This document represents collective learning from a large number of people and projects at IFC. It is intended to share practical experience and to contribute to a better understanding of some of the environmental and social issues involved in private sector financing.

This case book provides examples of multi-stakeholder partnerships that aim to create sustainable enterprises for both the for-profit sectors and for individuals who live in conditions of poverty. Ideal for teaching, after a brief introduction to the case method, the cases are presented as descriptions with no comments or criticisms. The cases are arranged thematically and cover a broad array of solutions in diverse countries including India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Tanzania, the United States, South Africa, Mozambique, Peru, Ghana, Haiti,and Mexico. Specific programs for alleviating—or even eradicating—poverty through profitable partnerships come from myriad sectors such as banking, health, education, infrastructure development, environment, and technology. The cases highlight solutions that focus on bringing about substantive shifts in the conditions of life for those living in poverty.​

The global spread of transnational mining investment, which has been taking place since the 1990s, has led to often volatile conflicts with local communities. This book examines the regulation of these conflicts through national, transnational and local legal processes. In doing so, it examines how legal authority is being redistributed among public and private actors, as well as national and transnational actors, as a result of globalizing forces. The book presents a case study concerning the negotiation of land transfer and resettlement between a transnational mining enterprise and indigenous peasants in the Andes of Peru. The case study is used to explore the intensely local dynamics involved in negotiations between corporate and community representatives and the role played by legal ordering in these relations. In particular, the book examines the operation of a transnational legal regime managed by the World Bank to remedy the social and environmental impacts of projects which receive Bank assistance. The book explores the nature and character of the World Bank regime and the multiple consequences of this projection of transnational law into a local dispute.

Governments have increasingly come to recognize the economic potential and fiscal advantages of privatization. Privatization, under the right conditions, can also yield environmental benefits and contribute to sustainable development. This report contains a number of case studies which highlight the lessons learned about the environmental implications of privatization. It stresses that privatization offers an opportunity for making strategic decisions with longer-term impacts. This report also emphasizes that integrating environmental and social considerations into the privatization process leads to more sustainable outcomes. It also recommends strategies toward building on the positive linkages between privatization and environmental protection.

The World Bank Group works in more than 100 developing economies and is one of the world's largest sources of development assistance. In 2002, the institution provided US $19.5 billion in loans to its client countries. This guide reviews the organisation's history, objectives and operations, and looks at the five institutions that make up the World Bank Group: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Development Association (IDA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

This text brings together case studies focusing on specific instances of corporate best practices. All too often, we showcase cases based on questionable or unethical corporate behavior. Instead, the editors bring together in this book examples of how some firms got it right. Certainly, there is no claim that the companies in these case are perfect; some of them may have histories that include questionable practices. But, these are companies that work to foster trust, both internally and in their relationships with customers, suppliers, shareholders, and the communities in which they operate. The book is not, however, merely a descriptive iteration of effective corporate conduct. The editors conclude with an analysis of frameworks for corporate and managerial ethical decision-making - frameworks that help to establish models for best practices. These frameworks then can be generalized and applied to other corporate situations, and replicated by other companies in their search for excellence and the resulting avoidance of misconduct.

The study attempts to share, from a legal and institutional perspective, the World Bank experience with regional projects in the past two decades, to assess the difficulties involved in their preparation and to look at the way of going forward.