New Environment Policy will Increase Sustainability and Poverty Impact of Operations

MANILA, PHILIPPINES (11 November 2002) - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved an Environment Policy to meet the challenges of the region's rapidly increasing environmental degradation.

Rapid population increase, dramatic changes in production and consumption patterns, and massive rural-to-urban migration have transformed the way environment and natural resources are used, notes ADB's Environment Policy paper.

Environmental degradation in the region is now "pervasive, accelerating and unabated," says the paper. This is manifested in polluted air, depleted biodiversity, degraded lands, exhausted aquifers, and polluted aquatic and marine ecosystems, as well as increasing exposure to hazardous and toxic wastes.

"Our environment policy is grounded in ADB's Poverty Reduction Strategy that recognizes that environmental sustainability is a prerequisite for pro-poor economic growth and efforts to reduce poverty," says Warren Evans, Director of ADB's Environment and Social Safeguard Division.

The Environment Policy has five thrusts to MEET the major challenges:

• Interventions to reduce poverty. Environmental degradation is taking its toll on poor people and foreclosing their options for healthy and productive lives. Rural areas need better natural resource management to sustain livelihoods. In urban areas, the worsening quality of air and water require urgent action. To meet increased recognition of poverty-environment links, ADB is shifting from a reactive approach to a more proactive stance that assists countries to anticipate and tackle such issues.
• Mainstreaming environmental considerations in economic growth. The cost of environmental degradation is between 4 and 8 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) annually in many countries, whereas spending on protecting the environment is less than 1 percent of GDP. In countries as varied as the People's Republic of China, India and Lao PDR, ADB is focusing on building the capacity of national environmental and sector development agencies, better integrating environment and sector policies, and strengthening regulatory systems and environmental governance.
• Maintaining global and regional life-support systems. Human activities are altering the ecological processes that shape climate, cleanse the air and water, regulate water flow, recycle essential elements, and keep the planet fit for life. To help countries address shared problems such as accumulating greenhouse gases and rapidly deteriorating coastal ecosystems, ADB is supporting regional and subregional cooperation to address transboundary issues. Special attention will be placed on activities that (i) deliver local as well as global benefits; (ii) assist the most vulnerable groups and countries to adapt to global environmental changes; and (iii) mobilize additional resources to tackle the problems, including from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and through new and innovative markets for environmental services.
• Working in partnerships. To be more effective, ADB needs to learn from the experience of other development agencies, NGOs, the private sector and academia. ADB needs to mobilize the resources and skills of all stakeholders from civil society, the private sector and government to extend the impact of its catalytic efforts. ADB will continue to establish strategic partnerships with key regional and international environment organizations to enhance effectiveness. It regards increased cofinancing with bilateral and international agencies as equally important.
• Further integration in ADB operations. The new policy strengthens ADB's environmental assessment process by tightening the environmental classification of projects, enhancing information disclosure and public consultation, and emphasizing effective environmental management plans during project implementation. It also emphasizes more strategic environmental assessment at the earliest stages of country programming and project development. It specifies environmental assessment procedures for preparing ADB projects, including public sector projects that fall within ADB's 1995 Inspection Policy.

ADB's recent reorganization and revised business practices help to ensure that environmental considerations are properly mainstreamed into country strategies, programs and projects. In addition, ADB is taking steps to strengthen the consultation process with local stakeholders and groups affected by its projects.

ADB formulated its Environment Policy over the last two years with the participation of a wide group of stakeholders from 25 countries, which include representatives from governments, nongovernment organizations (NGOs), civil society, academic institutions, the private sector, and funding agencies.

More at adb.org/media