EarthBeat Radio

On this edition of Earthbeat we explore the scandals at the World Bank that don't involve the Bank President's girlfriend.

While the headline news is all about Paul Wolfowitz and how he engineered a high-paying job for his companion -- the true scandal is how the Bank finances environmental destruction and human rights abuses.

Joining host Daphne Wysham to discuss how the African country of Chad is affected by a Bank-sponsored oil pipeline project is Korinna Horta, a Senior Economist with Environmental Defense, and Nikki Reisch, the African Program Manager for the Bank Information Center.

As the Spring meetings of the Bank occurred in Washington, DC -- activists from around the world came to the nation's capital to lobby the bank for meaningful changes. Discussing the devastation that logging and mining have on the African nation of Congo are Cath Long, Program Director for The Rainforest Foundation, Filip Verbelen of Greenpeace Belgium, and Marc-Olivier Herman of the Policy Department of Broederlijk Delen. A link to B.D.'s petition to protect the Congo is here.

Of course, the World Bank's reach goes far beyond Africa. In Guatemala, the people are fighting back. Discussing the issue alongside local activists from Ceiba is Lael Parish, a program officer for Latin America for the Moriah Fund.

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Photo used courtesy of Daphne Wysham