On invitation of the World Bank (WB) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) through the National Engineering Center (NEC), ADFIAP attended a 4-day program on “Improving Environmental Assessment and Environmental Assessment Tool” from September 20-23 at the Richmond Hotel in Eastwood, Pasig City, Metro Manila, Philippines.

The program aims to provide the elements for improving environmental and social impact assessment skills to help identify, avoid and minimize harm to people and the environment. This is particularly important for development projects for financing by local authorities and banks’ Board of Directors including the World Bank and ADB. The learnings from lectures, clinics and group/individual exercises likewise serve as a good consultation tool with stakeholders and a guide to effective project implementation.

Topics covered ranged from an overview to more detailed data/process of the various tools which would guide ADFIAP’s Institute of Development Finance (IDF) in improving its Green Financing Program for member-DFIs. Such topics included: Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and World Bank’s policies, EIA system in the Philippines, screening, scoping and tools for improving the preparation of terms of reference of various instruments; Social Impact Assessment (SIA), its applicability and scope including social codes of practice and the different approaches how to improve and prioritize them; Strategic, Sectoral and Regional Environmental and Social Assessment (SESA), its basic principles, applicability and preparation; Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIA), its indicators and thresholds, challenges and shortfalls; Environmental Audits (EA), its concepts and different steps to carry it out effectively; Safeguarding Supervision, emphasizing the need to manage the elements of reporting, proper preparation of aide memoire.

The resource persons who shared their expertise during the program were Messrs. Juan D. Quintero, Josefo D. Tuyor and Gerardo Parco as well as academicians and practitioners Ms. Jo Rowena Garcia, Dr. Nestor Castro and Dr. Romeo Gilbuena.

ADFIAP was represented in the program by members of the ADFIAP Consulting Group, namely Mmes. Arlene Orencia, Cristy Aquino and Emy Chavez.

For more detail of the event, please email the ADFIAP Secretariat at [email protected].