ADB Launches Its Environmental and Social Framework: Do Good by Doing Better

Transcript

We are launching our new Safeguard Policy, now called the Environmental and Social Framework, or ESF.  And what a journey it has been!

We paid attention to evidence. Building on ADB’s Independent Evaluation Department’s review of our Safeguard Policy Statement in 2020, we completed a further 18 analytical studies and considered findings on current and emerging environmental and social issues.  

We paid attention to engagement processes.  We consulted with over 4,500 stakeholders, with a combination of online and face-to-face meetings, engaging almost 2,000 government officials from ADB's members, and more than 1,600 civil society organizations.

We paid attention to past outcomes. We learned lessons from past implementation, coordinating with other international financial institutions, and considering the opportunities and needs to strengthen the systems and capacity of ADB’s developing member countries and clients.

We are grateful that since Day 1 of the process, this journey was done with you.  

Finding the right balance, by setting clear requirements for protecting people and the environment, while ensuring the policy is practical and implementable, required multiple lenses, stakeholder expertise, and knowledge from the field.  

With the approval of ADB’s Board of Directors, we will now be rolling out the Environmental and Social Framework beginning in January 2025. We have a year to gear up and get ready before the policy is expected to take effect from January 2026.  Please join us again on the next phase of the journey.    

And thank you, for helping us do good by doing better!