NEWS: Nepal cable car case: Calling for a full compliance investigation
Prabindra Shakya
From: Kate Geary <ka...@re-course.org>
Date: Fri, Apr 3, 2026 at 6:21 PM
Subject: {IAWG} NEWS: Nepal cable car case: Calling for a full compliance investigation
To: International Advocates Working Group <internation...@googlegroups.com>, GRRR-list <grrr...@googlegroups.com>, eur...@lists.urgewald.org <eur...@lists.urgewald.org>
Nepal cable car case: Calling for a full compliance investigation
The Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) has released an Assessment Report on the Nepal Pathivara cable car complaint, and transferred it to compliance appraisal. The complaint relates to a $156,746 International Finance Corporation (IFC) advisory project to IME Cable Car, a subsidiary of IME Global – a major conglomerate in Nepal.
The Assessment Report details complainants’ allegations that the IFC-backed project failed to uphold their right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent as Indigenous Peoples, and furthermore, encroach on their cultural heritage in the sacred Mukkumlung mountain. The report also summarises the complainants’ concerns about the impacts of the project on the forest, wildlife, flora and fauna, the lack of project information disclosure, and the violent repression they have faced for opposing the project.
Despite millions of dollars of support from the IFC over the years and still being an active IFC client, IME Group refused to talk to the CAO or participate in the assessment process, meaning the CAO has had to transfer the complaint to compliance appraisal.
“It is essential that our case now proceeds to full compliance investigation,” says Advocate Shankar Limbu of the Lawyers’ Association for Human Rights of Nepalese Indigenous Peoples (LAHURNIP), who is Legal Counsel to the complainants. “This will enable the IFC’s role in the project to be fully explored. We also hope it can help to stop the violence and end the repression of the Indigenous communities who are trying to save our sacred mountain.”
“This project has been shrouded in secrecy,” says Prabindra Shakya of Asia Indigenous Peoples Network on Extractive Industries and Energy (AIPNEE), advisor to the complainants. “It is time for the IFC to disclose publicly all documents relating to its involvement with the IME Group, to show how and why it did not apply its Performance Standards that should have required protection and respect for Indigenous Peoples.”
“A CAO compliance investigation of this case can offer vital lessons for the IFC as it undergoes the review of its Sustainability Framework,” says Kate Geary of Recourse, advisor to the complainants. “How can the IFC improve disclosure, strengthen protection of biodiversity, guarantee Indigenous Peoples’ rights and respect cultural heritage – especially in advisory projects? These are all questions this case can help to answer.”
Indigenous leaders from the Limbu (Yakthung) nation in Nepal filed the complaint to the CAO in August 2025, with the support of their legal counsel LAHURNIP and AIPNEE and Recourse as their advisors. We thank the CAO for its work on the Assessment Report and are now calling for a full compliance investigation. Click here for the full case information on the CAO website.
There are also lessons in this case for the IFC to inform the current review of its Sustainability Framework, on how it applies its standards in advisory projects, and how the institution and its clients engage with Indigenous Peoples in project areas.
A network of civil society organisations are working together to demand better protections for people and the planet through the Sustainability Review review process. Click here to find out more and join the campaign.
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Prabindra Shakya