prepared for the purposes of staff learning.
