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Safeguards

ADB's safeguard policy aims to help developing member countries address environmental and social risks in development projects and minimize and mitigate, if not avoid, adverse project impacts on people and the environment.

In the Spotlight

Good Practice Guidance for the Management and Control of Asbestos: Protecting Workplaces and Communities from Asbestos Exposure Risks

Publication | March 2022

Good Practice Guidance for the Management and Control of Asbestos: Protecting Workplaces and Communities from Asbestos Exposure Risks

This publication aims to increase awareness of the health risks associated with asbestos in the workplace and provides recommendations and checklists on avoiding and managing the risks of exposure.

Video | 17 March 2022

Travel Back in Time through the Jaipur Metro

The Jaipur Metro Line 1B project financed by ADB started operations in September 2020. After initiating construction, two ancient tanks were discovered in the process of safeguards work which resulted in measures to dismantle the tanks and recreate one of the two tanks.

Video | December 2020

New Website Facilitates Consultations for ADB's Environmental and Social Safeguard Policy

New Safeguard Policy Review website facilitates consultations during the review of ADB's environmental and social safeguard policy.

Protecting the Safety and Well-Being of Workers and Communities from COVID-19

Publication | June 2020

Protecting the Safety and Well-Being of Workers and Communities from COVID-19

This advisory note identifies key measures and shares resources that can help prevent the transmission and spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) among workers and communities.

Safeguards: Overview

Environmental and social safeguards are a cornerstone of ADB's support to inclusive economic growth and environmental sustainable growth.

ADB's safeguard policy aims to help developing member countries (DMCs) address environmental and social risks in development projects and minimize and mitigate, if not avoid, adverse project impacts on people and the environment.

Safeguard Policy Review

ADB is reviewing and updating its 2009 Safeguard Policy Statement in response to evolving development needs. We encourage stakeholders, including civil society to participate in the consultations. Read more

Father and Child on a Bridge

Safeguard Policy Statement

Approved by ADB’s Board of Directors in July 2009, the Safeguard Policy Statement (SPS) builds upon the three previous safeguard policies on the environment, involuntary resettlement, and indigenous peoples, and brings them into a consolidated policy framework that enhances effectiveness and relevance. The SPS applies to all ADB-supported projects reviewed by ADB’s management after 20 January 2010. ADB works with borrowers to put policy principles and requirements into practice through project review and supervision, and capacity development support. The SPS also provides a platform for participation by affected people and other stakeholders in project design and implementation.

Available in:
  Operational Manual for the Safeguard Policy Statement

The SPS supersedes ADB's Involuntary Resettlement Policy (1995), Policy on Indigenous Peoples (1998), and Environment Policy (2002).  To obtain copies of these superseded policies, please contact the Safeguards Help Desk.

  • Environment Safeguards

    Environment Safeguards

    Without committed efforts to safeguard the environment, pressure will continue to build on the region’s land, forests, water systems, wetlands, marine ecosystems, and other natural resources--assets many of the poor depend on for their livelihoods.

  • Involuntary Resettlement

    Involuntary Resettlement

    Involuntary resettlement under development projects can give rise to severe economic, social, and environmental risks, and result in long-term hardship and impoverishment of affected people if it is not managed well.

  • Indigenous Peoples

    Indigenous Peoples

    Nearly three-quarters of the world’s indigenous peoples live in Asia and the Pacific. Their rights are increasingly threatened by development programs that could encroach on areas they traditionally own, occupy, use, or view as ancestral domain.

Publications and Documents

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Blogs

Women at a Training

Blog

It takes hard work and imaginative solutions to ensure development projects deliver for communities

Safeguards – the procedures that ensure projects and programs avoid, minimize and mitigate adverse impacts on people and the environment – are a crucial part of development work

India at Night

Blog

New approach to ADB procurement and safeguards for better project results

Using country systems for procurement and safeguards, a first for ADB in India, recognizes the country’s remarkable progress over the past 30 years.

Men at a Construction Site

Blog

Infrastructure and safeguards

As multilateral development banks gear up to fill serious gaps in infrastructure in Asia, attention also focuses on safeguards, which should be a top concern for established lenders such as the World Bank and ADB as well as new players like the AIIB.

Gushing Water from a Dam

Blog

ADB’s safeguards policy could be a benchmark

Safeguards to avert damage that development projects can do to the environment and communities are essential in development finance.

Safeguards: Contacts

Bruno CARRASCO (Mr)
Director General, Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department
Concurrently Chief Compliance Officer
  Email contact form
Bruce DUNN (Mr)
Director, Safeguards Division
  Email contact form

Contacts for Safeguards in ADB Departments

Central and West Asia Department

For queries related to Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan

Jesper K. PETERSEN (Mr) Advisor and HeadPortfolio, Results, Safeguards & Gender Unit  Tel +63 2 8638 1738   E-mail

East Asia Department

For queries related to People's Republic of China; Hong Kong, China; Republic of Korea; Mongolia; and Taipei,China

Mailene RADSTAKE (Ms) Principal Social Development Specialist (Safeguards)Office of the Director General  Tel +63 2 8632 5618  E-mail

Pacific Department

For queries related to Cook Islands, Republic of Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu

Jean WILLIAMS (Ms)Principal Environment SpecialistPortfolio, Results and Quality Control Unit  Tel +63 2 8632-4444 local 5522  E-mail

Private Sector Operations Department

Mark KUNZER (Mr)DirectorPrivate Sector Transaction Support Division  Tel +63 2 8632 5688  E-mail

South Asia Department

For queries related to Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka

Ricardo Carlos BARBA (Mr)Principal Safeguards SpecialistPortfolio, Results and Quality Control Unit  Tel +63 2 8638 1808   E-mail

Southeast Asia Department

For queries related to Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Viet Nam

Meenakshi AJMERA (Ms)Principal Safeguards SpecialistOffice of the Director General  Tel +63 2 8638 1484   E-mail

As of 8 December 2020

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