美國國會敦促世行堅持環境及社會標準
The US Congress is putting pressure on the World Bank to preserve its social and environmental rules for projects in developing countries amid fears that the emergence of rivals backed by China may force it to weaken standards.
The World Bank is next year expected to wrap up a review of its safeguards, which were introduced in the 1980s in response to criticism of environmental damage and rights violations linked to bank-funded megaprojects.
預計世行明年將完成對其防護機制的重新審議，這些防護措施是在上世紀80年代推出的，目的是迴應相關批評，這些批評稱，世行資助的大型項目導致了環境損害和侵犯人權行爲。But environmentalists fear rising competition from a new Brics bank and China-backed Asian infrastructure fund mean that review will inevitably lead to lower standards.
但環保人士擔心，新的金磚銀行和中國支持的亞洲基礎設施基金帶來的更多競爭意味着，世行的重新審議難免帶來標準降低。
A spending bill signed into law by US President Barack Obama on Tuesday includes tough requirements for the Treasury department, which oversees relations with the World Bank. In particular it calls for the administration to instruct the US executive director at the bank to vote against any project that is subject to environmental or social standards deemed weaker than those now in place.
美國總統巴拉克•奧巴馬(Barack Obama)週二簽署爲法律的一項支出法案，對美國財政部提出了嚴格的要求（美國財政部負責控管美國與世行的關係）。具體而言，該法案呼籲奧巴馬政府指示美國駐世行執行董事投票反對任何降低現行環境或社會標準的項目。In a letter sent to Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew on Monday and obtained by the Financial Times, three senior Democratic senators said they were concerned that a draft released by the bank in July “may represent a dilution of existing protections”.
英國《金融時報》獲得了3位民主黨資深參議員週一發給美國財政部長雅各布•盧(Jacob Lew)的信，信中表示，他們擔心，世行7月發佈的草案“可能代表着對現行防護措施的弱化”。Among the issues cited by the senators was a proposal that would allow projects to be approved and funds to be disbursed before environmental and social concerns such as those over the relocation of people were addressed properly. That, they said, would reduce the bank’s leverage over governments and could see “funds wasted”.
這些參議員提到了一項提案，該提案將允許世行在相關環境和社會問題（比如居民遷移）得到妥善解決之前，先行對項目放行和提供資金。他們說，這可能降低世行對有關國家政府的影響力，可能導致“資金浪費”。“The World Bank has drafted these proposed safeguards to become more nimble and competitive,” Senators Robert Menendez, Barbara Boxer and Edward Markey wrote. “But we believe these safeguards will hurt the World Bank’s efficiency, undermining its ability to compete with other development banks.”
“世行起草這些擬議防護措施的目的，是爲了變得更靈活、更有競爭力。”參議員羅伯特•梅南德茲(Robert Menendez)、芭芭拉•博克瑟(Barbara Boxer)和愛德華•馬基(Edward Markey)寫道，“但我們認爲這些措施將損害世行的效率，削弱其與其他開發銀行競爭的能力。”The Washington-based World Bank “sets the bar for international development banks by raising standards, not by lowering them”, the senators wrote.
幾位參議員寫道，總部位於華盛頓的世行“應該通過提高標準（而不是降低標準）來爲國際開發銀行樹立標杆”。A US Treasury spokeswoman said the US considered the World Bank’s existing safeguards “an essential tool” and put “great weight” on the input from Congress.
美國財政部的一名女發言人表示，美國認爲世行現有的防護措施是“必不可少的手段”，國會議員的意見值得“高度重視”。The US has been lobbying countries behind closed doors not to join the new Asian Infrastructure Investment Fund launched by China earlier this year. In public, US officials have also repeatedly raised questions about what sort of environmental and labour standards the new fund would operate with and what impact its creation might have on other lenders.
美國一直在祕密遊說各國不要加入中國今年早些時候發起的亞洲基礎設施投資基金(Asian Infrastructure Investment Fund)。美國官員在公開場合也一直在不斷對這支基金將遵循的環保和勞工標準、以及它的成立對其他開發銀行的可能影響提出質疑。The World Bank insists the review of its environmental and social safeguards is badly needed to modernise a system that is decades old and unnecessarily bureaucratic and burdensome.
世行堅稱，現行環境和社會防護措施體系已實行數十年，並且無必要地官僚和繁瑣，急需重新審議，使其跟上時代。“We will have a stronger, more modern set of safeguards at the end of this process, and we are comfortable with the provisions in the [new] US legislation,” Charles Di Leva, the bank’s chief counsel for environmental and international law, told the FT in an emailed statement.
世行環境和國際法首席法律顧問查爾斯•迪萊瓦(Charles Di Leva)通過電郵向英國《金融時報》表示：“這一過程完成後，我們將擁有一套更強健、更現代化的防護措施，我們也能輕鬆滿足美國（新）法中的規定。”But activists still remain sceptical and concerned over the implications of the proposed changes.
但活動人士仍對擬議變化的影響感到懷疑和擔憂。“If the World Bank sends a retrograde signal this could lead to an even more rapid race to the bottom than we have already seen,” said Stephanie Fried, executive director of the Ulu Foundation, a campaign group.
活動團體Ulu Foundation的執行主任斯蒂芬妮•弗裏德(Stephanie Fried)表示，“如果世行發出一個倒退的信號，可能導致我們目睹的逐底競賽進一步加快。”
