Denisse Linares
Law, Environment and Natural Resources (DAR for its acronym in Spanish)
(dlinares@dar.org.pe)
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is undergoing crucial changes to implement loans that seek to bridge social gaps and generate sustainable development in Latin America. This provides a strategic role in regional development since the destination of large investments is in their hands and implies direct participation in internal decisions.
Today, COVID-19 places Latin America at the forefront of an unprecedented economic crisis, whose response will be to resort to a necessary wave of loans. Today more than ever and given our more recent political and social history, where widespread corruption has been and still is, one of the leading causes of inequitable development, mechanisms of transparency and open data are indispensable. Even more so when the IDB has indicated that natural disasters and epidemics are situations that manifest high risks of misuse of public resources, making it impossible for the most vulnerable people to access them.
But the crisis does not only affect the economic aspect. Some situations are beyond the financial range, such as the violation of human rights, where indigenous peoples and environmental defenders are victims of mega-projects (Ixquisis in Guatemala and Hidroituango in Colombia). Thus a paradox develops where the region requires loans. However, if they do not have efficient governance mechanisms and a robust rights framework, they threaten local populations’ rights.
In 2019, Latin America registered more victims due to complaints about mining projects, large-scale agriculture, forestry exploitation, illegal hunting, and fishing than the previous year. This has made us one of the most dangerous regions.
The pandemic has shown the real fragility in terms of access and quality, such as education, health, job stability, and connectivity. Given this, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) indicates that it will be necessary to adopt fiscal measures to recover the public investment, so the banks will be needed to support these sectors’ recovery financially.
Likewise, the pre-existing needs of COVID-19 (access to drinking water, medical equipment, access to intercultural education, and now remotely) were intensified by a virus. This requires meeting all needs at the same time and places the government apparatus in the forefront, in a region where the economic model is based on the privatization of essential services, and where environmental regulations are always being relaxed and rights are being violated.
Therefore, it is necessary to ask, what will the measures be to counteract the threats already foreseen against these new loans? Both the State and the IDB must ensure the adequate and efficient implementation of the new social and environmental policies. Otherwise, the results will not reach the most vulnerable communities and peoples, and we will continue the same vicious circle.
In turn, it is also essential to rethink what type of development is necessary for the region. For example, the IDB itself indicates that governments should prioritize the transition towards the decarbonization of economies, reaffirming this position with the inclusion of a list of prohibited activities for the projects it finances under its new safeguards (oil exploration projects and oil development, and gas exploration and gas development). It also recognizes participation and environmental justice, with the incorporation of the Escazú Agreement, a treaty that has strong opposition in Peru.
It’s not a matter of reactivating only the economy, but of guaranteeing the exercise of rights and citizen vigilance to improve public management and the role of multilateral banking. A few weeks ago after a consultation process questioned by civil society, the IDB published its New Framework for Environmental and Social Policies, vital for its lenders to effectively avoid impacts on their investments, such as deforestation of ancestral lands, degradation of ecosystems, contamination of water sources, forced evictions, situations of violence and reprisals, the differentiated impact on women; among other impacts caused in projects financed by the IDB, such as Ixquisis in Guatemala, Hidrotuango in Colombia or the PTRT3 in Peru, cases that were reported in the Independent Consultation and Investigation Mechanism (MICI).