Groups Demand World Bank Shift Lending away from Industrial Animal Agriculture

April 12, 2023

WASHINGTON DC – Friends of the Earth and the global Stop Financing Factory Farming Campaign (S3F) announce a week of action targeting the World Bank Group (WBG) and its private sector arm the International Finance Corporation (IFC) during the banks’ in-person Spring 2023 meetings, held April 10 – 16 in Washington, D.C. With the climate crisis at the top of the bank’s Spring Meeting agenda, a global civil society coalition is calling on World Bank president nominee Ajay Banga to stand up for real climate action and end the bank’s financing of industrial livestock.

Experts predict that at current rates of expansion, industrial livestock production alone could account for 80% of the world’s budget for greenhouse gas emissions (in a 1.5C temperature increase scenario) by 2050 and that reductions are needed to avoid climate catastrophe. Despite this scientific reality, in the past 10 years the top five development banks have poured a staggering $4.6 billion into industrial animal agriculture in countries such as Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico, China, Vietnam and Kenya. The largest investors, EBRD and IFC, deployed billions to expand global operations of some of the world’s largest meat and dairy producers.

What: The Stop Financing Factory Farming campaign will join the Big Shift Coalition and many D.C. organizations in a rally in front of the World Bank headquarters to call on the World Bank to stop financing fossil fuel and industrial livestock projects.

Time and Location: Friday April 14^th from 12-2pm ET in Edward R Murrow Park 1872-1842 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest Washington, D.C. 20006

Kelly McNamara, Senior Research and Policy Analyst, Friends of the Earth, issued the following statement:

“If incoming President Ajay Banga is serious about being a ‘big believer’ in climate science, he must recognize that investing in the expansion of factory farming is incompatible with the World Bank’s commitments to align its lending with the Paris Agreement. World Bank resources should be directed towards climate-friendly food production that reduces investor risk while strengthening global food security and advancing public health.”

The Stop Financing campaign launched an ad campaign calling on the bank to invest in real climate solutions. The campaign also held a panel at the Civil Society Policy Forum highlighting how financing industrial livestock is incompatible with the bank’s commitment to aligning its lending with the Paris Climate Agreement, Convention on Biological Diversity, and Sustainable Development Goals.

The Stop Financing Farming campaign steering committee members include the Bank Information Center, Friends of the Earth U.S., Feedback Global, The Global Forest Coalition, Sinergia Animal, International Accountability Project and World Animal Protection. The campaign is supported by more than 30 global members and partners who work on a wide variety of issues such as Indigenous rights, environmental protection, food security, animal welfare, public development finance and corporate accountability.

Expert contacts:

Kelly McNamara, Friends of the Earth, +1 (617) 699-4361, kmcnamara@foe.org

Ladd Connell, Bank Information Center, +1 (571) 236-7655, lconnell@bankinformationcenter.org
Press contact: Haven Bourque, +1 (415) 505-3473, haven@havenbmedia.com

 

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12 Apr, 2023
Posted in Unsustainable Livestock Production, Press releases