Assessing the Environmental, Forest, and Other Natural Resource Aspects of Development Policy Lending

Abstract

The operations policy on Development
 Policy Lending (DPL), approved by the Board in August 2004,
 requires that the Bank systematically analyze whether
 specific country policies supported by an operation are
 likely to have "significant effects" on the
 country's environment, forests, and other natural
 resources. The implicit objective behind this requirement is
 to ensure that there is adequate capacity in the country to
 deal with adverse effects on the environment, forests, and
 other natural resources that the policies could trigger,
 even at the program design stage. DPL operations are
 associated with a whole array of policies such as macro
 policy reforms, fiscal policies, and specific sectoral
 policies, particularly in key sectors such as agriculture,
 health and education, energy, etc. In some cases, the
 operation may deal directly with reforms in certain
 environmentally sensitive sectors such as energy, transport,
 water and sanitation, agriculture, and forestry. In these
 cases, there is an obvious need for careful analysis of
 environmental, natural resource, and forestry impacts. In
 other cases, such as public sector reform and governance,
 there is less potential for likely significant impacts on
 the natural environment and natural resources. The toolkit
 is designed to be concise and user-friendly. It consists of
 three specific modules. The first module identifies relevant
 transmission channels through which the proposed reform
 would have a likely effect on the identified environmental,
 forest, and other natural resource priorities. The second
 module provides assistance in identifying key environmental
 issues in the country, regions, or sectors likely to be
 influenced by the DPL program. The third module presents
 different tools and methodologies for rapid assessment of
 the likely significant effects of each reform.