Description

Book Description

International Financial Institutions and Sustainable Development explains that when the World Bank supports development projects in the Global South, it is not only providing money but also making international law. Balancing theoretical and practice-oriented elements, the book introduces researchers, teachers, and students in international sustainable development law to the environmental and social policies (‘safeguards’) of international financial institutions (IFIs). It also scrutinizes the case law of independent accountability mechanisms that interpret those policies and afford recourse to individuals and communities adversely affected by development projects.

The book’s focus on the procedural and substantive features of IFIs’ safeguard systems contributes to a more concrete understanding not only of these organizations’ role as makers of international sustainable development law but also of other non-State actors’ participation in the international lawmaking process on sustainable development. Closely analyzing the relationship between the IFIs’ accountability mechanisms and the law of international responsibility, the book puts IFIs in the spotlight and provides a legal critique of their activities to match their notoriety in popular consciousness and to enhance their accountability to those they harm. By approaching international (economic) law and sustainable development through the lens of economic, environmental, and social issues arising in development projects primarily in the Global South, the book presents a needed counterbalance to existing literature on the topic.

About the Author

Johanna Aleria P. Lorenzo is Assistant Professor at the Amsterdam Center for International Law in the University of Amsterdam. Her research concentrates on the interactions of international economic law with socio-ecological and global governance concerns. Besides chapter contributions to edited volumes on international law and sustainable development, some of her works have appeared in the Journal of International Economic Law and the International & Comparative Law Quarterly. Johanna’s recently published book, International Financial Institutions and Sustainable Development: Lawmaking and Accountability (CUP 2025), is based on her doctoral dissertation, which Yale Law School awarded the Ambrose Gherini Prize for best paper in international law. Dr. Lorenzo teaches Master’s courses and supervises theses on general international law, international trade law, and the law of international financial institutions. She holds J.S.D. and LL.M. degrees from Yale Law School, as well as J.D. (Juris Doctor) and B.Sc. (Economics) from the University of the Philippines.