wri idb draft2

Frances Seymour & Crescencia Maurer IDB Environment Week, Session 4September 8, 2004: 

Frances Seymour andamp; Crescencia Maurer IDB Environment Week, Session 4 September 8, 2004 Mainstreaming the Environment into the Priority Areas of IDB’s Institutional Strategy

Attention to “environment” usually focuses on:: 

Attention to 'environment' usually focuses on: Investment in the 'environment sector' narrowly defined, or… …mitigation of negative environmental impacts of projects in other sectors

“Mainstreaming” the environment expands attention to:: 

'Mainstreaming' the environment expands attention to: Environmental sustainability in other sectors and at the macro level Opportunities to 'do good' – not just do no harm – through non-environment projects and policies

Benefits of Mainstreaming: 

Benefits of Mainstreaming Greater cost effectiveness Improved development impact Better sequencing of development interventions Prevention of legacy issues Risk reduction – reputational, operational, credit

Challenges of Mainstreaming: 

Challenges of Mainstreaming Conceptual barriers Institutional barriers Failure to address environment in upstream decisions Short-term planning horizons Geographically circumscribed target areas Cross-sectoral challenges No 'right answers'

Questions to Guide Mainstreaming: 

Questions to Guide Mainstreaming How does environmental analysis at the region, country or landscape level inform project or country priorities? Is the development objective correctly specified?

Questions to Guide Mainstreaming, continued: 

Questions to Guide Mainstreaming, continued Are opportunities to advance environmental sustainability through policy reforms or development investments identified? What investment is planned to create the policy and governance conditions necessary to ensure environmental sustainability?

Questions to Guide Mainstreaming, continued: 

Questions to Guide Mainstreaming, continued Are the right geographic and time horizons considered in the assessment of environment and development benefits? How has early consultation with stakeholders—including constituencies for poverty reduction and the environment—affected the design of the policy or project intervention?

Modernization of the State: Why Mainstream the Environment?: 

Modernization of the State: Why Mainstream the Environment? Opportunities to go beyond 'automatic' synergies Environment a proven entry point for strengthening democracy Institutional and regulatory reforms have environmental implications

Modernization of the State: Guiding Principles: 

Modernization of the State: Guiding Principles Invest in improved environmental governance Build environmental components into institutional strengthening Anticipate unintended negative consequences of reform

Modernization of the State: Examples of Mainstreaming: 

Modernization of the State: Examples of Mainstreaming Support assessments of citizen access to environmental information and decisions Add environmental modules to training for judges and prosecutors Consider the environment upstream in sectoral reforms Ensure decentralization is accompanied by environmental accountability and capacity

Social Development: Why Mainstream the Environment? : 

Social Development: Why Mainstream the Environment? Environmental degradation threatens health and livelihoods Territorial approach provides opportunities to address environment and poverty

Social Development:Guiding Principles: 

Social Development: Guiding Principles Take advantage of 'natural' targeting through poverty-environment linkages Promote sustainability when extending services Use environment-related entry points for building human and social capital Use environment-related entry points for reducing vulnerability

Social Development:Examples of Mainstreaming: 

Social Development: Examples of Mainstreaming Address environmental threats in preventative health strategies Support 'green' planning, design, procurement, and construction in housing Integrate environmental education into curricula at all levels Strengthen the security of vulnerable communities’ ecological assets

Slide15: 

Exploitation of natural resources central to competitiveness of many LAC economies (e.g. minerals, fisheries, tourism, forestry) A failure to internalize environment costs imposes heavy burdens on national economies (e.g. health, clean-up costs, productivity declines) Competitiveness: Why Mainstream the Environment?

Competitiveness: Guiding Principles: 

Competitiveness: Guiding Principles Evaluate competitiveness at sufficiently broad geographic and time scales to capture environmental and social considerations Internalize environmental costs and benefits of private sector development activities Integrate environmental analysis into competitiveness planning and policies

Competitiveness:Examples of Mainstreaming: 

Competitiveness: Examples of Mainstreaming Protect key environmental services on which important regional industries depend mangroves for fisheries, soils for agriculture, natural habitats for tourism Levy surcharges on industry sectors with significant health and safety risks Build capacity of finance, commerce and trade ministries for environmental analysis

Slide18: 

Ensure that trade liberalization serves development objectives Prevents the environmental costs of integration from falling disproportionately on the poor Improvement in the environmental and social quality of infrastructure contributes directly to quality of life Regional Integration: Why Mainstream the Environment?

Regional Integration: Guiding Principles: 

Regional Integration: Guiding Principles Identify environment and development objectives first, and evaluate infrastructure projects against these objectives Exploit synergies between the environment and regional integration to capture positive outcomes and prevent negative outcomes Support development and adoption of best practices or innovations in decision-making, management and analytical tools

Regional Integration: Illustrative Examples: 

Regional Integration: Illustrative Examples Pilot sustainability assessments of liberalization in environmentally sensitive sectors, particularly agriculture, water, energy and transport Develop and institutionalize sector-specific best practice benchmarks for infrastructure planning, design and operation Build capacity of regional institutions to evaluate trade-environment interactions and to evaluate the cumulative impacts of cross-border infrastructure

Common Themes Across IDB’s Four Priority Areas: 

Common Themes Across IDB’s Four Priority Areas Strengthen governance conditions Build the capacity of public and private actors in mainstream sectors to address environmental issues Identify development objectives first and interventions second Seek early and effective consultation with affected stakeholders Leverage environmental synergies across sectors

Looking Forward: 

Looking Forward Mainstreaming is complementary to and synergistic with safeguards Mainstreaming requires leadership and staff buy-in outside the environment department Mainstreaming can mobilize constituencies within client governments, private sector, and civil society