The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and rights protection: revisionist or just another kid on the block?

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), a newly created international institution, provides an opportunity to study the extent and efficacy of rights protection against the backdrop of human rights criticism directed at other multilateral development banks (MDBs). The analytical framework is formed by the so-called anticipatory institution-building positing that international organisations adopt safeguards without external pressure due to having learnt from the mistakes of peer organisations. The article explores the context in which China created the AIIB and the ensuing expectations regarding its environmental and social safeguards. Specific institutional traits gear the Bank towards being 'lean, clean and green' while simultaneously formally paying due regard to environmental and social risks in development lending. The investigation of the Bank's Environmental and Social Framework (ESF) reveals that it largely resembles the operational safeguards of other MDBs while still being a 'work in progress'. It is argued that rights protection remains trapped between institutional infancy problems and principled indifference. Efficiency prevails over protection, the applicability of the ESF is fragmented, central rights receive inadequate protection, and accountability mechanisms remain untested. While the ESF review will remedy some of the shortcomings, infrastructure lending cannot completely do away with adverse environmental and social impacts.