Panel Joins other IAMs for Discussions at IAIA Annual Meeting in Montreal

​The Inspection Panel on April 7, 2017, joined six other Independent Accountability Mechanisms (IAMs) from international financial institutions (IFIs) to present two sessions at the International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA) annual meeting in Montreal. Executive SecretaryDilek Barlasrepresented the Panel. The IAMs discussed the nature of their work, using avideo as part of their presentation and answering questions about how they work together as a network, how they engage with civil society, the issue of “real” and “perceived” independence, and how much of their work involved dispute resolution versus compliance investigations. The theme of the IAIA conference was “Impact Assessment’s Contribution to the Global Efforts in Addressing Climate Change.” There was a general agreement that the mechanisms should expect more climate-related complaints in the future, and the IAMs discussed the challenges around climate financing. The IAMs also agreed that new financial instruments being used by the IFIs – such as the move toward more programmatic lending and the increased use of trust funds and financial intermediaries – pose a more immediate challenge in part because they make it more difficult for potentially affected communities to understand a project’s funding source and how to access the IAMs.