The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has launched an updated set of good governance policies.
Unveiled at the bank’s annual meeting in Sarajevo, the three policies, which cover environmental and social policy, access to information, and project accountability, outline the bank’s commitments in these areas while promoting better awareness and understanding of the EBRD’s procedures and operations.
Alistair Clark, the EBRD’s managing director for environment and sustainability said: “We are very pleased to launch our new good governance policies resulting from an outstanding engagement of our stakeholders throughout the extensive consultation process. These policies represent an important milestone in our continuous efforts to create more transparency, help improve our operations and build the trust necessary for better cooperation with our stakeholders.”
The Environmental and Social Policy (ESP) guides the EBRD’s commitment to promoting “environmentally sound and sustainable development” in the full range of its investment and technical cooperation activities.
The Access to Information Policy (AIP) translates the bank’s commitment to enhance the transparency of its activities and promote good governance into concrete actions, while the Project Accountability Policy (PAP) outlines how environmental, social and transparency concerns regarding bank projects can be independently reviewed and addressed.
The revision of these policies represented the most extensive policy consultation process the EBRD has undertaken to date, taking into account lessons learned during implementation, the evolution of international practice and consultation feedback from stakeholders. Public consultations on the draft policies were conducted across eight cities (Almaty, Belgrade, Cairo, Casablanca, Istanbul, Kyiv, London and Tbilisi) with outreach to civil society organisations, industry associations, community representatives from countries of operations, clients, other international financial institutions and international organisations. Over 500 EBRD stakeholders provided comments and feedback.
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