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Sustainable Development
Impacts of Large-scale Infrastructure Projects and Development in the Peruvian Amazon: Instituto del Bien Común
Recent Grants
Impacts of Large-scale Infrastructure Projects and Development in the Peruvian Amazon
November, 2008
Amount: $100,000
Grant Period: 11/1/2008 to 10/31/2010
Program: Environment
Program Area: International Finance for Sustainability
Geographic Focus: Peru

This grant would support the Instituto del Bien Común, a nonprofit technical assistance organization, to develop and promote environmental and social standards for oil and gas and infrastructure investments in the Peruvian Amazon and to minimize the negative impacts of large-scale energy and infrastructure projects on the environment and local communities. The Instituto del Bien Común will provide local communities in the Andean Amazon with maps, policy analysis, and strategic advice on infrastructure and oil and gas investments so they can have a more informed voice in shaping these investments to be more sustainable.

General Purposes: Environmental Grantmakers Association
Recent Grants
General Purposes
November, 2008
Amount: $32,500
Grant Period: 6/1/2008 to 5/31/2010
Program: Environment
Program Area: Special Initiatives
Geographic Focus: Global: All Continents

This renewal grant will provide general support to the Environmental Grantmakers Association. Additional funding will provide support for the 2008 State of the States meeting and the 2009 Federal Policy Briefing. Activities of the association provide venues for environmental grantmakers to gain a stronger awareness and understanding of the challenges confronting the environmental community, as well as to discuss grantmaking strategies and explore areas for collaboration.

Strengthening Civil Society Engagement in Regional Integration and Infrastructure Investments in Colombia: Instituto Latinoamericano de Servicios Legales Alternativos
Recent Grants
Strengthening Civil Society Engagement in Regional Integration and Infrastructure Investments in Colombia
November, 2008
Amount: $136,750
Grant Period: 9/1/2008 to 8/31/2010
Program: Environment
Program Area: International Finance for Sustainability
Geographic Focus: Columbia

This grant will support the Instituto Latinoamericano de Servicios Legales Alternativos, a Colombian nonprofit organization that works on civic engagement across a variety of issues, to provide analysis and information on energy and infrastructure investments in Colombia to local communities and local and regional authorities. The analysis will include information about the scope and potential environmental and social impacts of these projects, and strategies for pressing international financial institutions to live up to their environmental and social commitments. The grant will also support coordination of a civil society gathering in parallel to the 2009 annual governors meeting of the Inter-American Development Bank in Medellín, Colombia, where organizations will reflect on lessons learned from five decades of development investments in the region.

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Sustainable Development


NEWS ALERT
G-20 Economic Summit to assess global financial crisis

The U.S. sub-prime crisis has shaken the global financial system and prompted questions about the abilities of the regulatory architecture -- known as the Bretton Woods institutions -- to monitor and balance the global financial system. To address both the current financial crisis and assess the capacity of the global regulatory system, the Group of 20, composed of world leaders, gathered in Washington, D.C. on November 15th. [Read more]
The Mott Foundation’s Environment program supports non-governmental groups (NGOs) working nationally and globally to change policies and practices of international trade and financial institutions so the environment is protected and people’s standard of living is not adversely affected by projects supported by these institutions.


Read Details
News
Sustainable Development - Recent News from the Mott Foundation
Environmental group works to balance local interests with large-scale development
News
Environmental group works to balance local interests with large-scale development
November, 2008

Featured in the online version of Mott’s 2007 Annual Report, staff of Sobrevivencia discuss how they work with many audiences -- community members, policymakers and international financial institutions -- to protect South America's Pantanal wetlands and the well-being of the people who depend upon that ecosystem.

Study center seeks environmentally sound alternatives to large infrastructure projects
News
Study center seeks environmentally sound alternatives to large infrastructure projects
November, 2008

Featured in the online version of Mott’s 2007 Annual Report, the Uruguayan Study Center of Appropriate Technologies’ efforts to share information and seek input from remote Amazonian and Andean villagers are helping change the way people view environmental challenges.

G-20 Economic Summit to assess global financial crisis (continued)
News
G-20 Economic Summit to assess global financial crisis (continued)
November, 2008
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News Log
Sustainable Development - Recent News from Around the Web
Forest People Programme unveils climate change report at UN conference in Poland
News Log
A new report, partially funded by the Mott Foundation, was one of many documents unveiled this week at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Poznan, Poland. Seeing ‘REDD’? Forests, climate change mitigation, and the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities was written by Tom Griffiths of the Forest People Programme, a Mott grantee. The 63-page report discusses effective methods and incentives for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and for Degradation (REDD). It concludes that a “business-as-usual approach to forest policies and governance must not be an option for climate change mitigation in forests.”
Post-election discussion focuses on climate change and energy issues
News Log
Following the 2008 U.S. elections, a panel of leaders of environmental organizations met to discuss potential implications for environmental policy. Topics discussed in this 90-minute video include the impact of the financial crisis on environmental policy, federal assistance to the auto industry, carbon offsets, and nuclear power. Staff from the Institute for Policy Studies-D.C., a Mott grantee, moderated the discussion, which included Brent Blackwelder, president of Friends of the Earth-U.S., also a Mott grantee.
NGO says World Bank's carbon footprint is too big
News Log
The World Wildlife Fund-UK (WWF-UK) recently released the report, The World Bank and its carbon footprint: Why the World Bank is still far from being an environment bank. Among other conclusions, the report finds that despite the World Bank's financing of renewable energy projects, it continues to invest heavily in fossil fuel technologies. WWF-UK addresses World Bank climate financing issues, along with several NGOs funded through the International Finance for Sustainability area of Mott's Environment program.
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Additional Resources

  • "Aguas Turvas" A new book that explains the ongoing socio-environmental problems of the Madeira Complex
    Jointly published by the Bank Information Center, International Rivers and other partners, "Aguas Turvas" aims to explain the contradictions of the Hydroelectric Complex and the hydroways of the Madeira River. It will serve as a tool for those that seek to understand the history of the project and its implications for the Amazon region.
  • Amazon Watch

    Works with indigenous and environmental organizations in the Amazon Basin to defend the environment and advance indigenous peoples' rights in the face of large-scale industrial development, such as oil and gas pipelines, power lines, roads, and other mega-projects.

  • Bank Information Center
    Partners with civil society organizations in developing and transitioning countries to influence the World Bank and other international financial institutions (IFIs) to promote social and economic justice, and ecological sustainability.
  • BankTrack
    Is a network of civil society organizations and individuals tracking the operations of the private financial sector (commercial banks, investors, insurance companies, pension funds) and its effect on people and the planet.
  • Both Ends
    Supports the work of environmental organizations -- primarily in developing countries, and Central and Eastern European countries -- through information, research, advocacy, campaigning, networking and capacity-building.
  • Bretton Woods
    Works to monitor and reform the World Bank and IMF, providing critiques and early warnings used by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) around the world.
  • Ecoa- Ecology and Action
    Leads a coalition of organizations monitoring the environmental impacts of new and proposed investments in energy and infrastructure in the Upper Paraná River basin, and the Amazon region in Brazil.
  • International Rivers
    Protects rivers and defends the rights of communities that depend on them by opposing destructive development projects, and encouraging sustainable ways to meet people’s needs for water, energy and protection from damaging floods.