THE World Bank and the International Finance Corporation have historically provided financial support to coal plant projects in developing countries, often citing energy access and economic development as justifications.
However, this financing has contributed significantly to greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, and environmental degradation.
Communities near these plants often face health risks specifically COPD due to toxic emissions, while global emissions exacerbate climate change impacts felt by vulnerable populations.
Scientific consensus based on the assessment reports from experts in the IPCC explicitly explains the science behind an unprecedented shift of erratic global temperature.
There is a need to waken up the slumber of financiers since it undermines international climate agreements such as the Paris Accord and impedes efforts to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 C and phasing out coal financing is nowadays, a climate necessity.
This call for action has been going on for almost a decade, yet the concerned financiers deliberately turned a deaf ear and a blind eye to this call.
In solidarity with the on-going Spring Meeting in Washington DC with discussions focused on how to address the abovementioned undertaking, the community in Villanueva Mis Or, which happens to be a host municipality of two giant CFPPs in northern Mindanao staged a flash mob on April 25, 2025 ; enjoining everyone present in a public boulevard to raise their level of awareness regarding this matter through the materials displayed, support the protest/campaign and eventually participate and join scheduled.
“Through this effort, we express our oneness with our National and Global counterparts in conveying our message and call for WB-IFC to take a bold step and play a transformative role in securing a livable future for all by aligning their financial strategies with climate goals and supporting RE infrastructure, a constant call for WB-IFC to end financial support for coal will also signal to global markets that the era of fossil fuel dependency must end to ensure a sustainable and resilient future,” the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice stated in a release.
