About Us

The World Bank's safeguard system, including Environmental Assessment, is an essential tool for integrating environmental and social concerns into development policies, programs and projects by providing minimum requirements that all Bank-supported operations meet. The safeguard policies of the Bank are operationalizing the 'do no harm' approach to the Bank lendings and are fundamental in meeting the three pillars of the World Bank Environment Strategy:

• Improving the quality of life
• Improving the quality of growth
• Protecting the quality of the regional and global commons.

Among the ten World Bank Safeguard Policies, Environmental Assessment (EA), a formal Bank policy since 1989, was the first process to mandate the screening of Bank-funded projects for their environmental (and to some extent social) impacts.

With 20 years of practical experience in the Bank, the preparation of EA is fully integrated into the Bank's procedures and business processes. The latest revision of the policy, Operational Policy (OP)/Bank Procedures (BP) 4.01 of January 1999, has clarified the need for the nature and levels of environmental assessment to be applied to investment projects and sectoral adjustment programs. OP/BP 4.01 does not apply to macroeconomic adjustment lending.

World Bank Regional Safeguard Policies teams are the first point of contact for sectoral colleagues, Bank management, most government officials, NGOs, and other local partners needing guidance in applying OP/BP 4.01. In the Bank's Operations Policy and Country Services Network (OPCS), the Quality Assurance and Compliance Unit (QACU) has EA specialists who can be mobilized to clarify issues in the EA process, with the Bank's Environment and International Law Unit (LEGEN) in charge of interpreting the policies. For questions concerning the World Bank and EA, you may contact the Bank's Safeguard Policies Help Desk:

E-Mail:
Safeguard@worldbank.org

Address:
Safeguards Help Desk
Operations Policy and Country Services Network
The World Bank
1818 H Street, NW
Washington, DC 20433
USA

Telephone: +1 202 473 2001
Fax: +1 202 477 0565