"It is not enough just to assess an installation’s impact on the environment; one must also assess the impact of a changing environment on the installation. Then, as much as possible, the impact of that change must be integrated into planning and countered."– Cleo Paskal, Columnist
and Adjunct Professor, Global Change, SCMS, Kochi, India

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Program

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Training Course

• SEA Climate Change
• 17-18 November 2010

Important Dates

• Symposium Registration Deadline
  29 October (or when limit of 400 is reached.)

Symposium Location

The Special Symposium will be held at:
World Bank
1818 H Street NW
Washington, DC 20006

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What is happening within Multilateral Development Banks and International Financial Institutions?

• African Development Bank Group
  • The African Development Bank (AfDB) has adopted a Climate Risk Management and Adaptation Strategy (CRMA) and Clean Energy Investment Framework (CEIF) which address the broader issues of adaptation and mitigation respectively. The specific objectives of the CRMA are to reduce vulnerability to climate change variability and promote climate resilience in past and future Bank financed development investments, and to build capacity and knowledge to address the challenges of climate change and ensure sustainability through policy and regulatory reforms. For additional information on what the AfDB is doing on climate change, please visit the Climate Change main web-page.
  • The AfDB has adopted an Environmental Safeguards Policy and is using Environmental and Social Impact Assessment tools to mitigate potential negative environmental impacts from Bank investments. In 2009, an Informative Note on the Checking for Mainstreaming Gender and Climate Change in Projects was issued. This checklist provides project managers with a tool to take gender and climate change into consideration when planning, designing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating projects and programs. For additional information on AfDB's environmental safeguards, please visit the environment and climate change main web-page.

• Asian Development Bank
  • In its Strategy 2020, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) makes commitments to strengthen its operational emphasis on the environment to realize environmentally sustainable growth for the region. In relation to climate change, the ADB commits to help its member countries to move their economies onto low-carbon growth paths and to adapt to the unavoidable impacts of climate change. The Climate Change ADB Programs's report issued in 2009 describes the ADB's ongoing and emerging climate change mitigation and adaptation programs. For additional information on what the ADB is doing on climate change, please visit the Climate Change: A Development Challenge main web-page.
  • ADB's Safeguards Policy requires that all Bank-supported projects pay due attention to environmental considerations. The Policy requires borrowers to identify project's impacts and assess their significance; examine alternatives; and prepare, implement, and monitor environment management plans. It also requires borrowers to consult people likely to be affected by the project and disclose relevant information in a timely manner and in a form and in languages(s) understandable to those being consulted. A new Safeguard Policy Statement was approved by the Board in July 2009 and became effective in January 2010. For additional information on ADB's safeguards, please visit the Safeguards Policies Statement and Safeguard Review Procedures main web-page.

• Caribbean Development Bank
  • Ongoing efforts of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) focus on strengthening environmental sustainability, promoting sound development practices and mainstreaming disaster risk management in its internal operations as well as within its Borrowing Member Countries (BMC). In its 2007 Position Paper on "Responding to Climate Change in the Caribbean Development Bank and its Borrowing Development Countries," the CDB discusses in detail how it will deal with its due diligence in internal operations and how it will support its member countries with climate risks management. The document can also be accessed on-line at the following link.
    
    Although the CDB is currently formulating its Environmental Policy, when it comes to the integration of climate change in environmental impact assessment (EIA), the Bank advocates the use of the Guide to the Integration of Climate Change Adaptation into the Environmental Impact Assessment Process" developed jointly by the Caribbean Community Secretariat (CARICOM) and the South Pacific Regional Environmental Programme (SPREP) and the "Sourcebook on the Integration of Natural Hazards into the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Process" developed jointly by the CDB and CARICOM. These documents can be accessed on-line at the CDB's web-page.

• European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
  • The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) aims to promote environmentally sound and sustainable development in all its activities. Its 2008 Environmental and Social Policy and Performance Requirements spells out how the Bank should manage the impacts of its operations on both people and the environment. For additional information about the environmental and social standards applicable to the EBRD’s operations, please visit the Environmental and Social Policy main web-page.
  • As part of the appraisal of projects to be financed by EBRD, an assessment of the impacts of the project on the global climate should be conducted. A Guidance Note for consultants working on EBRD financed projects has been prepared titled EBRD Methodology for Assessment of Greenhouse Gas Emissions. The document can also be accessed on-line at the EBRD's Climate Change main web-page.

• German Technical Cooperation’s (GTZ):
  • As an international cooperation enterprise, the German Technical Cooperation’s (GTZ) has developed projects and programs that systematically assess and regularly optimize climate impact. Its Environmental Sustainability Assessment guideline recognizes environmental assessment as mandatory and core to its operations. GTZ has also adopted the German Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change. Many of GTZ projects are in the transport sector where climate change and the reduction of GHG are directly considered. GTZ sustainable transport investments are based on Sustainable Transport Sourcebook 5e, which provides a comprehensive overview of the sector’s policy instruments available to reduce carbon emissions. Also, GTZ is currently developing a climate tool referred to as the "Climate Check", which tackles climate change issues from the angles of “climate proofing” and “emissions saving” in development cooperation. GTZ largely supports the International Climate Initiative (ICI), which is an innovative financing mechanism for climate protection developed by the German government in 2008 to help partner countries develop the specific skills and abilities required to make progress on climate adaptation. Refer to link for more information on GTZ and climate change.

• Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
  • The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) 2009 Annual Report recognizes climate change as probably the most urgent and contentious issue facing the international community. JICA’s international development assistance operations mandate Environmental Assessments. The 2010 Guidelines for Environmental and Social Considerations (ESC) encourages the consideration of environmental and social impacts including climate change. When encouraging the appropriate consideration of environmental and social aspects, it is JICA’s policy to provide active support to projects that promote environmental conservation and to projects that contribute to the protection of the global environment, such as attempts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Japan has been scaling up its assistance to help developing countries tackle sustainable development and climate change. Japan has announced its Fast-Start Finance (FSF) to assist developing countries, especially those making efforts to reduce GHG emissions and/or that are particularly vulnerable to climate change (15 billion dollars up to 2012, which represents around a half of global commitments under the Copenhagen Accord).

• Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
  • The Inter-American Development bank (IDB) is currently developing a Climate Change Strategy to serve as a guiding instrument for scaling up IDB support for actions to mitigate and adapt to climate change within the Latin America and the Caribbean region. The strategy will be submitted for approval by the IDB’s Executive Board in 2010. A Strategic Framework for Supporting Climate Change Action in Lain America and the Caribbean was issued in March 2010. For additional information about the IDB Climate Change Strategy, please visit the Climate Change Strategy Public Consultations main web-page.
  • The IDB has adopted has developed internal sustainability standards to guide its work. The Environment and Safeguards Compliance Policy aims at mainstreaming environmental considerations into the IDB's social and economic development objectives. It also commits the IDB to safeguard the environmental quality of all its operations and to introduce socially and environmentally responsible practices in its own facilities. In 2009, Coal Fired Power Plants Guidelines were issued with the purpose of setting forth an approach for the financing of Coal Fired Thermoelectric Generation Plants (Coal Plants), in a manner consistent with the IDB's vision to prioritize the development of renewable energy sources and the IDB's commitment to the protection of the environment, including reducing adverse impacts on the global climate. For additional information on sustainability standards policies and procedures of the IDB, please visit the Sustainability Standards - Policies and Procedures main web-site.

• Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
  • The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) assists governments to identify and implement least-cost policies to reduce GHG emissions and to integrate adaptation to climate change into all relevant policy areas. For additional information on what the OECD is doing on climate change, please visit the ""From Copenhagen to Mexico" main web-page.
  • In 2009, the OECD developed a Policy Guidance on Integrating Climate Change Adaptation into Development Co-operation. The Guidance outlines a number of priorities for governments and international donors to confront the challenge of integrating adaptation within core development activities. The document recommends moving the co-ordination for implementing adaptation activities into central bodies with power, and integrating consideration of long-term climate risks in overall national planning processes and budgets. This Guidance can also be access on line at this link.

• United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
  • Addressing the causes and effects of climate change has been a key focus of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). USAID places particular emphasis on creating alliances and partnerships with the private sector, local and national authorities, communities, and nongovernmental organizations. It derives its environmental due diligence from ADS Chapter 204 (2009) which is the operational procedure on environmental sustainability that defines what USAID and its operating units must do to integrate environmental issues into its programs. Environmental Assessments are mandatory and core to operations, however, the procedure does not make specific reference to climate change risk and adaptations as necessary issues for the design and implementation of projects. USAID has also developed a Climate Adaptation Guidance Manual to assist its missions and other partners to understand how climate change may affect their project outcomes and identify adaptation options to integrate into the design for more resilient projects. The manual provides guidance on how to assess vulnerability to climate variability and change, as well as how to design or adapt projects so that they are more resilient to a range of climatic conditions. Further strengthening has recently been received from the U.S. Climate Action Report (2010), which sets out the major actions the U.S. government is taking at the federal level, state and local actions, and outlines U.S. efforts to assist other countries’ efforts to address climate change.

• World Bank Group
  • A Development and Climate Change - A Strategic Framework for the World Bank Group (WBG) was adopted during the 2008 Annual Meetings. The framework facilitates both growth objectives and poverty reduction goals while recognizing the added costs and risks posed by climate change. It serves to guide and support the specific strategies and business plans of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) and the World Bank regions and climate change sensitive sectors. The strategic framework can be accessed on-line at the following link. For additional information on what the WBG is doing on climate change, please visit the WBG Climate Change main web-site and/or the IFC Climate Change main web-site.
  • The WBG has adopted environmental and social safeguards policies to prevent and mitigate undue harm to people and their environment in the development process. These policies provide guidelines for Bank and borrower staffs in the identification, preparation and implementation of programs and projects. For additional information on environmental and social safeguards policies, please visit the WBG Safeguard Policies main web-site and the WBG Environmental, Health and Safety Guidelines.