Financial institutions

World Heritage sites are examples of critical natural capital that must be protected. This report highlights the increasingly important and urgent role that banks need to play in helping to safeguard natural World Heritage sites now and for future generations. Banks have a unique responsibility to ensure that lending decisions are made on a sound and sustainable basis. 

When it was first published, this national bestseller quickly became a touchstone in the globalization debate. Renowned economist and Nobel Prize winner Joseph E. Stiglitz had a ringside seat for most of the major economic events of the last decade, including stints as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers and chief economist at the World Bank.

This report documents how the World Bank Group has sought to be an active partner in implementing the "Rio imperatives." It is divided into three parts. Part 1 explores progress in activities specifically targeted toward improving the environment. This includes an analysis of the Bank's growing loan portfolio of environmental projects ... and of the Bank's roles as an implementing agency of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and of the Montreal Protocol.