Evaluative Directions for the World Bank Group's Safeguards and Sustainability Policies
The financial and food crises are reminders of the growing challenges countries face in sustaining economic growth and lifting the living standards of the poor. Equally, the emerging impacts of global warming on natural disasters and on agriculture...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Publication |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Washington, DC: World Bank
2012
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| Online Access: | http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000386194_20110811003857 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/2339 |
| Summary: | The financial and food crises are
reminders of the growing challenges countries face in
sustaining economic growth and lifting the living standards
of the poor. Equally, the emerging impacts of global warming
on natural disasters and on agriculture are warning signs of
the urgency to care for the environment and society. Recent
global experience in the financial and environmental arenas
demonstrates clearly the need to put in place and enforce
regulatory frameworks that balance costs and benefits, both
private and social. In this context, the crucial questions
in the recent evaluation by the Independent Evaluation Group
(IEG) of the World Bank Group's safeguards and
sustainability policy framework concern the effectiveness of
the instrument in mitigating adverse environmental and
social impacts of development programs, and suggesting ways
to improve the results. IEG's evaluation covered
projects approved from FY1999 to FY2008. During this period,
social and environmental effects were significant in half of
World Bank projects 1,402 with commitments of $109 billion;
88 percent of projects financed by the International Finance
Corporation (IFC) 1,662 with commitments of $35 billion;
and 217 guarantees by the Multilateral Investment Guarantee
Agency (MIGA). The main thrust of the evaluation findings is
that the World Bank Group's safeguards and
sustainability policies have helped avoid or mitigate
large-scale social and environmental risks in the projects
it financed, but many projects with substantial
environmental and social impacts remain of concern primarily
because of inadequate supervision and follow-up. |
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