The World Bank announced that it will seriously restrict its funding for fossil fuel projects, restricting money for coal-fired power plants to only the poorest countries, and only when they can prove alternative projects are not feasible. However, the Bank immediately faced criticism from environmental activists who accused it of "trying to greenwash its activities while by and large continuing with dirty business as usual." Alison Doig, senior adviser on climate change at the charity Christian Aid, called the draft of the new energy strategy "worryingly vague." Green campaigners have attacked the Bank's practices in the past, such as its decision last year to grant nearly $4 billion to South African coal giant Eskom. Last year, the Bank spent 25 percent of its total spending on energy projects on coal-fired power in developing countries. The Bank may also be charged with dispensing funds from rich to poor countries to help them manage the effects of climate change under the Copenhagen Accord. A coalition of 100 local and international organizations sent a letter to Mexico's secretary of foreign affairs, and to the head of the climate change secretariat of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change stating that "the World Bank is not suited to advise in the design of a fund that must ensure fair and effective long-term financing based on the principles of environmental integrity, equity, sustainable development and democracy."For the full story, see http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/apr/04/world-bank-funding-coal-power. For more on the role of the Bank in dispensing climate change funds, see http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=55148. For news on a new Bank solar project, see http://www.istockanalyst.com/business/news/5030682/wb-approves-grant-for-more-electrification-in-rural-bangladesh.