The UK government is to ban cold calling to sell pension investments. Philip Hammond, the UK chancellor, will announce the ban in his first budget statement tomorrow (23 November).
Author: Chris Lang
Some questions for the IFC about its “Forest bonds”
On 1 November 2016, I wrote about the International Finance Corporation’s launch of a US$152 million bond. According to the IFC’s press release, the bond will “protect forests and deepen carbon-credit markets”. The reality is that the IFC is bailing out Wildlife Works’ Kasigau Corridor REDD project in Kenya, a project that had failed to…
The World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility “has not saved a single hectare of forest”
The World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility is supposed to help countries in the Global South reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. It was launched at COP 13 in Bali in 2007. The Fund capital stands at US$850 million, of which US$1.12 billion is for the Readiness Fund, and US$750 million is for the…
So farewell then, UN-REDD
Launched in 2008, the UN-REDD programme is slipping slowly into retirement. In May 2015, UN-REDD produced a “Strategic Framework 2016-20”. Few funders stepped forward.
Thorn Medical withdraws from listing on London Stock Exchange
In January 2016, Thorn Medical, a healthcare company, announced that it was planning to list “within the next two months” on the London Stock Exchange with a valuation of £350 million. In February 2016, Lord Beaverbrook joined Thorn Medical as Chairman. In October 2016, Thorn Medical wrote to its shareholders to tell them that the…