World Bank demonstrates eco-commitment

ENN Daily News --

March 18, 1997

Since the Rio Summit five years ago, the World Bank has set up new environmental standards and has actively supported environmental reforms in 68 countries. Bank officials estimate their lending
for the environment has reached a total of $14.5 billion total and they expect the bank will apply environmental planning and management to an estimated $200 billion in its lending over the next 10-15 years.

According to the bank's recent publication, Environment Matters, the World Bank will focus on the following six imperatives to guide their work in promoting sustainable development:

* Mainstreaming environmental sustainability into all development programs by trying to incorporate environmental concerns into all World Bank programs.

* Working with NGOs, community groups, government policies, the private sector to ensure sound environmental behavior.

* Improving the user-friendliness of knowledge to create a knowledge management systems accessible to development professions.

* Finding better indicators of productivity that consider ecology and finding better measures that consider things like environmental conditions, the impacts of policy and invention.

* Funding programs on the basis of cost-effectiveness and leverage and catalyzing additional funding for environmentally sustainable projects.

To order a copy of Environment Matters, call (202)473-1155 or email: books@worldbank.org.