Last month a study released by BankTrack and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) argued that the financing policies of 39 international banks were failing miserably to live up to internationally recognised social and environmental standards...[L]ast week the International Finance Corporation (IFC) adopted new environmental and social standards for the organization...A new policy on disclosure, adopted at the same time, will increase transparency requirements...The performance standards define clients’ roles and responsibilities for managing their projects and the requirements for receiving and retaining IFC support...The standards adopt a new outcomes-based approach, which requires client companies to have in place effective management systems that allow them to handle social and environmental risks as an integral part of their basic operations and business model...The IFC now references human rights and incorporates key concerns including, amongst others, adequate housing, security of tenure and consideration of security personnel...it will take time to demonstrate whether or not the standards can deliver sustainable development. There will need to be an early evaluation of the impacts of the standards on projects on the ground at a local level...The major challenge will be to get them taken seriously and implemented by businesses...[C]onvincing finance-trained investment officers to buy into these standards might be...challenging.