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Annual Report 2004 : Part 2: Poverty Reduction : Thematic Priorities
Addressing Environmental SustainabilityPromoting Environmental Interventions to Reduce PovertyOut of 58 approved public sector projects, 8 had environmental elements supporting the seventh MDG to ensure environmental sustainability. The total combined loans of $569 million represents 12% of total public sector lending—an increase from 9% in 2002 and 5% in 2003. Five of these projects will support the development of water supply and/or sanitation systems including wastewater and solid waste management systems mostly in urban areas of Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Federated States of Micronesia, and Tajikistan. A project in the PRC will address continued land degradation in Fujian Province and will promote rural development through market mechanisms that incorporate conservation and poverty reduction in integrated agricultural systems. Two other projects in the PRC involve coal bed methane and coal mine methane production in Shanxi and Liaoning provinces. The increased removal, capture, and use of methane will reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, increase clean fuel use, improve air quality, and improve coal mine safety and efficiency. Through the clean development mechanism (CDM) facility, ADB assisted in developing the CDM component of the Liaoning project. Taking into account a private sector loan to India for a combined-cycle power plant using liquefied natural gas, all three energy sector development projects involved the use of clean fuel and GHG abatement technologies. In combined loan amounts, the three “green" energy sector development projects (the other two are transmission and distribution projects) represented 32% of the total energy sector loan portfolio in 2004—an increase from 5% in 2003. ADB also provided technical assistance to prepare loans to improve managing natural resources such as water, coastal fisheries, and wetlands; to develop or improve water supply and sanitation; and to improve environmental quality. Grants were awarded to strengthen national institutions and build capacities for environmental and natural resource management, to explore alternative energy sources, to combat land degradation, and to develop environmental monitoring and management information systems. ADB will assist the PRC in evaluating the national environment policy, in formulating environmental legislation, and in implementing a national strategy for soil and water conservation that focuses on the Ministry of Water Resources. Likewise, ADB will assist Afghanistan with air quality management, Indonesia in establishing the feasibility of gas generation from waste, and Tajikistan in developing a community-based micro-hydropower project. At the subregional level, ADB will promote effective water management policies and practices, build capacity for sustainable development, and promote biodiversity conservation in the Greater Mekong Subregion. The Poverty and Environment Program enhanced institutional learning on ways to integrate the environment into poverty reduction projects with the approval of eight subprojects amounting to $1.6 million focused on poverty, conservation, and health; sustainable alternative livelihoods; biodiversity conservation; disaster management; rehabilitation of degraded forestlands; rehabilitation of polluted sites; and combating desertification. The program is funded by the $3.6 million Poverty and Environment Fund jointly established by ADB and the governments of Norway and Sweden and finances pilot environmental interventions in three main areas: protection, conservation, and sustainable use of natural resources and ecosystem services; reduction of air and water pollution; and disaster prevention and reduction of vulnerability to natural hazards. Through strategic partnerships with key development agencies, ADB addresses regional and global environmental problems and tackles the challenges of environmental problems caused by poverty. ADB's active partnership with the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and its direct access to GEF project resources have generated additional cofinancing opportunities and strengthened the program pipeline. In 2004, two projects on land management in Indonesia and Central Asia entered the pipeline; and two projects (integrated coastal resource management for the Philippines and Sanjiang plains wetland protection for the PRC) were approved by the GEF Council. ADB also obtained endorsement from the GEF chief executive officer of the PRC/GEF partnership on land degradation in dryland ecosystems in the western region. The Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency, and Climate Change program that brought together trust funds from Canada, Denmark, and the Netherlands continued to mainstream renewable energy and energy efficiency initiatives in its lending programs, many in conjunction with incentives available through the GEF and CDM. Moreover, through the joint ADB-World Bank Clean Air Initiative (CAI)-Asia—a regional, multisector network with over 100 members—ADB continued to support several studies and regional dialogues in Asia on the impact on health of air pollution, benchmarking air quality management capacity, and policy formulation. CAI-Asia hosted a meeting in India on better air quality attended by over 600 participants, mostly key decision makers from the public and private sectors, to improve awareness on integrating air quality considerations in environmental and sector policy making and implementation, and to enhance networking. ADB also signed a memorandum of understanding with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (the World Conservation Union), and participated in the World Conservation Congress. It also engaged with the multilateral finance institution Working Group on Environment and contributed to harmonizing the environmental assessment framework. Together with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Health Organization (WHO), ADB organized a high-level meeting on health and environment. It also participated in the Asia-Pacific Forum for Environment and Development to address key regional development and environmental issues. ADB interacted with nongovernment organizations (NGOs) on environmental safeguards and on related issues. To promote good corporate environmental performance in the region, ADB also began work on the publication, Making Profits, Protecting Our Planet: Corporate Responsibility for Environmental Performance in Asia and the Pacific. Integrating Environmental Considerations in ADB OperationsMultilateral and bilateral development agencies have recognized the need to strengthen country analytical work and priority setting exercises to improve environmental sustainability in country strategies and in technical assistance and lending programs. One tool to achieve this is the country environment analysis (CEA) report that describes ADB's role in helping remove environmental constraints. In 2004, ADB finalized CEAs for Kazakhstan and Tajikistan, reviewed eight draft CEAs, and approved a regional technical assistance project to help prepare CEAs for eight Pacific DMCs. To comply with environmental safeguards, all 73 projects and equity investments approved by the Board of Directors were reviewed to ensure the adequacy of measures to mitigate and manage potential impacts and to contribute to improving project performance outcomes. ADB engaged with stakeholders, and reviewed environmental assessment reports required of 53 projects. In compliance with ADB's environment policy, summary assessment reports of nine environmentally sensitive projects in the transport and energy sectors were circulated 120 days in advance of the Board of Directors’ consideration. Safeguard review missions in Bangladesh, PRC, Lao PDR, and Sri Lanka provided insights on factors critical to improved performance outcomes. Three orientation courses increased the awareness and understanding of 120 staff members on ADB's three safeguard policies. Also, ADB developed checklists, prepared best practice papers, and developed or improved safeguard tools to supplement the resources in the Environment Assessment Guidelines (2003) (See www.adb.org/Documents/Guidelines/Environmental_Assessment/).
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